Fwd: Why Remote Work Can Protect Women

The tequila industry has been dominated by men for quite some time. Can you walk me through the choice to hire only women to work in the factory when you first started 25 years ago?

It wasn't conscious. Only women started working with me not because I decided to do so. I mean, in the towns of Mexico, you know that most of the men go to the United States or elsewhere to look for other opportunities. So the town was full of daughters, mothers, grandmothers who wanted to do something. So, the fact that they believed in me, that is to say, gave me the driving force that now drives me. They came in and were like "Oh, ma'am I learned how to distill and my son congratulated me and they had never said anything to me!" So they were really excited about contributing. And I had to teach them to have strength and to believe in themselves, too, because it was also very difficult. I would arrive and ask them: "What do you want to do?" "No, well I know how to sweep and mop." "But what else would you like to learn about? What about  this machine?" And they wouldn't believe they could do it, so a lot of it was also teaching them that they can do it and learn more skills.

How have you seen the industry change since you started?

I really think this industry needed the female touch. They'll kill me for having said that, but it's the truth. I mean, there are really a lot of people, as I said, who have all their lives and pedigree and everything, but women really get to do things a little bit differently. When they tell me that so-and-so died, and the wife, instead of selling the tequila plant she is going to take charge, I applaud them! Or that so-and-so is going to leave his daughter at the front of the tequila factory, I applaud them, to tell you the truth. It is very nice because, whether you like it or not, we give real added value. Women do not subtract. And in this industry the feminine touch was missing. I used to feel horrible arriving at industry meetings and it was all men, and I was standing around like a kid. And now it is so nice to see two, three, four, five women in the room. 

The pandemic was a really big turning point for lots of businesses and workers alike. Can you talk about how you and Leyenda de Mexico were impacted?

We did not close our doors a single day. I'd hear about other distilleries closing and that was like a stake through my heart, you know? I wondered how I was still going, if I should go on. But I kept motivating our workers. I told them: No ladies, we keep going, you can do it. And then sometimes there was a time when I said well, we are going to close even if it is only for 15 days, but when they came and told me, "Ma'am, do you remember my dad would get angry because I came to work? Yes, now he sits down to talk to me at night because I'm financially maintaining our household." You think I was going to close after that? No.

Wow, it's really about motivating them, right? How have you seen your employees take that motivation and put it into action?

Yes. Like I told you before, it's about teaching them to try different things. After the pandemic, we ramped up production by five times, all with the same amount of staff. The girls would tell me: "Listen, ma'am, I can do this in X-amount of time. But if you buy this new machine I'll be able to do twice as much." And that's how we grew quickly.