Meet Adelaide Campbell | CEO Kachaca Spirits

We had the good fortune of connecting with Adelaide Campbell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Adelaide, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I believe there are four essential parts to being an entrepreneur: 1) having an intrinsic entrepreneurial spirit, 2) finding the spark of an idea, 3) having time to explore and test the idea, and 4) The Leap.

The Leap is where a lot of would-be entrepreneurs get stuck because it’s where our tolerance for risk is tested the most. The risk of leaving a job to pursue your business full-time and losing a steady paycheck, or the risk of sacrificing personal time and resources to get your idea off the ground.

Since I come from the actuarial world, I assess risk from a mathematical point of view. For me, it was a calculation of the size of the opportunity and a personal assessment of my ability to execute. In January 2021, I made the decision to leave my career in tech after performing that very assessment. I took a hard look at how much effort my current job was taking and if I put that same effort into pursuing my business idea, in 60 days would my opportunities increase, decrease, or stay the same?

Within 60 days, momentum was building behind my business, and I was confident in the skills I had to keep that momentum going. Embracing the risks of a career pivot was what ultimately helped me launch and grow my business to where it is today.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am on a mission to convert American cocktail drinkers into lovers of Brazil’s national spirit cachaça.

I come from the world of technology product management, so when I set out to create the blend for Kachaça! I intentionally recreated the software development process with competitive analysis, user testing, and rapid iteration. By approaching the product development process this way, I was able to quickly identify a gap in the market and define the product attributes that could address that gap. What I found was most cachaças were geared toward consumers who already appreciate the subtleties and nuances of the spirit. These were all quality products, but they occupied specific corners of the market. You could call most of them acquired tastes. But Kachaça was going to be different. Kachaça was going to be the first cachaça with broad appeal.

Consider Scotch as a counterexample. If you want to introduce a friend to Scotch Whisky, you wouldn’t give them an ultra-peaty Laphroaig, but something more straight forward like Macallan — a friendly approachable entry point. With this ethos in mind, I created Kachaça to be smooth, approachable, and easily mixable into the classics.

Kachaça! is cachaça for everyone.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
100% I would take them to Kojin in Little River for their Washoku Experience. Chef Pedro and his amazing wife Katherine do incredible things behind a small 10 seat bar tucked in the back of a ramen bar and it’s my favorite restaurant in all of Miami.

No trip to Miami would be complete without a walk around Ocean Drive and South Beach to soak in the Miami vibe, but I’d take them South of Fifth for a Kachaça caipirinha at South Point Tavern before heading over to Biscayne Bay Paddleboards for a sunset paddle around the islands and dinner at Stiltsville.

Finally, I’d take them up to South Florida Distillers in Ft Lauderdale where we bottle Kachaça and take the gin making class.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Without a doubt, I couldn’t survive without my amazing husband. He is equal parts endlessly supportive and hyper critical, two qualities that have helped push my company and brand to a level that would have taken years to grow and mature without his guidance.

Another person I couldn’t have done this without is Steve Raye who wrote the book (literally) on how to launch an alcohol brand in the US. His book “How to Get US Market Ready” was the bible I lived by as I got my business up and running and I still turn to him when I have questions. Thankfully he is gracious with his time and advice.

Website: https://www.KachacaSpirits.com

Instagram: @KachacaSpirits

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kachaca-spirits

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kachacaspirits