Robert Furniss Roe, CEO, Samson & Surrey
Robert Furniss Roe
This is a transcript from The Floridaville podcast. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence so it may not be an accurate account of what was recorded.
Rosanna Catalano 00:09
This is The Floridaville! Get to know the people behind the Florida names you know, I'm your host Rosanna Catalano. On this episode we get to know Robert Furniss Roe, who's bringing innovation to the world of craft liquors. He is the chief operating officer of Samson and Surrey which holds a portfolio of independent premium craft spirits. He's no stranger to the world of alcohol beverages. For years. He headed up Bacardi North America. We are streaming today's episode remotely. I'm in my home office in Tallahassee and Robert is speaking to us from his home in Miami. Well, welcome to the show.
Robert Furniss Roe 00:43
Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be with you.
00:45
Now years ago, when you went shopping for beer you had a few brands to choose from and over the last decade, the beer aisles in stores have expanded and now we see lots of brands, many of them craft beers. So when we hear the word craft, it's often affiliated with beer. for those of us not in your industry can you explain to us what craft means in the context of spirits where your company is in that space?
Robert Furniss Roe 01:14
Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people have discovered the word craft rediscovered it through beer. But actually there's the important thing is what's happening underneath in terms of consumer behavior, and what's happening underneath and it's been happening a lot since the last recession in the US in 2008, is a rediscovery of what really matters. And an appreciation for artisanship and a bubble I think what Croft actually means is the human side of brands and the human creativity that goes behind brands. And this is a phenomena that's not limited to beer or to spirits. It's actually in general whether you look at yogurts, breakfast cereals, fine timepieces. There's a been a growing appreciation of the human element human Creativity. To some extent, the mirror image is a growing rejection of the bland mass produce products. People are looking for something that has more differentiation. That's more exciting, more interesting from a product basis. And it tells a story that's more engaging, because that story is more human, frankly, because there's generally one guy or one girl behind the company, and they have struggled and put their life savings into it to start it. And that's, frankly, more emotionally involving than just the, you know, the next corporation trotting out the next big thing. So, the craft movement, if we can call it that is actually a consumer movement, rather than something generated out of an industry per se.
Rosanna Catalano 02:40
Thank you for that explanation. Can you tell us a bit more about your company Samson and Surrey and what they do?
Robert Furniss Roe 02:47
Sure, our company is really, I think probably the best term, is a collective. So my partner and I in the business to work together for many years in other situations, including at Bacardi recognized a real opportunity in the US because of this growing love and appreciation for artisanal brands to give artisanal brands a strong platform in order to compete with the big boys. So this for me is a bit of a David versus Goliath analogy. And so we thought it would be fun and interesting and exciting to bring a really small select group of craft brands together that we think have the potential to grow and be exciting in the long term. And so we founded company Samson and Surrey, we did an extensive process of really just tasting which has a lot of fun and working our way through a lot of different companies and brands to identify what we thought were the ones that had real potential in the long term both in the US and actually overseas. And then we brought those brands together into one place and gave them the resources and the passion. That company with some means behind it can bring so we have a national sales team. Have an international sales team. In fact, as well as have people based outside of the US, we have a strong education and advocacy team. So a group of people whose only job in life really is to spread the gospel, to explain how our brands work, why they different how they're made, but go into real depth. So that both professionals, but also consumers can really appreciate why we're so different. And then we bring, you know, all of the other expertise that's been accumulated over too many years in the industry, to bear as well, so that we can really make our mark on the brands that we work with and have them grow and be successful in the long term and enable them to to kind of fight toe to toe with some of the big Goliath in the market.
Rosanna Catalano 04:44
Would it be safe to say that you all are storytellers with regards to these artisinal spirits?
Robert Furniss Roe 04:52
Yes, that's a great I love to thank you for that analogy. That's a great analogy. I think we're storytellers because this is of our industry, the spirits industry is an industry that where stories are really important. If you think about it, it's kind of how our industry works. And it's a little bit the same for wine. So, you know, picture a scene, hopefully post COVID, where you sit down with your friends from work in a bar, and what do you do you tell each other story, tell stories about the day that you've just had and what the boss said, and what happened next, and you know, what the latest project is that you're working on and what the kids have been doing. So there's a degree of storytelling in the bar and the on premise environments in which we operate in. And at the same time, you also tell each other stories about what you're drinking. So it can be a very innocent question to your friend across the way. Why do you drink What are you drinking? Why are you drinking that? What's so good about that? And then you as the person that's being interrogated have to answer with a story. Well, I discovered this when I went to visit the distillery in New York, it was Widow Jane in Brooklyn and you know, they have a unique product because of their their use of special mineral water that they source from upstate New York and because they have these really intense Bourbons that they curate. So the storytelling goes on. And what makes it even more interesting is this, all of this storytelling, particularly around products goes on in front of somebody on the other side of the bar, who's a professional, who knows a lot about this because their job and sometimes those professionals will also engage in conversation storytelling with you as well. So there's a giant conversation going on in our industry around around products and liquids and the stories behind them. Because, you know, the people that make our liquids, the people that we partner with, are also in their in their own right rockstars. A little bit like we've seen celebrity chefs, be involved in celebrity bartenders, quite rightly and the people that make our liquids are also celebrities to some extent, and they have wonderful stories to tell about how they do what they do and why they do it. And all of that adds to these emotional layers of storytelling that go around the intrinsic with the liquid, which is at the heart of everything that we do. So yeah, storytelling is a Really important way to explain to propagate and to engage people. And I think that's a human thing that's been going on for 20,000 years since we're all sitting around a fire. We're hoping the mammoth didn't come and attack us.
07:13
It's brilliant. Because I think once somebody has that story, then it's very personal to them. And then there's, I think that develops probably a lot of brand loyalty. So that's wonderful. You know the name of your company, Samson and Surrey, is very unique. Where does the name come from?
07:29
The company's name is a story, going back to what we were just talking about. It's storytelling between myself and my business partner, Juan Rivera. And all it really reflects is a sense of place and a sense of roots, which you think is important in in our storytelling around our brands. And so we said, well, the company needs to have that same kind of storytelling in its own name, even though it's not a brand that we're going to sell, but our identity should be of a similar vein, and so we basically named the company After our mutual geographic origins inJuan's case, he comes from Catalonia and comes from Barcelona, and the area around Barcelona. And he grew up in a lot of time with his grandfather in a village called Samsara, which is outside of Barcelona in the winegrowing region where they make beautiful sparkling wine called a cava, which is what on remembers doing from an early age, parent grandparents were in the business. And so he would have to go down to the cave, and or the cellar underneath the house and pick a good bottle of wine that the Sunday lunch, because that's when everyone gathered around and told stories to each other over over a good bottle of cava. In my case, the story part comes from my father's family, who were established in Surrey, and southwest of London for many years. And it's a homage to my father in particular because he was a rather exciting character. He was, amongst other things, Aria Spitfire pilot and World War II he had the misfortune of being shot down twice, and escaping from the Germans twice, which was no mean feat. Second time he was escaping he was hidden in a brothel in Paris and tyshee, which is a rather unsavory part of Paris. It's still not the nicest area back in World War II, it was a no go area for both the French police and even the Germans. It was so rough. And so he was hidden in a brothel there for four months. He claims All he did was drink. Who knows, but that's what he told the family. He certainly garnered a taste for fine spirits because he was locked in a cellar with a bunch of pre war spirits, cognacs and armagnacs in particular, as well as brandy. And so he got to know the spirits industry that way at the tender age of 20, hiding from the Germans. And then after the war, he actually married into a family that owned a big distribution business in the Mediterranean, called rakonin speed and so he had direct knowledge of the wines and spirits industry from his early professional years after the And so I thought it was appropriate because my father was a lover of fine, well made things in life, particularly spirit that we get the other half of the other sense of place, which is Surrey, when I said county to the southwest of London.
10:15
Now your father's been in the business. Obviously he was in the business and you grew up, I guess being surrounded by it. When did you really show interest in this type of business? At what age?
10:28
Well, at age 12, my grandfather remarried and I was spotted, as everyone moved from the lunch table to the reception area. I was spotted moving around the table sampling all of the spirits until I was in found flat out underneath the table about two hours later, fast asleep. So I had a fairly early induction but all joking aside, I had a wonderful career. Before I got into the spirits industry, I worked in things as diverse as radio starting this this was a local radio business in France. I also work for L'Oreal in cosmetics. I work for Dunhill luxury goods. And then I joined the spirits industry group of Bacardi who hired me. And what I found and what kept me engaged is I think you need a very broad skill set to be in our industry. So there's a part of our industry that spirits industry that's very much like other consumer goods. It's all about big retailers. It's all about Merchandising, and planning shelf space, and complex negotiations around price and promotional scheduling, and all of that kind of hardcore, CPG skill set. And at the same time, in our industry, there's all of the storytelling, the romance, the emotion, and actually the fact that it's a very engaging category. I always say if I'm sitting on a plane, and you know, somebody turns around to me and says, what do you do if I say I'm in the you know, the car parts business? No offense, but People are going to go that's interesting, you know, shock absorbers need replacing. I'm in the spirits industry and I curated a bunch of really interesting spirits brands, everybody gets very excited because they've all got their stories to tell about all of this. And they don't like that. And why is it made that way? And what is the age statement mean? And can you make bourbon anywhere, and you just get this stream of consciousness for most people, because it's a really engaging industry. And so that's what's on the inside kept me engaged was the professional, hardcore skill set that you need to run any large, fast moving consumer goods business, as well as all of this romance and imagery and emotional territory that you need to cultivate around the brand to be successful.
12:39
Now, you have had a long standing relationship with Bacardi for many years. In fact, he became the president and CEO of Bacardi North America for several years and accomplished a lot in that time from growth in Russia to the expansion in South America to the development of new markets in places like India. What are you personally most proud of from your time with Bacardi.
13:04
I think I'm what am I most proud of, I really had a wonderful time with the company, I was very lucky to be able to run all four regions of the world. I think my biggest fear in life is not adding value in the professional context. So I like to be somebody that adds value in context. I think in particular pride points. I was part of the team and ended up president of the Asia Pacific region that built up the business in Asia from scratch. I think that was a great moment of pride. It was part of the team in North America that turned the business around after some very difficult years in the last recession, got business back onto a growth track, and also launched some pretty cool products along the way. We were doing, amongst other things, a corporation with Jay Z, and a brand called d'usse cognac, which has gone on since we launched it to be one of the most successful new brands in the market. And above all, I think I'm proud of people that I work with to some extent, and nurtured along the way, many of whom are still there, many of whom are in very high positions of responsibility in the company. So I think like a lot of people I'm, you know, I'm proud of the people that I work with and tried to help and I'm proud of some of those individual achievements where you kind of look back and go, Wow, this started from nothing. And now look at it. Well, I guess there's two things that stand out.
14:22
Well, we're gonna take a quick commercial break, and we come back we'll continue the conversation with Robert.
14:29
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14:29
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Rosanna Catalano 15:22
Welcome back, if you're just tuning in, I'm speaking today with Robert Furniss Roe the CEO of Samson and Surrey a craft spirits company. So I've seen news reports that say alcohol consumption has increased since the covid 19 pandemic started yet we know that bars and restaurants have been really financially struggling with all of the restrictions and lockdowns put in place as a result of the pandemic. So it seems that adults are enjoying their cocktails from home. You know, from where you sit, Robert, how has your handling of the brands changed as a result of this shift has anything changed?
Robert Furniss Roe 16:00
Well, I mean, I think we've obviously had to adapt. I mean, the great tragedy is what's happened to our friends in what we call the on premise, which is the bar and restaurant industry, thousands upon thousands of people have been forced to close, hundreds of thousands of people literally, in hospitality have found themselves out of work. That's been a very traumatic time, for a group of people that are generally high energy fun engaging, and that, you know, we have personal friendships and relationships with as well as professional relationships. And we are as a company trying to do our bit to help support them by raising funds, in particular for some of the charities that are supporting people that are most needy, and that in that space being hit very hard, and you know, it's a very uncertain environment for them. Still, to some extent, the the on premise being a little bit of the sort of easy target. And it's not to say that some sensible measures didn't need to be taken, but the on premise or the brunt of a lot of this but all the closures. the reverse The metal is that people are still drinking spirits, not really more than they did pre pandemic pandemic. But were they forcing them to shift it. So if you can't go out to a bar and restaurant, you like good spirits, you are buying them from stores or you're buying them online and the volume is going through that side of the business has increased. And so our reaction to that has been, apart from staying connected with our friends and the on premise. We've also made sure that we have a better as good as possible distribution in the off premise, particularly in the new emerging ecommerce segment, which is still relatively modest, as an overall present. And growing faster than three quarters to be visible there. We've shifted to digital like everyone, so everything that we were doing face to face, with our distributors with our retail customers, we're now doing online. We have a tremendous team that's producing content and it's also training, giving seminars, doing virtual tastings with people saw a huge amount of focus on on operating in the online space. Like a lot of business. As in the pandemic, and we continue to innovate and to bring out new and exciting products as well. So I'd say overall in the business, we haven't really stopped if anything, we've kind of accelerated through the pandemic. we're actually very pleased with with the performance, although we're very much looking forward to return to normality, particularly for our brethren in the on premise and the bar and restaurant industry when they can get back to work and get back to entertaining people. I think that will be a collective sigh of relief. I'm sure it will come back. I think human beings human behavior hasn't fundamentally changed. the boundaries, the human psyche hasn't changed, our behavior has changed because of the pandemic. But I believe that when this is over, and at some point it obviously logically will be over. I think people will go back to celebrating moments in person. They will go back to the on premise, they will go back to that storytelling around the bar we were talking about when they do it make shift So what was the I think one of the things too be fascinating to see it's how the workplace evolves and how many companies go back to having full on staffing in a city center. How many companies go to sort of a partial work flow there how many move out to the suburbs, I think there's going to be some rearranging of the of the pieces in terms of the physical size of workplaces and, and how we engage with work. But overall, we feel that nothing fundamentally has changed in the psyche. And so once this is over, fixed, we'll go back to fairly close to where they were before. With the addition that you know, ecommerce and convenience of having it delivered to your home will be a more important factor on an industry than it was before. And in our case, we've managed to sustain and grow people's awareness of our brands during the pandemic so we feel confident about the future.
19:48
That's great as an extrovert I know I've been suffering through this pandemic and I can't wait to get out and see people and hug people and have that wonderful human interaction. You from up close instead of through a screen. So, I want to switch gears a bit. I saw that you serve on the board a Filthy Food. Can you tell us about Filthy Food and your work there?
20:13
Yes, Filthy Food is another wonderful Florida based company is actually based in Miami. And to some extent, what Daniel Singer and the team at Filthy food do is similar to what we do within a different space. So what filty does is make typically the world's best, most artisanal garnishes and accompaniments for spirits. So there's a beautiful range of products with Filthy, including, I think, from my perspective, the best cocktail cherries in the world, a wonderful range of olives, both ordinary, ordinary, but plain olives as well as olives that have been pre prepared stuffed, for example, blue cheese, and so on pickles, as well as things like brine, which is a convenient central ingredient, something like a Dirty Martini. So this is really and I think it was Daniel's Inspiration some time ago, a company that said if you're going to make a good cocktail, don't put a piece of rubbish into it and ruin it. And Dan noticed that a lot of cocktail garnishes were, frankly industrial, opening chemicals with quite poor quality raw materials and said, well, you're going to spend all this money on a good bottle of gin, like new coke gin that we own. And then you're going to prepare it in a very specific and precise way. And then you're going to drop some crappy, you know, olive into it, it's got chemicals in it, that's actually going to affect the flavor. And so from that was the inspiration for the team to come up with filthy, Filthy Foods as the name filthy again, is a lovely story behind it. It's a British saying somebody gets absolutely filthy when they've kind of been rolling around outside in the mud and that's what Daniel's mother used to say to him. And so, being filthy means being all in doing something and that's what the company has grown very well very wide distribution both in the states and beyond. You can find them Publix and you can find them in almost every grade bar by every self respecting bar which will carry Filthy because it really is the ultimate complimente to a good cocktail. And it's a really fun and complimentary business.
22:14
Yeah, I mean, the garnish is part of the experience. So it's very smart to have put some time and effort in that aspect of the business. You know, circling back to craft brands. I know for me, I love the stories behind the smaller craft brands. And we talked earlier about storytelling. When you're curating these brands, and finding partners, what types of stories resonate with you?
22:40
I think it depends, each brand has their own story to tell. So you know, if I take a look at our portfolio, what we find are some common threads in terms of storytelling and then and then an individual person's story behind it. So the common threads are really people who are obsessive about the quality of the liquid and that manifests itself in very Different ways to take Widow Jane, which is our bourbon company best to deal with Jane is all about and was inspired by the intensity of New York City and so Widow Jane is all about having truly intense bourbon flavor. And they achieve that by selecting only the best Bourbons nationally using very high age bourbon. So we operate in a space with agendas. 10 years is the minimum aging and it goes up from there. We don't use industrial filtration, we don't use chill filtration so we don't put the product through a process that will remove any of the flavor content. And then one of the other secret ingredients of Widow Jane is where the water comes from. Almost every whiskey when it comes out of the barrel is reduced to a lower alcohol strength by the addition of water. In the case of Widow Jane the water comes from upstate New York from Rosendale. The Rosendale Mines in New York are actually a very famous landmark in construction because they provided the building materials that built America. And when I say that, I mean literally built American architectural iconography. So, from rosendale, and the sun, the limestone semantic rosendale was created the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, parts of the Empire State Building parts of the White House, parts of the Washington Monument and so on. All of this came from this one place in upstate New York, it was the Wonder material at the age. And then as that industry was superseded by new technology, the minds effort and to to this use, including the Widow Jane mine, which is on the site, that we also co occupy, and they filled with with water from rainfall that filtered through the limestone rock there, as well as from a very large underground aquifer. And so what we now sit on is we occupy a closed area of the miners for public health purposes. Only for us and it's completely controlled, is about 95 million gallons of pure high minerality mineral water that we use to reduce our product from barrel strength to bottle strength. Nobody else can do that. It's a very unique water and water actually makes a difference. You know, there are different waters in life not all waters are created equal. A lot of people use very neutral water to reduce their products to strengthen the business wonderful mind waters. So Widow Jane is all about intensity and everything they do there is all about intensity. If I look at Few, Few is all about and based in Chicago, which is our other whiskey partner Few is all about creativity. So Few makes wonderful base, bourbon and rye products where the rye is actually very fruit forward and very easy to drink, which is atypical of rice and tend to be very stringent and challenging. And the bourbon that they made under Paul Hletko's leadership, who's the face of behind FEW, that is a bourbon that has a high rye content so it has a spiciness and a body, which stands up when it popped up. So these are again differentiated liquid. And then on top of that there's a whole raft of creativity. Most recently we launched a breakfast gin using Earl Grey tea, we launched cold cut bourbon, which is reduced Is the bourbon drink using cold brew coffee which nobody else has ever done. And that's a remarkable product which is a bourbon with a sort of slight coffee finish. And we have actually two days ago just launched Immortal Rye, which is our rye product reduced the strength using eight Immortals oolong tea from Guangdong province in China, which brings this remarkable tannic and fruit note, dragon fruit, peach and various other stone fruit to the to the liquid, and again, highly differentiated liquid. And then with that the story behind Few is a whole other long story with shall encapsulating just one one example. And it goes back to the creativity of Paul and the team. Few is founded in Evanston in northern Chicago, which happens to be the home of prohibition. It's the home of prohibition because it's the home of a lady called Francis E. Willard FC W. Sounds familiar. processi word was the leader of the Christian women's temperance union, which was 25 years lobbied intensively in the US, Congress and everyone To them to bring about prohibition. And they succeeded. Of course, after World War One, the lobbying took place from about 1880 through to about 1910. So very large and powerful organization had its own skyscraper in Chicago. Willard was a fascinating character, even if she was on the other side of the debate from outside. She was a fascinating character, and she also represents state of Illinois. She has a statue in the rotunda of the Capitol building. And it's the only statue of a woman, believe it or not, in that set of statues that represent each of the 50 states. So Few is a brand that has creativity that has a sense of humor, and it also has a deep connectivity to Chicago, and to its past. So those are some of the stories that we like to tell brands. Each of our earlier has a very similar level of of storytelling, whether we talk about tequila Ocho, which is a single state tequila, which nobody else does. Or Mezcal Vago, which comes from very high altitude in the Southern Highlands of Mexico where we get a better quality raw material, then you would normally be able to achieve enough to have a better, better product or whether we talk about Brenne, which is our French single market and very unique, or about Blue Coat, which is our American gin made in Philadelphia, which is the first American Dry gin. So it actually established a new category. And I realized the irony of me saying this, but he was sticking two fingers up with the the British dry gin and saying we could make an interesting gin in America.
28:25
These are fascinating stories. And I feel like we should have a cocktail while we are talking, discussing these stories. I feel
28:33
that much better. Yeah, we should do this at 5pm when it's respectable so to have a cocktail.
28:41
if our audience wanted to try some of these craft brands of spirits, where can they find them?
28:49
The answer is pretty much everywhere. We distributed across all 50 states in the US as well as internationally 52 different markets, most large independent and chain retailers. have our products. If you have any difficulty we're very easy to reach out to on social media. We also work very closely with a number of e commerce partners including Drizly and clubs like Flavia and specialists like Caskers to make with three of our great partners in that space who are also enable things to be delivered to your door. But you can find this as the saying goes where you know, reputable brands are sold. So we've generally out there have some gaps because we're a small and emerging company and so if you're interested in something you'd like to try and you can't find it and reach out directly to us. We are small enough and personal enough as a company to be able to follow up and guide you to the right place to find out.
29:39
Well, we'd like to end our show with a little fun by asking our guests the same seven questions. What would people be surprised to know about you?
29:50
Um, I am a part time pilot. Probably frustrated because of my father's stint in Flying was before and after the war. And so my great passion outside of alcohol is flying and the two are very incompatible. So obviously I have to be very careful that but that's my great hidden passion is actually flying planes.
30:14
When you have guests in town, where's your favorite place to take them?
30:21
In Miami, I think, I think I like to show people the infrastructure of Miami, the cultural infrastructure, if I can call it that because I think we have a bad rap as a city and I personally very fond of Miami, I think it's a wonderful place and a world class city and we have a reputation. Still a little bit of you know, party, Central and South Beach and rapid throwing money out of the car or the dragon Ocean Drive and everything else. And there's so much more here I sit on the board of Miami ZMF which is the Zoological Society of South Florida, which is now a zoo Miami foundation. We have one of the best zoos in the country, the way you can actually get up and close and personal with animals. no cages, no bars. We have amazing cultural infrastructure where the art center, the center, we have amazing infrastructure for things like Children's Museum and the new science museum. So there's a lot going for Miami. So I tend to like to take people out and say, yeah, you know, we have some real culture and some world class entertainment here, aside from all the stuff you're here for, which is the great bars in the great partying.
31:25
I lived in South Miami before I moved to Tallahassee, so I I miss it. And I grew up in South Florida, so I know exactly what you're talking about. I just miss it down there. So what is the name of a book you recently read, that you could not put down or the name of a show you enjoy binge watching?
31:43
I think the show the show would have been Unorthodox on Netflix, which tells the story of a Hasidic woman's journey, and it's just it was brilliantly made. And I think for a book, The last book I couldn't put down was Winter's Tale by Mark Halperin, which is not a new book. I think it was written in the 80's But I've rarely read such a luscious book, The guy's use of languages had me sitting there going, Oh my god, I wish I could even, you know, do 50 percent what this guy could do in writing. It's just like kind of Ben and Jerry's of a book where you just want to sit there and binge it, even though it's really rich. It's an amazing story Winter's Tale.
32:21
I'll have to check it out. I did watch the Unorthodox and was I thought it was an amazing piece of storytelling as well. So among your close family and friends, what are you best known for?
32:33
What am I best known for? Well, certainly amongst friends, being a provider of high quality spirits. I think also probably best known for sense of humor, which my children would probably say is not always appropriate. But I tend to try and, you know, make sure that everyone stays in a positive and friendly and laugh your way out of trouble sometimes state of mind. And I think I you know, I try and, you know, do the right thing. Give back And try and make sure that everyone is is happy around me.
33:04
If you have a nickname Who gave it to you?
33:10
that I can repeat on camera.
33:13
I think probably my son, my oldest son, James, who inherited my twisted sense of humor, he calls me, Bobert. Because he knows that I don't like having my name shortened to Bob. And so this is his way of winding me up. I'm not calling you, Bob. So you know, you can't be angry with me.
33:31
If you knew you could not fail, what would you attempt?
33:35
If I knew I could not fail? What would I attempt? I think if I knew I couldn't fail. I think in the current context in this country, I would find a way to spark some kind of dialogue so that we didn't end up in just the partisan trenches, which is the same in a lot of countries. Now, I think politics, not just in the US, but in general, is in something of a tailspin and we've don't Have the dialogue and the constructive debate that we had for many years in many different countries, my own home country is very much the same. And I am not a creature of the left or the right. I'm a creature of common sense. And I think there are a lot of people who actually are quite like minded and have been pulled apart by this insistence of the partisan design of being, you know, one side of the other. And if you're not for us, you're against us. And I think that's a very dangerous situation to be in. So if there's one thing I could do without, you know, falling flat on my face, which is what a lot of people do, right now that are calling for calm, it would be to call for calm and dialogue and understanding and trying to find a path forward that everyone can live with understanding that not ever, you don't get 100% of what you want, in life, like the Rolling Stones said, You don't always get what you want. So compromise and finding a common path forward is the most important thing and it seems to be the thing that we're all collectively struggling with the most.
34:58
I think you're right You know, a good idea is a good idea no matter where it comes from. What are the top three things you love about living in Florida?
35:10
I guess I have to say the climate, although, of course, you know, that's a that's a love hate relationship because we all hate. Most of us at least hate, you know, June through October when we're living in some kind of weird sauna. But I think then you just as you're getting really fed up with it, you end up basically living in the Caribbean winter for six months, which is probably the most pleasant climate on Earth. So I guess you have you're obliged to say that. I think what I what I enjoy about Florida is the diversity in terms of culture. Overall, it's a very, South Florida in particular, Miami is a very diverse place, not just in I mean, there's obviously great diversity in the Latin American community, but there's really all sorts of Miami from from all over the world and so I enjoy that kind of cultural mixing bowl. And I think the last thing I enjoyed Which is underrated is his nature and the outdoors of taking the winter, not so much in the summer. And this is really a this is really a place which is magical way to live outdoors. You can go and play tennis and do things without thinking that there's other parts of the country extremely difficult most of the year. And I think we don't make enough use when we don't pay enough respect to the great outdoors
36:20
here. It's been a wonderful pleasure speaking with you today. Thank you so much for your time and being on our show.
36:29
It's been a pleasure chatting as well. And thank you very much for having me on.
36:33
Take care. Now, be sure to subscribe to our podcast channel on YouTube and all of your favorite podcast listening platforms. If you enjoy today's episode, be sure to let us know in the comments, and be sure to rate our show. You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Visit our website to see some extras from today's episode. If you have suggestions for future guests, please email us Our email address is feedback@theFloridaville.com. Our audio editor for this podcast episode is Joy Tootle with Rocket Ship Consultants. If you're interested in starting an internet show or podcast of your own visit rocketshipconsultants.com Thanks for listening.
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