Building, Breaking, Beginning Again: The Fierce Independence of Bridget Firtle

Welcome to the Wisdom of Women show.

We are dedicated to amplifying the voice of women in business.

A new model of leadership is emerging and we are here to amplify the voices of women leading the way.

I am your host, Coco Selman, five time founder, impact investor and creator of the Force for Good system.

Thank you for joining us today as we illuminate the path to unlocking opportunities and prosperity for women led enterprises by amplifying the voice and wisdom of women.

Today we have a cocktail capitalist in our midst.

Bridget Fertel is a powerhouse founder who left a high flying Wall street hedge fund career to build one of New York's most beloved spirits brands, Oni Rum.

Never one to stay still, Bridget went on to found Rockaway Soda, launched New York, Raised us and established the Cyclone Group.

All while investing in an advising purpose led community ventures.

Recognized by Forbes, 30 under 30, the Financial Times, New York Times and CNBC.

Bridget has has been known for breaking molds, building legacies and leading with fierce independence.

A native New Yorker to the core, Bridget brings both edge and empathy to the entrepreneurial game.

Proving that building a company of substance starts with the courage to bet it all on your vision.

Bridget, it is such a treasure to have you here.

Oh my goodness.

Thank you so much for having me, Coco.

I am just so excited to be here on so many levels.

That was probably the nicest intro I've ever had by anyone.

So thank you so much for that.

The energy is very positive.

I'm glad to be spending some time with you.

So I know we have a lot to talk about, but first tell us about a book written by women that has influenced your life.

Yeah, I went back to my childhood with this one.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn kind of came, came popped in.

I was overthinking it because there are so many amazing books and so many amazing women, but I just was like.

But back to, back to my roots, literally and figuratively with the Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

And, and not that I personally identify with that story because I had a more privileged childhood, but my mom specifically identifies very much so with that story and so formed a connection there.

And yeah, I'm due to really read that book.

I think this is maybe going to inspire me to.

Oh that's wonderful.

A Tree grows in Brooklyn.

I just love how consistent that is, with your whole Persona, who you are as a person.

You are such a New Yorker and you have been building brands that reflect that in your entrepreneurial career.

I usually ask for moments that have influenced your life, but I know today has been a big moment and you were announcing some big news.

You want to share it with us?

So, as you mentioned in your intro, I had sold my.

Oh, my goodness.

So tell us, how did this happen?

Why did this happen?

Tell us everything.

It's still very surreal.

I'm still proud processing it all.

While grateful for that exit and the opportunity and all of the things.

It was very textbook entrepreneur within a corporation, you know, stuff you hear all the time, feeling restricted and just in a structure that didn't allow me to do whatever I wanted, which is what I like to do.

So when wound up walking away happy and content.

But, you know, there was always something like for the past five years, we were in a pandemic for the first couple of those.

And there's always something, you know, I always mind always drifted to Onis and I kind of just pushed it down.

I didn't want to touch the flame.

I didn't want to know.

There was some heartbreak there.

Honestly, I had put so much of my soul into it and been grateful for an exit.

But, you know, there was just something always unsettled about it.

Earlier this year, sometime in the summer, I received a text.

They acquired my employees as well, which was great.

A couple of them still work for Proximo, happily.

I received a text from one of them saying, hey, we have these old bottles or old barrels of Onis.

I want to get them to you because we're not going to use them.

That sparked a thought.

I was actually going to an event that night with a woman who I used to work with, with Onis, who now has her own distillery.

I was going to support her there.

And I was like, hey, could you get the barrels?

Would you take the barrels off books for them?

Anyway, long story long, from that night on, a couple of texts with bartenders and people connected to Proximo and like, someone was just like, just call them up and see what's going on.

So I called a lawyer that I did the deal with their general counsel and I was like, hey, in like the most calm, strong way, like.

Like want to sell it back.

And he's like, I think we can make something happen.

A few short months later, here we are.

It just feels so good.

What feels good about it?

I just feel like it's back to home.

Like, I feel like it's home and have been operating into continue to operate the soda business and it's never felt quite like oni's.

It's been different.

You know, so excited to have creative control over it, to be back in bars and restaurants.

I love the energy in New York City of bars and restaurants.

My, you know, back to a tree growth in Brooklyn.

My paternal, maternal, excuse me, my maternal grandfather owned a bar on Blackbush Avenue, you know, south part of Brooklyn in the 60s, 70s and early 80s.

So that's just kind of like in my blood.

And there's a fire that's been squashed for the past several years.

I just feel really strong.

I'm also anxious, like jumping back into something.

We're going to do a bit of a brand refresh and relaunch and that general uncertainty of being an entrepreneur, not knowing where things are going to go.

But there's a lot of emotions being held right now.

Oh my goodness.

I know.

It's so fresh.

And when I think about how this even just presented itself a few months ago as a real finite thing you could do, it's a lot.

And in the meantime, you're building a really beautiful and growing brand with Rockaway sodas, which, by the way, I always have in my refrigerator.

Thank you so much.

Founders events and my family.

It's very fun.

Anyway, one of the things for me is I miss having a profitable business.

I love that.

That's something that I can't wait to have again.

And I've been thinking about buying a business myself that has profits so I can enjoy that once again.

Is that part of it for you or are there other parts that help me understand?

Help us understand?

Yeah, I think it's so when I first had an aha moment, I was at the hedge fund still.

I was an investor at a hedge fund in consumer goods and I had this aha moment.

I was investing in global alcoholic beverages and I was soul searching and I was looking to get into private investing in kind of like six months trying to figure out what was next.

And I was sitting at the desk at my hedge fund and I've told this Story a lot before, but I was watching a TED Talk by a professor, and I can never find this TED talk.

He was talking to Stanford MBAs about venture capital, and he was saying, you can't just say, I want to become a venture capitalist.

You have to go out and get the experience.

You know, run a business, start a business, fail, succeed, whatever that is, like, irreplaceable and invaluable to bring to a venture capital firm.

And it just hit, and I was like, I'm going to bring rum distilling back to New York City.

It hasn't been distilled here in over a hundred years.

I was in my 20s, and I was like, I can put all of my savings into it, get some angel investors, moved back home with my.

My parents in Rockaway and hit the ground running.

I was just a ball of fire about it.

And, you know, there are lessons from it I'll take into 2.0, which is like, I ran really hard, really fast for five years, and I got to a point which led to the exit of like, okay, I'm tired.

I need a. I need a partner.

And that's a whole other story.

But in terms of understanding that feeling of fire, it was one of a kind, and I think it's coming back now.

And after the exit to.

To your, you know, to relate to you.

I started Rockaway Soda as a creative outlet side project.

I was consulting, I was investing, I was doing things.

Right.

Like, I am an operator, and that's what stimulates me.

So I leaned all the way into Rockaway Soda and put all the other things on the back burner.

There's been a tremendous amount of learning in that business as well.

But it was never the same aha moment as the origin story of Rockaway was more like wanting a creative outlet in homage to my hometown in a healthier category than rum, and been more analytically driven than mind driven, than gut and heart driven.

I love that.

I do.

And because sometimes we have to go through that as founders.

And I love that you're sharing that you're an operator.

I am the same way.

I've done some investing, and I like it, but it's sort of like, well, now what?

You want to get your hands in there.

And that feeling of passion and engagement, it's really.

There's nothing like it.

Are you doing this with a partner?

Are you going it alone?

Gosh, you're amazing.

I should say my family, you know, my husband is my partner now in all of the things.

We have two young children.

We're doing that together.

He's supporting this, the Rockaway Soda business.

We have a podcast now together too, which is just all about New York stuff and our childhood in New York.

No real operational or financial partner, but an emotional partner for sure.

Someone who will go pick things up and stand at a trade show and support in all those ways.

This is mine now and 100%.

So I know this is really soon, but what now with Rockaway Soda?

It's still one of my businesses.

It's a lot at once, honestly.

All of this has happened really fast with Oni Said we're going to go through a bit of a brand refresh for Onis.

So it'll be some time before that's in market again.

And in that time I'll figure out.

I think there are strategic synergies between the two companies from a distribution standpoint.

Some distributors carry both non alk and alk.

It was never a first use occasion for Aquaway Soda, but it does make a great mixer that can have in there.

And I'm just feeling it out and trying not to rush or push anything, which is honestly a challenge for me because I operate in a very intense force and speed.

My practice is to slow down and figure it out.

Perhaps Rockaway leans more.

We haven't leaned a lot into digital channels for distribution.

It's been primarily traditional retail, so.

So perhaps that goes into a more digital.

And goes into a more traditional realm in terms of shelf and retail.

Potentially own these.

Distribution could unlock a whole other channel for Rockaway Soda as well.

We are very much in the grocery channel right now.

We haven't activated an on premise bars, restaurants or music venues.

So there's a lot of ways that things can go.

I think it's so exciting and for all of our listeners, it's so great to hear you in real time making your leaps and your choices and the uncertainty.

We have moments where we have a plan and it's clear and we know what we're doing.

Exactly.

But a lot of the time you spend sort of seeing what's going to work and following your gut and I'm sure this is a good business opportunity for you too, right?

Yes, yes, yes.

It's gut and it's like there's so much noise in the world these days.

It's the practice of just tuning in and tuning out, like trying to listen to when you should follow some noise and not in terms of like market feedback or trends or what this one said or that one said or what's going on.

So I think that can be applicable to founders and basically anyone in any walk of life.

So now you're going to restart.

What are some of the things you will definitely lean into and do?

Like lessons learned.

This is what I'm going to do.

And then also maybe two or three things that you can see this is going to help me grow and do what I believe is best for the business.

And also a couple, two or three things that you're not going to do that you've learned isn't good.

Same with Rockaway.

I think with Rockaway, the past five years with that have been a lot of learning because it's been a new channel, it's been a new product, it's been a new category, it's been a new profitability.

Like the profitability on a $99 can of soda is different than a $35 bottle of rum.

The drinking occasion, anyway, there's a lot.

I think what I want to lean into for, let's just say ONIS 2.0 is what worked and felt really good and fun, which is relationship building.

Like building community with the trade.

Leaning into that, becoming like a bartender's choice and having that translate, that word of mouth, organic, sort of culty brand building, translate from the bartender for me or my collection of people representing the brand to the bar trade, to the consumer.

What I won't do is grow, push.

Two things.

One, I was really good at not looking at the money, especially when I first started.

I was young and naive and I just, you know, wasn't as diligent as I could have been.

So I think I'll be a lot more diligent with that.

I will say no to distribution expansion if it's not the right time.

I think that was one of the things that led me to the exit with Onis.

This was all a positive exit at the time.

And in retrospect, it still was a positive event.

There was a lot of demand.

Most of our business was in New York, but new markets kept asking to be opened up, which is a great problem to have.

And we would sell there.

I think the problem was we didn't have enough people on the ground in these markets to cultivate the relationship.

So I was running around myself and one other woman who worked with me were running around the country like crazy and having a lot of success in terms of working with the distributors, going into market, selling a ton, getting cocktail menu, all the things we needed to do and we wouldn't be able to return to market for another couple of months.

By the time we returned, all the work we had done hadn't been supported for three months because there wasn't another physical body on the ground.

So I think I'll be more cautious about new markets, like have the team grow in line with market expansion.

It makes a lot of sense.

Right.

I was just talking to a founder a couple weeks ago who was telling me that they had gotten an opportunity to distribute it into Walmart and they said no, it wasn't the right time.

It was going to drown them.

I think there's wisdom in being able to figure out what you really can handle.

And at the same time, the reason we are able to do what we do is because we take big bets.

Yeah, yeah.

And you get excited too, right?

Like someone called you up and you're like, yeah, I want to be.

Because there was product market fit, it needed to be supported.

And yes, it's hard to say no.

So kudos to them for resisting it.

I have a few friends and colleagues that have said yes to really big business.

Too soon, in my opinion, and it has not gone very successfully.

Then you have, like to use a colloquial term, like you go out and raise money and all of your eggs are in one basket.

And you haven't really built a brand.

You've just gotten one big client in consumer goods anyway.

Like you have one huge client that's bringing in.

You went from zero, a hundred thousand dollars in revenue to five million in revenue in one year.

But it's one contract.

And then what is really the value of that brand?

It's almost like a commodity.

Yeah.

And are you getting the best price?

What happens to your margins?

Exactly.

Can you afford the working capital?

Can you afford to, you know, you're gonna make something and you might have to have it on your books for 90 days before you get paid.

And like, that's hard.

That's very growing pain.

And you're in that business of dealing with cash flow and inventory and all of that.

So yeah, I could probably give a course on the differences in terms of cash flow management from cpg, like a soda business versus, you know.

Well, I had a full distillery at the time.

I had my own production facility.

I won't have that going forward.

In ONI's 2.0, I'm going to have a really exciting production partner.

But anyway, the distributors in liquor actually also pay you, which is.

You'd think that they were more like the gangsters of yesteryear in terms of trying to.

But the.

The grocery distributors are more gangsters than the liquor guys, which was the learning for me in terms of the chargebacks and the promotional thing.

Like, yeah, I guess kind of in the weeds with that stuff.

But it really affects your cash flow because, you know, you have a PO that goes out for $10,000, let's call it net 45 payment terms.

And then all of a sudden you don't get anything from that because they've charged you back for this promotional thing, this fee, this warehouse fee.

And it just keeps your POS accumulating as credits on their balance sheets.

Maybe you got $20,000 all of a sudden are POS and you wind up with a $500 check.

And you don't ever really know.

Imagine Rockaway is not at big scale at all.

I imagine once you're at scale, that becomes a little bit more predictable, but it's still business.

Well, and these are the things I think that's important for.

For founders.

Like every business has its weird little quirky in.

In the middle of it.

Things that, you know, in my business, healthcare, certainly how you bill and all these different billers and who are the rules, rules and you know, like all the stuff and you know, they decide how much you get paid.

All of this is in the guts of what makes a business work.

And I love that you shared that in your first time around.

You weren't as focused on the finances and you were in finance.

So it's.

It's not uncommon.

I.

What I'm trying to say to our listeners is don't feel bad.

There are so many hats you're wearing when you're getting a business off the ground.

Finance seems like the last thing you should focus your attention on, even though if you don't, you know you're going to run out of money.

And that's.

That is the number one reason businesses close.

I'm.

Finance is what comes naturally to me.

I was just more in such a mode of going hard and in an excited way initially with onis from a sales and marketing perspective that, you know, neglecting looking at the bank account.

Subconsciously or consciously, I don't know.

So I know you're fiercely independent, unapologetic, unapologetically independent.

What does that independence mean for you in this stage of your life and your business with your partners, your Husband as a mother now, buying a new company, having a second, like, what is that fierce end up?

How does that, how does that play itself out for you?

Yeah, it's living authentically.

And I think I've always been someone who does things differently, doesn't follow the rules, is not interested in someone telling them what to do.

And you know, there's a lot of pros to that.

There's freedom in it, but there's also like the mind games that your mind can play with you.

It's hard to do that.

It's hard to stay true to yourself and live authentically in this world.

Especially in New York City, when you want to maintain a certain lifestyle, you want to raise your kids in a certain way and you want to have your own businesses and there are financial stressors.

We're one of the only families in our community that doesn't have full time child care on staff.

Harry and I do it ourselves because we want to do it ourselves and we pass the kids back and forth.

I have two businesses now, podcasts.

And so it's putting a lot on the plate.

When you get tired or run down or anxious or nervous or you're in that dark uncertainty period of what's going to happen next, it's like the mind goes, oh, just get a job, just get a job.

You're worth a ridiculous amount from a compensation perspective given your experience.

And you got to rein yourself in or I have to rein myself in and like, nope, because if I do that, I'm going to be miserable and then it's going to infect my entire family.

And so every day is working on the mindset.

Agreed.

And you have little children.

Yes.

Yeah, one's three.

Just three in September and one is nine months old.

So what do you say to being a full on entrepreneur, buying growing businesses and being a mom?

Yeah, it's great.

I'm so grateful to be in charge of my schedule and prioritizing my kids over pretty much everything.

But that comes with a burden of like, okay, I gotta make these businesses work.

We have to eat off of them.

Using those fearful thoughts as motivation as opposed to debilitation.

I think that, you know, I've had a lot of, maybe it's my age or having young children, but I've thought a lot about society and how women have been, myself included, molded.

I don't know, the messaging has been wrong for women and families and like, it's not either.

Or, you know, it's not like you're a businesswoman or you're A mother.

And I think that there's so much pressure on women to stay on their careers and they've stayed on the path.

And, like, then I just look around and I wonder, like, I observe in my, you know, immediate community, like, are.

Are these.

Some of these women going to have, like, regrets at the end of the day because they've missed, like, so much?

I think that script needs to be rewritten.

It's okay to pause.

It's okay to be with your kids and enjoy the few years you have, you know, and this is.

I just think you should ask your.

And if the answer to the questions, no, like, I want to unload this to somebody else or outsource it, fine.

I just hope that people are asking those difficult questions themselves and making, you know, you know, answers from their heart as opposed to, like, their mind and society, what society tells them they should be doing.

Well, I feel very encouraged that you have found a way to have your family the way you want to and still find a way to also be in the world.

I've always found that I'm a better mom when I'm actively engaged in the world.

Right.

Totally.

Right.

I did take a little break at one point, and I was miserable.

I really needed the stimulation of something other than kids.

But I think it's a wonderful example that you set.

So I am curious, and I don't ever ask about this in my cast, but tell us about Harry.

He's the best.

Tomorrow's his birthday.

Actually, I'm forgetting all about it because I'm wrapped up in my own news.

I have a trade show tomorrow for Rockaway Soda.

But anyway, he's great.

We've been together since we're kids.

He.

Since before I even got a job on Wall Street.

So he's really seen me through Wall Street.

Leaving Wall street, starting Onis, selling Onis, working for Proximo, running away from Proximo, starting, you know, he just.

Just.

I guess he knew what he married.

We were together for 10 years before we got married.

But he's very supportive of my resolve to continue to push myself and put our family's future at risk.

No, it's extraordinary.

I have a great partner, too.

Frank is just like.

You've met him, right?

You've met him here.

And I've sensed that about you and Harry.

Not everybody is able to have that.

But when you do, particularly as a woman founder, when you have a partner in your life that can really be there for you and support, because it is terrifying when you are, you know, there are Moments of like, I remember for myself when Covid happened, I had plans for the business to keep growing and it wasn't and we were running in a negative.

I felt like I had a noose around my neck and I was attached to a very big boat that was going to sink.

And takes a very strong partner to be with you and go through all of that with you.

Yes.

The mental health aspect of being a founder is real ups and downs, highs and lows.

And I totally agree.

And, and maybe this is like.

Antiquated of me to say and, and more of a gender role thing, but it's kind of like it just is a rarity that there are women there.

There are obviously more male people in positions of like business, financial, founder, power, whatever you want to, you know, word logos you want to put on it.

And I feel grateful that I have found a partner and given the role then gender play in society that is cool with just being in the background, like supporting, taking a break from his career to help with the kids.

I just don't think many men could handle that, honestly.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we're sending our love to Harry because that's really special.

How has your definition of success changed over the years?

How is it different, you know, from when you're in hedge fund world to maybe at the beginning of ones to now?

Yeah, I think that it continues to evolve.

And the hedge fund world, it was money.

I was young, making a lot of money, going on fancy vacations, being the youngest person in the room by 20 plus years in these hotels.

Then that started to feel weird and empty and I was like, okay, I'm kind of miserable at what I'm doing at the hedge fund.

I don't like who I'm working with.

I'm kind of bored with what I'm doing.

Just moving money around with no real purpose aside from making more of it.

That definition of success changed from I don't care.

Money is not gonna drive me anymore.

Then I had this aha moment with rum and I'm bringing rum back.

The vision was to bring rum back and it was also to sell the company.

It was like, I'm gonna do this.

This is what you do.

This is how you.

So that was more of purpose and real tangibility.

I went from sitting behind a desk and moving stocks around to driving a forklift around a distillery and like making rum in like, you know, steel toed boots and like, you know, construction worker gear.

That was part purpose and part money.

It's interesting to talk this out loud because I Haven't really gone this deep with it in my thoughts.

There was a money exit, the nice exit, which was relieving at the time.

It was good.

I was like, there's money in the bank.

Then I was graciously awarded a nice opportunity to work with Proxmo.

So there was comfort for years.

Like, the first year was great with Proximo, I got married, I went on vacations, like there was nothing to worry about financially.

And then I started to get like, itchier.

Year two, I was like.

And by year three, I was like, I need to do something on my own again.

Then Rockaway was a lot of my success there.

Hometown give back.

Then I had two children.

Now it's like the definition of success is financial freedom and also the opportunity to not to miss what I want to miss and not miss what I don't want to miss with my family.

So I think it's a holistic approach to success and happiness.

Port lifestyle, families first style, and then really loving what you do.

I remember when I first started to feel that way.

There was no such thing as a Sunday scary anymore.

Every day I was working and enjoying it and there wasn't like a burden.

There was no, like, there was anxieties, but in terms of like finances and, and how to get the business going where I wanted to go.

But it wasn't like a boss or a Sunday night or living for a weekend.

And you know, I, I, I think all of that, it's kind of all of that experience has melded together.

It's like family businesses, independence with my businesses, profitability.

If I wind up making zillions of dollars, great.

But the goal is to maintain the nice lifestyle I like and have the freedom to enjoy family.

I love it.

Okay, let's do a fast fire round.

I'm going to give you five questions to answer with five words or less.

Favorite drink.

And not one that you make.

Not one of mine, not one of.

Yours, a favorite drink copy.

One thing you wish every founder understood about risk.

You got to get comfortable being uncomfortable with the unknown.

And you'll know when you know.

Coffee meeting or ocean swim?

Never done an ocean swim for a meeting, but ocean swim, yes.

Great idea implementing that.

If you could bottle one quality of yours and sell it, what would it be?

Passion.

Compassion.

Passion and compassion.

Compassion.

Very good.

When it's all said and done, what do you want people to say about how you built this?

On my own terms.

Yeah.

On your own terms.

Yes.

So where can we find you?

Where can we Find your soda and your room.

Soda is most important for sales right now.

Amazon RockawaySoda www.drinkrockway.com direct from our website.

And we are in about 500 points of distribution in the northeast and mid Atlantic retailers like Stop and Shop, shoprite, Citarella, and a lot of natural independent grocers throughout the five boroughs.

The rum again, in a few months, it's going to be in a bit of a hibernation mode.

I want to be there for that free launch.

Yes.

You could follow both businesses on Instagram or Facebook at Drink Rockaway and Oni's Realm at Onis Realm.

Oh, I'm super excited for you.

Congratulations.

Thank you, Coco.

I.

The press release came out like an hour before this and now I feel a lot more grounded.

There was so much going on and now that was a nice conversation to kind of rebalance, recalibrate.

I'm so glad I look at my emails again.

Maybe I'll take a minute and walk around the block before I do that.

Well, it's a big deal and you created an incredible journey and now you're back into rum.

I'm so happy for you.

I remember the last time you were here and in my home and we were chatting and you were saying how much you loved the rum business.

I think it's really cool like, like that you have this opportunity to do the process, going back and buying it and now that you get to do it again as a founder, I think it's so exciting and kick ass.

Thank you.

Yeah.

And we're gonna all watch your.

Your podcast.

Listen in on your podcast too, right?

What's it called?

Yes.

New York raised us.

New York raised Us.

Okay.

All right.

And so I'm gonna put a link for that in the show notes, folks.

Thank you.

Bridget, thank you for joining us on the Wisdom of Women show.

We appreciate your honesty and your story and giving us so much to think about.

To all of our world changing listeners, be sure to follow like or share the Wisdom of Women show on whatever your favorite platform.

Don't forget to infuse more of your wisdom into your business.

Take the growth readiness quiz at a ForceForGood biz quiz and uncover where your insight is needed most.

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So let's all go make the world a better place.

Cheers.