When Marine Corps veteran Derek Sisson entered the wine and spirits industry, he had virtually no business background. He studied with his GI Bill benefits, but never graduated with a degree. His previous business experience was running an ecotourism company, nothing close to beer or spirits. He began his industry experience by importing Italian wines, but the wineries he worked for only paid him in wine.
"They told me they didn't have any money to pay me, so I said, 'All right, it's really good wine,'" Sisson told Military.com. "It's just crazy where things take you in life, isn't it?"
Today, Sisson is the CEO of Texas-based Famous Brands, which includes his flagship Merica Bourbon, as well as a line of other spirits. He also just launched Merica Beer, an American pilsner he calls "a working man's beer."
"I'll throw it out there: It's similar to the beers that really captured the American heart early on," said Sisson. "We started in the South, and when you're out mowing the grass or spending the time barbecuing with friends, a cold pilsner seems to quench the thirst."
Sisson started Merica Bourbon in 2017, but his road to entrepreneurship was a long one. He joined the Marine Corps in 1985 and served with the 2nd Air-Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO) and the 2nd Force Recon Company. He left the Corps in 1992 and started Eco Action Tours in Puerto Rico (which is still operating). He soon returned home to Texas, where he began working what he calls "the traditional job."
"I was working as a sales manager for a fitness company and just wasn't feeling it," he said. "I started an import company, part time, specializing in Italian wines. I was moving containers into Texas representing these wineries, then I said, 'You know what? Why not try to get my distribution license?'"
Sisson did just that. For five years, he was distributing products for bigger companies, helping build brands. After building them up, he would pass them on to bigger distributors as a broker. He also built a large professional network. With his years of experience as an incubator for small liquor brands, he began to think about starting his own. Under Texas law, he couldn't be a brand owner and a distributor, so the move wasn't without risk.
"It was insanity," Sisson laughed. "Wine was a very, very competitive space, but at the time, the bourbon selection wasn't quite as large as it is now. ... But I saw a niche; I saw better margins. I had a passion for it already, and I had built those relationships up on the distribution side. I'd done pretty much every aspect of the business from doing the demos myself to delivering. But I learned the business; I had made those relationships. I figured out early on the distribution side that it was certainly a relationship business."
It was a tough decision to make. Sisson had a family to take care of, and his job provided steady income. His years of experience working in a business gave him a valuable insight into when to make what he calls "the total jump."
"I started part time. It was that whole crawl, walk, then run mentality," he said. "I didn't really make that total jump until I had enough revenue coming in that I could feel comfortable about taking the risk."
He offers similar advice for new entrepreneurs deciding when to quit their job and focus on growing their startups full time: Have at least a year's worth of savings as a cushion, market-test your concept, get the funding necessary to launch the product and have a mentor to help guide you. His most important advice is to jump in with everything you have.
"When I was in the Marine Corps and serving with Force Recon, I always said, 'When you jump out of a plane, you can't jump back in it,'" said Sisson. "So my philosophy is, if you're going to take the entrepreneurial route, jump out and don't have the plans of jumping back in. Just truly go for it."
To learn more about veteran-owned and operated Merica brands or to find a store, visit the Merica Bourbon website.
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