Chris Chapanar, aka Whiskey Noobs, is an engineer by day but a busy spirit guide by night. He launched his side hustle early on in his career after developing a love for whiskey and a desire to learn as much about it as possible.

He poured that knowledge into a podcast, Whiskey Noobs, before branching out into short-form video content across Instagram and TikTok. Here’s his story...

Balancing the Spirit Guide Life with an Engineering Career
How does a busy engineer make time for a spirit guide side hustle? It’s safe to say that the man behind Whiskey Noobs, Chris Chapanar, is a busy guy.

He began his spirit guide life with a podcast to put his research into an easily digestible format for people who want to learn all there is to know about whiskey.

But seeing short-form content on TikTok take off, he spotted an opportunity to reach more people. A couple of hundred thousand followers later, Chris has cracked the code with his whiskey content and has since begun working on a new podcast, Perfect Pairings, which combines his love of cigars and whiskey.

In this episode, we hear how he got started, why he moved into video content, the impact on his personal life, and how he manages to balance it all.

Chris also talks about the responsibility he feels when giving reviews and his method for keeping them balanced and positive.

In This Episode:
· Why Chris decided to start a whiskey podcast
· Why Chris found his niche with “noob” content
· The challenges of being a whiskey guide in Ohio
· Why Chris chose the podcast format
· What made Chris move into short-form video content
· The most popular (and impossible) question Chris gets asked
· Why Chris feels a responsibility when it comes to reviews
· The challenges of giving negative reviews
· Most rewarding moments
· What made Chris think he could crack the code
· The impact on personal life
· How Chris balances his day job with content creation as a side hustle
· Why Chris hit pause on his podcast
· What it’s like working with smaller brands
· Chris’ new podcast ‘Perfect Pairings’
· Finding a process for shooting videos
· The one person Chris would like to sip whiskey with

Resources:
· Follow Chris on Instagram
· Follow Perfect Pairings on Instagram
· Follow Whiskey Noobs on TikTok

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

Sippers, we step away from the world of spirits in this episode to speak with Lucia Palm, creator of the lucialoveswine brand across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.

We hear how Lucia moved from culinary school to a career in the restaurant business as a trained sommelier, to create content for fellow wine lovers.

From Certified Wine Pro to Content Creator

With a love of cooking and the perfect wine combos, Lucia found her niche during the pandemic with social media. She started posting images, moved to videos, and quickly became the face of a wine education brand that helps people learn about, appreciate and pick the best wine.

While she may be a trained sommelier, Lucia focuses largely on inexpensive wine and shares how to find the best bottles at your local Trader Joe’s or Costco.

In this episode, we hear how it all began, what the past three years have been like working on her brand, and her approach to creating brilliant wine content that her fans love. Lucia also takes us through the biggest challenges, the most rewarding parts of the job, fan interactions, and her work with brands.

In This Episode:
· How Lucia’s love of cooking and wine began
· Lucia’s early career in restaurants and how she pivoted to content
· What Lucia’s early content consisted of
· How she realized the wine niche was a real business
· Why Lucia focuses on inexpensive wine
· Why Lucia favors longer captions with social posts
· The challenges of public content creation
· The most rewarding part of being a wine guide
· Common questions and comments she gets
· Interacting with fans
· How her content and brand deals have changed over the past three years
· Family opinions of her career
· How Lucia manages different platforms and her plans for YouTube
· The biggest challenge of her career
· Who Lucia would love to sip wine with

Resources:
· Follow Lucia on Instagram
· Follow Lucia on TikTok
· Follow her YouTube channel
· Ruth Reichl’s books

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

Whiskey connoisseurs, this one’s for you! Whiskey enthusiasts were the original pioneers of the spirit guide industry, and the community is still thriving and learning from content creators and educators like Ryan Mills, aka ThatOneDudeRyan. He joins The Spirit Guides for a deep dive into his passion-turned-business in whiskey content creation.

Finding Success from a Passion Project

Tequila Jay sits down with ThatOneDudeRyan to find out how his short-form content is making waves in the whiskey community. The father of two has made all the right moves in the whiskey world and now has a merch line, brand sponsors, single barrel programs, and an e-commerce store for spirits. Despite all this, Ryan is not ready to quit his day job as a sales manager and has no plans to anytime soon.

In this episode, we talk about how Ryan stumbled upon this business niche, starting with content on Instagram before moving to TikTok to create short-form content for today’s waning attention spans. As more and more people came to him with questions about whiskey, he realized this was more than just a hobby.

With his background in sales and educating people, Ryan found his sweet spot in the industry and continues to make engaging and educational content for fellow whiskey enthusiasts. He shares his thoughts on operating in a competitive niche, the most rewarding aspects of being a spirit guide, and working with brands (both the good and the bad). We also hear about his approach to content consistency and why his Melin cap and cheeky T-shirts are now a brand signature.

In This Episode:

· How Ryan became interested in creating whiskey content

· When Ryan realized that this could be more than just a hobby

· Why Ryan isn’t ready to quit his day job

· How Ryan approached working in a competitive niche

· How Ryan found his signature style

· The most rewarding parts of being a spirit guide

· Ryan’s approach to working with brands

Follow Ryan:

· Follow Ryan on X

· Follow Ryan on Instagram

· Follow Ryan on TikTok

· Subscribe to ThatOneDudeRyan on YouTube

· ThatOneDudeRyan.com

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

From randomly filming how to make a Manhattan cocktail to becoming two of the most popular spirit influencers in the world, this episode of The Spirit Guides features the father and son duo, Johnny Drinks…

From a Smoked Manhattan to Overnight Spirit Guides

In the time it takes to age a single bottle of extra Añejo tequila, John Rondi and his son John Rondi Jr. (Johnny) catapulted into the realms of global spirits influencers. From their first viral video to amassing nearly five million followers, these two encapsulate the definition of ‘spirit guides’.

So, we had to get them on to the show to talk about how they did it, why they do it, and how their lives have changed since their initial TikTok breakout.

The episode delves into the evolution of Johnny Drinks from a content channel to a robust brand, featuring their On The Rocks podcast, merchandise line, bourbon, and numerous brand endorsements.

Plus, they talk about the dynamic between the father and son, and how this bond has been both tested and strengthened along the way. Find out how John’s ‘dad advice’ has inspired and impacted their community, the importance of keeping their content authentic, and how they deal with the haters. Plus, lots more!

In This Episode:

How John and Johnny found success with their first Smoked Manhattan video
· Turning their initial success into a business
· The responsibility of being the ‘Dad of TikTok’
· The impact of their success on their relationship and that of their family and friends · How they cope with the haters in the comments section
· The most bizarre brand offer they’ve had to date
· Where John sees the role of influencer and brand evolving in the future
· The one person they would most like to sip a Manhattan with

Follow Johnny Drinks
· Johnny Drinks on YouTube
· Follow Johnny Drinks on Instagram
· Follow Johnny Drinks on TikTok

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.

About The Spirit Guides

The Spirit Guides takes you behind the scenes of the spirits industry, revealing the unexpected journeys of ordinary people who became extraordinary influencers and entrepreneurs.

From whiskey wizards to rum rebels, bourbon buffs to tequila teachers, this show uncovers how these passionate individuals ended up teaching the world about booze, cocktails, and beyond.

Hear firsthand what it's really like to navigate the unusual path to success in this dynamic, fast-paced world. With laughter, learning, and the answers you crave, The Spirit Guides brings you the inside stories of your favorite spirit guides found daily on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more.

Hosted by Tequila Jay Baer Watch video episodes at TheSpiritGuides.video.

Between a busy day job, a tequila podcast, tasting events, trips to Mexico, and a family, how did Doug Price become the number one voice in tequila podcasting? We hear about it all in this episode of The Spirit Guides.

An “Accidental Influencer” Turned Tequila Guru

With a passion for tequila and a background in live events, Doug Price began his spirit guide career with a tasting event and a small inkling that there might be something in this…

Today, he hosts The Agave Social Club podcast, creates regular social media content, and offers tasting experiences to tequila fans. His career has opened doors into the tequila world, and he’s met with the people behind big-name tequila brands in Mexico. But Doug didn’t seek out the content creator lifestyle. In fact, he still has a day job and somehow balances it with a busy content calendar, while also carving out time to spend with his family.

In this episode, Doug shares his secrets to managing it all, keeping his content positive, working with brands, and the challenges of being a spirit guide today.

In This Episode:

· How Doug discovered his passion for tequila

· Why he decided to start his podcast

· How Doug’s work as a spirit guide has evolved since he began making content

· How Doug balances creating content with his job

· Challenges of being a spirit guide

· Why Doug tries to keep his content positive

· Maintaining a healthy approach to alcohol

· Why tequila is really all about the people and connections you make

· How Doug describes his job to others

· How Doug sees the industry evolving in the future

Follow Doug:

· The Agave Social Club on YouTube

· The Agave Social Club website

· The Agave Social Club podcast

· Follow Doug on Instagram

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

How did a comedy writer go from one video on White Claw to becoming the leading expert on hard seltzers, racking up millions of fans, a merch line, and a podcast? We hear Loryn Powell’s story in this episode of The Spirit Guides…

From Seltzer Fan to “Seltzpert”

It may have started as a pandemic lockdown experiment to pass the time, but Loryn Powell turned a love of hard seltzers into a fully-fledged business with merch, regular videos, and a dedicated fan community.

The hard seltzer market has boomed over the past few years and tons more options are available. So when Loryn discovered her love for a good cold White Claw, she started making fun videos reviewing different flavors.

Her background in screenwriting, comedy, and producing videos for brands became the perfect cocktail for launching her own career as a “seltzpert”. She’s since expanded into podcasting after launching a parenting and relationships podcast with her husband, Sean.

In this episode of The Spirit Guides, we hear Loryn’s backstory, from making videos for brands to doing her own thing, why she found her niche in hard seltzers, and how far things have come since that very first White Claw video. Since her seltzpert career took off, Loryn has become a mom and talks about how that’s changed things for her business. She also discusses the importance of being vulnerable in your content as well as the concerns of audience perception that all content creators face at one point or another.

In This Episode

· How Loryn discovered her passion for hard seltzers

· How a background in comedy prepared her for her new career

· The backstory around that first White Claw video

· Why Loryn found her niche in hard seltzers

· The moment when Loryn realized this was more than a hobby

· Why authentic, unscripted content performs well

· Balancing a content schedule with a new baby

· The importance of being more vulnerable and real with your content

· Dealing with the fear of audience reactions and trolls

· The most challenging part of Loryn’s career

· Describing what you do to friends and family

· Loryn’s thoughts on the future of brand deals

Follow Loryn:

· Seltzpert

· Follow Loryn on Instagram

· Follow Loryn on TikTok

· The CaPowerHour Podcast

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.

How does a successful realtor make a 180-degree career pivot to becoming a tequila entrepreneur? Joining this episode of The Spirit Guides is Rob Gerard of The Tequila Collective (@The_TequilaCollective) to share his unique story.

From Posting Photos to Growing an Online Tequila Empire

Like most spirit influencers and content creators, Rob had no intention of becoming a big name in the tequila world. As he puts it, he’s “just a guy who loves tequila.”

But surprise successes turned what was just a hobby and a passion into a fully-fledged tequila empire featuring merch, sponsorships, collaborations with brands, tours, and private tastings.

But where did it all start? Rob joins The Spirit Guides to share his journey from simply posting pictures of his tequila collection online to creating videos and getting a combined one million followers who see him as the go-to guy for tequila recommendations.

In This Episode:

· How Rob first fell in love with tequila

· Why he started posting pictures about his growing collection

· How Rob balances his career in real estate with his tequila commitments

· Rob shares what types of content have skyrocketed his follower count

· Fan interactions with the man behind The Tequila Collective

· The satisfaction of helping brands gain more recognition

This episode is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and edited by our friends over at Content 10x.

The Spirit Guides takes you behind the scenes of the spirits industry, revealing the unexpected journeys of ordinary people who became extraordinary influencers and entrepreneurs.

From whiskey wizards to rum rebels, bourbon buffs to tequila teachers, this show uncovers how these passionate individuals ended up teaching the world about booze, cocktails, and beyond.

Hear firsthand what it's really like to navigate the unusual path to success in this dynamic, fast-paced world. With laughter, learning, and the answers you crave, The Spirit Guides brings you the inside stories of your favorite spirit guides found daily on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more.