Stacey Thomas Show
Stacey speaks with _TUSK CEO__ Debbie Morton and Maurice Morton
I'm restricted and I'm limited to compile something You want no one with space, you tell me I'm restricted and I'm limited We can talk about anything you want, I'm restricted and I'm limited to compile something You want no one with space, you tell me I'm restricted and I'm limited We can talk about anything you want, yeah I'm limited to compile something You want no one with space, you tell me I'm limited to compile something You want no one with space, you tell me I'm limited to compile something You want no one with space [Music] [Music] Hello, hello, hey everybody, this is I Am Stacy Thomas, I'm restricted and I'm limited and for those of you that don't know me I love my name, I'm restricted and I'm limited, simply means don't put me in a box, I have yet to see all that God has for me And I so enjoy when I have guests on my show that are living by the same theme or the same words, we don't allow man to put us in a box and tonight I've got some awesome guests I'm very excited because just from talking to the CEO, there are a lot of things that I learned and I felt as though I need to share with you So tonight I have with me the family that owns Tusk Spirits, that's T-U-S-K Spirits, I looked up their logo, their legacy and it reads such as this Fresh Spirits, to be a pioneer company that utilizes innovative agricultural approaches through the use of infused industrial hemp to create premium spirits and beverages We dare to leave elephant sized footprints in the beverage industry by honoring our legacy and embracing our future So with that said, I'm going to show you a commercial, I'll show it again, but I just want you to see and learn about the superstars that we're about to talk about Tusk Spirits is the distinct combination of savory and sweet flavors infused from the hemp seed, Tusk Vodka and Tusk Rum are the perfect vessels to turn any cocktail into an adventure you'll never forget Both creations have received the ultimate compliment from customers, smooth Go to your local ABC store and request Tusk Vodka and Tusk Rum by name or go to Tusk Spirits.com, that's Tusk Spirits.com, drink responsibly Okay, nice, nice commercial, so now I'm going to bring on my guests, that would be Debbie Morton and Maurice Morton, I may slip up and say Mo, because he gave me permission Hello. Hello. Hey Stacy. How are you? How are you? How are you? How are you guys? I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Thank you for this invite. I mean, it's a pleasure to be here. Well, I think you both for coming on. I'm going to give you an option. Listen, because I want people to be able to look at the faces behind the brand. Okay. So we can show you here. Or we can know that's not good. I like the other one better. I like that one better. How's that? That's fine. That's fine. Hey Mo. Hey Stacy. How are you doing? Well, Mo, I've been looking at you all over social media. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. You've done some awesome interviews. So I hope you grace me with the same demeanor that you've given everybody else. Oh yeah, I got you. Oh yeah, she will definitely. I'm only thinking. Miss Debbie. Oh, it's been awesome talking to you. So, I want to give people, I want to give people a sense of who you are. I want people to know how you guys started and how you come up with this top selling spirit or two spirits in our local ABC stores. My first question is, though, because the story is just so amazing and it's especially by the African American family. So I'd like to know, this process started with the farm, right? Yes, ma'am. We inherited land that my great-great grandparents purchased in 1906. 1906. Yes, yes. Okay, so Mo is younger than you, or is Mo the same age? No, yeah, yeah, we just say AIDS, right? Yeah, we're the same age. Okay, okay. Thank you for that. Yes, I need to say. So, I would like for both of you. I'd like each one of you and we'll start with you, Miss Debbie. Tell me something that you know or that you were told about the person that purchased this land, like the character. Well, well, well, what I know is my great-great grandparents, which was Alice and Paul. They were born as slavery. They were sharecroppers. They grew tobacco on the land. So, a lot about them, other than they work very hard. They were very hard workers. They were moved. They have land in the Halifax South Boston area. So, and they wanted to leave a legacy for their children and grandchildren, and here we are our great-great-grandchildren. So, they purchased this land for their children, and then it was passed down to us. Okay, and Maurice, no, I like mobile. What is it that you've been told about your great-grandparents? Well, it's actually my great-great-great grandparents, because they will be my mom's great-great-great grandparents. I mean, just basically the same. I mean, just from the research that we've done, we found out that, you know, of course, like mine said, they were born into slavery. They lived through all those treacherous times, and then, you know, once that time was over, they were actually married the year that slavery was abolished. And then from that time, they became sharecroppers and, you know, saved their money for, you know, close to four decades. You know, they were working hard, saving, and just, you know, like mine said, just to the start, this legacy for us that we now have taken the reins of, and just taken control of, and just, you know, taken into a new level of next heights that I'm sure they had no idea that we were taken to. So, I mean, yeah, it's pretty much the same thing. We don't have, I mean, as, you know, like I said, we did more research and got closer and closer to generations of our own, then we were able to know more, because we were able to hear the stories from, you know, from our ancestors that we were able to have contact with that were able to tell us more and more. So, I mean, it was, it's been more so of us just finding out our own research, but just, you know, just hearing the stories about those ancestors of ours and what they did to get us to this point. Wow. Well, one thing that I did find out about Alice from what the stories that was told to us is that Alice, she was, she was European. And so the land was purchased in her name because Paul wasn't allowed to purchase land. Black men were not allowed to purchase land back then. And so she was from Europe. And she actually purchased the land. So because he couldn't purchase any land. So that was really, that was, that was amazing because, you know, when we look at the documents, it's an Alice Morton's name, not in polls. So what's even what's more interesting about it, or I guess, surprise. Well, so you have there during a time where a black man can't purchase the land, but a European woman his wife purchases land. So now I'm wondering what other problems that they have because now we get now. See, now you didn't open up an intellectual relationship. They endured some hard times and I didn't know your great, great grandparents, but in reading up on you guys, and in talking to you Miss Debbie and listening to Maurice on some of the interviews. There's something strong. You guys probably know that that came from these two people. And what's interesting is it's not in everybody. Everybody don't respect those that came before us and worked hard, but here you are a family. That's, I mean, working together. And what's even more intriguing to me is Miss Debbie, you're a farmer. Yes. And when I spoke to you, you don't have an accent of somebody that lived in the country. So you said I'm not country. How did you become a farmer that most doing who's doing is that? No, no, what happened is I'm rich. I was born and raised in DC, but every summer, my grandparent, my grandmother, he wanted us to come down to Halifax to spend time with us. So my dad and my mom, they packed our clothes up along with some other cousins sent us to the country every summer. We used to be out there in the tobacco. At that time, I think I was 11 when I stopped going, because I saw a worm. And I was like, I'm going back to the city. I'm done with this. I'm not doing no more outhouses. I tell people that's how I learn how to multitask when you have to go to the outhouse because they didn't have indoor plumbing. So you had to hold, you had to hold a latch, take care of business, look for snakes and swap the flies all at once. Didn't have done that afraid of worms. And being from Surrey County, I remember small as a small girl having to go out to the park, the place in the back. Afraid of what might come up from the bottom of the ground. You know what I mean? Yes. So as the years went on, you know, I didn't never go back, come back to the country. I didn't want to be in the country at all. But this just so happens when my dad passed away, the land was passed down to us. And I retired in 2019. So I kind of wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of DC. And I wanted to move down to Halifax and just live on the country land. And my as I was driving down with my niece, she mentioned to me that she asked me, "What are we going to do with the land?" I said, "Well, I really don't know. I just want to be down there and enjoy myself and live the good life." And so she said, "Why don't you think about growing industrial hemp?" I was like, "Girl, you are absolutely losing your mind. We are not growing on marijuana." I didn't have to turn it over. He could just be done with us and we tried to throw some marijuana. We are not going to be any cocktail family. So that was your niece. Like, so Marie, you already talked to her niece. Like, was this planned out for this to be disclosed to her? I would say, yeah. And when she texted me, she texted me what they were on the way down there. She was like, "I think I'm going to talk on Debbie into trying to start a hemp farm." So I was like, "Well, I told my text message back to her was good luck with that." Wait a minute. What's going to happen to my niece? No. Not with Aunt Debbie. Not with Aunt Debbie. Prior to us starting this farm, she was that aunt that ain't want nothing to do with nothing. We couldn't even, we could barely blink our eyes too hard around Aunt Debbie. I'm just joking. I'm just joking. No, but as far as like us drinking and smoking and anything like that, she was that aunt that we kind of respected to that level where we wouldn't do it around her. So it was like to think that she would be involved with something like that. It was just like, it was a long shot. So Maurice, Denise talks to her. And when she finally tells you and the rest of the family that she's on board, what were you thinking? I mean, she didn't, no, she didn't initially get on board right away. It wasn't like go, you know, it took a while for her son. It was actually my cousin and her son that did more of the convention. No, I just, I wasn't sure what the outcome would be. So I was just still focused on what I was doing with my painting business and stuff like that. So, you know, it was just more so of a, it was an idea that we hoped might, you know, transpire, but we wasn't sure about it. But I get, it was a, it had been a few months had passed by and then my mom came to me and told me that they were, they were thinking about doing it. And I was excited because, you know, I've always, not always, but, you know, for the vast majority of my adult life, I've, you know, I've been a him and cannabis enthusiast and, you know, been into the culture. So I knew what the possibilities of it could be, you know, saying we got into that, that realm into that industry. So, yeah, I was just, I was hopeful that it would work out. You know, I was like, yeah, my family just, they didn't, I knew how big he would be. I'm sure they wasn't, they didn't really understand. Because, like I said, they didn't really have the knowledge that I did in the industry and what, and knowing that where it could take us if we did it the right way. Yeah. Yeah. That, that, that my son talked me into a he really educated me on what hemp was and the different, you know, the different plants up here. That's funny because I remember I told, well, I told you all from Surrey County, right. So my son says to me one day, I'm very outspoken and he says to me one day, Hey mom, one day we're going to take that land. You know, a granddad, a granddad agree and we're going to grow some hemp. And I said, no, he didn't say, yeah, he said, weed. And I said, you don't lost your mind. No, we, I'm like, I ain't going to jail for nobody. And then you tell me that hemp, Miss Debbie and marijuana, a different. Tell me how again. Well, it is a different plan is you have the cannabis, you have your CBD plant and you have your industrial grain of fiber plant. So it's, it's really three different, you know, different types, but then you have different strands within those types. So the hemp that we're growing is for grain and fiber. They used to have that particular, the stocks they used to take and make growth out of it for the military. So my son, they really educated me on I had no idea that, you know, hemp's been around many, many, many, many, many years. And so, Maurice, what part did you know about him, or did you know all the history behind it? Because you're young. I'm looking at you. I'm not saying that's your recreational sport. I'm only saying you said you are knowledgeable. Were you knowledgeable about the hemp side as well as the other side. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I wasn't as knowledgeable as I am now. I knew that hemp. I knew a lot about hemp products because I was using them. Prior to us, you know, I was using hemp toothpaste and I bought a couple of hemp shirts and stuff like that before so I already knew that hemp could be used for a lot of different things. To say I was as knowledgeable as I am now, then I wasn't. Honestly, now on the on the hemp side, just just about the industry and the direction that it was going in on the legal side of things I did have a lot of knowledge, just keeping up with the numbers of each year. And as each state has become legal, you know, the industry has gone up billions and billions of dollars and worth every year. So I knew, you know, that if we got into this industry and just tapped into two to five percent of that those billions then, you know, we will be okay. So, you know, that's that idea to say I did have a lot of knowledge and where the industry was going. Had, of course, I had a lot of knowledge on the THC side the hemp side I wasn't as versed as I am now but I did know that it did have some powerful remedies behind it. So we have, so we know we want you guys knew you wanted to plant the hemp. Did you know when you started with the hemp that you would create another project, or were you just thinking, and I'll let both of you ask it if you don't mind, or were you just thinking we're going to plant the hemp, but we're going to sell it off and let somebody else create products from it. One of the things I mean my son Stefan, he's part of the business also he did a lot of research on different products and what this particular plant can actually do. Our original thought was to go into the CBD to grow for CBD oil, and then we changed it as time went on to grow for grain and fiber. He did a lot of research he found out what all the products that we can really produce out of that plant. And one of the things we started with the oils, so it was coconut oils that had CBD in it. And then I think my son Stefan and Maurice started to have conversations about other products and then I don't know what that conversation was like but Maurice can tell you a little bit about that when they wanted to do for the spirits. How did that go about Maurice? Yeah, so just, well, the kind of rewind it a little bit, you know, we started our first grow like during the pandemic. So, you know, we, when everybody's supposed to be indoors and quarantine and then stuff like that, we, you know, we had all this just land to be out there with the family, you know, the kids and everything. So, we started our first grow in 2020, I believe it was March on Debbie, March or May. Well, I retired in 2019, that was October, I actually moved down to the Halifax on to really start the process in June of 2020. Yeah, so it was around, yeah, it was around June. And then, yes, it was like May June and then we started to grow right away right away and then by, you know, October. I'm sorry Maurice, I don't mean to interrupt you, but you say you started to grow. Somebody had grown something before I'm trying to picture how this happened. I mean, no, no, none of us, none of us had well, no, I have, we didn't, well, Maurice had some experience. Yeah, I had some experimentation with growing on something, but I didn't grow anything. Yeah, most of the most of the rest of the family had no experience with this. I mean, you know, we went out there. I mean, we did have, we did have some help in the beginning. We did have some people like a consultant that kind of helped us out showing us some things and then we kind of took it and ran with it. But, you know, after we had our first, you know, our first harvest and our first growing 2020, you know, we were just trying to think of multiple ways to, you know, do things with the hemp. And I should say my cousin stuff on, I mean, you know, me and him talk day in and day out just trying to think of stuff. We are part of a co-op, a farmer's co-op that kind of, you know, we, we would kind of have a talk to it, leave eyes about doing clothes, but they wanted it already like broken down in the textiles. You know, de-gum then, you know, processing everything. And we couldn't do that at the time. We were just starting out. So stuff on, send me an article about hemp spirits. And I thought it was a joke. I've never heard about it before. You know, so I did start doing my own research. And I realized that, you know, all over the world, they had, you know, different types of hemp spirits already out. So I was just like, you know, we have to figure out we can do this. And so I caught up a friend of mine who had already been in the industry. And they had already had a whiskey and had some other products that they were already responsible for manufacturing. So I called him up and I said, man, you need to read this article, man. I need to know if this is something that you can do for us. And he immediately called me back and he was like, man, you guys serious because I think this is something that's, that's next level. I was like, yeah, we serious and we did serious. And when we, you know, and then it went from there, I called stuff on. I said, look, they want to have a meeting. And then we had a meeting with the family and the guys from the whiskey company and the rest is history. Whiskey right. And, you know, the rest is history. We are here now with two, almost two, basically two years later, coming up on and we have a test in the bottle. Okay. So before I ask my next question, man, I'm curious. Let's see. Let me, let's check out this commercial you guys have. Spirits is the distinct combination of savory and sweet flavors infused from the hemp seed. Tusk vodka and tusk rum are the perfect vessels to turn any cocktail into an adventure you'll never forget. Both creations have received the ultimate compliment from customers. Smooth. Go to your local ABC store and request tusk vodka and tusk rum by name or go to tuskspirits.com. That's tuskspirits.com drink responsibly. Wow. Go Stacy. Every time I listen to that, you know, it's just, it's just amazing where we started and where we are now. That's what I want to action. Then we're going to talk about the drink. I just needed to know who you were and like, what, what is it you guys got in your jeans that got you doing these big things, you know, that's pushing you. When you got that first, look at me trying to figure out the word. When the first plants came up. Right, right. When the first plants came up and you knew that something was going to actually come from these plants. I want each of you tell me how you feel if you remember when it first happened. Oh, my God, when it first happened, I mean, we started that planning season and 2020 Maurice, his son, which is my great nephews, the whole family came down and helped on the farm. We had to get the plow now. We didn't know anything about farming, but we did have a consultant that came and helped us out. And we didn't have any equipment. We did a lot of manual work on our own like planning the seeds. I mean, Maurice and his son and my nieces and nephews, they came down and they actually plant the seeds one by one in the fields. We didn't have any like seeders. We didn't have tractors. We didn't have any type of equipment. So all the tailing of the land and all that stuff was done by hand. Like we did everything like old school back in the early 18 like 1800 early 1900s. You know, we didn't even have a horse out there to pull the tail. You know, we were pushing and pulling everything by hand two acres of land. That's a lot of land. And you have to water it too. So I had to, you know, when the family goes, I had, I was down here by myself. I mean, they would come down to weekends and then I had, you know, I tried to, I recruited some people. And we didn't have a pump to pump the water from the creek. And so I had to get the water. And I mean, we did finally get a pump and then we had to pump the water in the buckets and I had to carry it up to the hill and water the water, the crops. And I'm telling you, it was awesome. It was coming, coming, coming straight out of DC. You know, y'all, y'all giving me chills. You're giving me chills because it goes back to something I learned a long time ago. First of all, look at God. Second of all, work with what you have. If God, you're proving to me that it's, that what came to me, I learned more and more. If God gives you something, if he puts it in you, you work with what you have, and the rest will come. Yes, yes. You got you out of DC, Maurice. Dress dress, dress kind of nice. Don't look like he's getting his fingernails dirty. But y'all telling me you out there working to make this thing grow. Yeah, I mean, but, you know, don't get it twisted. I dress nice, but I didn't have dirty now. I ain't no stranger to hard work. Yeah, I mean, you know, just, just growing up in DC. All my, it's now the say to come to be a city boy and, and then transition into the country life is definitely a difference. You know, it's not something that I grew up, even we're having, you know, the, the heritage and the lineage that we do have coming from Halifax. I didn't spend much time there. You know, I didn't, you know, by the time, you know, I got of age, a lot of my ancestors had passed on. So, unfortunately, those times have gone down to help on the farm and all that kind of stuff was over by the time I got of age, you know, the teenager as a young adult. So, you know, all I knew was the city. So when they said we were going out to the farm, I was just like, okay, let's do it. You know, it did because I was excited knowing what we were going into. Now we were just growing vegetables and it was livestock. I might have been like, I might have been a little hesitant on that one. I don't want to invest with the animal to kick my cow or something. Go some cows. Yeah, but I mean, you know, it was a blessing to see that first plant come out there. I have a picture of my daughter standing next to one of the trees when they first, the plants when they first started to sprout out of the ground is about the same height as her. And it was just like, just to see that I go back and look at it. It's a blessing, you know, just to know that we were given this opportunity. And not only are we, because faith without works is dead right we had all the safe in the world. We had all the, the, the, the prayer in the world, but you know, if we didn't go out there and actually use the abilities that God gave us to be able to accomplish this and work hard at it. And like you said, use what we had to get us what we wanted to be. Then I don't think that it would, it would have the same merit and hold the same meaning, you know, so it's just, it's a blessing. It's a blessing to see it. The blessing to know that we don't as a family. And, and, and my ultimate goal and, and aspiration would be to kind of inspire other families to do the same thing, you know, you know, it's easy to get us, you know, together as, you know, for celebrations, funerals, weddings, parties, people, you know, stuff like that, that we'll just celebrate one time in or, or grieve that one day, and then go go about our daily lives. But it's different when you in the ground of the day in and day out, you know, working together to accomplish that goal. It's, it's, it's a lot different and holds a lot more gratification to it. And one of the things I wanted to say is that, you know, the foundation that we had, you know, we recruited in God. And, you know, one of the things that I made sure that we do every time we have a meeting no matter what we pray in and we pray out. So that's, that's the foundation that we were raised on and we're going to continue to make sure that we stay on that foundation and grounded in God. So, you know, that that's important. Because without, I mean, we wouldn't be where we are if God didn't allow my great, great grandparents to purchase the land. And, and, and even then, see, see, I'm one with, well, people say I have a wide imagination, I guess, you know, the average person would say and your great grandfather probably didn't know what he was doing. But I believe sometimes God gives people visions. God puts things in people. God may not have disclosed exactly what would happen, but something he put in your great, great grandparents that led them that it will be more than what they were just purchasing that day. Right, great things, if that makes sense. It does, it does. And not only that, you know, to see the legacy go on and on. I mean, when I see my great, my great, this is a nephews to come down and they just love to be out there. And these are young, young children that love to be on their iPads. You can't get them away from the computers. You got a day on their phones. But when they down there on that farm, man, they loving it. I mean, some of that, I had to get them off the heat because I'm scared they're going to have a heat stroke. They won't even leave. Well, and they still want to be out there in that heat. I mean, it's just amazing. It's just a blessing. And I'm just so proud of the family. And Angela, I'm sorry, Angela, it's okay. We're just thankful that you joined. They didn't just meet each other. They are family Angela. This is the beautiful part about it. She says when did y'all meet. She was there when I was born. So, the task in the room. So, it starts with you. You're farming. And you invested in this. But you don't drink. No, I don't. I think I'm the only one in the family that don't drink. I do all the farming. I just love to be out there in the farming and everyone asks me, how do you know what it tastes like? Well, I go out to taste things. And I see the expression on people's face when they have this drink. And I'm telling you, it's different. It's different from anything else. I can say that. Maurice can tell you more about the product itself because I think everybody in the family drink but me. Maurice, that's interesting. She's trusting you all. Tell us, what do you do? Like, what's your role in the company? I'm the chief of sales and marketing. So, you know, I pretty much, you know, I go out network, do events, set up events, you know, but also I go out and get a sales as well. You know, I go out and connect with the different stores and different bars and restaurants and no establishments that catering services and stuff like that that can carry alcohol and, you know, do meetings with them. I work with the distributors to help us get into different other markets and stuff like that. So I have a, I also run a social media. So I do a lot. I wear a lot of hats with the company. But, you know, like I said, we form no stranger to hard work. So I take on all the challenges that come along with that. But my main goal is just to make sure that we have a quality product, you know, as I've been in a customer service driven industry, my entire life of a workforce, you know, whether it was retail, selling cars, selling homes, you know, just doing whatever. So I've always been like the hustler type guy that, you know, carry many jobs and that, but most of it's been dealing with people. So I've always had that, that idea of knowing what people want, just because, you know, I've worked with people so much. But then I've all I've also been blessed with a gift to be able to, you know, be in a room and talk to pretty much anybody so it's served well when it comes to helping build a brand and helping build the company. So yeah, I do, I do a little bit everything, you know, I go out to tastings and, you know, I'm all over the place. That's what he's boost to the ground. I said, he does most of our interviews. I'm not too good at being out there and showing my face. Like I said, I just love to be on the farm, put me down in the dirt, and put me on the tractor, but everybody can do everything else. I'm good with that. So, and Maurice, I also saw when I was looking you up. I'm a very curious person. Okay. You have made the statement to someone in one of your interviews that when you go to liquor stores, not everyone understands the product you have. Can you explain that? Oh, yeah, I mean, it's just, I mean, it's not that they don't understand it. They people still have a stigma about the word hemp, you know, when they hit a word hemp, you know, it's first thing people think is marijuana, you know, if you don't have any familiarity with what the actual plant is and the difference between CBD and TAC, then if you hit a word hemp, you know, that's the first thing that most people think. Oh, that's marijuana, ain't it? So, I mean, you know, it's been countless times I've gone in the stores and I'm like, yeah, man, we have this hemp vodka in this hemp rum and they be like, oh, no, no, I don't want that. You know, it's marijuana, but I have explained to them, listen, and it was, and it was marijuana in this bottle. I wouldn't, we wouldn't even have gotten this far. You know, I always, I always say the joke, the ATF would have came and shut us down a long time ago, and had we tried to put marijuana in a bottle and serve it to you on the shelf. I mean, it's not legal yet. It will be at some day in the near future, but as of right now, it's not something that we're able to do. So, you know, it's just a lot about educating people in the different stores and the different establishments that I go into and have conversations with them. You know, just talking to them about what we doing as a family and what our product is and what it represents. And then once they taste it, you know, it's, it pretty much sells itself out there at that point. Okay, next event I have, I'm not sure. I'm going to have it up there. I'm going to let some people taste it. Um, Angela, I guess you're referring to Miss Debbie, when you were saying, you know, you're just doing the farming part and everybody else is doing the other part. It says, um, you're doing, you're doing great, Queen. Thank you, Angela. So, um, tell me, Tusk, you have the vodka and you have the rum. How many locations are you in Virginia or where should people go when they're looking for your product? Uh, well, currently we're in Virginia. I think we're up to now, maybe 15 ABC stores throughout the state. But you can find us all throughout the country. Um, we're in D.C. Maryland, Virginia, Florida, California. We'll be in New York soon. I mean, we are, we do have distribution in New York, but, um, you know, I'm not going to speak on it. We're going to have, but we hopefully will have some stores there soon, been doing some work with that. I'll have some other states that, you know, it's not solidified yet, but we'll announce it. Um, when it, you know, comes up on when the time comes, we'll announce it on our social media and everything. But, um, yeah, we, and then we also ship to 42 states. So, if it's not in your local ABC store, you can just go in and request it. Or, uh, you can just order online and have a ship right to your doorstep if you don't want to wait. Now, I know that in the ABC stores, we are in the Danville area. We're in the South Boston area in Petersburg area. Um, Virginia Beach, Norfolk Richmond, Pittsburgh and those areas, but if we were in the ABC system, so if it's not in their local ABC stores, they can request it. And we also like Loudoun County Fairfax County stores as well. Um, if you're up, you know, closer to the Northern Virginia area. Okay. And if someone wants to reach you for an event or if someone's having, um, some type of festival or let's say special event. Can they book you Maurice to come out and speak to come out and sell your drink, serve your drink, taste testings. I mean, it all depends on the event. I mean, you know, people wants to stop booking us to come out. They definitely, we're definitely available for that. But, you know, you can just reach us on the page or, or through the website, you can reach out to the contact us and email us. If you have a different event, you want us to attend. We do, we do have a limited, limited amount of sponsorships that we'll be doing for the 2023 year. We did quite a few in the 2022. I don't think I don't think we'll be doing as much in 2022. So we do, but we will have a limited amount of slots to do some sponsorships for the 2023 year. So if you do have some events, it will be great. If you, you know, the quicker you reach out towards the quicker you'll be able to get on the top of that list and guarantee your spot. But yeah, it all depends on what type of events you have, what are the capabilities for us at the event, what we're able to do. And I mean, you know, once we work out the logistics, it's definitely, it definitely can be done. We just have to have a conversation about. So in other words, because I know sometimes when they do pop on and watch the show, sometimes there are people that are watching that have their own events. Sometimes people want to pay bar people to come in maybe and set up their drink so that they don't have to be responsible for providing a spirit. Right. So tell me, Maurice, I'm not going to ask Miss Debbie. I mean, she can tell me how if this plant smells good or not. But Maurice, I think I need you. Tell me why should I try spirits. Angela says she's in Wilson, North Carolina. She's going to get her some why tell me about it, Maurice. What, what does it taste like? It's very unique. Most people who taste the rum. I'll just start with that one first. It's made with molasses and then you have the hemp. See, we have a percentage of both that we kind of came up with the formula. And it's very, it's very nutty and flavor. You can really taste the hemp in the rum. It's very good for mixing cocktails, you know, your average mojito or rum punch, or I even do like a mule instead of with the vodka used the rum with the ginger being lime is a lot of different ways. You can kind of use it, but it's just to say about the taste of it is a very distinct and unique taste of a rum, especially for a clear rum. You don't really have like to answer your question, Miss Angela, you know, it's, you know, it feels great going down. It's no burn. You want to get that. I can, I can, I can, I'm going to tell you, I've been to some tasties and I've seen people, especially with the vodka, people expecting that harsh burning sensation. They don't, it's not that because the hemp, yeah, the hemp adds a different element to the liquor that you don't typically get from any other brand. And the major difference in it is the hemp, but we also have some another secret ingredient that, you know, we don't, we can't reveal to you guys. It's smiling. Yeah, we have another secret ingredient that we use that kind of sets us apart from the other brands and other other stuff that you might taste, either other hemp brands that you might taste. You know, we had once one ingredient that kind of sets us apart. Can't hear you. Can't hear you. He's still talking. Can't hear you. He's still talking, Miss Debbie. Can you hear me? I can hear you, but he can't, I think his phone, maybe someone got on. We can't hear you Maurice. We still can't hear you. So why we're waiting for Maurice to get his sound back, Miss Debbie. So we have one here that they can go to your website, tusperance.com. Yes. They can go to Instagram, Tuss underscore the Instagram brand. Yes. And Facebook page, Tuss spirit. Tuss spirits. Yes. Is there any other place or any other way that they should try to contact the company or are we providing them with exactly what. Well, you can, you can, I mean, you order it on Tuss spirits. There he goes. You can order also on our website, which is Tuss spirits. Like Maurice said, we're in 42 states that 42 states can order and have a ship right to their door. Also, I don't think we mentioned that we won five awards. We won awards in London, California, Las Vegas, New York, and a bartender's award. Oh, y'all big time. Yeah. Yeah. We've been winning these awards. So people. I called it. I called it. When he first started when he drank it, he was like, man, this is going to be award winning product. And it is. And so Maurice, you're good, huh? Yeah. I mean, I compare myself on the back a little bit. Okay. Okay. I mean, it was just, you know, because I drink. So I know, I kind of know, you know, you know, the difference in between different alcohols was good, was bad, was real, was top shelf, you know, so it's like. I was kind of explaining before I got cut off about the vodka. Oh, did I see it? Okay. Yeah. It's these are the bottles. It's empty. I just want some display bottles. Okay. But yeah, so the vodka is very smooth. It's very. It's made with corn. So it's not. It's gluten free, you know, but the hemp just adds a different element to the liquor that you on typically get in other brands. And it's very, very unique, very different for on your palate. And one thing I can say that I've heard when I do different tastes, as in people taste it, they'll sip it the first time and they'll have that one taste. And then they sip it the second time and it completely changes. And I'm, and I'm in total agreeance with that. Like every time, especially if you're drinking it straight, like I'm drinking some of the worm straight on ice now, because it's real smooth. You don't need any chaser. You can just drink it like it is. You know, it's very, very mellow, very, you know, very unique, calm flavor, but like every time you taste it. It gets smoother, but the transition on the back end tastes, you know, you kind of taste the hemp more and more. So it's very different. It's very, very different. It's never been it doing to them plants, Maurice. No, I'm following it. I put it in my secret ingredients also. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, just to, you know, just to kind of answer your question too. I mean, it's, I, when I first tasted it, I knew, I mean, that it would be an award winning product. Like I just, I knew it. I just, because I never, I stopped drinking vodka because for the reasons of the gasoline, taste the afterburn, you know, the kind of grogginess that the headache that it gives you. You know, I'm saying later on down the line. And then, you know, when I first tasted this, I didn't taste it tasted like a citrus water with a little kick to it. So I was like, man, it's no way this is vodka. And then I told the family, I said, you know, we're going with some awards with this y'all and everybody got quiet. You know, they were like, I don't know what we're talking about. Maurice is a salesperson. He is a salesperson. You see, man, this guy might not know what he talking about, you know, but, you know, as time went on, you know, within our first year, each, each one has won five awards. And that's, you know, you have companies that have been out for quite some time that can't say that, you know. You said, I'm going to have to bring him over here, let him speak something over here into existence. Before we go. So, Maurice, when we went over how to reach you guys, something that I did not actually about that I think is very important when we were talking about your family, your shirt Maurice tusk and the elephant ears. Who can tell me why elephant ears and where did it come from? I let on Debbie tell the story about the elephant. Okay, y'all. Okay, I can tell it. Well, you know, we inherited the land from my dad's side of the family, but we wanted to honor my mother in some kind of way. So my mother, when she passed away in 2015, she had collected over hundreds of elephant figurines and she had elephants all over the home, all over our house. As we were trying to figure out what our logo was going to be, we decided, you know, it was a group of us, we decided that, hey, let's honor my, let's honor mom by having an elephant as a logo. So we, we did, we wanted the elephant to be our logo. And that's going to be on all of our brands, no matter what we do to honor my mom, Mary Morton. Wow. Last question. First, let me say I'm thankful for you two for coming on the show and blessing my platform. What is this done for you as people. Maurice, you've tried many things, Miss Debbie, you came down and tried something new. What do you see? What do you see in the future for this company? And as far as the growth you got what, what do you see for yourselves? You want to start Maurice? You go ahead. Well, one thing I want to say is that I started, I started a new adventure at 60 years old in 2019. So I want everybody to know that it's never too late, no matter what your dreams are, no matter what you want to do with your, you know, in your future, it's never too late. If I can start farming at 60 without any experience, man, you can do anything. And what I see for my family is this legacy to continue to go on to our grandchildren and great grandchildren to build their brains also. So that's what I see in the future. I mean, I think that we're going to be a family that is going to be a great name. Maurice, they had to kind of kind of pick you back on what she said, you know, you know, right now we're hustling for our last name, you know, as they say. And we're all grinding for our last name. And that's very important to me. You know, I go out every day, day in the day out. And, you know, I don't, I don't do what I do for, for gratification or satisfaction of my own. You know, I look at it as a team victory because we are doing this as a team. That's number one. And, you know, what I see for us in the future, you know, sometimes you, you know, I sit back and I watch commercials of other like spirit brands and, you know, they'll sometimes talk about the history of like, you know, this. Fifth generation distiller or fifth generation family member who's, you know, a part of the business that business been around for hundreds of some of our years. I sit back and think like, you know, one day that we'll be able to say that about us, you know, it'll be my children and their children and their children will be able to take this company and continue to expanded and be innovative and come up with new ideas to continue to help us grow and grow and grow to the next level and be a household name at the end of the day. That's, that's what I see. And we're love for to see and have for the Morton family and for us. It's for us to be a household name. And not only that, I mean, we're very big on community and giving back. So, you know, whatever we do, you know, the people who help us will always be thought about and the people who don't have to help us will always be considered. So that's something that's very big and important to us to continue to continue to do. Community is definitely a something that we love to, you have to serve your community. You have to give back to your community. Wow. You guys have been awesome. I'm going to play the commercial again. I want to show. See, I got so into the conversation. I didn't show the logo, the brand. I want to show that. Oh, yes. Really different, really unique, definitely something if someone likes your brand. It's not going to be a brand that someone forgets. Whoever, whoever created that did an amazing job. I am wishing you guys the very best. It's going to be nice down the road when they're talking about the history of alcohol. They're talking about the history of African American families that built empires together. It's going to be interesting to see. Or maybe we won't be here. So I'm just going to say it's going to be a great thing that someone's going to read about. Not your, just your legacy, but the two people back in the day, the interracial couple and what they did and how they purchased the land. It's going to be great. It's going to be great. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, Maurice, you keep on going out there talking, Ms. Debbie, please let me know if you want me to come down and do it. Come on, Sam, come on. I always invite people down to the farm. I love to get them on the tractor. I love to come and video you on the tractor. And I thought people, I still get on, I still wear my heels. I'm from DC. I wear my heels on the tractor in a minute. Maurice, you need to take a picture for advertisement of her in the heels. We got a couple. We got. Okay. You guys, I didn't, it's been great. It's been really great and appreciate you. Thank you. Keep us updated on what's going on. I'll share it on my page. And do you have any tastings coming up soon? Well, not, well, the next cases that we do have coming in the first of the year will be in the Miami area. Okay. We have, I think we might have wanted total, well, they're in the actual in total wines in Miami in the Miami day county area. Well, we, we, we will be, if you stay up on our Facebook and Instagram page, you know, I got a, I got a list of things coming up. To start the New Year off will be in a lot of different locations, a lot of different tastings, a lot of, we, we got a lot of new stores and in the DC Merlin area. And also, we'll be doing some stuff in the Richmond area. What's the other, what's the call? Not Daniel. What's the other spot on Debbie? And Peter, and are you talking about in Richmond? Not Richmond, but it's, what's the other place that I forgot. We'll, we'll, we'll. Yeah, that's where it is. They have Lynchburg area. I mean, with Chesterfield, we'll be, we'll be doing some stuff all over the VA area. We'll be doing a lot more in Virginia in 2023 than we did in 2022. We kind of was all over the country and Detroit Orlando. All is went to Detroit twice, all over DC Merlin area. So we'll, we'll be focusing a lot of time and attention in Virginia, 2023 as well. And so yeah, just, just stay tuned in to the, to the pages of the social media. And we'll announce everything that we'll be doing. Yeah. Social media and we thank you Stacy so much for allowing me to be on your platform. We really appreciate you. I thank you guys and Angela, if you're still on here, I just remembered something. How about you send them in invite for your platform, Angela Johnson down in North Carolina, help them get this word out. She has a show. Angela, thank you so much. So you guys take care going to share your commercial and wish you the best and looking forward to seeing you up on the television screen interrupted in my TV shows as I enjoy them. Okay. Have a good one. Thank you. Tusk Spirits is the distinct combination of savory and sweet flavors infused from the hemp seed. Tusk vodka and Tusk rum are the perfect vessels to turn any cocktail into an adventure you'll never forget. Both creations have received the ultimate compliment from customers. Smooth. Go to your local ABC store and request Tusk vodka and Tusk rum by name or go to tusk spirits dot com. That's Tusk Spirits dot com drink responsibly. Thank you. Thank you for everybody that watched tonight. Please go to Tusk on Facebook, like share Tusk spirits like share and follow them. Please go out and support them and tell your friends about it. And as always say, let's end this with. I thank you and remember don't stress too much about yesterday. Don't worry too much about tomorrow. Of you just might miss living today. I am Stacy Thomas and for more shows, please go to YouTube and check out the Stacy Thomas unlimited. Unrestricted unlimited talk show like share and subscribe and have a great night. night. [BLANK_AUDIO]