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Banking onPassion
Glen Case, president of Kristoff Cigars, draws on his experiences working in the
hectic and demanding financial world to take on the cigar industry—and to offer
insights on how to turn your passions into a full-time job opportunity.
INTERVIEW
BY BEN STIMPSON
SOUND
ADVICE
[ 108 ]
TOBACCO BUSINESS
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JULY
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AUGUST
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Glen Case has always enjoyed a good cigar. Case spent 18 years working in the financial services industry before
he entered into the cigar industry as a sales representative. It was his time selling cigars that inspired him to start
his own business: Kristoff Cigars, named after his son, Christopher. When Case started his company almost 13
years ago, he did so thinking it would become his full-time work. Case came to see cigars as a means of breaking
down barriers and bringing people together to talk about life and solving the world’s problems.
With Kristoff, Case set out to create a nationally and internationally recognized brand of cigars. He recognizes
that while some strides had been made to achieve those goals, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Yes, he sees a
future for Kristoff and the premium industry as a whole—even with the hurdles set forth by the changing econ-
omy and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Case offered his thoughts on startups, lessons learned
from his pre-cigar jobs and advice for entrepreneurs who have interests outside of their current line of work.