Tobacco Business

[ 30 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ NOVEMBER / DECEMBER | 21 ] NODAL’S CAREER ADVICE Rafael Nodal has had his share of success while working in the tobacco business. Here are his three tips for those looking to make big moves in their careers. • Never give up. You’re going to have a lot of difficult times, but you must continue to try harder. “When you are making mistakes and you are in difficult positions, it’s very easy to give up. You must persevere,” Nodal explains. • Avoid repeating mistakes. Each mistake can teach you something, but the key is to avoid repeating the same mistakes while building your business. • Make time for learning. You don’t know everything, and you won’t always have a suitable solution to your problems. Be open to learning new things and finding different ways of reaching your goals. The Optimist Nodal may have had his share of wins in recent years, most notably having Cigar Aficionado ’s No. 1 cigar of the year in 2019, but he remains humble and modest when it comes to his successes. What’s gotten him to where he is today is a simple approach that has guided him for some time now: He’s never given up and has always worked for a dream. “For me, everything in life is about optimism for the future,” he explains. “Persevere, never give up, and work for a dream. Believe in yourself, and believe in your fellow human beings.” In addition to learning from mistakes, Nodal has picked up several other valuable business lessons during the arc of his career. One is the importance of thinking with your head as well as your heart. Another is understanding the importance of looking at and realizing all the reasons the cigar industry is unique. “It’s not just enough to make a cigar and hope people will buy it,” he says. “Many different things running in the background are required to be successful. These include consistency and great tobaccos every single day.” Passion and consistency are also two things that Nodal finds are in abundance at Tabacalera USA. There’s more to the company’s team than most people are aware of, he explains. He looks forward to going to work each day and being part of an orchestra of profes- sionals who come together to build a consumer and retailer experi- ence. Nodal’s current workplace is more than just a place of business. Instead, Nodal views it as a family, one that places a great amount of value in professionalism and passion, giving the company and its products a definite advantage. “We’re only as good as the team that we have,” he says. “If it wasn’t for amount of people with experience and knowledge that we have working with us, none of what we do would be successful.” Nodal may not have become the musical conductor that he originally set out to be, but he’s found his rhythm in the form of tobacco. While there are perks to playing solo, Nodal’s found that being part of an ensemble is how the best music and compositions get made. Much like Nodal, entrepreneurs will encounter obstacles in life, and they will make their fair share of mistakes, but they can either let those things hold them back or learn from them. Music is at the heart of all that Nodal does, and though he may not be leading a symphony as he once imagined he would be, he’s part of the best orchestras in the tobacco business, creating new and mem- orable cigar experiences for adult cigar smokers around the world— one cigar and sweet note at a time. TB Nodal and others at Tabacalera USA are bringing new life to the company's vast cigar portfolio by treating every release as a boutique product.