Damon Raque is the founder of Bottle Bank and former financial services executive. Damon shares how his once-comfortable life in financial services left him restless, questioning his purpose. Forced out of his corporate role during the pandemic, Damon used the opportunity to reflect on his life’s impact and chose to pursue something more meaningful. Now, as a leader in the hospitality industry, he focuses on creating community-driven, passion-filled experiences with Bottle Bank, a unique destination for wine lovers. Damon’s leadership journey underscores the importance of courage, self-reflection, and chasing one's potential beyond financial success.

Want to learn more about Damon Raque’s work? Check out his website at https://bottlebank.com/.

Connect with Damon Raque on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damon-raque-21128213/.

Key Points with Timestamps:

• 0:51-1:16: Introduction of Damon Raque’s leadership story.
• 2:11-3:18: Damon reflects on his “easy life” in financial services and his growing restlessness.
• 6:02-7:10: The pandemic forces Damon to rethink his career and embrace a new path.
• 9:26-10:32: Damon explains the vision behind Bottle Bank—a premier destination for wine lovers.
• 15:19-16:17: Discussion on the evolving wine-tasting experience and creating personal connections through wine.
• 22:23-23:36: Damon shares how customer experience is central to Bottle Bank’s concept.
• 25:27-26:18: Future plans for Bottle Bank, with an opening slated for summer 2025.

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;30;20
Craig Andrews
I was in a coma for six weeks while the doctors told my wife I was going to die. When I woke up, she told me the most fantastic story. My team kept running the business without me. Freelancers reached out to my team and said, we will do whatever it takes. As long as Craig's in the hospital. I consider that the greatest accomplishment of my career.

00;00;30;23 - 00;00;51;10
Craig Andrews
My name is Craig Andrews and this is the Leaders and Legacies podcast where we talk to leaders creating an impact beyond themselves. At the end of today's interview, I'll tell you how you can be the next leader featured on the show.

00;00;51;10 - 00;01;16;27
Craig Andrews
Today I want to welcome Damon Raque. He is the founder and managing partner of Bottle Bank. But that's not what Raque always did. He used to be in financial services, living the high life. And you know what? Life happens. And sometimes we're forced to make new choices. And that's part of Raque's story. I'm sorry. That's part of Damon’s story.

00;01;16;27 - 00;01;40;25
Craig Andrews
Raque is just such a powerful name. I want to call you Raque, but that's part of Damon's story. And we're going to cover that. And if you're a business owner listening to this at some point you're going to have to answer the question, what am I doing? And why does it matter? That's why you should listen to today's episode.

00;01;40;27 - 00;01;43;24
Craig Andrews
So, Damon, welcome.

00;01;43;26 - 00;01;47;08
Damon Raque
Hey, great to be here. Thanks so much for having me.

00;01;47;10 - 00;01;49;17
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So, you know, I'm such,

00;01;49;17 - 00;02;11;27
Craig Andrews
had such great conversation. I wish we'd almost hit record in 15 minutes ago. But the. You were telling me something about you were in financial services, which we always picture this lavish life. Nice cars, nice suits. Nice. You know, nice. Everything. And. Then you say it was kind of an easy life.

00;02;11;27 - 00;02;14;10
Craig Andrews
It was a comfortable life.

00;02;14;13 - 00;02;37;17
Damon Raque
It was, you know, I was I was with a major financial services company for about 15 years, and it was kind of a classic example of you work really hard in the beginning. And, you know, one of my, my bosses and mentors when I first joined the company said, as you said, kid, this is a job where you will get paid way too little at the beginning and you'll get paid way too much at the end.

00;02;37;20 - 00;02;57;05
Damon Raque
And I think what he said was, was very true. You know, you worked very hard at the beginning to build relationships, to build the territory. And you're told no a lot. And then you slowly start to pick up momentum and then you build out the territory and you have this, you know, there's this entity, so to speak, that's producing for you.

00;02;57;08 - 00;03;18;00
Damon Raque
And then the job kind of shifts to account management and relationship management. And, you know, a lot of the stuff that you did at the beginning, you don't do as much as you should or as you need to. And so things just become easier. It's never easy, but it becomes easier. So that's kind of where I was after 15 years.

00;03;18;03 - 00;03;19;21
Damon Raque
I was on cruise control.

00;03;19;21 - 00;03;43;11
Damon Raque
I had a wonderful life, wonderful opportunity with a wonderful company. And there were times where I would say to myself, you know, am I living up to my potential or could I do more? Could I make a bigger impact? And the answer to all those questions was yes. I kept coming back to the ends, justify the means, and I was ultimately winning at the game of life.

00;03;43;12 - 00;03;59;18
Damon Raque
So I was kind of living in this perpetual state of restlessness and, you know, boredom at times and just feeling a little stagnant. But again, I kept coming back to, hey, you know what? Life's life's pretty doggone good. So we'll just we'll just stay the course.

00;03;59;21 - 00;04;10;20
Craig Andrews
Wow. And, you know, I think a lot of people, when they picture financial services, you know, I mentioned you picture the, the fine suits, the, you know, the fast cars.

00;04;10;20 - 00;04;23;17
Craig Andrews
I mean, it it looks really glamorous, but when I think about how they shoot it in movies and of course, movies aren't real. But when I think about how they shoot it, movies, it's both wonderful and horrible at the same time.

00;04;23;20 - 00;04;48;00
Damon Raque
Yeah, I would say it's it was never horrible. It was never horrible. Again, I worked with great people at an amazing team. Wonderful opportunity. The company took great care of us. I am grateful now and forever will be grateful for the opportunities that it provided me and the exposure and the experience and all the wonderful things that you know it provided for me in life.

00;04;48;02 - 00;04;52;07
Damon Raque
It just, I think went back to your earlier statement, you know,

00;04;52;07 - 00;05;12;07
Damon Raque
for me, Craig, I said, you know, why do people work? Why do people work? And for me, I said, you know, I think it's for three reasons. I think people work to make money. I think people work to hopefully save money for the future. And I think people work to support a great lifestyle, whatever that means to them.

00;05;12;07 - 00;05;31;16
Damon Raque
There's no right or wrong answer. And if you're doing those three things, you're winning at the game of life. And I was doing those three things. So again, I kept coming back to the ends, justify the means and life's pretty doggone good. So let's just let's keep keep riding the train and,

00;05;31;16 - 00;05;34;19
Damon Raque
eventually we'll we'll get off at the station and sell off into the sunset.

00;05;34;19 - 00;05;35;22
Damon Raque
So,

00;05;35;22 - 00;05;41;04
Damon Raque
you know, it's never, never, never anything worse than that, if that makes sense.

00;05;41;06 - 00;05;48;27
Craig Andrews
Yeah. No. It does. Well, and then there was, like, this global reset button that got, you know, they hit the planet in 20.

00;05;48;27 - 00;05;54;22
Damon Raque
Ten, something I can't I think I know what you're talking about. I'm trying to remember what that was like. Yeah, yeah.

00;05;54;24 - 00;05;58;02
Craig Andrews
And so how did that roll out for you and your world?

00;05;58;04 - 00;06;02;17
Damon Raque
So it was the height of the pandemic, you know, fall of 2020, everybody's,

00;06;02;17 - 00;06;07;11
Damon Raque
in lockdown and the world's coming to an end. And like, a lot of large companies,

00;06;07;11 - 00;06;21;13
Damon Raque
you know, mine decided to make a pretty significant change in their distribution. So territories were lemonade, territories were consolidated. Things got changed. And at the end of the day, I ended up no longer having a seat at the table.

00;06;21;13 - 00;06;30;25
Damon Raque
So I was forced to kind of sit back and say, okay, now what? I've been doing this for 15 years. I grew up in this company.

00;06;30;25 - 00;06;34;29
Damon Raque
And it was it was hard, you know, I mean, there were all the,

00;06;34;29 - 00;06;45;27
Damon Raque
all the legitimate reasons why I was no longer there. But at the end of the day, I still kept coming back to, you know, at some point somebody said, hey, Damon, we don't we don't need you here anymore.

00;06;46;00 - 00;07;10;22
Damon Raque
And so that in and of itself is is a tough thing to, to process because you give so much of yourself and you're so loyal to the company and to the brand. And at that point I said, you know what? I'm just going to take some time off and think about what I really want to do next. And then 2021 comes around and I started kind of tiptoeing back into the professional world.

00;07;10;22 - 00;07;29;04
Damon Raque
And I was meeting with recruiters and taking interviews and was, you know, looking at some different opportunities, but just realized, you know, I'm going to get into this and I'm going to be re-energized, reinvigorated for 18 months to two years, but then I'm going to be right back to where I was before. I'm going to be restless and bored.

00;07;29;04 - 00;07;51;17
Damon Raque
And this is a unique opportunity. And as I told you earlier, you know, this this forced me to make a decision that I probably didn't have the courage to make myself because I was just too comfortable. So I had the opportunity to do anything I wanted to do anywhere in the world. And very few people ever get that opportunity, and even fewer get it in the prime of their life.

00;07;51;17 - 00;08;06;08
Damon Raque
So I said, I'm going to be very thoughtful about what's really important to me and what I want for the rest of my life, and I'm going to do something that will feed that, and that's the direction I'm headed in. So. So here we are.

00;08;06;11 - 00;08;12;01
Craig Andrews
You know, and what ended up being the answer is kind of at a high level. What were the answers to those questions.

00;08;12;03 - 00;08;29;00
Damon Raque
So I was brought back to a conversation I had with myself when I turned 40. And again, like, I think like a lot of people, I was just very self-reflective. And I was like, man, I'm 40 years old and I'm halfway done. How am I doing? And I just took inventory of my happy. I'm I'm making an impact.

00;08;29;00 - 00;08;51;11
Damon Raque
Am I making a difference? Am I am I, you know, giving more than I'm taking? And what I realized was, what I wanted for the second half of my life was really very simple. I wanted to eat great food. I wanted to drink great wine. I wanted to travel to beautiful places, to stay in amazing hotels. And most importantly, I wanted to do those things with people that I loved and cared about, who loved and cared about me.

00;08;51;13 - 00;09;26;28
Damon Raque
The very best moments of my life were centered around some combination of those things. And so I set out to really live that life. And when I was put in the situation I was professionally, I said, okay, I'm going to take this to the next level, and I'm going to create an environment where other people can do everything I just described, where like minded individuals can sit down, share a passion, strengthen relationships, build new relationships, create memories, and have wonderful experiences that they're going to take with them for the rest of their lives.

00;09;26;28 - 00;09;33;02
Damon Raque
When people walk out a bottle bank, they're going to think to themselves, man, there's never been a bad night in that place. Wow.

00;09;33;08 - 00;09;38;16
Craig Andrews
So and so and so that is bottle Bank. That's a,

00;09;38;16 - 00;09;43;02
Craig Andrews
not a wine bar. How would you describe it?

00;09;43;04 - 00;09;45;00
Damon Raque
Yeah, we we kind of just describe it as,

00;09;45;00 - 00;10;03;02
Damon Raque
a premier destination, kind of a country club for wine lovers. You know, when we we thought about you know, as, as wine lovers, what we love to do and experience with wine. And then we started making a list around, you know, we'd love to go to wine dinners. We love to go to wine tastings.

00;10;03;02 - 00;10;10;26
Damon Raque
We love to hang out in a beautiful environment and drink great wine. We like to try new wines. We like to talk to winemakers. We like to,

00;10;10;26 - 00;10;25;17
Damon Raque
eat cheese and eat charcuterie and have desserts and, you know, go to amazing dinners. And so we started thinking about all these various experiences and how we can put them all together and create all those experiences,

00;10;25;17 - 00;10;26;16
Damon Raque
in one place.

00;10;26;16 - 00;10;32;16
Damon Raque
And that was really the the genesis of the idea for bottle Bank. So it's kind of a playground for wine lovers.

00;10;32;18 - 00;10;40;21
Craig Andrews
Wow. Now, wine obviously has a broad range. You know how much of a, you know,

00;10;40;21 - 00;10;44;16
Craig Andrews
how much of a wine lover do you have to be to be one of the bottle bank types of,

00;10;44;16 - 00;10;45;26
Craig Andrews
wine lovers?

00;10;45;29 - 00;11;15;23
Damon Raque
Well, that's a that's a great question. It was it was important for, you know, all of us involved to, again, come back to the spear and kind of the, the driving force behind wine for us. You know, wine is it's very connective and it's very communal. And so I think what we're trying to really create at bottle Bank is an environment where if you are someone who is just now discovering wine or you're or you've discovered it and you realize that you like it, but you want to learn more about it.

00;11;15;23 - 00;11;36;23
Damon Raque
So we kind of refer to those as our, you know, kind of aspirational type of wine lovers. And then there's those that are, you know, serious collectors that have been around wine for a long time. We wanted to create various opportunities for everybody and be very inclusive and give everybody the opportunity to experience wine, really, in their own way.

00;11;36;24 - 00;11;51;16
Damon Raque
So to answer your question, whether you're just now discovering it, whether you're well into your journey or whether you've you've been at it for a long time, we think there's plenty for everybody to enjoy. Well.

00;11;51;19 - 00;11;56;19
Craig Andrews
You know, it's 24 or 25 years ago, I went out and I did the little Napa tour.

00;11;56;22 - 00;11;57;22
Damon Raque
Yeah.

00;11;57;24 - 00;12;03;13
Craig Andrews
And. And I got tired of it very, very quickly.

00;12;03;13 - 00;12;15;09
Craig Andrews
You know, you a walk in, you slam your money down the bar, you do your, your flight, you know, you move on, you go to the next place and, you know, the first 2 or 3. That was exciting.

00;12;15;09 - 00;12;20;12
Craig Andrews
But quickly, for me, I just it it was a letdown.

00;12;20;19 - 00;12;25;04
Craig Andrews
Instead of being a wonderful experience, it felt very, very commercialized.

00;12;25;11 - 00;12;26;07
Damon Raque
Yeah.

00;12;26;09 - 00;12;29;16
Craig Andrews
It it left me disappointed.

00;12;29;19 - 00;12;56;11
Damon Raque
It's interesting. You know, I, I hear that more and more, especially in Napa and Sonoma specifically, where most people, their first wine tasting experience typically happens in one of those two places, and it has become very expensive. It has become very luxurious, it has become very commercial, especially the wineries that are open to the public because it is, you know, more volume driven.

00;12;56;12 - 00;13;11;27
Damon Raque
And what's interesting is if you wine taste in other places, you know, and Napa and Sonoma included, you know, there's wineries that are not open to the public, that are open by appointment only. So it's a much more intimate experience. And then if you go to,

00;13;11;27 - 00;13;21;08
Damon Raque
you know, Italy or France or Greece or Croatia or Spain or Portugal, you know, these places, what she realizes these people are farmers.

00;13;21;10 - 00;13;39;24
Damon Raque
They just happen to grow grapes. And I think that's one of the most wonderful things about wine. If you had the opportunity to experience it on that level, the the family, businesses and the history and the sacrifice and the geography and everything that goes into making wine, it's really a time capsule. It's,

00;13;39;24 - 00;13;41;01
Damon Raque
it's a moment in time.

00;13;41;01 - 00;14;00;29
Damon Raque
And all these individuals are involved in creating this product that is alive, and it changes over time. You know, if we drink a bottle of wine today, Craig, it's going to taste different than it will three years from now. And it's going to taste different than it would have three years ago. So if you if you find that passion and you, you really have the opportunity to,

00;14;00;29 - 00;14;06;22
Damon Raque
to meet the people that that create these stories, it's it's absolutely addictive.

00;14;06;22 - 00;14;16;16
Damon Raque
So I would encourage you to give it another shot. And if you're interested in going back out there, you let me know. And I'd be happy to set up some some appointments for you to go to some places that,

00;14;16;16 - 00;14;19;15
Damon Raque
maybe a little more intimate, a little less commercial.

00;14;19;17 - 00;14;30;21
Craig Andrews
I'll take you up on that. You know, it was interesting. I had I was pretty much done with all my tastings at this point. I'm up in Alexander Valley. I'm driving,

00;14;30;21 - 00;14;43;27
Craig Andrews
to my hotel and see a tiny little sign and says, Jordan Winery. Slam on the brakes, turn around, go in. Because I had Jordan. I love Jordan, sure.

00;14;43;29 - 00;14;46;28
Craig Andrews
And I go in and there's this guy coming out and

00;14;46;28 - 00;15;04;08
Craig Andrews
I say, something told me it's like, oh, yeah, it's like, you know, tomorrow's tour is fully booked. Here's my card. Just show up, tell him I sent you. And it was, I think it was a VP of sales. And we go in and we we did tours of the entire winery.

00;15;04;08 - 00;15;09;14
Craig Andrews
They talked about the process. They, you know, it showed the, the villas where they would invite

00;15;09;14 - 00;15;19;20
Craig Andrews
chefs and what have you to come out and stay. And then we come back to this tasting room and instead of there being a bar laid out, it was like a living room.

00;15;19;20 - 00;15;20;12
Craig Andrews
There was,

00;15;20;12 - 00;15;24;03
Craig Andrews
not charcuterie, but there was bread and cheese and,

00;15;24;03 - 00;15;26;27
Craig Andrews
buffet with, you know, just wonderful goblets.

00;15;27;00 - 00;15;31;19
Craig Andrews
And there was a bottle of red and a bottle of white, you know, Jordan esque.

00;15;31;21 - 00;15;33;07
Damon Raque
And.

00;15;33;10 - 00;15;49;20
Craig Andrews
No money was exchanged. But it was the most delightful experience because it's what you were talking about. It was about connecting ever, you know, the how a great wine was made and the story behind it and, and enjoying that with other people.

00;15;49;22 - 00;15;52;10
Damon Raque
That's wonderful. And, you know, I think to Napa's credit,

00;15;52;10 - 00;16;17;12
Damon Raque
you know, how do I say this? They got a little high on the horse 15, 20 years ago. But, you know, they've they've got punched in the teeth with earthquakes and fires and Covid and, you know, interest rates and recessions. And so, you know, they they are realizing that, you know, they need to create an experience more like what you just described.

00;16;17;12 - 00;16;36;26
Damon Raque
Versus we're just here to sell wine. So, you know, they want you there, they need you there. And you know, anybody who's watching that maybe had the, the, the prior experience that you discussed, I think the opportunity to have the Jordan experience that you just discussed is, is much greater than it once was. So again, don't don't sleep on Napa.

00;16;36;26 - 00;16;51;21
Damon Raque
Don't sleep on California. Get out there. Support those people. They're independent business owners. They work really hard. There's so many things, you know, weather and again, earthquakes and fires that are out of their control. They've been decimated. So support them. They're doing great work and doing great things.

00;16;51;23 - 00;17;14;13
Craig Andrews
Yeah. You know kind of along the lines of what you're talking about. You're talking about that tribe, that community. There's a place in Austin called the Wizard Academy, which is, I call it Disneyland for marketers. And and they have a deep passion for wine. And there's a guy who's from, just north of Redding, you know, or somewhere in the writing area who comes out.

00;17;14;13 - 00;17;22;01
Craig Andrews
And he always brings some really nice bottles of wine. And my wife was out there one night with me, and my wife generally just does not like red wine.

00;17;22;01 - 00;17;22;25
Craig Andrews
She likes,

00;17;22;25 - 00;17;34;17
Craig Andrews
you know, New Zealand Sauvignon blanc, but doesn't like red wines. And Nathan starts pouring some wine and, and they poured a cup for her.

00;17;34;20 - 00;17;36;03
Craig Andrews
Initially I was going to say,

00;17;36;03 - 00;17;49;11
Craig Andrews
she didn't like that, but I thought, oh, if she didn't like that, then I'll get to drink it. And so I didn't object. Well, Doug, I she didn't drink the whole thing. And the next morning she was like, Craig, that wine last night was really good. Can we get some of that?

00;17;49;13 - 00;17;52;02
Craig Andrews
I was like, well, that was Chateau Mont Elena. And,

00;17;52;02 - 00;17;58;01
Craig Andrews
great wine. Yeah, very good wine. And so what we've discovered with my wife is it's not that she doesn't like,

00;17;58;01 - 00;18;02;06
Craig Andrews
red wine. She just likes very expensive red wine.

00;18;02;09 - 00;18;27;01
Damon Raque
There is a difference. There's a difference. And listen, I, I always encourage people, you know, I say, listen, the number one rule of wine is to drink what you like. Yeah, but right behind that in terms of importance is understand why you like it. Because once you understand why you like it, then that allows you to go out and explore other wines that are similar in nature or different in nature.

00;18;27;01 - 00;18;49;01
Damon Raque
And you might discover something new, but that really allows you to begin that journey. So, you know, if you like grocery store wine, that's, you know, six bucks a bottle, then that's fine. Drink that. But why do you like it? And try some other stuff you might like your wife discover that? Wow, I never knew I liked white wine or champagne or red wine or cheap wine or expensive wine or, you know, everything in between.

00;18;49;01 - 00;18;55;06
Damon Raque
So that's, that's a great story. And hopefully that, you know, she's she's on that red wine train as well now.

00;18;55;08 - 00;19;00;27
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's, you know, I've opened up a few of my bottles from the, you know, deep in my,

00;19;00;27 - 00;19;06;06
Craig Andrews
cellar and she's like, oh, I like this. Can we have this every night like this and.

00;19;06;13 - 00;19;11;11
Damon Raque
Go, no, that's this is not this is not Tuesday pizza wine. This is,

00;19;11;11 - 00;19;23;04
Damon Raque
Yeah, this is Christmas dinner. This is anniversary birthday celebration type wine. Now, there's definitely, definitely a difference for sure. So yeah, that's what's nice. So you can kind of have have both.

00;19;23;07 - 00;19;32;00
Craig Andrews
So tell me about the bottle bank. So you guys are it's opening up. What's what's the experience going to be like.

00;19;32;02 - 00;19;36;00
Damon Raque
So we decided to go with a semi-private model to begin with. So

00;19;36;00 - 00;20;03;00
Damon Raque
all that to say we wanted to give everybody the opportunity to experience bottle bank. So it's going to be a very comfortable lounge. So it's not a bar, it's not a restaurant. It's very much what you describe it. Jordan think of comfortable sofas and club chairs and, you know, a beautiful environment where people can come and explore a very interesting, highly curated wine by the glass program with flights of wine.

00;20;03;01 - 00;20;11;28
Damon Raque
So the opportunity to drink, you know, 3 or 4 Pinot noir or Cabernet, side by side by side to kind of get that, that experience.

00;20;11;28 - 00;20;22;28
Damon Raque
I think about all the things that enhance the wine drinking experience, you know, artisan cheeses and internationally sourced charcuterie and chocolates and desserts and think about,

00;20;22;28 - 00;20;25;22
Damon Raque
a wine club and think about a cheese club.

00;20;25;25 - 00;20;37;02
Damon Raque
And then for those individuals that want to experience bottle bank on a more elevated level, we're going to have an optional membership program that allows members to enjoy a variety of benefits.

00;20;37;02 - 00;20;55;27
Damon Raque
Some of which would be we're going to have a private, climate controlled wine vault where each individual member will have the ability to store their wine at bottle bank, regardless of where they sourced it from, and then have the ability to drink it in the lounge without paying a corkage fee.

00;20;55;29 - 00;21;15;20
Damon Raque
We've got five different private dining experiences and private tasting rooms where members can sit down with our executive chef, and they can customize private dining experiences. So those bottles of wine that you described in your collection that you're saving for a special event, you know, rather than just taking it to a restaurant and just having,

00;21;15;20 - 00;21;28;04
Damon Raque
a normal dinner with it, the ability to sit down with our chef and curate a customized dinner that pairs perfectly with your wines, have your friends come in again, create that amazing experience.

00;21;28;06 - 00;21;32;25
Damon Raque
We've got a members only lounge where members can hang out. We've got two chef's table with,

00;21;32;25 - 00;21;44;07
Damon Raque
a tasting counter where we do cooking classes. And of course, we'll bring in wineries and winemakers for wine dinners and wine tastings and other types of events. And again, a wine club and a cheese club. And,

00;21;44;07 - 00;21;51;05
Damon Raque
again, just really everything that wine lovers want to experience with great people in a beautiful environment.

00;21;51;10 - 00;21;53;01
Damon Raque
That's what we're going to create.

00;21;53;04 - 00;22;15;26
Craig Andrews
That sounds awesome. One of the things that you said in In the Green Room that really caught my attention is when you were talking about the customer experience, and I want to hone in on this because I think for those listening, it doesn't matter what your business is. I think you need to be thinking about the customer experience.

00;22;15;28 - 00;22;23;08
Craig Andrews
And so what did that what were you talking about when you were talking about the customer experience and what's that look like in action?

00;22;23;10 - 00;22;46;16
Damon Raque
Well, we've we've again as as we've conceptualized bottle Bank, we we tried to look at it as wine lovers, not as business owners. There's certainly a time and a need for that. So we've we we've done all the financial modeling and, you know, all the stuff that goes into to running a business. But in terms of experience, you know, what do wine lovers enjoy?

00;22;46;19 - 00;23;12;01
Damon Raque
How do they like to enjoy it and why do they like to enjoy it? And those types of conversations always factored into the conceptual ization of bottle bank. And now we are in the heart of the design phase. So we're looking at materials, we're looking at fabrics and we're looking at millwork. And we're looking at carpet and tile and all these things to again create what bottle banks ultimately going to be.

00;23;12;03 - 00;23;36;09
Damon Raque
And we're looking at the lay out in the design of the space. And we're thinking about, okay, well, you know, we need to create opportunities for very intimate experiences. We also need to create opportunities for, you know, very celebratory experiences. We need to create the opportunity for discovery. We need to create, you know, the opportunity for, you know, things that haven't been done before.

00;23;36;09 - 00;23;47;11
Damon Raque
So again, thinking in terms of a customer, how does this how does this room look? How does this room feel? How is the customer going to interact where the bathroom is going to be located?

00;23;47;11 - 00;23;56;15
Damon Raque
You know, if I have I have a group of six people versus, you know, a date night, you know, what are the different options for for seating and experience.

00;23;56;15 - 00;24;04;16
Damon Raque
So again, all of these things are factoring into the decisions that we're making now in terms of how we lay out the space and how we design it.

00;24;04;18 - 00;24;07;15
Craig Andrews
Well, you know, and I think,

00;24;07;15 - 00;24;18;22
Craig Andrews
you know, my wife used to work for a fortune 500 company. I won't say who in the air, but she told me one day, she said, there's a rumor that they're going to do a leveraged

00;24;18;22 - 00;24;23;24
Craig Andrews
buyout or, you know, private equity deal. And I told her, I said the first thing they're going cut.

00;24;23;27 - 00;24;46;09
Craig Andrews
If this happens, first thing they're going to cut is customer service. And sure enough, the deal went through and that was the first thing they cut. And I always look at them like, you know, customer service get such. It's so hard to defend to the financial guys. But add so much value because it's a part of the customer experience.

00;24;46;11 - 00;24;58;03
Craig Andrews
And it's these intangibles that you're talking about creating an amazing, absolutely amazing customer experience that's I think makes a world of difference.

00;24;58;05 - 00;24;59;29
Damon Raque
I completely agree, you know,

00;24;59;29 - 00;25;17;25
Damon Raque
all companies have to think about, you know, what is our product. And I think our product is experience, you know, so that's what we are manufacturing and that's what we were providing. And like any product, you have to think long and hard about what you're doing and how you're doing it. And how you make it better.

00;25;17;27 - 00;25;18;13
Damon Raque
And,

00;25;18;13 - 00;25;25;01
Damon Raque
that's something that we, we think about every day. And we, we come back to it often when there's decisions to be made.

00;25;25;04 - 00;25;27;20
Craig Andrews
So when does bottle bank open?

00;25;27;22 - 00;25;39;25
Damon Raque
We are looking at a summer of 2025 opening. So we've got a couple more months here with the design and permitting phase. We'll start construction in early next year and then,

00;25;39;25 - 00;25;42;02
Damon Raque
5 to 6 month build out. So we're looking at

00;25;42;02 - 00;25;44;25
Damon Raque
July, August opening of next year.

00;25;44;27 - 00;25;52;11
Craig Andrews
Wow, wow. So and this is going to be in Atlanta correct.

00;25;52;13 - 00;25;53;01
Damon Raque
Correct.

00;25;53;04 - 00;25;58;18
Craig Andrews
Okay. Is there going to be bottle bank New York, bottle bank San Francisco.

00;25;58;20 - 00;26;00;28
Damon Raque
That's a great question. That remains to be seen. We've,

00;26;00;28 - 00;26;03;11
Damon Raque
my business partner and I've certainly talked about it,

00;26;03;11 - 00;26;18;13
Damon Raque
we're focused on, you know, proving the concept, making this as great as it possibly can be. And then at that point, once we're up and running, we'll decide if we want to scale the business and open up other locations, or if we just want to, you know, focus on a great lifestyle business and,

00;26;18;13 - 00;26;19;24
Damon Raque
you know, just just have the one year here.

00;26;19;24 - 00;26;25;13
Damon Raque
So or great thing about wine, there's so many other avenues you can pursue. So,

00;26;25;13 - 00;26;37;01
Damon Raque
you know, whether we choose to do some other things that are wine related as well. We'll be another conversation in the future. But, right now we are singularly focused on the bottle Bank Atlanta and once that's up and running again, we'll,

00;26;37;01 - 00;26;39;02
Damon Raque
we'll figure out what's next for us.

00;26;39;05 - 00;26;42;28
Craig Andrews
And when will you start taking members?

00;26;43;01 - 00;27;00;15
Damon Raque
We are available on the website now. So we've had people that have already started to subscribe and become part of a waiting list. So we'll probably start taking formal membership applications come first of the year. Right now we are putting together our waiting list in anticipation of our opening in the summer of next year.

00;27;00;17 - 00;27;05;14
Craig Andrews
Excellent. So Damon, if somebody wants to reach out to you, how do they reach you?

00;27;05;16 - 00;27;13;12
Damon Raque
Bottle, bank.com. All of our information's on there. We've got the story of bottle Bank. We've got some conceptual renderings.

00;27;13;12 - 00;27;18;13
Damon Raque
We've got a lot of the updates will be posting as construction begins. And

00;27;18;13 - 00;27;20;26
Damon Raque
again, all the information, all the updates and

00;27;20;26 - 00;27;23;27
Damon Raque
for those that are interested in becoming a member, then,

00;27;23;27 - 00;27;25;05
Damon Raque
all that's available online as well.

00;27;25;08 - 00;27;27;17
Damon Raque
So bottle bank.com.

00;27;27;19 - 00;27;32;20
Craig Andrews
Excellent. Well, hey, thanks for coming on, ladies and legacies. What a great discussion.

00;27;32;22 - 00;27;44;07
Damon Raque
Thanks so much for the opportunity. And again, your story so inspiring. And you have wonderful people on your podcast. And I'm truly flattered by the invitation. So thanks for having me. It's been great.

00;27;44;07 - 00;28;11;03
Craig Andrews
This is Craig Andrews. I want to thank you for listening to the Leaders and Legacies podcast. We're looking for leaders to share how they're making the impact beyond themselves. If that's you, please go to Alize for me.com/guest and sign up there. If you got something out of this interview, we would love you to share this

00;28;11;03 - 00;28;12;28
Craig Andrews
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00;28;13;00 - 00;28;36;10
Craig Andrews
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00;28;36;12 - 00;28;44;17
Craig Andrews
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00;28;44;17 - 00;30;46;20
Craig Andrews
It means a lot to my team. If you want to know more, please go to Alize for me.com. or follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.