Episode Transcript
Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.
Use Ctrl + F to search
0:00
- I asked you what your favorite quote was.
0:02
So I'm gonna read it. "Growth doesn't come with a single action.
0:06
"It's a consequence of persistence, courage and hard work."
0:11
So my question to you is how are you persistent?
0:14
- Never giving up. - [Rob] Never give up.
0:16
- Never give up, always there on the battle, in the battle
0:20
and just giving the best of me for this
0:24
to be the perfect one. - There's a story inside every smoke shop,
0:27
with every cigar, and with every person.
0:31
Come be a part of cigar lifestyle at Boveda.
0:34
This is Box Press. (upbeat jazz hiphop)
0:41
Welcome to another episode of Box Press. I'm your host, Rob Gagner.
0:44
I'm here at PCA 2021 and I'm sitting down
0:48
with Raquel Quesada of Quesada Cigars.
0:51
Raquel, thank you for joining me. - Thank you, hi-- - Yes.
0:55
- Rob, thank you for having me here. I'm very, very excited.
0:58
- [Rob] I love it. - And I can't wait to see what today brings.
1:01
- Exactly, great conversation, great company and great cigars.
1:05
- Thank you, enjoy. - Yes. I have to ask what is Dance VXN?
1:11
- Oh, that's like a dance that I do, it's just like,
1:16
this girl in Miami, she came up with this dance.
1:19
So, you know Zumba? - Yeah. - So it's pretty much like that, but more dancing.
1:23
It's like a more sensual dance,
1:25
but it's, it's not bad, it's okay.
1:28
But I do that all the time and then it's become
1:30
really popular worldwide.
1:32
- [Rob] Sure. - And then there's specific teachers
1:36
in each country, it's like-
1:39
- [Rob] So do you teach it? - No, I don't teach it. - Okay.
1:41
- I just take it, but then we have a really nice group
1:44
in my town and then it's become really popular and people,
1:48
every time I walk to even the bank or something,
1:50
people like, "Oh, I saw you dancing." (Rob lightly laughing)
1:53
- I'm like, "Okay, thank you.
1:55
Because there's like- - How do they see you dancing? Through the club? - Because in the videos,
1:58
yeah, my Instagram. - Oh, through the videos. - Yeah, you can watch that too. (loudly laughs)
2:02
- Perfect, I didn't even think.
2:05
- I am like a Zumba teacher. I got certified and everything.
2:10
But on this one my knees are not good anymore,
2:14
and it's a lot of, it's hard work.
2:16
- Right. Zumba is, but this one's not?
2:20
Or this one is? - This one is harder.
2:25
- [Rob] Oh wow. - Yeah, on your knees and on your, specific muscles,
2:29
- [Rob] Sure. - Because you do a lot of dancing, I guess. (softly laughs)
2:36
- I danced competitively when I was from third grade until high school.
2:41
- Really? - Yeah. - [Raquel] What did you dance for?
2:44
- It was like production, you would compete on a stage against everyone else.
2:49
So it was like tap, jazz, hip hop-
2:52
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Lyrical, the whole nine. - Really? - It's a lot of fun.
2:55
- Oh my God, I love dancing. I think I was a dancer in my other life.
2:58
- Yes, exactly. - I love it.
3:01
- It hits like a rhythmic soulful, like-
3:04
- Wow, yeah. - Real passionate. - For me, it's like, no stress.
3:07
Just like the whole day you leave it behind
3:09
and you just like, express yourself and just be you
3:13
and have fun. - Exactly, exactly
3:15
- Wow, it's amazing. - And it has no language barrier.
3:19
- Exactly. - Which I love. - How come you just like, out of the blue,
3:23
you just decided you wanted to dance? - No, my mom, my mom was like,
3:29
"You should sign up for dance." And I was like, "Dancing is for girls."
3:33
And then she brought me by the studio where they had pictures of boys,
3:37
and I was like, "Uh," and I made a bet with her or deal with her.
3:40
I was like, "I'll do it,
3:42
"but I'll only dance with the boys."
3:45
- Okay, no girls. - And that lasted all of a year because then I was like-
3:49
- Into it. - Finally got to that maturity level of like,
3:51
"Oh, I do like girls and I- - Like the girls. - "Wanna dance with them." - With girls.
3:55
- "Specifically with this one girl." - Yeah, exactly. (Raquel lightly laughing)
3:59
So it got to be really contagious after that.
4:02
Then it was like production after production,
4:05
after production, and line and everything, it was a lot of fun. - And then when did you decide
4:08
that you're not gonna do it anymore? - Well, I went all the way until I graduated high school,
4:12
because that's basically what it is, right? It's just like another recreational activity
4:15
for students to do. - Like a side thing.
4:18
- Yeah, like a sport. - Okay, ah, instead of taking volleyball or like-
4:22
- Exactly, instead of doing baseball, I did that.
4:25
Well, I did baseball too, but I was heavy dance.
4:28
It was five days a week,
4:31
Weekends, you would do competitions. - [Raquel] Yeah, that's like when you're like an athlete.
4:35
- Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Kept me out of trouble-
4:38
- Exactly, exactly. - It made me do my homework-because I couldn't go to dance unless I got my homework done.
4:44
So procrastination was nipped in the bud right away.
4:48
- Wow, my son's like that, he's like a professional,
4:51
well, he's like a high-end golfer.
4:54
He's young, but he's like focused.
4:58
He's into training, no drinking, no going out.
5:03
So that way it's like. - [Rob] So he wants to be on the PGA tour at some point.
5:08
- Yeah, he has like next week, we're gonna go to Florida for a tournament.
5:13
And then at the end of the month, he's gonna be playing
5:15
for Dominican Republic team, golf team.
5:18
- Wow. - Internationally. - So he's all in. - Yeah.
5:22
- Is he always on the golf course?
5:24
- Yeah, always, all day, all the time.
5:27
And when he's done, he wants to go back again
5:31
and then it's like big time. - So do you have to tell him to get his homework done
5:34
before he goes golf? - [Raquel] He's a good student though.
5:36
- Is he? - He's always like a straight-A student.
5:39
- Sure. - That's the blessing.
5:43
- Exactly, that's a blessing. - That's a huge blessing. - Especially in boys on this time of age, time.
5:49
- [Rob] How old is he? - He's gonna be 14 next month.
5:52
- [Rob] Okay, so he's just entering that phase of like-
5:55
- But boys now, like when I was growing up,
5:59
when I was 14, now when they're 12,
6:02
they're already doing what I was doing when I was 15.
6:05
So there are really ahead of time. - [Rob] Right.
6:08
- Because times are fast.
6:11
So at the end, he's already, kids are drinking,
6:14
and going to parties and doing all this.
6:18
- So can they drink at that age in the D.R.? - They can't, but they can get it.
6:22
- But they can get it. - They can get the drink. - Sure, just like everyone else in high school, it's like,
6:26
you're not supposed to drink, but you can.
6:28
- But do you know what? I was brought up in a family where you could smoke
6:33
and that ended up in drinking, too.
6:37
- [Rob] Sure. - So it was, it was fine.
6:39
My dad, I mean the cigars were all there.
6:42
The drinking was all there.
6:44
So for me, there wasn't like a barrier of,
6:48
"No, you can't drink, oh, no, you can't smoke." So, "Oh, you want to, go ahead," you know?
6:52
So for me, with my son, I did the same.
6:54
I mean, if you wanna, let's do it with me.
6:57
- [Rob] Yes. - Go, come here and we'll do it together.
6:59
- And educated. - Yeah.
7:01
- I gotta ask, growing up in a cigar family,
7:03
you said cigars were out, the alcohol was out, you learned-
7:07
- Everything was out. - So do you have like some unwritten rule as family members?
7:13
Like, "We're not gonna talk about cigars,"
7:16
at certain points, or at certain areas?
7:18
- Well, that was a little tough. We tried to do the rule,
7:21
but we ended up breaking the rule.
7:24
- [Rob] Sure, and what was the rule? Like while you're at home?
7:27
- It's like, yeah, while we're home or, like Sundays were like family lunch, always.
7:31
So we decided if it's Saturday, you can talk about it,
7:34
but Sunday, it's like, really, you can't talk about it.
7:38
But then we always ended up breaking the rule.
7:40
And then my mom ended up being like really sad about it.
7:43
It's like, "Oh, we talked about it, "we said we're not gonna do it
7:46
"and you always end up doing this."
7:48
But you know, it's inevitable, you can't.
7:52
With my dad, it's like, there was always something he,
7:55
"Oh, remember me a Monday that I have to do this and this,"
7:57
or, "Remember me that the blend that I did last week,
8:00
"I need to tweak it," and I'm like,
8:02
and then I used to take notes. - Yeah, exactly, yeah, okay,
8:05
I guess I'm just gonna be your secretary today.
8:08
- Exactly. - I love it. - So at the end we always ended up talking about,
8:12
and then my dad is so passionate about it that,
8:16
he can't, it was always
8:19
cigars, cigars- - It's what you're always doing. - Tobacco, yeah.
8:22
So me and my sister, we were always on that.
8:24
- I love that. So you try to set some boundaries,
8:27
but at the end of the day, if you break 'em,
8:30
no one's really upset. - [Raquel] No, just my mom.
8:32
(softly laughing) - Yeah, just your mom, just your mom. - Because then we were all
8:34
part of the team, just but her.
8:37
- Yeah, she's like feeling out of the loop, I bet.
8:40
- Yeah, totally, always.
8:43
- Really? - She was always like out of the loop.
8:46
So she was always a little, but then we went back to the topics
8:51
of just regular things, and then back to tobacco,
8:54
and then back to family and then back and forth,
8:57
back and forth. - [Rob] Sure, does she like being out of the loop?
9:01
Is that like refreshing to her? - I don't know, I think at times she wanted to be in it,
9:07
but then at times she was just, "Well, just do your thing,
9:10
"and enjoy your thing," and that's it.
9:13
You know, Dominican families, or Cubans, or,
9:16
we're all like so mixed, but the mom is always more on the side.
9:23
But then my dad had only girls, so he had no options.
9:27
He had to like get us in the loop.
9:29
- [Rob] Wow, yeah. - And at that time they told him we were gonna be boys.
9:34
Because there was like no technology or anything.
9:37
So my room was all blue-
9:39
- Oh, no. - And I was gonna be Manuel.
9:42
So then when I came in, it was Raquel. (loudly laughing)
9:46
- Guess they were wrong. - I'm the oldest one.
9:48
- Of how many? - Of two, two girls. - Of two, got it.
9:52
- And then my sister was supposed to be another boy,
9:54
and then it was another girl. - You think that doctor was just like trying
9:58
to say what they wanted to hear? - [Raquel] I think so.
10:00
- "I'm sure you just want to hear this." - Yeah, because, I don't know, but in Latin families,
10:03
like boys are very important because they're the ones that are gonna be
10:08
like taking over the family business or whatever.
10:12
So for my dad, it was a little tough,
10:15
but then I think throughout the years,
10:18
he really realized that it was better to have girls on board.
10:21
(loudly laughing) - Exactly. And now there's no longer that stigma
10:24
that girls can't take over the family business.
10:26
- No, not anymore, and let me tell you something.
10:29
Throughout the years, he tapped me like in the back
10:33
and said, "You know, I'm so proud of you." And that's, that was really big for me at some point.
10:38
Because you work so hard and then,
10:41
and then your dad that always wanted to have something different is really telling you,
10:46
"I'm so proud of you," you know? - Yeah, that affirmation is huge as a kid.
10:49
- It's huge. - And even still today. - Yeah, he still tells me though.
10:53
- That's awesome. That's great. - He did like a few weeks ago. He tells me, "I'm so proud of you."
10:58
And it's hard for a man to, at least in my culture.
11:02
- Right, to be vulnerable- - To realize that. - And express that. - Yeah, and express, yeah.
11:06
And for my dad, coming from,
11:10
leaving Cuba so early in his stage of life
11:13
and then his mother passed away when they got to Dominican Republic,
11:17
and then he went to Vietnam, and all these events in his life, so hard.
11:22
It's even harder to really express what he really feels.
11:26
But then he, throughout the years, I mean,
11:29
he was really, really, really like,
11:32
"I'm so proud of you girls." - That's awesome.
11:35
- I get goosebumps. - I bet, because it means a lot.
11:39
- It does, it does, especially, you work so hard and you try to make him proud
11:44
and someday he calls you out.
11:47
Because he used to have this, when we were at the other factory,
11:50
because we moved like 11 years ago
11:52
from one free zone to the other.
11:54
And he had this extension
11:58
and a speakerphone on the whole factory.
12:01
And he was like, "Raquel Quesada, 231."
12:04
And you're like, your heart starts beating
12:06
and it's like, "Oh my God, what did I do wrong?"
12:09
And then you ran to see him
12:11
and then he's just telling, "You know what? "Sit here and, I'm so proud of you."
12:16
- He just wanted to tell you how proud he is of you.
12:18
- [Raquel] Yup, yup. - That's great. - I know.
12:20
- At least he knows to do it when he feels it, right?
12:23
Because some people feel it and then don't express it.
12:25
So that's perfect. - But I'm telling you, it's hard to express it,
12:28
but when you're ready, you're ready.
12:30
And then you just tell 'em. - [Rob] That's awesome.
12:33
- So I do that with my son all the time. Because it's really important, you know?
12:36
On your growing stage of life. - [Rob] Yes, and you just have the one son?
12:41
- Boy, yes, Rodrigo. - One boy, nice. That's awesome.
12:44
- He's gonna be 14 next month. - Congrats to him, let's go.
12:48
- I know. - Let's go get on the PGA tour.
12:50
- We'll see, like in a few years, I'll tell Rob.
12:53
- Yes, yes, let's do it. - I told you. We talked about it.
12:56
- I wanna go to the inaugural PGA opening-
12:59
- Yes, and we'll celebrate with Quesada Cigars. - And we'll celebrate and we'll cheer him on.
13:02
- And Boveda. - "We're very proud of you."
13:04
(both lightly laughing) Love it. - Totally.
13:08
- Speaking of being proud,
13:10
you had shared with Ben when you did the live
13:14
that you did a blend without your dad knowing.
13:18
- [Raquel] Yes. - How difficult is it to try to do a blend
13:21
without your dad who knows everything that's going on at the factory- - Oh, yes.
13:24
- How did you keep that under wraps? - My dad, when you go blind tasting with him,
13:31
you bring cigars and he knows.
13:34
He knows like if this seed from this place
13:38
and this thing, he knows. Like he tells you, "Oh, this is Carrillo '98
13:42
"from this place." Or he, "This is Allure."
13:45
Or, "This is Cuban seed grown," and whatever.
13:48
And for me it was like this is very challenging.
13:52
But one day, he always used to tell me,
13:55
he used to write on a little piece of paper
13:58
like, "Do this plan and then go "and then bring it to me when it's ready
14:02
"in a few days," or whatever. Sometimes we'll do just like something fast,
14:07
which is like no technique or anything,
14:09
just like some cigars. But sometimes it was just like in a few days.
14:13
So that day he gives me this little paper,
14:15
just like usual and I leave. And then when I bring the cigars, I tweaked the whole thing.
14:21
It's like, I put another tobacco in-
14:23
- So you tweaked what he wanted. - The whole, what he wanted.
14:27
- Was it even resembling the cigar blend
14:30
that he wanted at all? - No.
14:32
- What made you think that you could tweak it? - Well, because I was like, I was on it
14:36
and I was doing a few things without him knowing,
14:39
and I said, you know what? I'm just gonna, this is my thing and I'm gonna do it.
14:44
So I just went, I tweaked it.
14:47
So what I did was when I came back,
14:49
I put the cigars on his table and ran.
14:52
I just like, I literally left- - Out. - And disappeared,
14:55
like David Copperfield. And in a few minutes or sometime,
15:00
he starts again, on that speaker thing,
15:02
he said, "Raquel Quesada to the," and his voice, I don't know, it's really like, strong voice.
15:08
So I'm like, oh my God, I'm in deep trouble.
15:12
- "He knows that I tweaked it." - He knows that I changed the whole thing.
15:16
So when I go in, I was like, "Yes?"
15:18
You know, with my little face, good girl Raquel,
15:22
because I was always a good girl. My sister was more of the-
15:25
- The rebellion, yeah. - The rebel, yes. And I was always, you know.
15:28
But that day I was rebellious.
15:32
So he's like, "What did you do to this?
15:34
"Did you change my blend, Raquel? "Are you serious, are you telling me?"
15:39
I'm like, "I did." He's like, "You know what, I love it."
15:44
- Oh, you lucked out, you lucked out.
15:47
- So at the end, that cigar was Fonseca Cubano Limitado
15:50
at that time, like many years ago.
15:54
So the box came out with a sticker saying,
15:58
Made by Raquel and Manolo Quesada.
16:00
- I love it. - I know.
16:02
It's really exciting, that was like my first thing that I did big on, you know?
16:07
- I love it. - Blending. Because you know, like my dad always said
16:10
you have to go through all the different stages
16:14
because when you're in a department and somebody comes
16:18
with a problem or something that happened, you really need to know what's going on.
16:22
So you can either help them or make it better,
16:24
or say "No, let's do it this way." At the end, I went from when I,
16:29
because I had studied abroad for a few years.
16:31
So then when I came back,
16:33
I spent several months just in different departments,
16:38
like doing this, like classifying tobacco,
16:41
classifying wrapper. I remember classifying colors for me was so exhausting
16:47
because you have all these different colors
16:49
and all these different cigars that have to be shipped
16:52
all in the same color in a box.
16:56
Because in the factory, they're very, very rigorous with that.
17:00
The boxes have to come out like- - Yeah, you don't want a lot of color variation in one box.
17:03
It'll look bad. - And then the cigars have to be all on the same,
17:10
rolled in the same way,
17:13
and you'd have to so many different quality things.
17:17
So at the end for me was exhausting.
17:19
I used to be like, "Do I have to be here for so long?"
17:22
"I don't want to, can you just let me leave?"
17:25
"No, no," and let me tell you something.
17:27
Now I go on the shipping department
17:29
and I see the lady on the table with the cigars
17:33
and I could be really far away and I would go like,
17:36
"This out, this gone, this here."
17:39
And I really appreciate what he did because now I know the importance of that.
17:43
And at the time it was like, "Oh my God, it's really exhausting."
17:47
And it was frustrating because you can't, it's not easy.
17:51
I mean, it's like, because when you have
17:53
seven hours working that-
17:56
- Mentally exhausting. - You get all mixed. Exhausted, and then, but now I go and I'm like so fast.
18:02
- Yeah, you can't learn it unless you do it.
18:05
- Unless you struggle there. - Yeah, exactly, yeah. - For a few days, or weeks.
18:10
So I did, I even rolled cigars. I'm not good at it, but I can roll the cigars
18:14
and do the bunch and everything. I like more bunching than rolling
18:18
because they have to have a lot of crafting on your hands.
18:21
If you're not born with that, it's a little tough.
18:24
But I can do it, but it's not my specialty.
18:27
- Yeah, exactly, exactly.
18:29
- But so I did all the department's things.
18:34
But at the end, I ended up doing the,
18:37
I ended up in production for a few years
18:40
and I bought the tobacco, and I was with the cigar makers for a few years,
18:46
and that was something that I really enjoyed. And I also have like another story with the supplier of one
18:51
of the fillers that we had that my dad always used to go,
18:54
but then when I started, then I used to go.
18:57
And he used to call my dad's like, "Please don't send her back.
19:01
"I'm gonna go bankrupt." Because I used to go and put all the bales
19:06
on a different line and I used to, with a Sharpie,
19:09
mark all the ones that I wanted with my initials on.
19:14
- [Rob] Love it. - And he was like, "Don't, don't send her back
19:17
"Because she's gonna- - [Rob] He didn't wanna deal with it. - I know, because I always just take the best ones.
19:21
And he's like, "Oh, you don't want the bad ones, "you only want the good ones."
19:24
So I was like, I started marking all my bales
19:27
and putting all my initials and I was like,
19:29
so when I received my tobacco, I had all my bales marked.
19:33
- "No switching out my bales." - No switching my bales.
19:36
- That's right. - So that's something I really enjoy. I love that, that part of the-
19:40
- That's awesome. - That was like one of my stages.
19:44
I've been in the factory for 21 years, so.
19:46
- [Rob] You've been in the factory for 21 years. - 21 years. - Holy cow.
19:50
Yeah, I'm a baby still, but it's been 21.
19:54
- So growing up in a tobacco family,
19:58
at what point in your life did it click
20:01
that your dad or your family's different
20:04
than other families because of the global impact your brand has?
20:09
- Let me tell you something, Rob, I think when you're born in this type of family,
20:15
I think you realizes from the very beginning.
20:17
- Really? - I mean, when I saw my grandfather smoking in the car
20:21
with the windows up and it wasn't even bothering me,
20:24
I said, you know what? I'm in, and this is no turning back.
20:29
And let me tell you something, if you don't love it, you can't be in it because it's tough.
20:34
I mean, smoking all day, being in the warehouses,
20:38
being in the fermentation process.
20:41
And my dad, I mean, we used to be like,
20:44
he loves talking inside all these heated
20:48
(softly laughing)
20:51
rooms and I'm like, "Can we talk outside?"
20:53
"No, we're gonna talk here." I'm like, "Okay, I was just suggesting."
20:59
No, so, being a girl, your hair and your clothing
21:02
and everything, it's like, but for me it's like,
21:05
it's a legacy that I inherited it
21:08
and I'm really proud of it. And I'm here until, I get so many opportunity
21:13
to keep on telling the world that I'm happy about it
21:18
and I'm very proud of it. - And you also did, so you talked about going stateside
21:24
for some schooling at BA in Boston.
21:28
- [Raquel] That was exciting. - Boston is my favorite city.
21:32
- Oh, no, after me. - In, yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:35
That is such an easy city to get around in.
21:37
- [Raquel] Oh my god, I love. - I've got a good buddy who lives up on the Brookline,
21:41
the Green Line, it's a great area. - [Raquel] The Green Line, yeah, yeah, yeah and it's very
21:44
easy to get around. - I have to ask, did you ever eat Emack & Bolio's ice cream?
21:50
The ice cream, so it's like a very '70s themed shop-
21:55
- [Raquel] Oh, God, I missed it, I have to go back then.
21:58
- Oh, yeah, and they would take a waffle cone
22:02
and run the outside around the rim in marshmallow
22:06
and then stick cereal to it like Fruit Loops, or- - Oh my God.
22:10
- [Raquel] Lucky Charms, I can imagine. - Yeah, anything. - I'll die.
22:12
- And then amazing ice cream inside. - Really?
22:15
- It's my best, it's- - There's like a specific place that you go?
22:19
- It's called Emack & Bolio's. - And Bolio's.
22:21
- It's named after two homeless guys. - Where's it at though?
22:24
- It's just in Boston, all over,
22:27
kinda like just like a pop-up little ice cream shop.
22:29
- Because I remember Ben & Jerry's was everywhere. There's a few things that were everywhere.
22:33
- It's kind of real local to the Boston area.
22:35
I mean they have franchises- - Oh, but I was there, I was there for four years, so.
22:39
But I have to go back then and try it.
22:41
- Yeah, try Emack & Bolio's, you'll love it.
22:44
- You know, I didn't want to come back from Boston, but then my dad said one day,
22:46
'Either you come back or you're on your own."
22:50
And I was like, "Okay." - "Okay, I'll come back." - I think I'm packing my bags and leaving now.
22:54
- [Rob] You wanted to stay though. - Yeah, well, I went for just one year
22:58
and I stayed for four years.
23:00
- How did you eke out another four years on that?
23:02
- Well, you know- - Did you tell Dad, "I gotta do this- - We're girls
23:05
and we get around. - "I gotta do this, "I gotta keep doing this." - "Well, there's a really
23:08
"good opportunity on this program,
23:11
"at this university."
23:13
- Yeah, you were working it hard. It's a great town to be. - Yeah, oh my God, I have-
23:16
- I love it. - Amazing friends from that time that I still,
23:20
we get together and I really connected,
23:23
from a lot of different countries, like Venezuela and Colombia and all these places,
23:27
Costa Rica, and we're still friends.
23:30
And now with all the social media, it's even better.
23:33
We're so connected. - When you first arrived to Boston,
23:36
what was the most shocking thing that you experienced?
23:39
- The weather, oh my God. - [Rob] Oh, really, was it cold?
23:42
- Oh my God. - What year was it, or what time of year
23:45
did you end up going to Boston for school?
23:48
- It was '97 - August? - It was that winter of '97.
23:52
- Winter of '97. - Yeah, so, and I got like really bad winters.
23:56
It's like, I even had a snow storm
23:59
in the middle of me going to school in my car. Imagine this tropical girl just arrived in Boston
24:05
with a snow storm in the middle of nowhere,
24:07
and I was like crying. - You've never experienced snow in your entire life?
24:10
- No, not even driving in snow, which is like a totally different experience.
24:13
- [Rob] Did you have a car in Boston? - Yeah, I had a car. - [Rob] That's insane.
24:16
- Well, you get around. (both lightly laughing)
24:19
I learned my lesson like very fast because I used to go, I lived in Mass Ave
24:23
and I used to go to Harvard extension school in Cambridge.
24:27
So I started like taking the bus, but at one point I said,
24:30
"You know what, dad, I need a car."
24:33
He's like, "Okay, get whatever you want." And I'm like, "Okay." - Great.
24:37
- Why not? - I wouldn't drive around, my buddy,
24:40
he didn't even drive his car for a year
24:43
because of all the public transportation, it's so easy to- - It's so easy. - Jump on the train
24:46
and get somewhere. - The Metro is so, so easy.
24:48
- So easy, and that's kinda what I loved about it.
24:51
- I had a bus like really like a stop right there.
24:54
But then my classes were like really late
24:57
until 10 o'clock at night.
25:00
So I said, you know- - That makes more sense. - You know, it's a little,
25:02
it's not dangerous, but it's, let's get a car
25:05
because it's more convenient for me to get at 10 o'clock after I get out,
25:09
I get home like at 11. The bus has all these stops, let's get a car.
25:13
He's like, "Okay, fine." - There you go. - I convinced him.
25:16
- So then would you and your friends get out of the city
25:18
and go to more, like I went to Worcester.
25:21
- Yeah, no we didn't go to- - That was a great town. - But then we went to like Newport
25:25
and different, yeah, and then- - Would you ever go into New York City from there?
25:30
- No, no, no, I didn't drive to New York. - No? - No.
25:33
- No, too much. - I think we drove like one time, and that was it for me.
25:37
Because we got lost and- - [Rob] Oh, yeah.
25:39
- It wasn't like a really good experience. So we decided we're not gonna do that anymore.
25:45
But we do, we drove to like Newport and,
25:50
maybe like Martha's Vineyard or whatever was close.
25:52
- [Rob] Sure. - So at the end, yes, we drove to different places.
25:56
Oh, we went skiing one time. - [Rob] Skiing?
25:59
- I don't remember where, something close, it was famous- - How was skiing for the first time,
26:02
never being on snow? - Oh my God, I love it, I love it. - You love it?
26:05
- I was really good at it too. - Really? - Yes.
26:08
- What made you good at it? You have no experience, do you?
26:11
- I don't know, well, my dad was always like really into skiing,
26:14
so we used to go like skiing to Colorado.
26:17
And probably when I went to Boston,
26:20
I had skied for like two years maybe before,
26:22
so I wasn't that good. But then we kept on skiing for other years.
26:26
So we did like black ones and blue ones and-
26:30
- [Rob] So you already had some experience with the snow.
26:33
- Some experience, yeah, but let me tell you, it's not easy.
26:37
It's tough. - No, yeah, I know and if you're a dancer- - Especially with all that
26:40
equipment you have and you have to carry.
26:42
- [Rob] But if you're a dancer, you have good body awareness.
26:45
- Yeah, I was always like really sport. I was really into sport.
26:47
I was a tennis player too, at one point. - That's right, you like tennis.
26:50
- I was a little good at it too.
26:52
- Nice. - I got to be like sixth of Dominican Republic at one point.
26:56
- Really? - Yeah. - Tennis is not an easy sport.
26:58
- [Raquel] I know and I love it. - Me and my wife tried to play, it's not easy.
27:01
- No, but let me tell you something. If you start like when you're young, it's easier.
27:05
It's like riding a bike, once you start and you know-
27:09
- [Rob] It's a lot of muscle memory knowing how to hit that ball. - Exactly, the memory,
27:11
you will not forget and you can ride a bike and even now,
27:14
and you know, so tennis is pretty much the same.
27:17
If you learn it when you're young, then,
27:20
I mean, I've been, I haven't played like in two years. If I start right now, I'll get my swing right away.
27:25
- So you still don't play just for fun?
27:27
- I do sometimes, but I- - Not regularly. - Now I'm more into
27:31
dancing and stuff, but I do play sometimes.
27:33
And my husband plays, and my son plays too.
27:36
- [Rob] Sure, it's a whole family affair.
27:38
And my dad and my mom play too, and my dad- - [Rob] You guys can play doubles.
27:41
- Yeah, and my dad played like few weeks ago.
27:43
- [Rob] Really? - And he did good, yeah, he plays with Albert Montserrat from Cigar Rings.
27:48
- Okay, yep. - You probably know. So they do, and Litto, they do the-
27:52
- Litto, Litto Gomez at LFD. - Litto, yeah!
27:54
They play all together. - What is it growing up around all these like cigar icons-
27:59
- I know. - And just like, they're included in your family, basically.
28:03
- I know, and let me tell you something, in Dominican Republic, we're all very like close.
28:08
Like Mr. Kelner is like, he's like my dad too.
28:12
He was just in the booth a few hours ago and we were just like chatting and talking.
28:16
And it's really, it's really important to have like that relationship with all these,
28:21
I mean we're competitors, but at the end we're also like a big family.
28:26
It's like we have our boundaries, you know you're my competition,
28:30
but it's very important also to get along
28:32
so we can show the world that our cigars are important.
28:36
- But do you think the idea behind competitors is different
28:41
from an American perspective versus
28:43
like a Dominican Republic perspective?
28:46
- We try to be like a big family and try
28:48
to work together for the country.
28:51
So as we work that hard,
28:53
then we just get along really good
28:56
as others may not get so good on.
29:01
- So there are other people in Dominican that you don't get along with,
29:04
as well. - Yeah, another or maybe other countries maybe. - Sure.
29:07
- But, in Dominican, the pro-cigar community,
29:12
gets, I mean, we go like even for meetings
29:15
that are not even meetings, just like cocktails
29:17
and just talk about the world and what's going on,
29:21
and the cigar business and everything. So at the end, we get along really good.
29:26
It's like it's not only business. We also do like more of our relationship.
29:32
We just like build a relationship- - Like you said, Henke Kelner is like another father to you.
29:36
- Like my other father. - And Litto I mean, he plays tennis with my dad
29:41
and everybody else, who else is there?
29:45
Abe Flores. - Abe Flores. - Abe Flores and then,
29:49
there's Ciro from Fuente and even Carlito too,
29:52
and the daughter, she was here a little bit,
29:56
a little while ago. - Love her. - We were just chatting and
29:59
we're gonna have another interview on Monday together.
30:03
And then we write on Instagram, you know,
30:05
"We're gonna kill it, we're gonna be, "we're the women of this."
30:09
- That's awesome. - So we're always like, (softly laughs) - That's so awesome.
30:11
- So I think it's very important that also our parents,
30:15
showed us that that relationship is also important to build
30:19
because we're the ones growing,
30:21
coming along. - The next generation. - Next generation, so that, even Tony,
30:26
we did a Procigar, and Nirka from Reyes.
30:30
We did like a few years ago,
30:33
we played it like in a band and me and Nirka,
30:35
we sang at a Procigar, and Litto and Henke were playing the guitar
30:41
and Abe Flores too. And Tony was also singing, it was crazy.
30:45
- I love it. (Raquel loudly laughs) You guys could start a little band here after the show.
30:50
- Yeah. - Here we go. - And play at our booth.
30:54
- Exactly, I love it.
30:56
No better way to entertain people than just have a good time playing, I love it.
31:01
That's amazing. - So that relationship really,
31:05
we got it from our parents, we'll be building it and it's gonna keep on growing.
31:13
- [Rob] That's awesome. It's really important.
31:15
- So growing up in a family
31:18
that basically could be considered farmers.
31:21
- [Raquel] Exactly, because that's another story.
31:24
We were bakers. - Did you run through the fields as children?
31:28
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, we used to like run around on the fields and on the bales,
31:32
that's like another, like inside joke that we have
31:35
in our family. It's like, oh, we used to like run in the bales,
31:40
and just like hop on them and be like kids.
31:43
- Just hop on 'em, run all over 'em, do whatever you want. - Yeah, there's people in the factory
31:46
that have been working for 45 years or more
31:50
because our factory has like 40, it was like 1974.
31:55
So it's gonna be, it's 47 years.
31:58
So they'll tell me like, "Oh my God, "I remember when you were a little girl,
32:02
"this little blonde girl, like running around everywhere."
32:07
And I remember, and it's really like so satisfying,
32:10
like these people are still rolling cigars in my factory
32:12
in our factory, and they saw me
32:17
come grow up in this fabulous industry.
32:21
- Yeah, they seen you come up. - Come up and all these stages and now...
32:26
- Did you ever get yelled at by somebody then
32:29
while you're playing around and you go, "Oh shoot, "I overstepped my bounds." - Oh yeah, we did.
32:33
It's like, I remember one time, one of my cousins, oh my God, he wrote his signature in one of the, on the
32:41
aging room, you know? That's all covered in cedar and everything.
32:45
So he wrote, he started writing his signature all over the
32:49
(softly laughs) - All over the cedar. - All over the cedar and he, we got really like grounded.
32:54
I remember (softly laughs) I think that story, I never told that before.
32:58
- [Rob] That's a good one. - And he's now like a grownup
33:01
and he has his own company and everything, so.
33:03
- Don't write on the cedar in the aging room.
33:06
You are going to get in trouble. - No, and I remember like also growing up, the cigars,
33:12
we used to leave 'em maybe like on,
33:14
and just like keep on running around,
33:17
and it was like, it's dangerous, you know? It's like, just be careful.
33:21
So we were always like being watched out.
33:26
- There's a lot of workers probably watching you guys
33:28
as you ran around. - [Raquel] Yes, it was fun though.
33:31
- "Those are the Quesada kids, watch out for them."
33:33
- Yeah, we were a few, so it was hard.
33:36
- I know some of the Kelners always talk about,
33:38
you gotta be careful when you run through the field so you don't break the tobacco leaves
33:41
because otherwise you're really gonna get in trouble.
33:43
- Yeah, oh my God, I remember my dad always like picking up leaves from the floor, maybe somebody like,
33:50
that's something that I learned, like always be aware of what's on the floor
33:54
because one leaf, you're saving the whole world,
33:58
the whole factory. So that was something that I learned from-
34:01
- So you learned to be mindful of your surroundings
34:03
in case something got misplaced. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, or like a cigar
34:07
that might have misplaced or something.
34:10
You're always aware and my dad is very strict on that.
34:13
- Is he? - Yes, he's very strict. - Don't screw up the operation.
34:17
- Yes, always be careful about it
34:20
and save, like you save a tree,
34:24
save the factory. - Save everything. Because it takes a long time to grow all this.
34:30
- I know, I mean, once you see the whole operation thing,
34:33
you really realize, oh my God, this is so, such a hard work
34:38
and these people, they have their own families
34:41
and their own things at home.
34:43
And then they come here at seven in the morning and it's like they're there 6:45 AM
34:48
and then it's 4:30 in the afternoon
34:50
and they're still rolling cigars. I mean, it's a lot of effort
34:55
and a lot of sacrifices you do day to day
34:57
that you really have to be aware to really enjoy, you know?
35:01
This, that that you're smoking that you maybe take for granted, you know?
35:05
And it's a lot of hard work and a lot of people.
35:08
- Yeah, it doesn't take just a couple months to produce this, this takes years.
35:12
- No, years, and a lot of hands, you know?
35:15
- Was there any part of the cigar process,
35:19
you've already talked about the parts that you didn't like,
35:22
which was coloring, and of course,
35:24
you like the buying part, but was there anything that actually shocked you?
35:27
You're like, "Wow, I didn't know we actually had "to do this in order to make cigars."
35:34
- Well, overall, per se, I mean, just the whole process.
35:38
Once you realize it's such hard work,
35:41
then you realize, oh my God, this is really hard.
35:43
But specifically, I think everything, I mean from
35:49
getting the tobacco from the fields,
35:52
all the processes you have to do, like wet the tobacco and then just fermenting it,
35:57
and then, the day-to-day.
36:00
If it's heated, if it's already from a,
36:02
I mean all the, all those different things is,
36:05
it's a lot of, for me was shocking.
36:07
It's like you never realize, once you learn of it or you are aware of it,
36:13
then you say, oh my God, this is gold.
36:18
- Right, was there ever a time
36:21
where you saw your dad struggle or get stumped by something and you thought, oh, wow.
36:25
- Yeah, I mean that, when you experience with different seasons
36:29
and tobaccos that you don't know how they're gonna react,
36:32
I mean, I experienced with them working together,
36:35
like growing up and just like learning.
36:38
Sometimes tobacco got messed up
36:42
and sometimes a whole crop,
36:44
maybe because it was a lot of rain or a lot of dry
36:48
and you lose a lot of time and money.
36:52
And you're like, oh my God, this is, it's like the passion keeps you going.
36:56
But it's tough. - Sure. - I saw my dad struggle at times
37:01
with different tobaccos and maybe they put it
37:04
in a different fermentation process
37:07
or in a different packaging. I remember that maybe the Tercios that you do with the palm
37:17
bark, and you do a different process.
37:20
He struggled with that because that's like a Cuban thing they did like back in the times,
37:24
and he wanted to do it in Dominican.
37:26
So they started doing it and it was hard.
37:30
I mean, now it's a piece of cake.
37:33
- Is it the one where you wrap the tobacco really tight
37:35
in palm leaves? - Yeah, yeah, exactly. - Like a pole? - Like a pole, uh-huh,
37:38
and then you put it- - What is it called, andullo? - Uh-huh, andullos.
37:41
- Okay. - And then you just put it in and those,
37:44
it's like a palm tree, like dry.
37:48
And then I remember that was about more than 20 years ago
37:51
because now it's very easy. You learn your lesson well, but at the time it was tough.
37:57
So I saw my dad struggle at times with some tobaccos.
38:02
But at the end you just learn and you keep on going.
38:07
- What about a project that you thought,
38:09
"This is gonna be great," and it turned sour-
38:12
- Oh my God. - And you were like, "This isn't happening."
38:14
- No, you know what I'm gonna tell you better?
38:16
The one that we decided we were gonna do,
38:19
and it was a success. - [Rob] Oh good, thank God.
38:22
- Well, my dad never wanted to put the Quesada
38:27
last name in our products.
38:29
He was very hesitant all the time. He was always, we had our brands and different names,
38:35
but then the younger generation wanted to do.
38:38
Because it's our, it's our last name,
38:41
it comes from Cuba, from Spain,
38:43
that has a whole history behind it.
38:46
So we said, "We have to do this."
38:49
So, but he was really like, "No, no, no,
38:51
"we're not gonna do that." So we started blending behind his back.
38:57
We came with the Quesada 35th anniversary, it was like-
39:00
- More blending behind your dad's back.
39:02
What are you doing, Raquel? What are you doing? - But this time,
39:05
I have a back-up because-- - Oh, you had other constituents with you. - There are other,
39:09
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, like my cousins and my sister.
39:11
At that time, we all work together. So, we did that, and even Michael Herklots too,
39:18
helped a little that. And then we came out with the Quesada 35th.
39:23
So what we did was, this was like, really mind-boggling.
39:28
So we went to New York at the townhouse,
39:31
in Nat Sherman's townhouse at that time,
39:34
and we did this really big event.
39:37
So we're gonna release the 35th and he didn't even know we were gonna release the cigar.
39:42
He thought-- - He didn't know a cigar was gonna come out of his factory? - No!
39:45
- How did you guys keep that under wraps?
39:47
- We told them we were just gonna,
39:49
like his legacy, we were just gonna honor him
39:53
on all that he had done in the cigar industry. - Oh, at the townhouse.
39:56
That's what the party's for. - Yeah, so we're gonna honor him.
39:59
- [Rob] So he'll go along. - Yeah, he was like, "Oh, perfect, we'll do that."
40:02
And then everybody came along, even my mom was there.
40:05
And so when we started, because everybody spoke
40:10
and we spoke about him and we talked about,
40:13
we talk about the project and the cigar.
40:16
It was very, very emotional. - Oh, I bet. - He approved of it,
40:19
and then when we came to the PCA, at that time, IPCPR,
40:23
we sold, we only did like a certain amount of boxes,
40:27
because it was the first product we were making.
40:30
So it was probably like about 2,000 boxes or 3,000.
40:32
I can't remember the exact quantity.
40:35
But we sold like the first day of the show,
40:38
all the boxes of the 35th. And let me tell you something, people like write to me,
40:43
"Do you have any of those 35th boxes over there
40:45
"that I could buy?" - It was a coveted cigar.
40:49
It's a unicorn now.
40:52
- Yeah, exactly, so it was very successful.
40:55
We had a great time. Even the sneaking part of it was really fun.
41:01
So at the end- - Was he shocked? - He was very shocked, but he was very,
41:04
very, very emotional. We even like cried and everything.
41:07
He was very proud of us at the end.
41:10
He just put his foot down and said, "You know what?
41:13
"Let's go," and then after that, we came with a Quesada Tributo,
41:18
and then Quesada Espana, the Quesada 1974.
41:21
So we have all these different lines on the Quesada line,
41:24
and the Quesada Reserva Privada, the barber pole, we have so many different ones that at the end,
41:28
it was a success and we had a point.
41:31
- [Rob] Exactly. - But if it wouldn't been a success,
41:36
I don't think I would be sitting here, talking to you, Rob. - Yeah, no, no, no,
41:39
you're not gonna talk about that one, we know.
41:41
- But let me tell you, I don't think I remember one
41:44
that it wasn't, maybe not a success-
41:47
- [Rob] Something that never hit the shelf?
41:49
- No, no. Maybe some blends that he didn't agree on, but per se,
41:54
the Oktoberfest was something else that he didn't agree on.
41:58
And then my cousin, TJ- - I am so surprised by that.
42:00
The Oktoberfest, no one else does an Oktoberfest cigar.
42:03
- No, but then that was like, at that time,
42:05
TJ, Terence Reilly used to work with us,
42:08
was my cousin, is my cousin.
42:11
He was the one with the idea. He says, "We have to come out for the season again
42:16
"and then just do the Oktoberfest."
42:18
And then my dad's like- - Is that what your dad didn't like about it, it's seasonal, or what?
42:21
- Not the seasonal, just the idea of something new.
42:25
So random, like Oktoberfest.
42:28
Who knows about Oktoberfest? You know, the U.S. is gonna- - "Who knows about it?"
42:32
Pretty much the whole world celebrates it. - Yeah, but the thing is, 10 years ago,
42:36
or whatever years ago, he wasn't that open-minded.
42:41
He was more on the conservative side,
42:43
just a regular sizes of the regular cigars.
42:46
And now, we're coming up with this box
42:50
with like the beer mugs and all
42:53
these different names. - The Keg. The box looked like a little barrel of beer.
42:57
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, they were put on the boxes and he was like, "You're not gonna do that, are you insane?"
43:02
"That looks terrible. "No, you're not gonna sell one box of that."
43:06
And then, all these names, like Uber and DasBoot,
43:10
and it's like, I mean, Bavarian.
43:13
And then TJ came up with all these different names that you go to Germany- - Oh, beer names.
43:17
- No, no, no, you go to Germany and they probably would never make sense to them. - Yeah, Germans, right, oh.
43:21
- So it was for the U.S. market.
43:23
And then, and he's like, "You're," I mean,
43:27
I think we ended up convincing him, but he wasn't convinced at all.
43:30
So we came to one of the PCAs, at that time, IPCPR,
43:35
and it was a sort of success. And then this year we're celebrating
43:38
the 10th year of Oktoberfest.
43:40
So at the end, so I'm telling you, maybe he was not convinced
43:45
at the moment when we had the projects.
43:48
But then he kind of like put his foot down and then we ended up being in a good place, on a good path.
43:55
- I coveted some of those boxes
43:57
because they're kind of like wine. When they come out with a specific-
44:01
- [Raquel] Exactly. - Because it wasn't always the same blend every time.
44:04
- No, no, it wasn't, always a different blend, but the one for this year, the 10th anniversary one,
44:08
is very, very related to the first one
44:11
we made in the first year. So we kind of got, we went back to-
44:15
- And what year was that, 2015? - So 10 years ago, so '11.
44:18
- Okay, 2011. - 2011, so we went back to the roots.
44:24
Yeah, you have it there, I brought you.
44:27
Yeah, so it says like 10th anniversary and everything.
44:30
- I love it. Yeah, I think that was the one that I was chasing that,
44:35
did the band change every year?
44:37
- Yeah, the band changed every year. But I think like for the last four years or three years,
44:41
we use like the one on top and then this year,
44:44
we just put the 10th anniversary one, yeah.
44:48
- Great cigar, went great with Oktoberfest beer too.
44:50
- My dad, and I quote,
44:52
because if not, I'll get in trouble.
44:54
"It's the best one so far."
44:57
- [Rob] This one. - The 2021. - Go out, and get your-
45:03
Oktoberfest 10th Anniversary. - 10th Anniversary. 10th Anniversary. (Raquel softy laughs)
45:06
- That's a mouthful. - Exactly. - Don't say that five times fast.
45:11
- 10th Anniversary, yeah. - I love it. - I know, he says it's the best one out so far, so.
45:15
- So something he didn't think would succeed succeeded.
45:19
- Succeeded, and then at the end he had to,
45:21
when we came up out all these different crazy ideas, he was like, "Okay, fine, don't even tell me about 'em."
45:27
- It softened the blow of like other unique projects,
45:30
Like the Heisenberg. - That was something else, exactly.
45:34
- I love that cigar, the shape was like an Al Capone style- - Yeah, all different shapes.
45:39
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Very trumpeted-looking cigar, I loved it.
45:43
- Yeah, that was another of TJs, yeah. . It's like a box-pressed, trumpeted torpedo.
45:48
- We don't make 'em anymore, but. - I'm asking you personally now
45:53
to come back with that cigar. - Okay, I will take that-
45:56
- That shape, everything. You guys still have the molds for that?
45:59
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. - Make a blend, I love that shape.
46:02
- I will, we will do. - It's so unique. - Will do, will do. - Aw, it's awesome.
46:06
And you had to- - I'll send you the first ones.
46:08
- Please do, and you had to put the cigars
46:11
every other upside-down because of how- - [Raquel] Oh, yeah, one to the one side and the other one
46:14
to the other side. - Angled that cigar was, it wouldn't fit in a box nicely,
46:18
you had to, every other. - In a box, totally.
46:20
- It was awesome, and the story behind it was even better.
46:23
- Yeah, yeah, yep, yep. - Nobody knows what the blend
46:26
is all made of. - Embrace uncertainty. - Embrace the idea that you have no idea, good luck.
46:31
- Exactly, and don't even ask me about the blend
46:33
because you're not gonna get it. - So what is the blend?
46:37
No, I'm just kidding. (both loudly laughing) - I totally forgot about that.
46:41
My mind is not working well. - Whoops.
46:44
I gotta ask, how are you similar to your dad?
46:49
Anything, one particular thing stick out that you're like,
46:51
"Yeah, this, I got this from my dad."
46:53
- Very perfectionist. - Perfectionist. - Yes.
46:57
And very, like I'm always on time.
47:01
- Really? - Yeah. That's not Dominican. - I am always not on time.
47:04
I was even late for this interview, so I apologize.
47:06
- Yes, you were! I was here like 20 minutes behind, before.
47:10
- Yeah, you were here early. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm always on time
47:13
and he's always on time too. And if we're going the airport, it's like four hours before,
47:18
because if not, we'll get nervous. We're very similar on those.
47:22
- I do like that, airports, I'd rather get there early.
47:26
- [Raquel] Early, because you never know. - I don't like rushing, and I don't like connectors.
47:29
- Like to come here, I had my alarm, and a snooze.
47:31
It's like 12:30 alarm,
47:33
and then a snooze 10 minutes, and I'm here
47:36
20 minutes before. - The backup. The backup alarm to the backup alarm to the backup alarm.
47:40
- I don't think I recall being late for any big event.
47:44
- Really? - No. - How are you totally different than your dad?
47:50
- I'm more, I'm very sensitive person.
47:53
Like, and he's very strong.
47:56
So sometimes I would be like crying.
47:58
He's like, "Stop crying, that's for like," but I'm like that, you know?
48:04
- [Rob] That's how I express my emotions. - Exactly, and for me, it's not even good or bad.
48:08
It's just it is what it is, and if you're like that- - It's the way-
48:10
- You're like that. - You release energy. Exactly, so I'm very, very sensitive.
48:14
And then he's very, very, very like strong
48:17
and he's very hard-hearted.
48:21
- Hard-hearted. - And I'm very like,
48:24
sensitive heart hearted, I guess.
48:26
I don't know how you call it in English. - Delicate. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
48:29
- But I guess it's a girl thing.
48:32
- I love it, well, no, anybody, right? Anybody could be sensitive.
48:35
- But now, but then throughout the years,
48:37
if I cry now, he's like, he's fine with it. He's like used to it. - He knows, he's like,
48:41
"All right, she's just doing her thing. "She'll be back- - It's like tears-
48:43
"In 20 minutes." - Coming out and all. "She'll be back in two minutes."
48:47
- Yeah, it's fine. I have to say, being, I mean,
48:50
your title is key account director, brand ambassador,
48:54
shareholder, whatever you wanna say there.
48:56
But I think one of the things that I picked up on is
48:59
this idea of being a brand ambassador.
49:02
Because your brand is your name, like you said earlier. - I know, I know.
49:06
- Are you really feeling like you're, I think Americans have a different perspective
49:12
of brand ambassadors.
49:14
Do you really feel like a brand ambassador or do you just feel like you're carrying on
49:18
what your family's always done? - Yeah, that's what I feel like.
49:21
It's like the passion and the history
49:24
behind my name is something that I'm responsible for
49:30
and the life gave me that opportunity
49:32
because I was born in this family,
49:34
and at the end, I'm so proud of it
49:37
and of what my ancestors have made
49:40
throughout all these years, that I wouldn't have,
49:45
I can't see myself without being here.
49:48
And now with all these social media,
49:50
I'm like more active on it and I'm more committed to it and I'm loving it.
49:57
- [Rob] That's awesome. - It's like, let me tell you, I'm not,
50:00
I don't love these interviews, but I think I'm starting to love it.
50:03
- Good! (Raquel softly laughing) Well, this one, she likes, folks.
50:05
That's a home run. - I know, it's like I get really nervous before,
50:10
but then once, like once when I start, I'm like,
50:14
well, it's not that bad at all. - [Rob] No, we're just talking.
50:17
- Exactly - Learning about the Quesada brand. - Exactly.
50:19
In the kitchen, like you said.
50:22
- Yeah, we're in the kitchen, havin' a good conversation,
50:24
cigar-- - Exactly, cigars. - I don't have coffee, I do, I mean, if you want one.
50:27
- Water. (softly laughs) (crosstalk drowns out Rob)
50:29
There's water. - What do you think makes your perspective unique
50:36
in bringing something new to the Quesada name?
50:40
- I think something that my father always said
50:43
that I grew up with listening to others is like quality
50:47
and consistency all the time. I mean, you really have to work hard
50:51
on that with our products.
50:53
Something that you had maybe smoked 10 years ago,
50:56
that you smoke it now, and if it's the same brand, you resemble to it.
51:01
And it's the same thing, you know? - Right, you're connected to that.
51:04
- Exactly, it's not like- - Like the Oktoberfest for me. - Exactly, like, oh, I, maybe last year I smoked one
51:09
and then I'm smoking now and it doesn't make any sense.
51:13
It's like something that you really have to work hard. And I remember,
51:18
working in a cigar factory, you have to see there's three turns to one cigar.
51:23
And then that the head is like perfectly made,
51:26
and then when they draw, they draw perfectly.
51:29
And then one day, and then when you smoke,
51:32
the ash, so many details that he always really,
51:36
really pushed so hard on us.
51:38
That for me, that quality and that consistency is very,
51:41
very branded on the Quesada name.
51:44
And also the way that we make our clients feel at home.
51:48
I mean, my goal is like a perfect example of it.
51:51
Michael comes through our factory and it's like his home.
51:56
He knows everybody, he knows the cigar makers
51:59
by their names, and it's just like,
52:02
he goes around everywhere. He knows where this is and that is,
52:05
and where the wrappers being classified.
52:08
The lady has been there for 20 years, all that.
52:11
It's like, we make people feel at home and that's very important
52:15
because you really want to come back, and Michael always wants to come back.
52:18
He wants to live there, I think.
52:20
That's my Dominican, my American brother
52:23
and I'm Dominican sister.
52:25
So that's something that it's really important
52:28
- When you came to Boston to go to school
52:31
did you ever lie to anyone on what you did
52:34
or what your family, did or if they ever asked?
52:37
- I don't think they, they were aware of it.
52:39
- No. - I mean, now, my friends, they even, like one of my friends that texted me yesterday
52:44
and was like, "Bring me those cigars."
52:46
Because I'm gonna see her now in Miami after here.
52:48
She's like, "Bring me cigars. "You never ever show those."
52:51
- [Rob] You never carried around cigars?
52:54
- Exactly, and now it's like, they're so, they're well known and like, "Bring me some,
52:59
"because I wanna try, I wanna smoke with you."
53:01
So it was kind of underground. - So when you went to college
53:04
you weren't the cigar-smoking friend.
53:06
- No, and let me tell you something,
53:09
no, but I worked at a cigar store
53:12
in my hours that I didn't go to school,
53:17
and people will come in and buy cigars
53:20
and they didn't even know I was Raquel Quesada.
53:22
- "My dad made that." - I know, it's like, "Oh, I really love this!"
53:27
And I'm like, "Oh, really? "Oh, I hope you enjoy them." - Interesting.
53:31
- So I worked there for a few years and it was,
53:33
and then, but then eventually they realized it
53:36
because like maybe my dad was in the Cigar Aficionado
53:39
or whatever, or in a magazine, or I was in it too
53:42
And then they resembled it and then they came back
53:44
and was like, "Oh, you, you!" "You never told me."
53:47
- You're sneaky. - "You were mean." - Sneaky, sneaky. - So at the end, yeah.
53:52
It was tough but it was fun. - So you weren't getting your friends into cigars.
53:55
- No, no, not at that time. I mean, they knew that, like my close, close friends,
53:59
maybe yes, but not the other ones
54:02
that were not as close. - Well, you're lucky because then I'm sure a lot of people would've been like,
54:05
"Hey, bring cigars to the party next time." - Yeah, to the party, I get that a lot.
54:09
- Now you do. - And let me tell you, sometimes I don't even have the ones,
54:13
because I forget, or maybe at the minute of it,
54:16
I don't have them to hand out, and they're like, "Raquel, where are the cigars?"
54:19
And I'm like, oh my gosh. - Your cigars!
54:22
You're supposed to be the one that has- (crosstalk drowns out Rob) - You're not carrying
54:24
all of them. - You're gonna have to bring a suitcase.
54:27
- But now I'm like always on top of it. It's like, "The cigars, the cigars, where are the cigars?"
54:31
Because I never carry them and now I should.
54:34
- [Rob] It's that brand ambassador coming out of you. - I know, it's like- - Just hand 'em
54:36
out like candy. - "Where are the cigars?" Exactly, so now I do.
54:40
- But how do you escape? What is your favorite thing to do to escape and just do you?
54:46
- Well, to get away from that hectic day-to-day thing,
54:52
I dance a lot, I was telling you about it-
54:54
- Yeah, it's Dance VXN - It's like a dance, yeah, it's a VXN dance.
54:58
It's similar to Zumba, but you work harder and dance more.
55:03
It's like more specific moves. - It's supposed to be for exercise, right? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
55:05
yeah, totally. - Get your heart rate up- - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - And have fun.
55:08
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, so I just get away from the day-to-day stress and all that, and-
55:13
- [Rob] And this can be seen on Instagram, folks.
55:15
- Yeah, shh. - That's why, oh, the cat's out of the bag, secrets.
55:19
- It's like me dancing.
55:21
My dad said the other day, he's like, "I saw you dancing, Raquel, what were you doing?"
55:26
I was like, oh my God.
55:28
- [Rob] Your dad said this? - Yeah, because he's an Instagram too.
55:31
So he follows me and then I'm dancing, and then he's like,
55:34
and then he clicks on a like, it's really fun.
55:37
It's like, "Manolo Quesada just liked you." - Yeah, just like that. (laughter drowns out Raquel)
55:41
- Really, Dad, you like that? - Yeah, and I also, I love the beach
55:45
and in Dominican Republic, you have the best beaches.
55:48
And then I'm always on the golf course all the time.
55:51
- [Rob] Do you golf as well? - No, I'm really bad at it.
55:53
- You just like to be there to support your son.
55:55
- Yeah, I'm really good on the scores
55:59
and the techniques and everything, I know which
56:03
pole to use or which one on the yard.
56:07
- [Rob] You could be his caddy. - Yeah, I could be his caddy, he wants me to be his caddy.
56:10
But I don't know if I can do the bag.
56:13
- We'll get you can electronic cart. - Oh, they're not allowed.
56:16
- Oh yeah, that's, right. - I've caddied for him- - You have to earn your pay.
56:20
- And a few times, but it's tough.
56:23
Because you walk like 10 kilometers in one-
56:25
- [Rob] It's a long day. - And then sometimes it's like four days and three days.
56:29
So I've done it for one day, but I'm not-
56:32
- Another cigar rep was telling me he tried to caddy for one of his buddies.
56:36
- It's tough. - And the guy was like, "So how far are we to the pin?"
56:38
And he was kinda like, "Well, I don't know, like 150 yards."
56:42
And the caddy next to him was like, he goes, "168 yards."
56:46
Like he had paced it out, I was like,
56:49
"Whoa." - Was like, "Whoa." It's tough. - These guys know every
56:52
inch of that playing field. - Oh, no, no, no, my son,
56:54
he has a little notebook here
56:57
with all the holes and you know, the breeze- - Where he likes to hit it-
57:02
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - And where are the best approach is
57:04
and how far out and what club he's gonna use on that.
57:07
- And the- - I love it. - If it's against it or-
57:10
- With the wind, against the wind. - With the wind, against it, or if it's like going down-
57:13
- Does all that stuff factor into the swing, do you think?
57:15
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - All that matters.
57:18
- Everything matters, and let me tell you, for me,
57:21
at the beginning, because I don't play, and I've tried,
57:24
but I'm really good in sports, but I can't play golf for the world.
57:27
And I've tried and I try, and he knows that I've tried.
57:30
And I can't, it's so frustrating for me at the beginning
57:33
because one, I mean, you could be 17 holes,
57:37
you're doing great, and then the last one,
57:39
you do one shot and it damages the whole day.
57:43
- For me- - Super psychological.
57:46
- Oh my God, no, it's all psychological.
57:48
If your brain is not where it has to be,
57:50
you're not gonna do the first hole.
57:53
- [Rob] It's like sitting at the coloring table. - Exactly. - For eight hours,
57:56
like, whoa, whoa, whoa. - Exactly, you're like, "What is going wrong?"
58:01
- [Rob] Wow. - So that's what I enjoy the most, pretty much.
58:06
- You like the dancing, you like the beach,
58:08
get away from it all, get a little reprieve. - And just be after my son all the time.
58:13
I think I know all the golf courses
58:15
around Dominican Republic and the people think I'm just having fun at the beach.
58:20
And I'm like, no, I didn't even go to the beach,
58:24
- [Rob] Right, "I'm on the golf course." - Because the thing is like, it's five,
58:27
six hours in the call, and then when he's done,
58:30
with the tournament that day, then he goes to the driving range and he,
58:35
and I always, I like to be there with him.
58:37
So I go to the driving range and he just like
58:40
shoots, shoots, shoots until seven o'clock at night
58:43
and we just go to bed because we were exhausted.
58:46
- Yeah, there's no time for fun. - No, no, no, so they're very, very exhausted.
58:51
- I asked you what your favorite quote was, so I'm gonna read it, it's very good.
58:58
"Growth doesn't come with a single action.
59:01
"It's a consequence of persistence, courage and hard work."
59:05
So my question to you is how are you persistent?
59:08
- Never giving up. - Never give up. - Never give up,
59:11
always there on the battle, in the battle
59:14
and just giving the best of me
59:17
for this to be the perfect one.
59:20
- I love it, appreciate it.
59:23
What are we smoking today? - Oh, we're smoking a 1974, Quesada 1974.
59:28
This is a new size for the show, it's a six by 52 Toro.
59:33
This blend, I don't know, I'm enjoying it a lot.
59:36
I love this blend, it's very smooth, very,
59:39
have a lot of complexity. - Very smooth, very.
59:42
- It's not mild, but it's not strong. It's more between the two. - No I'd give this to anybody.
59:45
- Yup, yup, yup, I mean, if you- - And I would have a box of this.
59:48
- I mean, if you, exactly, if you're starting, it's great.
59:54
If you're been smoking for a long time,
59:56
it's also good because you'll enjoy it either way.
1:00:00
So it's got Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers and binders
1:00:05
and it's an Ecuador Cameroon and wrapper.
1:00:09
- [Rob] Ecuador Cameroon? - Yeah, it's like a Cameroon seed in Ecuador.
1:00:14
Yeah, we just buy it from- - Do you grow- - No, we don't grow.
1:00:16
We don't grow wrapper. - Right. - Well, we grew wrapper to one year, like 2018
1:00:22
and Habano 2000, but that's been for an specific project
1:00:28
that we have coming along. - Coming up?
1:00:32
Oh, in 2017 you said you did? - We're working on that, '18.
1:00:36
- '18, you grew wrapper- - Yeah, so we're letting it there and-
1:00:39
- For a project that's coming up. You heard it here first on Box Press.
1:00:43
- [Raquel] Yes, yes. - I get the story, I get, it get it.
1:00:46
- You get the first news. - I get it out, it's coming.
1:00:49
- Thank you. Thank you. - So we're working on that.
1:00:52
- I love it. - But it's still our baby.
1:00:55
- So is there a big difference between African Cameroon
1:00:58
and Ecuadorian Cameroon wrapper?
1:01:00
Or do you not know?
1:01:02
- Yeah, just the taste, depending on the blend that you're working on, then you use-
1:01:05
- Could your dad blind sample it and be like, "Yeah, that's Ecuadorian- - Yeah, that's it.
1:01:09
- "That's African." - Exactly. I was the other day telling somebody
1:01:12
I haven't blind-tasted him in a few years,
1:01:14
in a few months or years and I'm gonna do that again.
1:01:18
- Good, with the Cameroon, be like, "Let's see, Dad, what do you know?"
1:01:21
- Yeah, or something- - "Where's this Cameroon coming from?"
1:01:24
- Or just like a new seed that we're working on and see if he's like so good at it now than before.
1:01:30
And I'll trick him. - Can he taste the priming level of it too?
1:01:34
Like the quality level or more just the-
1:01:36
- [Raquel] No, it's more general, I would say.
1:01:38
- More just the region- - Just like the seeds and-
1:01:41
- And the seeds. - Yeah, the regions, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah and the different countries.
1:01:45
- [Rob] I love it. - I know. - Amazing.
1:01:48
- I'm not that good at it, but he's really good at it.
1:01:51
- Right, yeah, it's not easy. - It takes a lot of years.
1:01:56
and knowledge. - Exactly. Amazing.
1:02:00
Raquel, I appreciate it so much. - Oh my God, I've had so much fun.
1:02:04
- I'm so glad you had fun and you weren't nervous.
1:02:06
This is super easy. - Well, I hope it's given you all the expectations you had.
1:02:13
- Absolutely, great stories, learning more about you.
1:02:16
- Thank you. - Quesada Cigars. - [Raquel] I'm really, really thankful.
1:02:20
- We appreciate you guys very much for always- - [Raquel] A lot of gratitude towards you and-
1:02:23
- Yes, appreciation all around.
1:02:26
- I'm a fan. - Thank you, I appreciate that.
1:02:29
As always, here's another episode of Box Press.
1:02:33
If you need more Quesada Cigars, ask your retailer,
1:02:37
go to quesadacigars.com.
1:02:39
- Yes, quesadacigars.com. - Find out where to get 'em. - And my @raquelquesadaofficial on Instagram.
1:02:43
- @raquelquesadaofficial- - @raquelquesadaofficial.
1:02:46
- On Instagram, follow @quesadacigars.
1:02:49
They have new stuff coming up, you heard it here first.
1:02:51
They've never made wrapper and they'd gone ahead and made it
1:02:54
in 2018 coming up for a new blend in the future.
1:02:58
We don't know when, stay tuned. - Thank you. - Appreciate it.
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More