When Pia Carusone and Rachel Gardner told their friends they wanted to open a distillery, many of them told them to get out while they could. "It's going to cost double what you think, and it's going to be way harder," their friends who had already opened distilleries had told them.
They didn't listen. Even when some of those warnings ended up being true, they didn't look back. Their community-funded distillery, Republic Restoratives, opened in Ivy City only six months ago, on Mother's Day.
Now, they're making waves as the largest crowdfunded distillery in the U.S. — they raised about $119,000 at the start of building last May — and they're working to bring more community events to the neighborhood they call home.
How did you come to the idea for this distillery?
Pia: We grew up together, so our entire lives we've been friends, well family more than anything. We had this idea about a decade ago, and it was a very casual idea. You know how it is. You have these ideas and 99 percent of them get lost in the idea factory. This one we kept returning to and began, as a hobby, learning more and Rachel took a distilling class, which was sort of a milestone — like "Oh, wow, we're actually investing time and money into learning about this."
Then we came to a decision point I would say around 2012. I had been working on Capitol Hill for Congresswoman Giffords from Tucson and she was shot in 2011, and my life had changed a lot at that point. For me, that was the right moment.
And Rachel had some family stuff that catalyzed her decision that sort of made this a reality.
Rachel: We were always on opposite sides of talking each other in or out of it. When I was feeling discouraged, she was feeling really pumped. And when she was feeling discouraged, I was feeling super pumped, and somehow those things always lined up to never have us both say that this was a bad idea.
We were always on opposite sides of talking each other in or out of it.
What made you decide to start a business together as close friends?
Rachel: You know, we've been sort of exercising all of our entrepreneurial ideas since we were little kids. And Pia being a little bit older, she was always at the vanguard of whatever we were doing — whether it was a lemonade stand or a bread-making service with rollerblade delivery. We did a lot of ridiculous things as little kids. And growing up in a small town that kind of helped with doing stuff that we couldn't necessarily get away with in a big city.
But I think particularly after Congressman Giffords was shot and my father got sick at the same time, we both really looked at our lives and said "How can we do something together?" "How can we really prepare for the rest of our lives," because life is short and you want to do things that matter to you with the people you care about, and build community around what you're doing.
You all have been open for about six months now. So what has that journey been like for you all?
Pia: I group the past two years into one big thing. You know, previous to opening, even though we didn't really have revenue coming in or customers, we still had major shit going on in terms of decisions, financial decisions and things like that. So, you know, the opening is a change, so we have customers and people coming in, and we're actually able to sell our product. Now we actually get to deliver a product and build up our accounts, so that's been great.
The ramp up time is certainly longer than it takes. We definitely thought this would be a quicker deal than what it was.
With that, what were maybe some of the challenges you faced that were unexpected?
Rachel: The location and the zoning limitations, first and foremost. Most folks even in the realty business don't have a great sense of how to deal with those restrictions and what they are because they're not used to working for them. So whether it's proximity to a school or adjacent zoning — so how close you are to a residence — there are just a lot of restrictions just for this type of business that have nothing to do with the D.C. government and the local government and dealing with the federal. So really trying to find somebody who could champion that process with us.
Pia: In just every sense, general contractors are horrible. They're horrible, and neither of us had really dealt with that in a professional setting. People that were not exactly acting in good faith. For us, it was so much money, and then to spend it in a way like they didn't give a shit. We had to fight wars every day. Like this isn't that big of a project for a general contractor.
Rachel: I think that being women just made it that much more challenging because it was just like the expectation when you're at a car dealership and you don't know what you're talking about. We had to prove that we had done our homework. It's hard to feel that level of confidence walking into a room, like "I don't know how to build this thing?" Like "What's a studor valve?" "I don't know, but I can look it up on Google." Thank, God, for Google.
The crowdfunding is not financially a large part of what it took, but we would not be here without it.
Tell me about your crowdfunding efforts last year.
Pia: So we crowdfunded the beginning. We did put a little bit of what we had in there, but it wasn't much. We launched a crowdfunding campaign in May 2015, which we raised $119,000 from, which left us the largest crowdfunded distillery in the U.S., which is awesome.
That money in comparison to what it took to do this is very small, but the impact of that money is huge because that allowed us to raise equity funds. Then that equity funding gave the traditional lenders the confidence to give us a loan. The crowdfunding is not financially a large part of what it took, but we would not be here without it. That's why we call ourselves a community-funded distillery.
Where do you see the distillery growing?
Rachel: Our plan from the beginning has been to focus on our aged products, but (our first product) Civic (vodka) has really landed nicely with the people and connected to our brand. We've gotten a lot of great feedback. We are excited to have some products that will come behind Civic to show people what we've been doing on site. So we should have a new product kind of every three months for the next year, year-and-a-half. By the end of 2017, we'll have at least five products.
Pia: Specifically an apple brandy, we're really excited about. The early tests are already great. There's not a lot of that going on in the craft format yet. And like Rachel said, aged products—our whiskey will only be getting older and better.
We are trying to play a role here as a place for local makers and innovators to gather, so we've started doing a semi-regular brunch collaboration party where we invite a food partner or some sort to come and make food and cocktails. That style of event is what we're really excited about and being able to connect with people at a greater level than just alcohol.
I think we're in a great place to use this place as a sort of connector.
So on that note, what do you think makes innovation in D.C. special?
Pia: I think that the city is so interesting in general because you have some of the most important world leaders and decisions being made. And then literally blocks away from those rooms, you have a room like this. You have two women pioneering in the distilling industry, and there's countless examples of that happening in D.C.
I think beverage in particular is having an awesome Renaissance, but it's not just that. It's art, it's music, it's technology. There's a lot of shit happening in D.C., and I think sometimes the rest of the country looks at this as a capital city and nothing more. But that's really not the case anymore; it probably never was, we know that.
Rachel: I think obviously in this neighborhood, having a sort of critical mass of distilleries in this neighborhood is great for us in terms of bring customers and tourism, but also on a national and international scale. It's not only a draw for tourists, but it's also showing that we're doing something totally different.
What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?
Rachel: Ask lots of questions. For us, that was the biggest thing. And having a business partner that is obviously your best friend who you can trust is also really helpful, but that's not the route that everybody goes.
Also, make an effort to reach out to your community. For us, being in this neighborhood is a huge part of who we are.
Pia: Be comfortable with not knowing everything, which women aren't as good at as men. Men are totally fine to not have the knowledge that would bred the confidence for the shit that they say, and women, in general, need a little bit more than that. But being an entrepreneur, you can only see so far down the road, and you have to be comfortable with that. If we had waited to have 100 percent answers to everything, we wouldn't be open.
Anything else?
Rachel: The cross fingers (in our logo) is the American Sign Language symbol for "R." Gallaudet University is right in this neighborhood, and it is the largest, oldest, federally funded, subsidized deaf university. So we are in a neighborhood that has had a deaf community that has been supporting it for many years.
You know, and it's a little bit of hope, a little bit of best friendship. Besties on a mission!
