The Old Diocesan Issue 10 - Magazine - Page 41
in that comfort zone, you may think
you’re progressing, but you’re not.”
He was initially considered for
the CMO role, but Teremana was
evolving rapidly, so the opportunity
changed into an offer to apply
for the position of CEO. “I didn’t
necessarily think I’d get the job,
but I thought, ‘What an experience,
I’ll give it my all.’ I worked my butt
off preparing for the interviews –
working with interview coaches,
investing my own time and money,
reaching out to my network and
back-channelling. Preparation
is key for anything you do. My
maths teacher, Betty Solomon,
used to talk about this. She’d say,
‘It’s about the work you put in.’
Lo and behold, I got offered the job.
“Whether it was the job I got in
Africa for Campari, where I felt
I wasn’t qualified for the role, or
this, I’ve had impostor syndrome
most of my working career. I’ve
always been ambitious, always
wanted to work hard, but I didn’t
expect to be in the position of CEO
of such a successful company, with
the upside of working with one of
the world’s biggest celebrities.”
Richard in full frontof-house CEO mode.
While there’s no denying the
clout DJ brings to Teremana – the
man has 396 million Instagram
followers – Richard explains that
he takes his business very seriously.
Most tequilas are produced by
distilleries that make several
brands – the ratio is about 2,000
brands to 150 distilleries – and
most celebrity-endorsed brands are
from mass-producing distilleries.
But that’s not how The Rock rolls.
“DJ isn’t one of those celebrities
who slapped their name on a
tequila label to make a quick buck.
Teremana is a passion project for
him. He got into this with purpose,
so he’s very involved and puts
in seriously hard work. Two years
before he launched Teremana, he
built his own distillery to his own
specifications in terms of process
with fully mature agave, including
smaller brick ovens – about half
the size of the typical brick ovens
– and a small handmade copper
pot still. That’s why we can
make the claim of small-batch
process. We’ve just built a new,
multimillion-dollar distillery –
but we didn’t build bigger ovens.
“For him, the connection to
tequila is personal – it has always
been part of his family gatherings.
That was the inspiration for him to
have a go at making tequila himself.
But he also knew he needed the
right partners. He built the distillery
with the Lopez family, a thirdgeneration agave-growing family
and second-generation distilling
family. My role as CEO involves
dealing with various stakeholders
and the board, and running
operations – but from a consumerfacing perspective, it’s about him.”
Like many ODs who left South
Africa for career reasons, Richard
will always have a soft spot for
Cape Town – but he gets twitchy if
he sticks around too long. Whether
it was the gap year, the first move
to Europe or the second, or what
seems like a final move to the US,
he always felt the pull to leave. He
has seen enough of the US to want
to stay and continue to build the
Teremana brand into the Johnnie
Walker of tequilas. “America is an
incredibly diverse place with some
of the smartest, most talented
people in the world,” he says.
“Markets such as San Francisco
and New York are so inspiring.
There’s so much opportunity.”
With Teremana’s international
rollout set for this year, plus five
US domestic markets and a global
celebrity-icon at the helm, Richard
has plenty to keep him busy. And
with a launch in South Africa due
in 2025, he will have an excuse for
a business trip back to the home
of the Stormers – but he’s mum
on whether DJ will be available
for a launch at the Mitre.
Tudor CaradocDavies (1998B)
is a writer and
publisher, and editor
of The Mission flyfishing magazine.
THE OLD DIOCESAN | 37