Adam Torres and Chirag Sagar discuss the whiskey and wine tasting.
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Show Notes:
Lasorda Family Wines and Black Infusions will team up with Mission Matters for an event to remember. In this episode, Adam Torres and Chirag Sagar, Co Founder of Mission Matters, explore the upcoming Mission Matters Whiskey and Wine Tasting in Beverly Hills. To learn more connect with Chirag on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/chiragdsagar/ or send him an email at chirag@missionmatters.com
About Chirag Sagar
Chirag Sagar is the Co-founder of Mission Matters Media, a media, entertainment, and book-publishing company dedicated to the needs of enterprises, entrepreneurs, executives, and experts. They are also a book publishing company, podcast agency, performance-based PR agency, digital marketing agency, and events company. They collectively have over 650 clients and have published over 300 authors in over 120 books and launched over 200 podcasts. Sagar oversees the PR, branding, and events (IRL) efforts of Mission Matters along with community affairs and partnerships.
Chirag is also Co-Founded Digital Luxury Agency, a global Internet marketing and branding agency where the team has collectively worked with over 3000 small and large companies, Fortune 500s, governments, non-profits, and investment firms. Their roster of clients includes Richard Branson and Virgin, the country of Panama, SBE Group, Bank of America, Cadillac, and Qatar Airways.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest on the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on Be Our Guest to Apply. All right, so today is a special, special episode. We’re bringing back on the show the other, the other co founder here, Chirag Sagar.
Chirag, when is the last time you’ve been on the show? Has it been since the very first episode? Oh, it’s been a while. I think it’s at least a minute. Five years, I think 2019. I don’t even know. Man, you’ve been lazy. You’ve been slacking over here. So no, I’m just playing with you It’s good to have you back on here And the reason why for all the audience why why we’re bringing chirag on is because well a couple things number one I want to start bringing on chirag, more often to loop, loop our audience into all of the things that we have going on.
I mean, Chirag puts on, for those of you that are in the local LA market or New York or Miami, I mean, you may be already know Chirag and I mean, he puts on quite a few events, how many events will you do this year, Chirag? I think at least 50 at least 50. Yeah. Yeah. That’s so that, that, that’s a big deal.
And another topic for another time, but I’m pushing Chirag. I’m pushing Chirag to start Chirag’s list. I know he does it. He’s like, man, I can’t call something Chirag’s list, but I know, but I’m going to, I’m going to get them for those of you out there. I’m going to get them one day to start this club called Chirag’s list, where he’s going to invite others to have curated invitations to events.
Because I just know like outside of the family, 50 or so events that he’ll put on with Mission Matters and our partners. Like over and above that. Oh my gosh. I don’t, I can’t keep up with him and he’s the other co founder here. So Chirag, let’s spend a little bit of time today. I just want to talk about maybe what’s the upcoming event or upcoming promotion that we’re working on.
Absolutely. So our next event is on March 25th in Beverly Hills. It’s a Mission Matters. It’s our whiskey and wine tasting event coming up. This one is going to be curated. We’re going, we’re planning to have a few different wine brands and whiskey brands that are going to showcase their products and provide an opportunity for people to try new concoctions and drinks that are new.
So. In short, we’re going to have two different bourbon. Well, one’s a bourbon brand, another’s a whiskey brand, and then we have three different wine brands that will be providing a tasting. It’ll be a great way for folks to engage, meet each other that are part of our community or close friends of ours at the same time.
So we are drop some names, man. What’s this bourbon like? What’s going on? Do we have names? I don’t know. Drop some names, man. I know I’m being a little coy. Okay, so first one is broken barrel whiskey. Ooh, there were a newer whiskey brand that’s launched. Then also have infused spirit. Where they are made with real fruit and spices.
Oh, don’t we know the Fused Spirits guys? Like, hasn’t he been on the show? I have, my name is slipping my mind right at this moment. The CEO, I feel like we’ve been on the show. They have like apricot and these amazing flavors. I could be wrong if it was, it might not have been apricot, but like these amazing flavors.
Am I off on that? it’s like we’ve interviewed 6, 500 people. So this is a, this is a really good chance to interview them. I actually do believe we have them. Yeah. So is a relatively newer brand. So folks will get to try them. We’ve also got LaSorda wines, which for, well, local L.
A. people this is Tommy LaSorda, who’s was GM of the L. A. Dodgers. His nephew is actually taking over the brand. They’re a Paso Robles based winery, and they’re going to be providing a tasting experience as well. And then there’s two more surprises that we have lined up. So By the way, the gentleman, the CEO’s name is Michael Davidson.
And for everybody listening, if you look at blackinfusions. com you’ll, and also, if you look, just look in the catalog or even just put that in the website in the search box, you’re gonna see all of the, I mean, amazing, amazing Concoctions that they’ve created. I mean there’s a full interview and other things we won’t get into today, but I was right It wasn’t apricot.
It was black fig. That’s what it was and all that these all these natural. Oh, no, they do have I’m looking at the website now. They have a gold apricot. So I remembered man I’ve been wanting to try these it’s been a while By the way, it’s black infusions. com. I’ve been wanting to try these and I didn’t know that we had them.
And we were going to be even, well, I knew we were hosting this, but I didn’t know they were going to be one of the brands that were showcased, man. So good job on that one, Chirag. That was on my wishlist to try this. Boom. Well, there we go. So now we got them. And then the wine for a moment, let’s talk about that one a little bit.
I was in the whole foods the other day and I’m like, Oh, okay. , they’re coming. Like, what goes into like, as you curate these experiences and for those that have been to like our events in the past, I mean, nobody does it like Chirag as you go into like bringing brands into the mix at mission matters, like what goes into your thought process?
Sometimes it’s trying. In this case, right? Because this, this entire event is an entire spirits and it’s a wine lineup. A few things go into it. Firstly, it’s, I’m curious and I’m actually want to try the brand myself my interest. Secondly they’ve been recommended by folks and, or there’s a story behind them.
So, you know, once I’ve kind of connected with the individual I get to learn about their story. It’s interesting. It’s fascinating. And then, you know, they piqued my interest because now I want to try it and to bring them in, but I feel like they add synergistically into the chemistry of the room.
What I mean by that is their story is compelling and it’s going to be a memorable opportunity. So when you get 30, 40 people who haven’t had a chance to meet each other personally, but they’re doing it over a cool story of a brand that they’re all trying for the first time, it’s a memorable moment.
That’s something that they’ll be keep they’ll be able to keep with them hopefully for a lifetime But at the least for a while, right like they’ll know Hey, I actually got to try this brand and it might be the first time that they’ve tried it so I try to do things that are more unique or one off that I know Where people will be trying something for the first time if they’re coming in into anything we’re putting together.
By the way, I just thought about it. I said it was Whole Foods. No, I was in, BevMo when I saw Lasorda Wines. They might be in Whole Foods too, but I was just correcting that I was in BevMo. What went into that decision, like into bringing them on board, like what attracted you to that brand?
I had the opportunity. I was at another event and I met the winemaker and as he was sharing his story I’m born and raised in L. A. and so I was aware of the whole affiliation with the Dodgers, but once I kind of got to hear the full story of how their wine came together and essentially how his nephews took over the brand and it’s trying to extend it beyond just L.
A., right? It makes sense why the brand would be very popular in L. A. because it’s affiliated with the Dodgers. But now hearing about how do you expand into other markets where, you know, maybe they’re not Dodgers fans, of course, you know, beyond L. A. But how do you expand beyond that? I got to try the wine.
The wines were really good. It’s a compelling story. And I know that more people would be interested, especially because our next event is here in L. A. We’re in the Mecca of it all, right? So, you know. I figured it would be a unique spin and story where you get to meet the winemaker himself and you get to hear some of these fun stories about the Dodgers and about how Tommy Lasorda got even into the wines, which I had the chance and opportunity to hear a lot more about, but I know others will love that opportunity too.
Yeah, and for those of you that don’t know Chirag, I mean, your background in building and curating these experiences, I know for Mission Matters, you’ve done, we’ve been business partners now eight years and we started this project together and, you know, time flies. I can’t, first off, can you believe it’s been eight years?
I can’t. I’m really pleased. Yeah, I can’t believe that would, but we’re still kicking. So we got a couple of years to hit the 10 year mark. That’s got to be fun. We’re going to have to do a blowout for that one. But that being said lifetime average, I don’t know why I’m thinking of this.
Well, cause the sort of does. So that’s why I’m thinking stats lifetime, how many events do you think you’ve put on or been part of? Like how many would you guess? I think it’s probably near a thousand events. Yeah, so just a little bit of experience, we’ll just say in the event space.
And when it comes to, like, I mean, there’s a lot of different experiences that you have in, creating different size of events and other things, and conversations we have. And part of me asking you this question is I https: otter. ai To be able to peek inside your playbook and the conversations that you and I have one off when we’re kind of when we’re planning things one on one, but that being said, we talk about this pretty often, curating the audience and the people in the room and like, and the experience in terms of like the conversations, like, like talk on that topic for a bit, like tell us a little bit more about what goes into your process.
Yeah, it’s essentially it’s playing the role of the matchmaker, right? I mean, really what I try to do is I try to find a theme for the event. So let’s say we did an event on healthcare. For example, my goal would be to find the understanding higher ecosystem of the healthcare industry and who are all of the attendees coming in.
And then, so I kind of understand who they are, what they’re doing. Their personality, make sure that, you know, they’re gonna be aligned. It’s like, you know, a lot of times you’ll bring two people together that have, maybe they’ll never conduct business with each other, but they met another great human being and maybe they just become friends.
And who knows, maybe something does evolve in, like, in the future between them, right? So I base it off of personality. I base it off of ethos. I base it off of character alignment. I’ll base it, of course, on what they’re doing and more so what they’re looking for. So some folks in healthcare, maybe they’re raising money.
Maybe others are looking to invest into opportunities. Maybe others are service, maybe they’re doctors and service providers. And maybe they just want to meet and connect with like minded folks. So I try to create a roster people that. That essentially will benefit from meeting each other at the least if they make one or two connections, that I think is worth its while and worth its weight in gold where people will get value and they’ll want to keep coming back.
My goal is, of course, to get people wanting to come back to the next one and have so much fun that they don’t even realize that they’re having fun. I think the easiest way to know if you’ve had a good event is, testing and seeing how long are people staying. and so if they’re staying the entire time they’re there, or they’re canceling other things on the spot, or I have to like usher people out of the room.
That for me is, is a great event. And then of course, people sending me messages and requesting to come back to, to another one or, or just complimenting, you know, that they’ve made a proper connection. Yeah, I mean, one of the things that I, find interesting here is that I, I didn’t really quite understand that for everybody that’s been listening to the show for a long time, like, and sometimes they’ll, they’ll give me, you know, some credit and say, Oh, wow, that event was amazing or this or that.
And I’m like, Hey, that’s awesome. I’m not just being a co founder who’s who’s being gracious to his other co founder. I mean it like Chirag’s the one that puts these events together. He curates the audience. And I’ll tell you what, and I’m not going to say what the event was. And let’s not even say the industry Chirag, because if that person’s listening, they’ll know I’m talking about them, but let’s just say I went, I went to their event and I was, it’s just so rare because we have so many events here, or we’re part of, or partner with partners like, like Dow or other ones that you just.
Amazing partners that put on the same quality and level of events. So, so I’m kind of spoiled and we have so many that I rarely go to anything outside of our network of people or conferences that we’re covering. And I went to one the other day and I’m like, Chirag, I finally get it after all of these years and after going to all of your events and the events that we’ve put on.
And I won’t say I take for granted, cause I know how hard you work on putting them together. But I’m like, Yeah, that was terrible, it was great production, it was like, I’m not dissing them in that manner, but I mean in terms of like, I shouldn’t say terrible, that’s the wrong word, but it was not a curated experience, so one, the conversation, the this, the that, like it was nothing like what Chirag puts together, so and I see it, by the way, because that’s why we see people Coming to event after event and they always give, they always say that they’re like, Oh, well, you know, it’s just great.
It’s like, something different here. There’s something new here. And that’s why I keep bugging you. I’m like, man, we need a Chirag’s list. I said, I wasn’t going to bring it up Chirag, but I don’t care. I’m going to bring it up. We need a Chirag’s list to, to get our curated events of otherwise.
Man, when’s that happening? Come on, man. One day, maybe. One day. You’re like, let me grow one company first before I start a Chirag’s list. All right. Well, hey, we could have wishlists here. We could have some things here. All right. So , the event one more time, , when is this one happening?
I know this is, I know this is invite only, so I know we’re not going to leave like a website or anything like that, but what’s the best way for people to connect with you or contact you to, if they do want more information, let’s start there. All right. I think the easiest way to do this is send me an email chirog at mission matters.
com. I’m happy to connect. Even if someone responds to our newsletter, we have a lot of our events are being promoted through our newsletter. Oh, your Instagram too. Your Instagram is super active. I mean, you put out a ton of content. What’s your, what’s your handle? Obviously I follow you. What’s your handle again?
I forget. So my handle on Instagram is at Chirog D. Sagar. So that’s literally my first name, my middle initial D as in dog, and then my last name, Sagar. All right. And then kind of wrapping it up here, and you don’t have to go too far, and we’ll get, don’t worry, I’m gonna, we’re gonna bring you back in the show for the next events.
We’ll go, we’ll do some deep dives, but high, high level, don’t need to throw out any dates, but high level, what are some of the things you have in the works for the upcoming events? And I know, I know you got a ton coming up. Yeah, we got a few more wine tasting, whiskey tastings. Secondly, you panel discussion events and keynote or like salon style events, which are more like conference style.
We have an amazing one actually coming up on March 26th in partnership with Light Douse. That one is actually promoting one of our fellow authors, Elliot Callen. He published well, your fellow co writer, co author in the Driven book that you both published together. and he’s published a chapter in one of our Mission Matters book series.
So we’ve got another coming up in LA, which that one we are promoting more actively. So we’ll get, you know, we’ll be promoting and sharing that through our newsletter. We have a couple more salon style events planned in April and going into May. In addition to that, we’ve got a couple of conferences that are coming up as well.
Our biggest event of the year, no question, is our leadership conference on November 6th. We’ve already got the date set. We’ve got the venue set. We’ve got a couple of our sponsors and partners returning from last year. And now we’re adding in the speaker slots. So, lots to come. Yeah. and if I can have my way and get shrug to sign up for it, there’ll be a pod fest this year.
Don’t worry. Podcast fest. Come on. First annual. It’s like, what another conference? Hey, we’re trying here, man. I, this is by the way, for everybody, this is the way it works. I give a little idea. I’m like, come on, Chirag, come on. He’s like, no. And then at some point, maybe he wants to throw the event or the conference.
So I appreciate all that you do there, Chirag. One more time, your Instagram handle and your email so people can connect and kind of learn more about what’s going on in terms of the upcoming events. My Instagram handle is at Chirag D. Segar. And then my email address is Chirag at mission matters.
com. Perfect. All right. And we’ll put that in the show notes for everybody so you can just connect pretty simply. And speaking of the audience, if this is your first time with Mission Matters or engaging in an episode, I encourage you, if you need it, this is your personalized announcement. Hit that subscribe button.
It’s an invitation. We appreciate it. And we have many more mission based individuals coming up with a line. We don’t want you to miss a thing. If you are a long time listener and you haven’t left Us a review yet. Come on, get in there. leave that review. It helps us and we sure do appreciate it.
Lets, us know that you’re out there and you appreciate us as well, so thank you for that. And Rag, I will talk to you in a little bit. I feel like we got a meeting coming up. Thank you. Thank you so much. Bye everyone.
