Winner, winner, chicken dinner. In a Premium Cigar Retailers Association auction, Nico Sanders was victorious in earning a guest role on Boveda's cigar podcast, Box Press. "Sharing cigars with people and learning more about them and their experiences is the greatest thing," the long-time cigar smoker told hosts Nate Beck and Rob Gagner.

Nico, a lover of anything Fuente, heads up Community Housing Associates, Inc. Making homelessness brief is the group's goal. CHA has developed, managed, or leased housing for more than 900 individuals and families in Baltimore, Maryland. Residents receive services to support physical and mental health, employment, and daily living skills. Find out how you can help at CHA here: https://communityhousingassociates.org/

What is Boveda? Cigar makers protect the flavor and character of their hand-rolled cigars with Boveda, that brown 2-way humidity pack that you find in a cigar box. At home, continue to use Boveda in your humidor to keep cigars well-humidified or they can be hard to light, burn to too fast or get moldy. With Boveda in your humidor, you'll enjoy full flavor from every cigar. Boveda has been keeping cigars tasting great for more than 25 years. Boveda Protects Your Premium Cigars. Guaranteed.

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https://clubcarraway.com/

00:00 Cold open

00:49 What was your first cigar?

01:28 I tried to hate this cigar, but couldn't

05:56 Shout out to Tampa Sweethearts Cigar Co.

06:33 What's a good everyday cigar from Fuente

07:28 Benefits of membership in a private cigar lounge, like Quintessential Gentleman in Baltimore, Maryland, and Club Carraway in Minneapolis, Minnesota

11:19 Relying solely on the kindness of strangers, like in "The Kindness Diaries"

12:41 Winning a Box Press interview in the PCA auction

16:04 Executive director of Community Housing Associates, which works to secure housing for unhomed people in Baltimore

17:32 People need the basics—shelter, food and jobs

24:16 Where's the safe space to talk about difficult stuff?

30:29 We can always do more. I always strive to be better than I was the day before.

31:29 There's more to life than working 80-hour weeks

33:27 Finding a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Organization

There's a story inside every smoke shop

with every cigar and with every person.

Come be a part of the cigar lifestyle at Boveda.

This is Box Press.

So how long you been smoking cigars, Nico?

- Man.

So I'm in my early forties, I'm 43.

So probably, man, 20 years.

Interesting enough, I started smoking cigars

from cigars, right?

I've never tried a cigarette, I've never had a desire.

And I remember being somewhere

and seeing this guy smoke a Fuente.

And the aroma of that cigar was so intoxicating.

And this guy looked so cool.

I said, "Oh man, I gotta get into that."

- Right?

- And I tried a Macanudo was my very first,

and it was okay.

But what it did do was it fueled the passion

to want to know more

and to really, really dive deep into it.

And I was just, Fuente was always my go-to

whether it was the Short Story, the 8-5-8.

Between the Lines, the Work of Art,

the Canones and a few others from there.

And then of course the OpusX,

that was available if you could get it.

And really branching out to try different cigars.

- Yeah, I gotta admit something.

I've always, you know, the 8-5-8 gets so much attention

and so many people like it,

and no matter who I give it to, they like it.

I tried to hate that cigar.

I tried to be like,

you know what? - Me too.

Me too, it's tough. - This is just a,

this is just one of those everyday cigars.

And every time I light it, I get wowed by it,

and I'm like, I can't hate this cigar.

- I know. - I love it

every time I smoke it.

- Construction's good. - I literally,

I have to be honest.

And it's not personal to Fuente or anything like that.

It's nothing personal.

I just tried to hate the hype

that that has. - I get it, yeah.

- And every time I'm like, oh God, this is so good.

- Right?

- So I have a great story.

So I'm like you, Nico.

First cigar was when I was, I'm 48.

First premium cigar.

I'd never had a cigarette, never chewed, never had alcohol.

Cigars were first.

I had a few occasional cigarettes in college.

- Okay.

- But my first cigar was the Hoyo de Monterrey

Excalibur No. 2 Maduro,

like big Churchill chocolate bomb cigar.

- Okay.

- Would smoke them, I don't know, half a dozen,

maybe 10 cigars a year when I was in college,

and I was going to school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

And we were in Florida with our show choir from college,

and we're all gonna jump in the pool,

and I'm like, "I need a cigar."

We've had a few beers, so we're all a little,

you know, hyped up.

And I run across the parking lot from our hotel

to this little gas station convenience store.

And they had a few nicer cigars,

and one of them was Macanudo.

And I come running back like a kid at Christmas.

I'm like, "Guys, I got a cigar!

"It's in the tube and everything."

And they still give me shit about it today

because they're like, "Remember how excited you got

"about that dumb cigar?"

(men laugh)

What's funny is Rob's perception of the 8-5-8

I think for me is the same when it comes to like a Macanudo.

Can they smoke great?

Absolutely.

Do I smoke many?

No, but it's that perception that that was a cigar

that was always around 30 years ago when I was a kid

at all the, any convenience store that might have cigars,

you'd see them in those tubes or they'd like.

Because the packaging on the 8-5-8

has that kind of old-fashioned gold, you know,

almost cursive 8-5-8 script.

It looks like a Walgreens kind of cheapo cigar.

But every time you grab it you're like, "Damn,

this is good."

- So you're smoking an Angel's Share Opus?

- Yes. - Is it the,

what is it, the tiger?

What is it called?

The shark?

Is it that shape?

- No.

- It's like Churchill almost, right?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- And what year is that one?

- Yeah, this actually is a '20, maybe a '19.

- Okay.

Oh, cool. - Maybe 2019.

- I've had a couple of those.

- I just lit it so I haven't gotten into it though.

I mean, is it good?

- I enjoyed it when I smoked it, yeah.

- I've never smoked it, so.

- I'll be honest, I don't smoke a ton of OpusX,

but if they have some age on them, then I really like them.

You know, a couple years of age, then I really enjoy them.

- That's right.

I'm with you on that.

- I'm smoking the Fuente, is Destino al Siglo?

- Destino al Siglo.

- Destino al Siglo. - Destino al Siglo.

- Yep. - It is phenomenal.

- Yeah, that's good. - I just got gifted this

from a good buddy, Dave, and it is very tasty.

I don't know what year this is from, but.

- It's real good. - Really good.

- Can I see the wrap?

I may have to get some of those.

I mean, anything by Arturo Fuente I think is great.

- Oh yeah.

Oh, okay, yeah.

I gotta try that out.

- Yeah, it's got basically the,

I don't know which Fuente that is on the label there,

but it's got what, Carlos and Carlito on the sides?

- Yep, so it must be the grandfather.

- I would guess, yeah.

- Unbelievable.

- It's impressive.

They got a great history.

- Oh my God, yeah. - Oh, it's crazy.

- Did you see the episode that we recorded

with Sean and Tim, Box Press 25th anniversary?

- Yes. - Dude.

- That's really good. - The history there.

Unbelievable.

Just so cool.

- It surprises me that they were, you know,

where they are now in the D.R., but starting out

and doing some of their age drying in Tampa.

Some of that history that's still there in Ybor.

Big shout out to Tampa Sweethearts.

I love when I'm in that area.

I'm make it a point to stop by there.

- That's a great shop.

- I think so.

- Sean, our CEO goes to Tampa Sweethearts

because he lives in Florida now in Tampa,

and he likes their house cigar, what's it called?

- The Ybor City.

- Oh, the Ybor City.

- The Florida Ybor City.

And so I ordered some of those last year and both boxes,

handwritten notes from...God, which Fuente is it?

I forget his, I think it's Carlos.

I think it's another Carlos, but.

- Yeah. - That right?

- Yeah, I think he's there every day.

I mean, a great guy.

- Yeah, man, I was blown away.

- Such a good cigar.

I smoked one yesterday on the ride home

on my motorcycle and I was like, dang, this is good.

- It's a great everyday stick.

So when they talks about the good price point,

I was giving them out to people

because when I discovered them, I was like,

"Hey, you gotta try this, guys."

I never heard of this.

So then when you tell them that, hey,

this is a Fuente everyday smoke,

and then people are clamoring for them.

- Right.

Five bucks, 4.50, something like that?

- Yeah, something like that.

I usually buy them in five packs.

I don't think I've actually bought a box,

but I usually buy them in five packs.

Because I buy other just Fuente brand.

But yeah, I mean, it's a great smoke though.

- And I think when I got them, I bought 20.

And they're ones that I give out to very light smokers

here at the office because it's a really great

easy smoking cigar.

But it's got great flavor.

I think I bought a, they came bundled I think.

I don't think it was in a box of 20, but yeah,

it was comically inexpensive.

- Really good. - Yeah.

- Where are you smoking, by the way?

- Thank you for asking.

I'm actually in downtown Baltimore City.

I am at the Quintessential Gentleman, the QG.

I don't know if you've ever been here.

- No. - But it is a haberdashery.

It's everything for men.

I mean, you can get a custom suit here.

They've got a bar where they do their own

private label barrels with some great whiskey brands.

They've got a barbershop and spa

on the level you get your shoes shined.

And then of course they have a great place

where you can smoke cigars.

- Awesome. - And so, Craig,

Craig and Rusty, I told them I was doing this interview,

and they were more than gracious to allow me

to come down and to host me.

So it's a great spot.

If you're ever in Baltimore.

- We're coming there. - Come see me,

and we're gonna go.

- And when you come to Minneapolis,

we have a place that is almost spitting image

of what you just described.

A guy who's become a really good friend over the last year,

his name is Derek Reed,

owns something called Club Carraway

named after Nick Carraway from "The Great Gatsby."

And it's in a historic mansion

just off of downtown Minneapolis, just south of it,

like on the other side of Highway 94.

And it's in the carriage house.

So you walk in, the first floor is a huge beautiful,

all-wood millwork, 20s-inspired leather chairs.

Literally in the main lounge there

is a bespoke stereo system

that's a local Minneapolis company

that built the stereo for that room

with the tubes and everything.

And then he has bespoke suiting.

That's kind of in the middle.

So custom suits and fully bespoke,

fully custom suits start at $995.

Beautiful suits.

And then he has two barber chairs.

So you can do a grooming membership, I do that.

Go three, four times a month.

Beard trim, haircut,

and then you go and open up a bookcase,

and it takes you down the stairs

to the private cigar lounge in the basement.

The old coal room.

Super similar to what you guys have going on there.

- I mean, you're almost describing.

I mean, here, so they have smoking jackets for members.

And it was great because after,

you know, when I used to wear suit and ties,

I would take my suit jacket off and put the robe on.

And while you look very distinguished,

it actually served a true purpose,

which was to limit the amount of smoke

coupled with the humidification in there.

If you drop some ash, it didn't get on you, right?

That sounds like a cool spot.

This is a members place as well,

but they've got member boxes

and some parts are open to the public and others aren't.

I will say one of the other cool things about this place

is that they have a really cool large selection

of barber products in terms of like barber coats,

you know the wax coats and all those things.

They've got a great selection of that.

So it's really cool.

- Tell you, I was on a plane once,

and a lady, I had a connecting flight,

and she was from Minneapolis.

And so she said to me,

I said, "I've heard some be great things

"about the area, the Twin Cities and all."

And she says, "Anytime you come,"

she said, "This is my information, please come.

"I promise you you will enjoy yourself."

After about the entire plane ride,

she gave me her information.

She's like, "Look, you could stay at my house.

"I could tell you you're not crazy.

"You could stay at my house and have a good time."

I thought she was crazy.

But I wrote down her information to take it up.

I think it's a true testament to the people there,

and of course shout out to Prince and all in that area.

You know, just great people.

So it was a pleasure.

- Yeah, that is so cool.

That friend, that extension of somebody's home

is so personal.

Takes a lot to get there.

But I ended up watching a documentary

or some sort of film where the gentleman

was actually just traveling from one point of like,

let's say Alaska all the way down to the end of Mexico,

and the only thing he could do

was either sleep in his car or-

- Oh, I watched that.

- Yeah, what was it called? - Oh my gosh, it was so cool.

And he literally relied entirely for food, lodging,

everything, on the kindness of strangers.

- I remember that.

I remember something about that.

- Was it called Be Kind?

He was in a yellow Volkswagen.

- Hatchback or something?

Yeah, like the hatchback or something?

- It's a convertible.

It was unbelievable.

- Yeah, it was incredible.

- So many cool stories.

He like just average Joe on the street,

and then all of a sudden you find out

that they're like helping the youth in the community

with drugs and alcohol addiction

and having a place to stay, and you're like, wow.

No wonder why you said yes to letting me stay here,

but just it's so cool how people

can get connected like that.

- It was called "The Kindness Diaries."

- There you go. - And it's fantastic.

- "Kindness Diaries."

- Yep, "The Kindness Diaries," and it's so good.

- Yeah. - So good.

Yeah, it's like a little,

I don't know if it was a Volkswagen,

but it was a yellow convertible Volkswagen looking car.

- Yeah, it was a Volkswagen.

- Yep. - It was a vintage.

- Yeah, it was on Netflix.

- It's amazing documentary.

- Super good.

- Let's get into why you're even on Box Press.

You went ahead and you went to a charity event,

and we put up for auction this opportunity

to get some cool Boveda stuff, a humidor,

all that good stuff,

and then also have the opportunity to sit down

with whomever bid on this.

And I kind of thought to myself,

hey, no one's gonna know what Box Press is.

No one's gonna care about that.

The glitz and the glamour or the Boveda, the Boveda humidor,

maybe the cigars they threw in there.

I don't know what they did, but you know?

- Yes. - Yeah.

It was like, oh, you get a Box Press interview.

Somebody's gonna be like, ah, I don't want that part.

That's actually kind of what I was banking on

is somebody being like, nah, I don't want that.

But Nico, you've been, this drew your attention.

You knew about the whole Box Press.

- Oh, absolutely.

Look, they had some other really tantalizing offers,

and I bid on one or two other things,

but my focus was this particular package.

The elusive acrylic humidors are fantastic,

as well as the other swag that you guys sent is really cool,

but to do this and to be here with you all,

it is really, really probably

one of the coolest things I've done.

So how could I pass on bidding on something like that?

- Awesome. - Dude, that's awesome.

I'm so glad we got the right guy in the seat

because it just makes the interview that much better.

- Thank you.

- So I appreciate that.

But you do have an interesting background

that I kind of want to dive into.

- Sure.

- You started a for-profit company called Gold Bear.

Sorry, Goldenbear. - Goldenbear, yep.

- And it's a corporate social responsible company, correct?

Am I getting that right?

- Yeah, it's corporate social responsibility.

So it's a consulting company where we bridge the gap

between CEOs of companies,

and we bridge the gap between them and nonprofits

and other entities that are not-for-profits or organizations

and help them to work better in the community.

I mean, that's extremely important.

As we see, as crime rises and other things happen,

one thing is very clear, everybody blames everybody else,

but the true component or the other piece of that

is the business community.

And the business community really doesn't say much

depending for a myriad of factors and reasons,

but they should be a part of the conversation.

And I think they are able to help

change the narrative, if you will, for positive.

Whether it's creating jobs,

whether it is creating opportunities

for influx of not just cash, but resources,

and man hours to really help other organizations.

So yeah.

- That's awesome.

So you're really just trying to pair the nonprofits

with the companies so that they can do good work together.

- That's right.

Yeah, Goldenbear.

You know, it's interesting.

Why are you Goldenbear?

I'm like, why not?

If you got James Bond and GoldenEye

and all these other things.

If Jack Nicklaus could be the Bear,

why can't we be Goldenbear?

I think the opportunity is that you gotta have your eye

on something, right?

And as we look at things that are golden,

if you will, that's a little more shiny.

And so that opportunity is really good.

And so, look, I've been in the for-profit world.

I'm currently executive director of a nonprofit,

which is called Community Housing Associates

where they house those that are mentally ill and homeless.

You know, I'm trying to do my part

to really, really change the tide.

And I think it's working. One step at a time.

- Yeah.

Here's what I like about this statement

that you filled out on this questionnaire.

So how does your career relate to your family background?

You said you grew up an only child by a single mother.

You understood that there were people who needed help,

not handouts, and some capacity

to be the best they could be.

The nonprofit I run is working to ensure homelessness

is brief and there is a, I believe,

safe place for people to live.

So I love that because, oftentimes,

we get into the politics of how to help people

and whether that means it's a paycheck

and just a monetary donation

or if it's truly going to just focus on

how to get one person from Point A to Point B.

And I think the more you focus on the Point A to Point B,

then you actually start to do good works.

- That's right.

That's right.

It's important that we get to the basics, right?

We always, from a political perspective,

we can argue about how it's funded.

We can argue a lot of different things.

But the basics are people need shelter.

The basics are people need jobs.

The basics are people need to eat.

In an economy where we are currently,

whether it's inflation and we're hitting a recession or not,

whatever that may be,

the goal is how do we help somebody else?

And I think if everybody did that,

I think we could really, really move forward as a society.

I think over time, look, we've been selfish.

We're only worried about ourselves.

And I think that's true to some degree, right?

You have a right to be selfish and protect yours, right?

I have a wife,

I have a beautiful one year old,

and I want her to be in a place and understand

that there's more to life than just absorbing things, right?

We've gotta get away from the collection

of trinkets and toys and more so, and not saying that's bad.

I mean, I do it myself,

so I'd be a hypocrite saying that I don't,

but we've gotta really work to help others.

And I think in the time we are now,

we saw that a lot during the pandemic, right?

Tremendous amount of need.

Mental health was highlighted in that.

Growing up with my mother, she was a single parent.

I understood what the stressors were

of not really making it.

But she also understood the importance of having

a young black boy in Washington, D.C.

the need for this young kid to be cultured.

And so we did go to plays.

She exposed me to theater and other things.

And she exhausted her resources

to send me to private school.

And I am always eternally grateful for her sacrifice

to allow me to live.

And so I try to give back everywhere I can, not just to her,

but to others around me.

- The things that we do

just out of sheer kindness for people

are the things that impact us the most.

And it's so interesting that doing something

for somebody else has a uniquely selfish benefit

in that we feel great when we do that.

And so, why people don't,

it takes people a while to realize how great you feel

when you do something for somebody else.

And then once they do, they start to realize,

wait, this is pretty amazing.

I need to do this way more often.

- I agree.

Look, you know, we are all in this age of social media

and we all were born before social media.

So I like to say we're OGs in this social media game, right?

- Gen X, baby. - When I think about

how we got there to where we are,

and I see people now,

and they bring up a great point

of kind of doing things under the radar.

When I see people who are recording themselves

doing great deeds for other people,

I'm always torn because the one side is that it's great

that somebody's doing it.

The other side is, you know,

there could be possible humiliation

of the other person that is receiving that, right?

Or other things.

Is there a self-serving point that they're doing

that's deep-seated for the person that's recording that.

But I then look and think that whatever that may be,

and all that could be true or not,

is that the hope is that it inspires someone

to want to do something for somebody else.

- That's what I think it is. - I agree.

- And that's gotta be the inspiration, right?

At the end of the day. It's funny that you say that.

I was out a few weeks ago.

I went to a Pappy tasting a few months ago,

and that was just crazy, by the way.

It was really cool.

They auctioned off the bottles at the end,

and all the proceeds went to a really, really great charity.

And we left and then went to dinner across the street,

this restaurant, and I ran into a bartender that I know

from one of great steakhouses here and around the country,

but the steakhouse, and I used to go there often.

And just a really knowledgeable guy

and really, really just a good person.

And I saw him there with his family,

and I just told the the lady, hey look,

I'll buy all their appetizers,

because they had quite a few of them.

And I just told him it was good to see him and we left.

And I didn't want him to know that I did it because,

you know, he's a great guy,

and it was the least that I could do

because I hadn't seen him in a while.

So I think those things go a long way.

- I think one of the coolest,

and I saw it through Instagram,

one of the coolest videos

where it was done through social media,

but it was still anonymous.

So this guy and his team went to a local grocery store

and talked to the manager and said,

hey, I wanna pick some people that maybe

are struggling to pay their groceries

or look like they maybe have a big family or what have you.

And I don't know how he picked which families

or what criteria he used,

but he had a microphone and earpiece

and the manager had an earpiece, but he wasn't there.

So they're filming the guy off,

away from the grocery store aisles,

but watching the grocery store lanes.

And he'd go, I wanna buy their groceries.

And then that cashier would just take a credit card

that he gave them and your groceries are covered.

- That's very cool. - And then they just filmed

a reaction to those people, and it's just waterworks,

I mean, waterworks. - Wow.

- And it's really powerful because it's social media,

but it's done, again, as anonymously as possible.

And those people leave going, why would somebody do that?

- I think it's great.

- No, I think it's fantastic.

- Yeah, it's great.

Look, I mean, no one,

the minute that somebody doesn't have any sense of pride,

if you will and, and they're like,

hey, I need this, I need that,

that's when you have to act, right?

And there are people who,

because of the economy that we're in currently,

some people would say that I'm just not doing well.

Especially our service industry, right?

Bartenders and people who would typically do well

and do okay aren't doing okay.

There are a lot of restaurants

that still aren't doing okay.

There's still people who aren't doing okay.

And the sacrifice that is made

when people are trying, or vacillating rather,

I'm gonna pay a bill or food.

And then you've got kids,

then obviously that is a whole 'nother factor.

And when someone comes in and and does something like that,

it's a tremendous, I think, weight lifted off of them

because that money can go somewhere else,

and I think that's important.

- Absolutely.

And I'm with Rob.

I think the world needs so much more of that

flooded on our news, on our social media feeds

because there's so much just ugly, gross content

that we're exposed to because, I mean,

a lot of bad stuff goes on in the world.

But when you see those snippets,

which are happening all around us,

we just might not be aware of them,

I think when you see it on social media,

maybe in some way that piques your attention and says,

maybe I should start looking for that.

It's like Mr. Rogers, look for the helpers.

There are always people that are helping.

Because Mr. Rogers is the absolute best.

- Gosh.

- And I swear.

- I apologize to interrupt you there.

When you said Mr. Rogers,

I know they did a movie or documentary on him,

and I hadn't seen it, but I didn't wanna see it

because I was afraid that there was gonna be

something terrible about Mr. Rogers,

that he was like this bad guy off camera.

Like yelling at people.

But then after seeing some of the clips

and there was kind of after a documentary

about the movie or or about him,

it was impressive to see that this was a man

that literally lived past the hype, if you will.

- Absolutely. - Of being one to give

and to really talk about tough subjects

that even to this day, here we are in 2022,

people still don't want to talk about

or uncomfortable talking about, so yeah.

- And with kids.

I mean, he did these conversations with kids

who have all of these questions.

And if those questions don't get answered when you're a kid,

you still have those questions as an adult.

And where's the safe space to talk about difficult stuff?

We don't do that enough.

And I can say from having seen both the movie

and the documentary,

he is as exceptional off the camera as he was on camera.

I mean, just a really rare individual.

But I would say if you watch it,

have some tissues nearby because it is, it's good.

- Nico, I asked you a question in your questionnaire.

It's what is your vision slash goal for yourself

in the next year?

- The vision and goal for myself in the next year.

I mean, it's pretty simple as we're having this,

it's interesting kind of I guess the theme,

it may be a theme,

but to be better than I am last year.

Look, I always strive to be better than I am the day before,

the hour before.

I'm far from perfect.

I sometimes can do things and like, damn,

why did I do that?

Why did I say that?

And I'm cognizant of that.

The goal is always to be better, to do better.

I think that when you surround yourself around people

who are doing better in all aspects,

whether it's doing well in business

and those that are conscientious

of the world that we live in and are making it a point

to want to do for others is imperative.

For me, it is all those things and more.

What can I do to be better?

And I think that's a self-reflection.

I mean, we always can talk about, yeah,

I wanna make more money.

I wanna win the lottery and drive the best Ferrari out there

or whatever that may be for you,

but how can I be better, right?

And then that's a self-reflection of what can I do

to be the best?

- When we think about life and what's important to us,

I think the one thing that the pandemic has shown us

is that at the end of the day,

we thought this was like two weeks.

I remember we were going through this

and everybody was saying, hey, it's two weeks, man,

we're back to this.

Things started really, really shutting down,

and this wasn't two weeks, you know?

And you're forced to be in this home

and you hope that you've loved that person or people.

- Fingers crossed. - Yeah.

I mean, and I think one of the comedians,

he said, look, he realized that, you know what?

We're not meant to spend all these hours

at home together. - No.

- So I think a lot, you know, and yeah.

So it's one of those things where you really decide

what's important to you, how do you live your life,

and how can you improve it?

And then you're right though, Rob.

Look, you're constantly learning.

Anybody who says they stopped learning,

that's a problem because I think you're learning

until you die.

I mean, I'm always learning more about cigars,

and I'm learning more about life-

one day at a time through mistakes.

And the goal is to not make as many of those mistakes.

to enjoy the life and not the repercussions of it.

- Yeah. - Right.

- Rob, you'll remember this

because Rob had Luciano Meirelles of ACE Prime Cigars.

So I think you might be familiar with him.

We were talking about that concept of master blenders

and that could transition over to master distillers.

These names get tossed around quite a bit.

And he said there's not a single cigar maker

that would consider themselves a master blender

because they are still learning new ways to use tobacco,

new ways to roll cigars.

They're still learning and honing their craft

well into their later years,

and they don't consider themselves masters.

It's generally a title that someone else confers on them.

Same in you watch any of those whiskey documentaries.

All of the best blenders and producers,

the ones that really excel well into their later years,

they're constantly learning.

They're constantly open to new information to going,

wait, oh, you might be right.

I didn't think of it that way.

Let's try that.

Those are the people that,

not only are they constantly learning,

but they stay vibrant well until their later years

until they die because they're open to new information,

they're open to learning new stuff.

And I think that's where I wanna be.

- Sure.

I think I agree with you, Nate.

I think that's a great way to look at it.

We are all constantly learning.

And to be honest, look, I'm learning from you guys

as you talk about this cool end cap.

I've gotta get one of these things and see what it's like.

But in the reality of life itself,

we have to constantly learn.

We have to seek out information, right?

I think if we are just told information,

I don't know if it's really information, right?

Information is something that

you've gotta really seek it out and understand

because I think information has to be true,

and I think that is important for you, absolutely.

- Yeah.

I like that.

Seeking it out, not just being like,

oh, I heard that, so then I believe it.

You really gotta like internalize it in order to believe it.

- Ask a lot of questions.

This kind of leads into, you said your favorite quote is,

"We can always do more."

But as I've looked at my life and started going through,

could I be doing more?

I've actually started to do less,

so that I can be better at what I do.

So I've had to learn, especially through COVID, to say no.

I used to always wanna be out on the go,

get together with people.

I'm a strong extrovert.

- Same here.

- Yeah, that no and that force into not being on the go,

not distracting the self and getting into

not always doing more, how do you balance that?

Because it is a strong pull to always wanna do more,

but at what point do you realize I can't do more

because I can't do it right?

- Wow, look, I think that's a great point.

One of the things that I learned is that,

I mean, you know, as a business owner,

you know, consulting for others,

I remember working 80-hour weeks, right?

And there was a point where I would wake up

before my wife got up and I was home after she was sleeping.

I mean, this was just tremendous.

And to that point, COVID really, really showed me

that there's so much more to doing that.

And it goes back to hold the phone, right?

I don't wanna hold the phone, I wanna live in the moment.

I wanna capture the moment and have it mentally,

and it doesn't mean you don't take pictures

and all these other things to enjoy it,

but I really want to share in the moment.

And I think that is so important,

and saying no is important.

It also means like, you know what?

I've done all I can do today, right?

If I stay two more hours, it does not change today.

So I'm gonna pack it up,

and I'm gonna come back tomorrow refreshed

and give it another go.

Again, I think that goes back to being intentional

about doing just that.

But look, if you remember on your news, I'm sure,

no traffic, right?

I think I heard something that because people

had stopped driving for the long period of time

that the environment, it staved off like another five years

or increased another five years in longevity

of the environment, or birds were doing more than whatever.

I remember national news of the wild animals

were coming closer in because people were not out.

- Wow.

- I think we've gotta really, really take into account,

and I think from your point, Rob,

look, if we do less for ourselves,

then we are doing more and to focus

specifically on things as opposed to 12 other things

and not really that focus.

Very important. - Yeah.

- Love it.

You also said here that you were a Big Brother,

or you had a Big Brother when you were younger,

and that was a positive influence

and helped you tremendously get into the business world.

You also said your mother was an influence

because she made sacrifices, which we've talked about.

With that, I mean, was your father present

with you growing up?

- No, actually he wasn't.

And so just to go back to the Big Brother,

and I'll come back to that

because I think that comes full circle,

so I appreciate you you bringing that up.

No, my father wasn't present.

He wasn't like I didn't know who he was,

but that was just an interesting dynamic

because I went to a Catholic school,

which really focused on humility and giving back.

So we would go to soup kitchens.

Religion class taught me quite a bit

about the compassion of others.

And you can have five people who are checking on one person,

but if no one's actually checking on that person,

that person could die.

It was a great article in the New Yorker years ago

about these people who were charged

with taking care of this woman

and she died from just not eating

because everyone was supposed to check on her,

and they didn't.

And I learned that in religion class,

and it taught me a lot.

So interestingly enough,

I used to take the bus coming home,

and I would see my father on the bus from time to time.

So we would talk, but we didn't have a relationship until,

again, present time, right?

And I think that's a lot of forgiveness.

I had a lot of animosity against him

because a part of, really more for my mother,

when I reflect on it than myself because I'm like, man,

how could you let my mom struggle like that?

And we can take the financial component out of it.

Being present, right?

I think that means a lot.

Having a Big Brother, my mother was very in tune to that

and understanding that hey, this ain't a little black boy

who doesn't have culture to understand things,

but she also understood that there's something

that only men can do, right?

From a capacity in helping to rear a young man.

And I learned a lot from, shout out to Bob Gordon.

He was great.

He was the CEO of Cellular One, if you remember that.

Cellular One for the Baltimore, Washington, Boston property

and did tremendously well.

I understood quite a bit of business from him.

I remember it was a great story.

I remember they were leasing cars, and at the time,

he was the CEO of a cable company,

which was a venture with SBC,

Southwestern Bell Communications.

And he was talking about leasing the car,

but he hadn't decided.

I said, "Oh my gosh, you gotta get the Lexus.

"Get the Lexus!"

And he was telling me, he's like,

"Look, you know, you don't have to get the flashiest car."

And in retrospect to me today,

and no disrespect to anybody has a Lexus,

I don't think Lexus is a flashy car,

but they got a flashy price tag.

But I understood that when he started talking to me

about colors and what colors represent

in terms of the color of your car and what that means.

He ended up leasing a Jeep Cherokee Laredo.

I mean, it was leather, it was a nice jeep,

you know, whatever that is,

but I understood over time what those things meant.

He was extremely impactful.

I learned I think so much from him in business

that you couldn't learn in business school, or you know,

if you didn't learn trial by fire.

And so I was able to avoid some pitfalls

because of his tutelage.

- That's awesome. - That's awesome.

- I feel like, I also grew up without a father.

My father passed when I was six,

but I feel like there's that- - Sorry to hear that.

- No, thank you.

But I feel like we share this kind of connection of like,

when you see somebody who's gonna be a good mentor

and have good advice,

or just stuff that you can learn from,

you kind of, you perk up and you tune in

because not everyone can do that.

And I think it's interesting because it's like,

here's an opportunity for me to learn something,

and I'm just gonna try to learn as much as I can,

and that's what I'm gonna take from this situation.

- Sure, you have to.

Look, the one thing I think has been great,

I've been a sponge, you know?

Whether I've learned some things I probably shouldn't have,

but I understand it.

But I've learned more great things

that have been so fruitful in my life.

You've got to be able to absorb what you can

in the environment that is most conducive

and positive to you to kind of springboard you.

- Absolutely.

- Yeah.

Well, I love it.

This has been an amazing conversation.

I mean, it even hearkens back to when you talked about,

I wanna continue to eat better,

which is being consuming better.

I remember wanting to go to see a pretty bad movie

in my day of youth.

And I was over at a friend's house and his dad said,

"Well, why do you wanna?"

Either that or we were wanting to play a video game.

I can't remember.

"Well, why do you wanna do that?"

Yeah, it's cool, it's a thing to do.

And he says, "Well,"

and he gets a wine glass and a bowl,

and he put some water in there and puts a couple of drops

of food coloring.

Says, "Well, this is the bad movie."

And then he has a big pitcher of water that's clear.

And he goes, "How much good content

"do you think it's gonna take to clear out

"all of the red that's in this wine glass?"

And I was just like, wow, that was super impactful.

I'm like, had he decided to just be like,

hey, this kid isn't my kid.

I'm not gonna go through this spiel,

because my friend had already gone through it.

He's like, "I've already seen this.

"Oh god, dad's whipping up the wine glass again."

- Oh dude, here he is with the dye again.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I just, I appreciate people who do that.

And I remember just kinda having like an aha moment,

okay, fine, I guess I don't need that video game

or that movie or whatever we were trying to go see,

so it was really impactful.

I thought it was great.

- But that goes back to, and pardon my interruption,

that goes back to the give back, right?

If we all did something, right?

If we all said we're going to do something,

this child is in my house,

and it is clear that there is some guidance.

I'm not this child's father,

but I can give fatherly advice.

And then from you,

you can kind of take what you want from that.

But that advice, as you have clearly displayed and shown

and where you are today, you and Nate,

look, it's been impactful,

and it continues to help be a part of the lessons

that you learn and actions that you take, right?

And going back to that wine glass and the dye.

And I think that says a lot.

- Yeah.

So conversations like this

just bring back all those memories,

which is great to be reminded of that

because you just forget sometimes to live the best you can.

- Sure.

- What a cool way.

So if anyone's out there struggling,

looking to try to either give back more,

looking to try to further their business more,

what is Nico's point of advice,

fatherly advice that we're gonna give out today

and leave people with?

A little tidbit to go the extra mile.

- Yeah, well, you know,

well, one, thank you for even asking

that I could even give advice.

I think that in itself is humbling

and I take that serious because, look,

people today can give advice that it ain't necessarily

what you should be doing. - Right.

- I would say that, you know,

you have to be encouraged, is one.

That regardless of whatever the current circumstance is,

it is never your destiny.

You have to know that at the end of the day,

there are great things ahead.

There are great things that are afoot

for you to move forward.

And then from a business perspective

is to really, really look at what you want to accomplish.

Not look at it from a how much money I can make.

Look at what the impact would be to the community

or the group that you're looking to serve,

the client base or the service that you're offering.

What is that impact?

Because that says a lot, right, about what you're doing.

If you think about somebody who created an umbrella, right?

They was like, yeah, that's a great idea, right?

Keep the rain down.

But over time, people have perfected the umbrella, right?

We've got golf umbrellas,

they're larger and they got things that do things with wind.

And I'm sure at some point somebody said

when they were trying to recreate the umbrella,

somebody said, ah, you ain't really gotta do that, right?

It works.

But there's always much improvement that can be done.

And there's always space for you in the business community.

I don't say that for everybody, right?

There's space for you.

You belong.

And I think that is most important.

That's what I would give.

- That's awesome. - Awesome.

- Great advice.

Nico, I can't thank you enough for taking the time.

I know this took a while to get together,

but I appreciate it,

and obviously filling out my 30-point questionnaire.

Hopefully it was worth your time,

but I really enjoyed going over it

and asking you some questions.

- At the end of the day,

sharing the stick with people and learning more about them

and their experiences is the greatest thing.

And I think that's in part why I love cigars, right?

Because you don't have to know someone to sit down

and that commonality is the stick.

And before you know it, man, you're like,

man, I've known this guy for 20 years, right?

How you feel after leaving

and create lifetimes of friendships.

- Absolutely. - So I thank you

for allowing me to be a part of your platform.

- This is exactly what this was for me.

It's our favorite thing to do on Friday.

- It is. - It is so fun to just have

a great conversation with somebody.

So I have to leave it at that.

I can't thank you guys enough.

All of you out there who are watching,

subscribe because I hope you like the content.

This isn't about cigars, but it is.

It's bringing us together and I love it.

It's heartwarming, I'm learning a lot,

and I just enjoy it so much.

I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers to you.

Have a blessed day.

- Cheers, everyone.

- Cheers.