Female Disruptors: Elise Som of Mijenta Tequila On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Trust yourself. When you have an idea and you’re convinced it’s a good one even if no one is doing it, trust your gut. When I was presented with an option to use agave waste paper for our labels, no one in our industry was using it because it contained visible imperfections and it didn’t have a track record of success. I say, you have to try before you can say it won’t work. The imperfection of the agave waste paper is part of its singularity and beauty. This is part of the success of Mijenta tequila.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Elise Som.
Elise Som, a sustainable designer who is the Co-Founder and Director of Sustainability for Mijenta Tequila, the additive-free, sustainable tequila brand and the only one to earn B Corp certification. Elise pursued her master’s in sustainability from Harvard University and Parsons, the New School of Design. Elise’s work is deeply rooted in nature, culture, and traditions. Born and raised in Paris by immigrant parents, Elise moved to the US to attend school, while also getting exposure in the hospitality and nightlife industry by working at top clubs like 1 Oak and Marquee. She then ran the interior department for Sir David Adjaye’s before starting her own design company, Elise Som Design Studio, in 2012. Making the decision to move back to London to pursue broader sustainable designs, Elise connected with Bacardi and began making furniture from used bottles. It was there she met Mike Dolan and the two of them, along with Juan Coronado, founded Mijenta, where she leads the brand’s design and branding practices and is dedicated to the brand’s transparency and sustainability.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
My background is originally in design and, in fact, I started my own interior design company back in 2012.
However, when my daughter was born, I knew I wanted to incorporate a greater focus on sustainability into my work and eventually pursued my Master’s degree in sustainability from Harvard.
I really entered the spirits business when I was hired to do a sustainability-related design project for Bacardi. Mike Dolan was CEO of the company at the time and he was very interested in the work I was doing.
Then, when he called me a few years later and said he was thinking about launching a new tequila, I eagerly joined.
Today, as a Co-Founder and Director of Sustainability, I oversee Mijenta’s design elements and lead our innovative work around sustainability. I’m incredibly excited to be able to bring fresh, new perspectives to the spirits industry, which has a huge opportunity to be more sustainable — whether it’s tequila or other beverages.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Historically, the spirits industry has not been particularly focused on sustainability. Disruption really starts with identifying a goal and then planning how to achieve it. When you’re open to thinking outside the box, you can discover very creative solutions to seemingly difficult problems.
With Mijenta, we know from our very first conversations about creating the brand that sustainability would be a central part of the platform. So, from there I asked, how can we push the envelope on sustainability? What has held other companies back from acting in an environmentally responsible way, and what do we need to do differently to travel down a different path?
Establishing that central approach from the outset has allowed us to structure our operations, procurement practices, sourcing and packaging in a way that’s as environmentally responsible as possible while also delivering benefits to local communities.
And as we designed our packaging, we did the same thing. We found ways to make all of our packaging elements are eco-friendly, including labels and note cards created locally in Guadalajara from agave waste. We were the first company to use agave waste in this way — and now others are doing it as well. In addition, all of our bottles made from recycled glass and our boxes are made from 100% recycled paper and eco-certified materials.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that.
I don’t know if it’s funny, but because we are a global brand we have many colleagues who work in different time zones. At first, I didn’t know how to set up calendar meetings so I used to manually put alarms on my iPhone for zoom conferences and most of the time I had it wrong. Since then I learned to schedule proper calendar appointments in my phone. Some of my interlocutors probably thought I was unreliable but they were genuine mistakes!
Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
My biggest influence, mentor and friend is Per Espen Stoknes, the Norwegian scientist who has written about climate change, including the wrong ways to talk about the urgency of the climate crisis. I used several of his books to write my thesis at Harvard on sustainability communications.
With good reason, there is significant focus on the disastrous effects of climate change. However, from a human psychology perspective, feeling that the problem is insurmountable discourages us from taking meaningful action. That’s why it’s important that we also hear about innovative, interesting work that’s being done that can help address the climate crisis.
I believe it’s critical to communicate positive news of how we’re combatting climate change (e.g. increase of renewable energies, for instance) we can improve the food/beverage and spirits industries.
In my role, my goal is to communicate about the work Mijenta is doing in order to inspire consumers to stay engaged and our peers in the industry to do better in their own production processes. We’ve taken a holistic approach to sustainability to try to have a positive effect on as many stages of the product lifecycle as possible. For instance, our agave never uses pesticides and herbicides, all of our packaging is eco-friendly and we are fully carbon neutral as a company. I’m extremely proud that in 2022, we became the first and only tequila producer to earn B Corp certification, which is incredible validation of all of the efforts we’ve undertaken to act in an environmentally responsible way.
I hope that by telling the story of our beautiful tequila, we can make a positive change within our industry.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
The idea of “disrupting” isn’t good or bad in itself — what it really refers to, I think, is a shift in perspective in how we look at things. And it can definitely be a positive to look at something with fresh eyes, whether it’s an industry, a specific product or an overall approach to problem solving. There are many times that upon closer examination, we find certain things are done in a certain way because “that’s how it’s always been done.”
When we encounter those types of artificial boundaries, that’s where positive, creative thinking can have a tremendous impact. One thing that attracted me to the spirits industry was that I had the opportunity to bring that fresh perspective to established business practices and show that there is a better, more sustainable way to operate — and it doesn’t come at the cost of making a great product or running a viable business.
But disruption is not inherently positive. A new approach can also have negative consequences. Take “fast fashion” for instance, which was a transformative approach to apparel, but not a good one. Instead of solving a problem, in this case it has created a race to the bottom with terrible consequences for the environment and workers, in particular.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
1. Trust yourself. When you have an idea and you’re convinced it’s a good one even if no one is doing it, trust your gut. When I was presented with an option to use agave waste paper for our labels, no one in our industry was using it because it contained visible imperfections and it didn’t have a track record of success. I say, you have to try before you can say it won’t work. The imperfection of the agave waste paper is part of its singularity and beauty. This is part of the success of Mijenta tequila.
2. Believe in new perspectives. When my co-founder Mike Dolan brought me on board to create Mijenta, I came from a background of earth science and sustainable development. Yet he trusted me because he believed that if you want new perspectives on the industry, you have to look at it with a fresh pair of eyes. Bringing on people from outside the spirits industry has allowed us to create a business with a different mindset. This principle is also reflected in the design of the label — the new moon depicted there is a symbol of new beginnings.
3. Stay on top of innovation and new technologies. It’s so important to follow what others are doing whether in your industry or not, you never know what idea you might be able to adopt or that will inspire you to innovate. Part of the success of Mijenta is that we have crafted an award-winning, additive-free tequila, but we’ve also designed our packaging in a way that’s conscientious of its end of life. To be as sustainable as possible, all of our bottles are made from recycled glass, our boxes are made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper and material certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, and the sealing ring in the bottle cap is made from recyclable material.
4. Always aim higher. To cheat and add a fourth point that is essential for me as well, I believe that as a brand (and all companies, really), we have to think about how to get to net zero. We’re proud to be a carbon neutral company, but that’s a first step that’s now become the new normal in many ways. With emphasis only growing on the need for a greener economy, each company has a duty to provide transparency, honesty and push the envelope on sustainability. As consumers become more focused on voting with their wallets to address climate change, companies that don’t take these responsibilities seriously, in my view, aren’t going to survive.
How are you going to shake things up next?
To me, innovation is incredibly exciting and I’m thrilled to have a platform like Mijenta to be able to bring sustainable concepts to life. We have a number of new products that we’re going to be bringing to market in the coming months, and I can’t wait to be able to talk more about some of the new packaging elements we’ve been working on.
We’re also going to deepen and expand the work we’re already doing with our partners to have an even greater impact on both our carbon footprint and returning clean water to the environment. We just launched our first ever Sustainability Report where we talk a bit about some of that work, which we’re really looking forward to.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
In general, I think people tend to listen to men, while women have to work twice as hard to be heard. The world of tequila is no different, but it’s important not to forget that women also love to drink good tequila! That good thing is, I think that trend is changing — for instance, our Maestra Tequilera, Ana María Romero, is today one of the most renowned and respected authorities in the world of tequila. This gives me hope and confidence that the industry is evolving in a more balanced direction.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
Yes, Ben Branson the founder of Seedlip (a leader in non-alcoholic beverages) had a profound impact on me, particularly in how he talks about being disruptive. Seedlip is a model of success for me in the world of beverages.
If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would encourage people to do research on what they drink and eat to really understand what’s in the products they consume. Unfortunately, there are many products out there that shouldn’t be sold to the public. Yet they’re flying off the shelves of big stores because celebrities or influencers are paid to promote the products — consumers trust these endorsements, but aren’t actually looking at the ingredients.
I want to be the agent of change for clean drinking, and that starts with transparency about what’s in the bottle. In addition to love and passion, our tequila is made with just agave, yeast and water — that’s it. Other additive-free tequila brands like ours are finding success as consumers become more aware of the use of additives in tequila, and I’m excited to see this trend continue.
Ultimately, I want to encourage other brands to sell healthy products to consumers. I believe it’s the responsibility of food and beverage companies like us to provide better goods to the public.
That is the movement I want to lead.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”
Our name, Mijenta, is inspired by the Spanish phrase “Mi Gente,” meaning “My People.” Community is central to who we are as a brand, and I’m honored to be working alongside a passionate team to create a tequila that has already resonated so strongly with a community of consumers.
To meaningfully address climate change on the scale and timeline that we need to, it’s critical to have a strong community that shares a desire to go far together. I’m encouraged that more and more consumers are concerned about the sustainable practices and production processes of companies whose products they buy. With greater demand for transparency and authenticity, brands that are creating better products are well positioned to make a positive impact.
How can our readers follow you online?
I’m on LinkedIn and Instagram @earth.and.eli!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
