In this latest episode of Deep Cuts Live with host Antoine Reid, Sébastien Decoppet talks about why he left behind his corporate job and moved from Switzerland to Honduras to learn how to make cigars. Learn how he went from knowing little about tobacco and cigars to owning his own company and being one of the cigar industry’s most compelling blenders. Also joining the interview is Brian Motola, who recently joined the company as its sales director and partnered with Sébastien to start a new cigar factory, Fabrica Centroamericana de Tabaco SA (FCT).
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TRANSCRIPT:
Antoine Reid 00:09
Hello, everyone, and welcome to an all new episode of Deep Cuts Live. I’m your host, Antoine Reid. And today we’re going to be speaking to … we actually have two guests. I know we didn’t publicize two guests, but we were lucky enough to have two guests here today. So we have Sebastian, from Cavalier Cigars, and also Brian from Cavalier Cigars. So this is a brand that I know a lot of people have … know about. They have very interesting blends. Very interesting products. So I’m looking forward to spending an hour speaking to them about what they’re doing and what’s going on with Cavalier. So let me bring on our guests. Hey guys.
Sébastien Decoppet 00:51
Hey, everybody, how are you guys doing?
Antoine Reid 00:56
Thank you for coming on today. You were telling me that you’re in Honduras? Is that correct?
Sébastien Decoppet 01:02
Yeah, we’re we’re currently actually sitting at a factory in Danli. So we were joking a little bit around just saying that we hope the WiFi doesn’t go away. Kind of a classic these days.
Antoine Reid 01:16
So for those of you watching, if watching live, if they do cut out, just hang in there. I’ll wait for them to kind of come back in. And we’ll go from there, though, but hopefully we’ll be sure.
Sébastien Decoppet 01:30
Yeah, they didn’t announce anything. So we should be ok. Cross our fingers.
Antoine Reid 01:35
Yeah, so it’s funny because I followed you on Instagram like I follow as many cigar brands as I can. So I’ve seen what you kind of do, I got an idea. When I interview different people, I asked them stuff and I think … I forget who it was. I want to say it was maybe Vlad from Lampert who works with Lampert. And who works with Casdagli. Who was … maybe? I think it was him who was telling me about you and how if it wasn’t him it was somebody very similar position wise about how you kind of gave him a blend one time to try and it was so different. And so wanted to definitely get into like your whole approach to blending because whether it was him or not. I’ve heard very interesting things about how you approach blending and flavor profiles. And especially with all today’s news about flavors, you know, the different sides of flavors in the cigar industry. I think there’s a lot to talk about. So before we get into the talk about the actual blends, could you each introduce yourself and talk a little bit about who you are, and what role you hold within Cavalier.
Sébastien Decoppet 02:53
So my name is Sebastian, I’m the founder of Cavalier and co founder of the factory we’re sitting at right now, which is FCT Fabrica Centroamericana de Tabaco S.A. in Danli, Honduras. And my old doppelganger, there is …
Brian Motola 03:12
No, go ahead, call me old. I’m Brian Motala. And I’m also partnered with Sebastian on both the brand and in the factory as well.
Sébastien Decoppet 03:27
So Brian and I opened the factory a little bit ago, over a year ago, now.
Brian Motola 03:34
It’s been 14 months.
Sébastien Decoppet 03:39
Something like that. And … about now two, three months ago, Brian joined us on the Cavalier side to you know, and through that process of joining us and taking a position with us, which is largely related to sales but are other aspects to have the company also got entered into the partnership with us and became partner with a brand and make it something that made a lot of sense to us.
Antoine Reid 04:13
So, obviously, I know I’ve been working with you both to kind of write a little bit of a story about you also, I know I’ve done a little bit of research on you all’s I know a little bit of your backstory, but I know that there are gonna be people who watch this or listen to this, who may not be as familiar with Cavalier. So Sebastian, you have such an interesting story about how you got into the cigar industry. So just talk about how what led you to cigars in general and then what led you and inspired you to kind of leave on your corporate job to do cigars full time.
Sébastien Decoppet 04:53
So first of all before starting for some reason, now that we are live of course I’m starting to get messages so my phone’s vibrating and moving around. We’ll figure it out, I hope it stops but sorry if it makes a little bit of noise that’s the beauty of every time you get suddenly something you really need to do and you need peace for it … but yeah, it’s you know, the thing I think is the key asset and the essence of it is I really didn’t have any background in the industry you know, I was born and raised in Switzerland; nobody around in my family was a cigar smoker or anything so it was very … a very distant world for me. And in general, you know, not at the time I’ve not had the chance to just be born and in that knowledge in that industry if it didn’t have the chance to know and grow with it and you know, get to learn very early on about it but I could kind of intrigued about cigars when I was in my early 20s and got so much into it that I did leave my corporate job when I was 22 at the time and kind of sold everything, took a plane ticket to Central America and said “we’ll see what happens,” you know, with the hope in mind that I could figure out a way or another to get to learn. Get to learn about tobacco, get to learn about the industry and try to see if it was really as much of … as attractive to me as I thought it was but you know it’s there’s a big difference between theory, reading and enjoying sitting down having a cigar and actually making it you know, your your life, basically. Your career, your life and everything. So I decided to take that chance and I moved to Honduras. Some funky things happened in the way here. I didn’t know anything about you know really the companies around here. I just knew they were growing tobacco you know, rolling cigars and I knew a little bit about historical facts about the area but you know, young me very … stuff I would not do any more. Young me just coming here and saying him English gonna be enough. You know, that was those pretty first big mistake I think. So arriving here. I remember they lost my luggage in Panama before I even arrived in Honduras. Panama here again, as international you should have everybody speaking English here. Right? Yeah, so they lose my luggage. I go to the counter and I’m like, “hello, I’m sorry. I think you know, my luggage got lost. Can you help me with that?” The guy just looks at me with big eyes and like, tells me a paper didn’t speak English just spoke Spanish and everything. I’m like, “Oh, this is going to be really funky.” If in Panama the guy in the airport in Panama International Airport could not speak English to me, it was like, what is it going to be in Honduras? And it was pretty much so you know, people, people mainly speak Spanish, very few speak English. But the beauty of it is, is you know, it forced me to actually learn not only to culture here and have a chance to learn about tobacco. But it also taught me a completely new language to me, and I actually would rather … my Spanish is actually much better than my English right now. So for the fun fact. But yeah, moved here, I was 22 years old in the city. I mean, Danli right now. I spent, you know, I got very, very lucky at time; I had not much, you know, to know and to look for. But lucky enough, I fell in the hands of you know, an amazing family and amazing people. The first person to pick me up here was in Danli when arriving a little randomly was someone called Andi Perez, I didn’t know at the time, is very, very closely related to the Placencia family. And so you know, that first day between Adin meeting Nestor Sr, and everything was pretty, pretty impressive. And everywhere from there. They saw I was a kid. So I was an excited kid, I wanted to see, look, you know, it was like a candy store kind of situation. And lucky enough, they just offered to open their doors to me and for me to say as long as I needed and wanted to learn. And so I obviously took that opportunity and everything started there, a couple of years ago now.
Antoine Reid 09:28
And before we go forward with more of your story, Brian, could you share how you also got started in the industry?
Brian Motola 09:37
Um, so I got started in the industry by meeting Dion Giolito and we became friends and I used to sit in his cigar shop in Reno and talk to him about, you know, everything. I mean, not just cigars, but I talked to him about a lot of things. And then one day he just said to me, Hey, maybe you should take a look at joining my company. And, you know, my kids were grown. I was, you know, a single dad. So I always kind of played it safe while I was, you know, raising my kids and they were grown. And it just seemed like the right time. And so I jumped in, you know, with both feet, like everything I’ve ever done in my life, I didn’t just, you know, say, “Well, let me try it out, see if it works.” I, you know, I’ve been a cigar smoker for years, I started smoking, I think probably at the age of 16, I lived through the cigar boom, which he was just born when it happened. So, you know, I actually lived through that. And I remember, you know, the quality going to hell, and the prices going up during the cigar boom of the 90s. And I was like, “what happened to this great world that I was enjoying by myself?” It felt like, and so I jumped in. And then I met Sebastian, about four years ago in Virginia, and we just clicked, you know. You meet people in life, all the time. But sometimes you meet people, and you go there a little bit more to this. So, we, we took the venture into the factory, last, so we started building during COVID, right, like, why the world was trying to figure out what was happening and what’s gonna is the end coming? Or “where are we?” We’re building a factory in Honduras. So, you know,it just was a great relationship from the start. So that’s pretty much how I got in and we are, we’re just having a good time. I mean, this factory is amazing. We don’t want to leave when we come.
Sébastien Decoppet 11:48
As Brian said, it’s pretty interesting. You know, a lot of people come and go in life. But I think out of the fact that we kind of look similar family, similar, you know, I think we had the same problem and stuff happened. Just just couple of years of difference. But, you know, in general, I really think that was one of those very special times when everything clicked, and we started, you know, get to know each other better, and see that we had very common visions in life and way of looking at things. And we also understood very quickly after that, that there could be synergies, and, you know, step by step stuff, some stuff happened, we started first. You know, we made the factory together. And, obviously, we’ve been we’ve been very lucky to move into Illuisione’s fulfillment facility, it’s first brand that they endorse for which you know, Illusione for me was always you know, it’s a fun industry to it’s a brand I was always looked up to always be I was very, very intrigued and interested in Dion’s work and how he was looking at tobacco, which is very different from me, but I think it’s very delicate. It’s very, very refined. And, and so we took that chance through those conversations with Brian to get into there, the factory and, and later on, you know, things just move towards the situation where we’re in now where we work on a daily basis together.
Antoine Reid 13:26
So when you got into the industry, I know you had to learn a lot about the industry. It wasn’t like you were one of the like the next generation of a family that you know, had always done this for generation after generation. And you were coming in like I said, trying to learn as a newcomer. So I know the Plasencias kind of took you under their wing.
Sébastien Decoppet 14:13
Yeah, you know, one thing to know about this industry I think is it takes a lot of commitment. It takes a lot of time to learn. There’s no school, there is no one way to learn the only way to learn you know there is no there is no “oh, I’ll go there and learn and be able to understand this industry.” It’s a very unique industry for that. And the only actual way to learn is hands on; you just have to go and try and look and try to find solutions and find people that that know and are willing to share. And lucky enough this industry is I think full of people that are happy to share and you know want to carry on that message and everything so I kind of fell under that amazing family, it was a lot of time with Adin. But also amazing quality time with, you know, Nestor and his three sons and with everybody. And in general, the whole family, I mean, just in general, the whole family, the whole group of Plasencias has been, you know, an extreme, a very lucky kind of moment in life for me, because I don’t think there is many other comparable, you know, other families or companies in this industry that could teach as much as they can. I think one of these families you wish you were born in if you want to be in. You can learn from from them, it’s something I’ll never forget, and it’s something that I will always be extremely grateful for. And, you know, up to this day, they’re still, they’re still here as to helping and still, you know, they’ve never, ever failed helping ever, and they never owed anything, you know, they never owed. It’s not like, you know, you’ll, it’s one of these situations where normally in life, when people give you that much support, they usually owe you something, right? And in their case, it’s always been just because they have a huge heart, you know? So it’s, it’s, it’s one of these things there. There’s hardly enough good words and good things to say about this, and this industry and this kind of things that happened here. So yeah, I fell a bit under them, you know, I and I said, spend a lot of time with a Adin here about a year in Honduras. And just spending time at factories, you know, just, you know, the only way, I’ll never forget that story, getting the first day into Adin’s operation at the time. And we were talking about tobacco, and I was all excited. It was like, it’s pretty cool. It seems like you’ve been, you know, pretty interested, you’ve learned quite a bit of things from that far. And we got into the factory, he calls someone who’s like, bring me this and that. And he kind of not understanding at all what he was saying, but just figured they were. So the guy comes back with two leaves of tobacco. And I didn’t take them hands up to me. And now I don’t remember if it was Seco, Liso, Liso Ligero or Seco Ligero or whatever it was. And he gaves me these two leaves. And he’s like, “which one is the seco and which one is the viso?” And I remember looking at him like, oh, well, I literally answered “well, this is tobacco.” And he looked at me, he laughed, they said, “Well, now you’re gonna learn.” So you know, it’s just told me literally all that theory that you were talking about. That was funny. But let me show you how this industry works. And so that was the beauty. That’s the first day that’s where it started. And I laughed about it actually two, three days ago here at the factory because we were working with tobacco and stuff and someone hands me twice during some tobacco as we were revising without even looking at it. You feel you know, you know your tobacco is you feel the textures, you know what you have in your hand. I just tell the person I’m like, there are two leaves there. And they were they were not [?]. So they weren’t sticking together. It just made me think back there. And I would have just looked at it and said it’s tobacco. So you know, little things like these once again, there is no school. The only way is, you know, get your hands on. And that’s always the worst thing that like, I think is key for anybody looking at this industry and wanting to really caring about it should be hands on and should be it’s probably one of the main reasons why we have the factory now to you.
Antoine Reid 18:47
And Brian, I’m sure working with Dion, you learned a bit about tobacco as well. And how and cigar making and blending.
Brian Motola 18:58
Oh, yeah. You know, it’s fascinating, the world right that we live in. And I think, you know, you never stop learning. Every day, there’s always something new to see an experience. It’s an amazing world in that aspect. Because there is like Sebastian said, there’s no like definitive book you can read. There’s no school you can go to. It’s just about watching the people you surround yourself with, and learning from them and watching like our factory general manager is absolutely amazing guy. I mean, I have a little bit of a language barrier because unlike Sebastian, I don’t speak five languages. There’s a little bit of a language barrier and it’s one of the things that I want to do is be able to really get into his brain to see what’s, what he’s thinking about how he approaches it. Same thing with Sebastian, I just watch and I, I observed and I did the same thing with Dion just watch, and observe and see how they approach their craft, you know, and it’s amazing. It really is amazing.
Sébastien Decoppet 20:14
Let’s be honest, Dion is probably one of the best schools in terms of blending and palate, right?
Brian Motola 20:19
Oh, yeah.
Sébastien Decoppet 20:21
Is very, very defined and very, very delicate. Probably one of the most delicate palates that we have, to this day in the industry, I think so. It’s definitely … it was I mean, you know, for having Brian join us after such another, you know, prestigious brand and, well renowned, you know, cigar maker was something that meant a lot to us. It brings a lot of additional knowledge, understanding and everything that as, as Brian said, You can’t stop learning, right, and you need to fill those gaps with people that know different, different aspects that you might not know, or, or bring some more, some more to the table if you continue advancing and continue growing that.
Brian Motola 21:07
You know, I have a question for you that I wanted to ask you, and I can’t believe I never asked you: why Honduras?
Antoine Reid 21:23
Yeah, like, out of all the cigar making countries out there to Dominican and you know, Nicaragua. Like, why did you choose Honduras?
Sébastien Decoppet 21:37
Remember, so I was born in Switzerland. So Cuba is open, you know, I’ve traveled there, it’s not something that was not an option either. Obviously, you can’t really do much about it, but at least go in and discovering which which was interesting, too. That was part of the plan. But to be completely honest, my first stop, I wanted it to be Cuba or the DR so I took an open ticket, one way, and just decided to go and I would figure out when it was time to come back home. So I wanted to fly to the DR or to Cuba. And I went to the agent that helped me book everything at the time. So once again, no f*cking idea where I was doing, to be honest. And the guy was like “yeah, sure, but it’s you know, hurricane season so I don’t really recommend that. What other countries? Nicaragua, Honduras?” And I just, he just randomly said, well, “we’ll book a flight to Honduras, then” I was like well okay and that’s really what happened. Honduras was just an option and something that ended up being picked by someone randomly in my life. It was not me and the plan and it’s something I did. I spent time in Nicaragua, I spent time in the DR, I spent time in Cuba, Costa Rica, different countries, right? But the first day here in Danli changed everything. It probably was in a way a good thing. No, more than probably, it was just a good thing just you know, fate/luck sometimes came here and happened to meet the right people and just made this my home instead of Nicaragua or instead of the DR or something like this, which obviously nowadays for example, most people turn immediately to Nicaragua. And I’m actually very happy it’s not the case. you know it makes it special to me. Danli really is a special place; the people here amazing. There are big players in the industry here and everything and you know, Honduras produces a lot of handmade cigars a year, a lot of tobacco, Jamastran was named the farm of Central America at the time is a huge tobacco growing area. But you know, history and different things politics and different things at the time made that a lot of manufacturers turn to Nicaragua instead of instead Honduras, it’s honestly easier to get you know, licensing and everything and permits to open a factory for examplein Nicargua then it is here in Honduras. But Honduras is just because of what happened, the random know it’s hurricane season, you shouldn’t go to the land, or what were the other countries and you gotta just because of that quick two minute discussion, Honduras became one of you know what it is to me today what it is to us. And that made Cavalier, that made everything that changed our lives.
Brian Motola 24:40
Amazing. It’s amazing how life comes at you like that. And just, you know, because I said to you want two nights ago in the restaurant, or wherever we were in the bar, and I said, if you would ask me if I’d be sitting in Honduras 10 years ago, I would have told you no way. Definitely no. But because we met up. And now, here we are. And because of a random act here,
Sébastien Decoppet 25:04
It was literally because of a random random event.
Brian Motola 25:11
Ok, Ican go now! Thanks for having me! I got my question.
Antoine Reid 25:15
Yeah. It is interesting, because maybe if you had not gone to Honduras, when you did, you would have ended up there eventually. But you have to wonder, would you have met the same people in that same sequence? And it seems like the people that you that you were there in the right place at the right time. So it makes you wonder, would you have met, you know, those people that helped guide you along and said, “You need to speak to this person,” or “you need to go to this factory, you need to go look at here.” And like, like I said, you probably would have ended up in Honduras, but it completely have been just, you know, one of those multi multiverse situations where, you know, it will make it happen, like five years later, or you might have still been, like, looking for that, you know, those connections and, and the introduction to the Plasencia family especially, seems to be that catalyst that gave you that place to explore, and to figure things out before you started Cavalier.
Sébastien Decoppet 26:12
Yeah. And you know, it’s once again, you know, I have said it several times, I think, today is the easiest day to start a cigar brand, right? Especially when you’re in the US, you always find yourself someone that knows someone that knows someone that has a brand or has seen a rep or something, and you’ll find someone that’s going to make cigars for you. But, you know, let’s face it, for me, this is a huge goal. It’s something and it’s a really personal thing. I think it’s an industry, it’s a small family, it’s good to be part of it, and to be part of it, it’s good to be involved in it right. And more than that, once again, there is no school, there is no, you know, books never going to tell you what you have to know. And you have to … there’s one thing that I can’t even start to explain here, but the fact of knowing everybody here, you know, there’s the timespan the people that relationship, that the feeling we have, you know, we take the size of our factory, we say we’re shy or 100 people working. It’s every single person here, every single face is a face we’re family with, and every single action, they’re taking a day to make what we’ve, you know, what we need done, and them understanding why and how and everything happens to because, you know, only happens if you’re completely involved. And it adds so much value. Because once you understand, you know, the people behind and when I say the people behind the never, I never mean any of us brand owners or you know, founders or sales directors or stuff like this, I really mean the people behind the people that you don’t see; the people that make it happen, we should just be considered messengers of their work in a way we just message differently one from each other. We work a little differently, one from each other with tobaccos and everything, but they are the ones that are the hearts of this industry. But that whole thing only happens when you when you when you take that chance. And you know, and spend a little time around the people down here, you know, it just adds so much dimensions to the final product.
Antoine Reid 28:29
And when you started Cavalier, did you know what you wanted it to be or what you wanted it to become and what you want it to accomplish? Or were you kind of just figuring things out as you went along?
Sébastien Decoppet 28:46
I was laughing couple of times these last weeks with Brian, I was like we’ve been I’m sorry for the words but we’ve been winging this shit so hard for the first couple of years. You know, it’s funny. Tobacco is something that you’ll never stop learning from and about. But there is a point where you know that you can work with it right? So I felt lucky enough to be at that point where I had my own take on tobacco, I had my own vision of tobacco and everything so I was this part was pretty much under control. And then with backup from amazing people that have 150 years of, you know, history and stuff like this. But the whole rest, I had never run a company before that. I had never managed people, I had never … nothing. I didn’t know anything of this. So definitely winging it pretty hard and then you know, step by step. A little bit bit of luck starting to get the right people coming around and, and my wife that started very early on, who was not my wife at the time, but working and helping me. She’s actually born and raised here in Danli. And then, you know, slowly but surely more and more people coming on board and being part of a team. And I said, you know, six years later, you look at a team that is shy and are 100 people. So now we’re pretty confident about what we do and where we go. But I can completely be honest and fine with myself saying that, yeah, no, we had no, I had no no idea. I just knew I wanted to do it. I just knew it would figure out a way to do it. I just really didn’t know how it would happen. Things just come together, I think.
Antoine Reid 30:36
What was that first Cavalier blend that you worked on or released that you worked on.
Sébastien Decoppet 30:44
So, you know, that came, I can still tell you the day that this process started. So it was … I had been here for a couple of months already and everything and I started being more confident about, you know, the work here, rolling packaging, and all those kinds of things, you know, starting to understand more span of spend days and days and weeks and, and so doing all those activities with the employees of the factories, started being confident about it. And I, you know, once again, I was 22-23 at the time, and I had already been given a chance to learn so I didn’t feel like it was in a position to ask for anything. And I didn’t know how it was. So that was New Year’s Eve at Adin’s house, which is where we’re sitting right now actually, which turned into the factory now in an area called [?], a nice residential labor area of Danli with all the family, only Cubans with, you know, with music, dancing and weird Swiss guy sitting on a chair and having some drinks and, and some food. And I remember Adin coming back to me during that day and looking at me and just saying,” hey, you know, if you want to do something about what you’re what you’re learning, if you want to do something about it, we’ll help you. We’re gonna make it, you know, we’ll be with you. And we’ll help you do it.” And I just said, “Okay.” It was, you know, at the end of every year, the factories here close for two to four weeks, depending on how the workload is. And so it was New Year, they were supposed to be close two more weeks. And he said, Okay, I’ll call someone one day, there’s gonna be someone in the factories and, you know, production manager, a couple of other people, were preparing some tobaccos, tell us what do you want, what you’re thinking off, we’ll let you play around with it there with you. And we went to the factory in a Monday morning, factory closed, except for those couple of people helping us. At the time I had worked a little bit with tobacco down there and studying understanding what the, you know, the key tobacco was they were using and the ones that, you know, I was getting more and more familiar with. I started thinking, what, you know, what is it going to have to take to create what I had in mind at the time and, you know, coming from Europe growing up in Europe, I was used to nothing very Maduro nothing very heavier, very dark and flavor of stuff like this flavor profile. So it was much more orientated to you know, milder, but nicely layered in flavors complex, Habano/Criollo kind of blends and things like this. So started working and had a pretty clear idea where I wanted to go and we ended up you know, what, what do you know today or what, you know, people that know us know today as the white series, so which is the white boxes, white and gold boxes with the white band and the gold diamond on there and a white man which is still that same mild, mild to medium medium cigar that has no ligero in it. It’s purely Secos and Visos. It’s very, very low priming Habano wrapper, Connecticut binder, and then fillers from Paraguay, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. So you have you know, you have that same blend that was our first creation at the time that the spirit or the mindset that I had at the time or my approach of cigars translated into that and that cigar.
Antoine Reid 34:30
And Brian, do you remember the first time he smoked a Cavalier cigar and what was your reaction?
Brian Motola 34:37
I did, um, it was. It was the white series actually. And it was before I knew Sebastien, and I had it and you can tell that it was very indicative of where he came from. As far as cigars go, you know, it’s very, it’s complex. It’s layered and flavored but you know, on that medium/mild side and but I remember saying to somebody, Hey, there’s something here. And then I got to meet him like, you know, a couple of months later. And to talk to the guy, it all makes sense because, you know, it’s funny how cigar blends reflect the personalities of the people blending them. And so he was exactly what I expected him to be like.
Sébastien Decoppet 35:33
Just to interrupt him, I really don’t know how to take this one …
Brian Motola 35:45
As our friendship evolved, I started to smoke more and more of his cigars. And, you know, the next phase of his blending was, I would imagine was very challenging for him because it was very unlike what he grew up with, and had around him smoking. So the USA exclusive and the Black had to be a very challenging project,
Sébastien Decoppet 36:13
It was very different. And it’s funny, because I really think, you know, my way of looking at tobacco and working with tobacco has changed a lot through time, every time that someone something else comes out that we put out, it kind of reflects … it is a reflection of some focus that I’ve had or something you know, it’s just a general feeling, it’s not just creating, let’s put another product on the market, it’s it really is a reflection you and you can see it I mean, we’ve not pushed 300 different core lines out that really reflect a timeframe that I need to know with a certain obsession for usually one tobacco. And the last one was a very good example for example, with the Jalapa … the Viso Jalapa I kind of usually get obsessed about that one tobacco kind of how to process it for quite a bit of time and a couple of months since start working with it to get towards where I think the result should be. And that just makes that the portfolio of the core we have, one from each other or complete, distinct offerings with. I think there is a certain signature in there because there are things that didn’t change you know, I always worked mainly with the Visos and stuff like this, you know, there are things that are very key to my way of looking at tobacco, but it still reflects different times in in my life around tobacco, in my life around the cigar industry. And I think the people I need, you know, the other things I see in the market the other cigar makers and and the experiences you get through, you know, their way of expressing tobacco and which is I think really interesting, really interesting because everybody I think nowadays knows that we’re in a kind of golden age, right? It’s been over probably more than a decade now that there has been more and more and more cigar makers brand that and branded evolved to trying to bring the best they could with the best tobacco they could find, or process, or whatever the process is. It’s challenging to stay on top of that game. But it’s also very interesting because it refreshes your mind on a regular basis and suddenly fall on tobacco you’re like, “oh, now I need to think about this. You know, I need to look at what that means for me.” And if there is a way I can do something about it and I can I can tell you that there’s been some I’ve never been able to crack you know, there has been stuff like Connecticut broadleaf wrapper that there’s still a production sitting at an old factory doesn’t ever going to see the light of the day because I thought I had cracked that wrapper with that blend and I let it rest a little bit and turn into something that I would not give a raccoon to smoke. Let’s put it that way. So you know it’s it’s it’s just there. It just stays in. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t
Antoine Reid 39:29
Now I know, in the cigar lifestyle, in the cigar industry, it’s one thing to have your product but if you don’t have a community built around your brand, you’re kind of lost, like you don’t have much room to go. You can have the best product in the world but you need that following and I know Brian, you’re used to seeing that because any all the Illusione smokers are just fanatic about Dion, they are fanatic about the cigars. And you just think of all the other brands in the industry the same way. So how have you gone about building that community or building that experience around Cavalier? And how would you define what the Cavalier experience is?
Brian Motola 40:14
It’s really interesting that you use that word experience because when you come right down to it, we don’t sell cigars, we sell experiences, right? You know, and actually, you asking me when I first smoked my first Cavalier brought me immediately back to that moment, right? It was the experience that I remember. And actually, somebody gave me that cigar, they said, “Here, you have to try this.” And that’s what’s beautiful about this industry. So, you know, the Cavalier experience, you know, starts pretty much here at the factory. And the way we’ve built this family here, you know, we’ve taken kind of a Western philosophy of leadership and applied it into a Third World factory. And it’s a little bit of a different change. And then as far as the brand goes, you know,the following and the, and the people that have enjoyed the Cavalier experience, it’s mainly attributed to Sebastien and his efforts here with his blending skills. You know, you have to deliver a product that, you know, far exceeds expectation. And, also, the quality needs to exceed the price point. Which, if you can deliver that, you have a winning scenario on your hands. And so, you know, we just really build our community as part of our family, you know, I mean, everybody who smokes, we try to interact with people as much as we can on social media. You know, just getting out there and just, you know, creating the experience behind the brand, giving them the story. I mean, Sebastien’s story is amazing. And, you know, people that haven’t heard it need to hear it, because it’s amazing. I mean, who at 22, I know, I didn’t do it at 22, leaves your home and comes to Honduras, you know, of all places? I mean, Geneva, Switzerland, Danli, Honduras. I mean, they’re so polar opposite, but that’s a huge Quantum Leap, to take of faith. And, you know, to just tell people that story and how it all evolved. And then the factory, the factory made a big difference for the brand. I mean, it was really, at that point, we began to control our future. And so we can deliver that experience day in and day out for people that join the Cavalier family.
Sébastien Decoppet 43:12
I think one of the first focuses we’ve had when we started hiring people was communication, right? We needed, you know, people to help us with other aspects, and we knew it. But communication, I think, you know, is really important in terms of, you know, social media, whatever it is being able to interact with people, because when people take the time, to, you know, reach out when people take the time to share experiences about what, you know, has been created from Cavalier and everything. We felt that it was absolutely key and primordial to start there, start with putting the team in place so that people like Sarah or West can communicate an answer to these two and you know, give give back the time that has been given to us the chances that have been given to us and everything and just just say, thank you, sometimes simply. I think that’s really key to it. And Wes, for example, on the on the old school marketing side of things, has also helped us a lot to see because a brand is like a kid, right? It’s born at some point. It looks like a baby when it’s born, there is a lot of things to fix and to learn and to grow and it stands up falls again, stand up falls again and so on until he walks in and starts, you know, adolescence and does some other mistakes and you know, discovers who that brand … the brand has to be a separate person, right and we think, to work with Wes and everything. It’s helped us discover that the brand has a certain bipolarity to it, it’s always been, you know, the first look at it is very elegant, you have the gold diamond, you have very classic, clean presentations, but it always has kind of artsy background, nearly a little street more street kind of artsy background. So it really had that personality. And so it helped us understand to put the personality out and I think made it also more reliable for people. I mean, people can relate to, we all have, you know, very opposite things usually we like and we like to send and do and, and I think it made it more of an appealing, you know, understandable and more appealing thing than just being a product, right. So a lot of things like this, we’ve been very, very focused on that early on as soon as we could, and then started developing from there.
Antoine Reid 46:16
And in terms of the factory, I know, when we were speaking offline, you know, through email about the story that we’re working on, you’re talking about what the factory that you want it to approach it with a modern kind of Western approach. So can you define like what that is? Because I think a lot of people out there are, especially after the pandemic, they’re starting their own businesses, they’re kind of seeing now with the pandemic, what advantage they kind of get from having their own factory and controlling that production? To kind of deal with the supply chain issue. So what, like, what is that approach to making the factory, because even though the factory is in Honduras, that doesn’t mean, obviously, that it has to operate like a Honduran factory, you have to, obviously, you figured it out pretty early on that it needs to operate in a completely different manner. So what was that approach?
Brian Motola 47:21
I think the biggest shift is, you know, in business, people use the word management and manager, and we use words like leadership and leader, I think it’s putting the key people in place that know the difference, right? They know how to lead people versus managing them, you know, like, you manage your, your finances, or you manage your exercise routine, you know, you lead people, and you develop them, and you realize the strengths that they have, and the weaknesses they have, and you utilize their strengths, and you improve on on their weaknesses. So the key difference here is, is we have leaders in all the departments that run the factory, we have different departments, we have, you know, the production floor has a leader. And, you know, to what Sebastien said, it all comes down to how you communicate, what you need to accomplish and the vision. And if you’re going to manage people generally you’re behind them, telling them what they did wrong. And if you’re going to lead them, you’re out in front of them, telling them what they’re going to do right. And so that’s, that’s the huge impact that taking that Western style of leadership has brought to the factory. And then also giving people input, too. Somebody asked us last night, how much input do people in the factory have? And, you know, they have all the input in the world, you know. If they see something, or if they have an idea, whether it’s even about a blend, you know, it’s like, hey, I really think this cigar could be better if we put this into it. You know, so it’s just that communication and listening skills and leadership that makes the difference.
Sébastien Decoppet 49:22
And I think, if I may, you know, there are several things that change in the world lately. And some, you know, I think some shifts happen that are happening and had to happen. I think the world turned into companies that were there just for quick profit, quick turnarounds, and you know, the rest of it doesn’t matter. You know, we need to make this happen and sorry for the word, but fuck the rest of the things right? And I think the world kind of is waking up and is understanding that how people feel when they’re at work, I mean, anybody in this world spends probably at least 80% of their time 70-80% of their time at work their entire life. So what is it if you have to wake up every morning, and you know, can’t wait for the weekend to be there? Can’t wait for the next holidays, can’t wait. We all like holidays, don’t get me wrong, right? That’s never gonna change. We’re human. But but there is a way when it becomes that predominant, when it becomes so upfront in people’s minds, that you understand is that right? Right. And one key, when we selected the two people that were about to, you know, build the team around them. And the departments, there were two key aspects that we talked about, and that their job was to comply with. And the first one was, how people would feel working here. And the and the ambience, right, the work ethic, the ambient and everything. And the second one was service. The thing that you will see, if you walk through our factory right now is nobody’s head’s down, everybody’s going to look at you and smile, everybody’s going to try to talk to you. It’s actually a bit of a problem when you come in the morning and say hi to everybody, because it takes you like 45 minutes. And because you’re half rude and have to go, right? But that’s what we wanted. The best example I have, what are some of the best examples I have is first. First is I’ll take I’ll take one name: Jessica. Jessica is the head of the packaging department. She was one of the people that taught me how to put cigars in cellophane when I first learned. She had had that job for 18 years in that one factory, she had a stable life. She had nothing, nothing to there was nothing, no reason to change. She had been there for so long. The day she learned that we were opening, she quit that job and came. And she’s not the only one. There are people here that taught me how to roll. There are people here that the first days I was in Honduras trying to understand what the hell they were doing and trying to tell that to me in Spanish 25 different ways to help me pick up at least a word or two. The people that basically told me how to taught me how to speak Spanish left jobs they had and jumped on board with us new company, no security, the first that you know, you don’t know, we could have crashed the first month, we had no idea. They didn’t even think about it, you know, 10 years, 15 years, 25 years … the head of our production has over 25 years of experience. He was not working in tobacco anymore because he had no need financial needs for it. And when we called he was like, “Well, sure, I’ll be there.” And he’s been there ever since. You know, it’s stuff like this that really echoes I think for me it’s that’s what I think we mean by that more modern Western world approach is how do we make sure that people have a smile on their face? Yes, it’s work. Yes, there is standards to meet Yes, there are risks. You know, it’s what it is. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be a good environment. So that was very important. And another thing another quick example was last time Brian came in. So there’s a pair that rolls only Salamones all day long and that’s all they do. They’re very good at it and they’ve been set on that vitola ever since we opened the factory. And she had not seen Brian for a couple of months and she saw him come in. Didn’t say anything. She rolled … she took out of her time because they [?] they have a certain amount of cigars they have to make it a day. She took just time out of her day to actually make a random custom barber pole Salamones and just stood up, gave it to Brian, and left. Who asked for it? Nobody asked for it. Those kinds of little things just there mean the world for us is it means that people are happy. And that’s really what it is.
Brian Motola 54:40
To give you another example real quick if we make tell you another story. The factory used to open at seven o’clock. Go ahead, you tell the story.
Sébastien Decoppet 54:52
We use seven o’clock and you know people would be outside the factory at 6:30 in the morning, waiting to come to work. And so then we decided we would open at 6:30. Well, then people were sitting at six o’clock, and then and so on. And it got to the point where it was almost what 5:30 In the morning. It got to the point where some of the people would come in to open the doors at 6. They were like, Okay, six, but no more, not a six under six, we’re not here is not okay. So they came in, and they started coming in at 5:30. So they told them, okay, stop, you know, do whatever you want, but we’re not opening before six. And so the person that comes in earliest now is His name is David. And I talked to him the other day, I was like, this is this was really crazy, right? He’s like, No, I’m actually opening at 5:30 now, because it broke my heart. And they were always there at 5:30 in the morning. And so the factory opens at 5:30 in the morning because they would come earlier, you know, when usually you tell people to come to work. And then like eight, between 8 and 8:30, you give them a window, there’ll be here at 8:40 Right? Here, you tell them 7, they come half an hour earlier to see if they can get in. It’s ridiculous.
Brian Motola 56:11
We have a philosophy that, you know, people deserve to be happy in their personal life. They also deserve to be happy while they’re at work. You know, I mean, there’s so many people in this world in corporations today, that are absolutely miserable from the minute they arrive to the minute they go home, and then they’re happy with their personal life. Well, I think people deserve to be happy on both fronts, you know, that’s really important to us. I mean, that doesn’t mean that there are, you know, standards and they’re aren’t … it just makes achieving those goals that much easier. When the people that you’ve surrounded yourself and work with you are happy to be here, it makes all the difference in the world. You don’t have any angry rolled of cigars coming out of our factory, you know, it makes a big difference. I mean, it makes accomplishing goals and, and building for the future that much easier when you put a team in place that is dedicated to, you know, the well being and the happiness of the people here. That’s really important to us.
Antoine Reid 57:21
And I definitely agree with that. Because whenever people don’t factor in the emotional part of working, so however you’re feeling when you’re working, or when you come to work, or whatever you do, obviously, that emotion is going to get embedded in that product. So the last thing you want people to be is angry or tired. Or like you said, working for the weekend, because obviously that feeling and that vibe is going to be part of that your blend, which is not an ingredient that you want.
Sébastien Decoppet 57:52
No, we’re talking about something that is completely handmade. That depends on that, right? It really does. I mean, we don’t, most of the time, most people I mean, nobody really thinks of it, I think and it really does. I mean, it’s not machine, it’s not if you’re angry in the morning, you don’t just pull a button and let it roll. You have to sit there and make the thing, the thing that you have to do happen. So it’s you know, little things, but it’s more it becomes more of a little side stories, but it’s really something that matters for us and makes a whole difference.
Antoine Reid 58:24
As we come towards the end of our hour together, I have a final question for each of you. So for Brian, your final question is somebody comes to you and they want to start a new business. What’s your advice to them to get started? Like, where did they get started?
Brian Motola 58:45
Starting a new business is really a huge responsibility. And the thing that I can really advise people on is if your work business is going to require human resources and people to make it successful, look beyond the person is working in your company and look to their family because it’s one of the things I told Sebastien about when we started here. I said, you know, the 100 people that we have working with us here at the factory. They have four or five people at home that rely on this job, this income. So always look beyond what’s in front of what’s in front of you, you know, you may think, Okay, I’m gonna give this business a try. And I’m gonna hire 10, 15, 20, 100 … Whatever the number is, but always remember that those people rely on that to make a living, and there’s people at home that rely on them as well. So take that very seriously, in how you’re going to go about executing on your business plan, because a business plan is just paper; people are people. And you have to look at that aspect of the business and see if what you’re structuring, can sustain itself and run the long game. It’s not a flick this light switch on when you start making money, it’s the long game, you’re in it for the long road, and be part of it, be present, and always lead. And when things are bad, look in the mirror; when things are good, look out the window, and say, “look at what the people here have accomplished.” When things are all messed up, look in the mirror, because generally, it starts with you first. And so that would be the advice I would give them. Look forward, always look beyond what’s in front of you. What’s on the next hill, not the hill in front of you. And always keep in mind that the people that join your business rely on that. And there’s people that rely on them. So take it very seriously. And think it through.
Antoine Reid 1:01:11
And Sebastian, your question is, what’s your tips for those people who find themselves in a leadership position? Like what do you have a number one tip for people who are kind of leading companies or leading effort projects, or whatever it is?
Sébastien Decoppet 1:01:27
If it’s a tip, and if Im in a position position to give any tips to be honest, but one thing that I think is absolutely key and has been for me and is always is surround yourself with the right people. Know what you can do and what you can’t do and you know, invest in people around you. Because it’s again, you know, not in a selfish way just for me for me, but what what do we need to make it work? It’s all about knowing where your limits are what you can when you can do I really think, you know. There’s no way I can do Cavalier today, without the 100 people that are here. Find those 100 people. But you know, it took a year, it took a year for Brian to take that position, we look for a year for someone. So sometimes you sacrifice a little bit until you find the right person. But you know, take that time. It really makes a difference.
Antoine Reid 1:02:31
Yeah, for those people who are not watching this, maybe listening to this interview. Could you tell me tell people what website they need to follow what social media they need to follow in order to keep up with the company and also with each of you.
Sébastien Decoppet 1:02:46
Yeah, I appreciate that. So the first one is, I think the main communication channel that we use the most and the one that we have also dedicated time and people for to respond and everything directly is Instagram. So @cavalier_cigars, that’s the easiest. You’ll actually fall on Sarah. So she’s very kind. If you have any questions, please reach out. Please feel free to follow us there. We’ll make sure to communicate, repost, to do everything that’s needed and and we appreciate everything you guys do there for us. And website wouldn’t be cavalier-cigars.com. And that’s just you know, genuine information. We don’t sell direct, we don’t have anything there. So it’s really informational. But there is also a contact email forum. So if you have questions, it’s another way to reach out and just fall into the office instead of someone directly so it’s going to take a little more time usually. And then personal ones for me is @sebastienatcavalier for Instagram.
Brian Motola 1:04:01
And my Instagram is @bmo_atcavalier.
Sébastien Decoppet 1:04:14
That’s always the weirdest thing when I read his I tried to read everything and it now you split it with the “bmo_at” and it works pretty well.
Brian Motola 1:04:24
Well, @bmo_atcavalier. I don’t even remember my Instagram is because it’s not about us at the end of the day. It’s about everybody. Everybody listening, everybody working in this factory, that’s who it’s all about. We appreciate being on here. Thank you so much.
Antoine Reid 1:04:41
So much for coming on. I know. It’s it’s just an hour but as we were talking about before the show, I feel like there’s so many cigar podcasts that are like two or three hours long and then you know, there’s no way to follow up. You know, within that same year or even with a year later because it’s like you spoken about everything that needs to be spoken about. So hopefully you all will come back on in the near future. And we, because there’s so much more about Cavalier that I know we didn’t touch on. But hopefully people listening could take this as a little bit of a teaser to the Cavalier. And we’ll look into your brand a little bit more. So definitely want to follow up. But thank you all for coming on and for sharing your story to this, this afternoon. And for everybody who’s watching and listening.
Brian Motola 1:05:28
We appreciate it very much. Thank you. Thank you.
Antoine Reid 1:05:32
Thank you. And for anybody who’s watching this on Facebook, or YouTube or Twitter, make sure you hit that like button, the Follow button. If you’re listening to this on any of the podcasting platforms, just make sure you hit the subscribe button to be notified. Anytime we come up with new content, we try to do at least a show a week, we have some pretty good shows coming up in next month in May. And if this is your first show, then you’re in luck, because there’s about 84 different episodes for you to catch up on. So there’s plenty of stuff for you to catch up on. And listen and this interview, as well as all the other ones that I’ve done so far. For deep cuts, we’ll be on deep cuts live.com. So you can go there to get caught up on all the different interviews and there’s a few press releases or news from this industry as well. So I want to thank our guests for coming on and sharing this hour and six minutes with us and and I know that they have another little event, I think this this evening to get to so we’re going to let them go. And for everybody who’s watching, like I said, Thank you for watching and thank you for listening and as I usually say at the end of these now until next time, so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you
