Good Lifestyle

Hiver Gerber The rare man who has found a way to mix business and pleasure - with savvaged results successful.

Gerber, who has risen to the walking distance as a model in the 80s, recently filled with PowaLks and photo studios for greener pastures from the nightlife industry. In 1991, he opened the whiskey, a sumptuous joint in New York's sumptuous paramount hotel. Featuring high notch cocktails and a high decoration of bar barsPhilippe StarkThe French interior designer without peer - it was one of the first places of its kind: the type of bar of the hotel which is a destination, not a pit stop.

The place has since closed, but Gerber has not slowed down a little. Through his company,Gerber GroupHe has launched more than 40 high-ranking bars and for years since, mainly in opulent hotels. If you are traveling regularly on business - and if you are used to putting yourself in the chic neighborhoods - it's a good bet you've been to some: Whiskey Blue, W Buckhead in Atlanta? Gerber. Skybar, on the sunset boulevard in Los Angeles? Gerber. Legendary ManhattanMr. Purple? It's Gerber too.

If all this gives the impression of a man singularly focused on business 24/7, you are wrong; His personal life was not less happy. Over the last two decades, it has been married with the one and only oneCindy Crawford. They have two children:Kaia andPresley. This will probably not surprise you to learn that both are models too. (In fact, for Kaia, "model" is a little euphemism. At only 17 years old, it has 4.1 million disciplesOn Instagram. She walked for Prada, Chanel, Burberry and Alexander Wang. It appeared pretty much every major brilliant fashion, including on the cover ofVogue Paris. Oh, and last year she won the model of the year with fashion awards. Yes. You can call it aGreatmodel now.)

Nevertheless, despite the family's family and background globes, Gerber has a little time found the time to sneak up with a rise side that has quickly become a major increase. You may have heard about this: Casamigos.

The Main Tequila brand - Mainstay started, in 2013, as a three-men elegance: Gerber;Mike Meldman, the international developer real estate; andGeorge Clooney, yes,this George Clooney. All three are equal partners, but every man offers a different asset, a Holy Trinity of Business Savvy. Meldman brings the party. Clooney brings Star Power (and a nice faceGreat for marketing). Gerber brings a warning to bright eyes. And it is paid in general.

In 2017, the trio sold Casamigos in Diageo, the conglomerate of the alcohol industry, for an eye a $ 1 billion ($ 700 million from the BAT, $ 300 million to come later later , possible on the performance of the brand). At that time, nine richer numbers overnight, most men would buy a beach in the Maldives and never looking for an office. Not Gerber. To date, he stayed like the Casamigos de facto creative director.

Recently, it meant a major movement: expansion. Last year, the Casamigos spurd to strictly from Tequila and released their first mezcal,The Joven. Unlike the traditional bottles of the company, with colorful labels - the mezal is fully packed in a dusty black. Yes, like their tequila, it always wears signatures inscribed by Gerber and Clooney. Oh, and take it from me: things are delicious, the type of smoky liquor that is so smooth that you doubt that it is even alcoholic - until you suddenly be three leaves in the wind.

We have caught up with the man behind the magic to choose his brain on the family, paternity, business, clooney stories (including once, he found himself in bed with Crawford) and, of course, Tequila . Cheers.

[This interview has been published and condensed with clarity.]

We understand that Casamigos is a brand with which you have been practiced since its foundation. Can you describe your role in turning off the ground and discuss your daily responsibilities?

I am at the office every day and actively participates in every creative decision of the company. I am incredibly detailed oriented and all we do comes from our Malibu office to develop innovative marketing for the brand.

Casamigos has been created from our desire to drink the best tequila. At the time, George and I built houses in Mexico and, as we do when you spend time in Mexico, we drank a lot of tequila. We went to different restaurants and bars, and the Barenders would suggest different tequilas - some really expensive, others not so expensive, a good thing, others not so good. They all had one thing in common: they burned. With that, George turned to me and said, "Why do not we do our own, it's perfect for us?"

So we did.

Have you ever imagined Casamigos, when you have designed the idea first, would be where it is today?

He has never been our intention to create a Tequila company. It was made for us to drink and share with all our friends from our houses in Mexico. We wanted the best tasting, the smoother tequila, which should not be covered with salt or lime. We wanted to be able to drink it all night and not be the hippover in the morning. So we spent months searching for masters distillers and distilleries and found one in the uplands of Jalisco, Mexico. It took 700 bottles of samples, but we finally got it perfectly.

Cut to two years later, we received a call from our distillery saying that we had a problem. They said, "Either you sell this, you drink.manner too much. We send you 1,000 bottles a year and we can not continue to do it and call them samples. You must therefore be allowed to sell. "

After this call, I asked George what he wanted to do. He said, "Let's get under license. If we do a bottle, it does not matter. As long as we have to continue drinking our tequila, we are happy." So we started society and he immediately took off. People knew we had something special - not your typical tequila.

Casamigos recently released with a mezal. What inspired you to expand the brand far from the Just Tequila? Are you going to act to other liquors too?

We were given mezques to try a few years ago and there was one that we really liked. At the time, all our attention focused on sharing the Casamigos tequila with the world, but we stayed in touch with the family that created that Mezcal and knew one day, it would be part of the Casamigos family. We start with this one, but there are others in the work that will not be released until they are so perfect as the Joven.

What is your vision of the advanced brand?

We always think of the front and have ideas in the works - that I can not share, but we are really proud of what we have done and that we are focused on the continued growth of our tequila and our mezcal.

How would you describe your management philosophy?

Casamigos is a very different company and, because we have done for us, we had to learn the business as we built. We do not follow any rules or do not look at other brands. We do everything in the house and do things in our way. So far, it worked.

What is the Casamigos office culture? How do you keep employees happy on this day and age, where strict schedules are gone and benefits are the norm?

We have a good office. It's in a big loft in Malibu. There is a billiard table, a ping-pong table, a bouquet of sofas and, of course, a bar, so everyone fleets. It's a truly social atmosphere and everyone always wants to be there.

We collaborate on everything. If I have an idea, we all sat down. Our office is a big open loft. I do not have my own office, everyone moves, on the couch, bar, the shooting pool. It's very collaborative, working together.

What do you attribute your great success?

Consumers are smart and know what they love, and they want the best. They love and appreciate the authenticity and quality of Casamigos. It is very easy to drink and people enjoy the fact that they can drink like George and myself, straight or on the rocks. George and I made Casamigos of our desire to drink the smoother and smoother tequila. We do not follow any rule, we make our whole way. Consumers understand that Casamigos is different, it's our way of life and that's what we drink.

Is there a story behind the scenes to work with George Clooney that you would be willing to share our readers? We read it is a Farkster. Is this the case in business, too?

The man, there is so much ... One night we discussed ideas on design, names, marketing, and so on, a bottle of casamigos-we finished, passing. We were a little buzzed and got a walk from walking to my house, where he stays when he comes out of the beach. We have a guest house directly on the beach, and that's where he usually stays, but that night, he did not feel like walking in the few steps, so I put it in our room guests in the main house.

At 03:00, Cindy noticed that I was not in bed and decided to walk to see if I fell asleep in the room, which is where I stay when I'm late. She sees who she thinks I is facing down with my clothes and go to bed. A minute later, she realizes George he. They were both confusing George thought he would wander in the master bedroom, and Cindy thought he was me in the room because George stays in the beach house.

Needless to say, we all laughed on this, and that ended up beingOur first commercial: "Drink Casamigos and wake up with Cindy Crawford. Or, like Cindy likes to say, "Drink Casamigos and wake up with George Clooney. »

Parenthood is a great thing for us toBetter life. How do you reconcile being an impressive father and both run a prosperous business and celebrity image?

Cindy and I were really inherity on the hands. We are very proud of them and support the paths that passionate them. When I meet people in my past, they are not really shocked to see where my life took me.

We have read recently that you have celebrated your 20th anniversary with your wife. (Congrats!) What are the keys to a happy marriage?

Cindy said that tequila is the key to a happy marriage. I can not chat with that!

You have run successful nightlife businesses for decades. A wise council for guys looking to break into the company?

I started with a [club] and shot in more than 30 across the United States and Europe. My advice is to open a place where you personally want to hang out. This is the same reason, we did Casamigos-we did it forwe to drink. I build places for myself, my friends and places I wanted to go. It was my party every night and, if I was there or not, the party continued.

It's really important to understand that, yes, it's a fun company, and it's easy to get caught in the fun part, but you can not forget that it's a business. It is also important to pay attention to detail. I always think, if I notice, everyone does. If you do something big, people will get to know.

Are there fun facts about Casamigos that you would be willing to share?

Each batch is approved by our master distiller, George and myself before entering the bottle. Casamigos has never been intended to be sold to the public and there were no fancy bottles or packaging in question. George and I were sitting in my restaurant, Habana Café, in Malibu, before Casamigos had launched the public and drinking one of the bottles of plastic samples we had been doing in two years and thought it was perfect As he is. Let's just do this drink, put a plug in it, and name after our houses in Mexico: Casamigos.

How do you drink your tequila? Sorry-your Casamigos?

Cared for. And on the rocks.

Lead image by Camilo Rios

To discover more incredible secrets about the life of your best life,Click hereTo follow you on Instagram!