Tobacco Business

He got his share of input from industry peers that ranged from a resounding, “You have to do it!” to others advising that he proceed with caution. The input that mattered most, though, was that of Robert Caldwell and his partners at Caldwell Cigar Company, whose support and advice weighed in on his final decision more than anyone else’s did. “The first move I made was to talk with Robert and the other owners of Caldwell Cigars. I didn’t want to do anything behind their backs, and, more importantly, I wanted their support. I’ve seen too many bad breakups in this industry. I had to have their support or I wasn’t going to do it. It would have definitely been a dealbreaker for me. I got their support.” Selling and marketing cigars is one thing, but being a brand owner of a cigar company is another. Brand owners must have many skill sets in order to be successful. One of those is having a great collection of mentors to learn from. Some of McDonald’s mentors include Amaar Tabbaa, owner of Maxamar Ultimate Cigars. McDonald credits Tabbaa as giving him his start in the industry and being one of the first to teach him about the business side of cigars. Robert Wright, a man he worked with while at C.L.E., also had a significant impact on McDonald. “This man taught me so much. When you are with him, just shut up and listen ’cause he’s got gold coming out of his mouth. I don’t think he realized the impression he had on me while I worked under him at C.L.E.” Another person that has influenced McDonald is Jose Blanco, whom McDonald met when he was just 22 years old and working in a cigar store. “The reason he had such an impact is because he treated me with respect and listened to me. You could see that he wanted to invest in the future of our industry. He just always made me feel like I had a voice and that it’s OK not to know everything. It’s a learning process for sure.” Then there’s Robert Caldwell, who has not only been a mentor to McDonald over the years but also a close friend. “His unconventional ways of doing business, his unapologetical viewpoints and his ‘fuck you’ attitude. I may be older than Rob, but I have learned so much from him. He is about the most unorthodox businessman I’ve ever met. He shoots from the hip, good or bad. He has taught me so much about your brand needing to be authentic to who you are. His beliefs have had a tremendous effect on me. In fact, you can blame him for me leaving Caldwell Cigar Company and starting my own brand. He constantly would give me books on entrepreneurship, managing people and building Fortune 500 companies. Then we would talk about those books and what we got from them.” There are others who have served as advisors to McDonald over the years that have also influenced who he is today. TimWong, owner of Pier 28 cigars, has been a friend to McDonald for more than 20 years. When McDonald began working as a cigar sales representative, Wong warned McDonald to never over-promise or underdeliver and to be honest in all his dealings with customers. Authenticity was something McDonald learned was key to the cigar business and to having a long career in it. A Different View With a good arsenal of mentors and a background in sales, McDonald was more than prepared to begin work on his own brand. Being from California, the regular occurrence of wildfires inspired the name of his new company, Wildfire Cigar Company. With the name, he also wanted to communicate to the entire industry—retailers, consumers and other manufacturers alike— that he had every intention of his company and its cigars to catch on like McDonald turned to Joya de Nicaragua to help him bring his first releases—The Revivalist and The Single—to the market. Both are now available to retailers. [ 44 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ NOVEMBER / DECEMBER | 21 ]