Meet Dominique Gonzales | Founder, Root Elixirs

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

Hi Dominique, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I guess there are a couple of types of risks I could speak on: calculated and intuitive risks. Taking risks is not all about ‘going all in,’ that’s a gamble. When taking risks, it’s important to calculate these decisions. In business, it’s essential to know your end game and have a clear vision of where you want to be. Then, surround yourself with advisors and do your research to see how you will get there. Intuitive risk to me is living a life that makes you come alive. Entrepreneurship doesn’t always follow the same traditional path. It’s hard to put yourself out there, but you can’t shake it when you feel it in your gut & you know. Dream big.

What should our readers know about your business?
Our goal is to elevate drink mixers so you can sip in sophistication and have similar cocktails you’d typically have at a craft bar. Rather than piecing together ingredients that might not be perfect, I spent years developing the favors so you can enjoy them in the comfort of your home.

I’m proud Root Elixirs has scaled nationally this year with our same core team since its inception.

I started the company with a strong passion for bringing my vision to life, not knowing what I was doing was far from the industry norm. I wanted people to drink craft cocktails anywhere, and I was excited to start a business. Years later, I realized why this journey had been so tricky, and I was naive to how much money and time it would take to keep the company going. Typically, people start beverage companies with investors and are not self-funded, but this is also what makes it worth it; it’s a challenge. Entrepreneurship doesn’t come without challenges and setbacks, but it’s how you rebound and pivot from those failures. I’ve made countless mistakes, and I know I have many more to make. So you take mistakes as learning lessons and figure out how your business will come back stronger. The biggest learning lesson to date was getting through the pandemic and realizing we needed to have more revenue streams to keep the business going. We diversified and took Root Elixirs online and had great success growing the business. The failure allowed us to look in other directions and see our blind spots as opportunities.

I come from a hospitality background and have been in the food and beverage industry for over 13 years. I love cooking, making cocktails, and gathering with friends and family. Growing up, my most memorable moments involved sharing time cooking delicious meals. While I enjoy hosting, it becomes difficult to cook, entertain, and make cocktails simultaneously, so in that struggle, the idea of Root Elixirs came to life. I wanted to give people a simple way to recreate an elevated cocktail experience. I sourced inspiration from my time bartending and started experimenting with different recipes. I believe in making things simple, intentional, and quality. The name Root Elixirs came from sourcing ingredients from my garden to craft something natural and vibrant. It’s important to give back to the earth, grow gardens, and strive for more sustainable options.
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.
One of my favorite places that just opened up within the last couple of years is Showfields. Showfields is a curated shop with emerging brands designed to change the traditional shopping experience. They bring in DJs, host classes & events, have a slide that takes you from one floor to the next, and artists who build installations every six months.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am dedicating this to my family. My family is always willing to lend a helping hand whenever they can. They were the best ’employees’ when I started and helped get Root Elixirs off the ground. I’d also send a shoutout to my bar manager, Joe Anthony, who believed in my abilities to mix drinks and pushed me to start competing in cocktail competitions.

Website: https://rootelixirs.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/root_elixirs/?hl=en