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Molly Cummings
Keeping and honoring biodiversity is really key. And what I love about gin is it is the most biodiverse alcohol out there. It's got more plants in a bottle than any other spirit. And mine has the most Texas plants or Texas junipers, I should say in a bottle than any other.
Narrator
Molly Cummings is a scientist, entrepreneur and the founder of Wild Gin's company. Drawing from her background in biology and research, she blends science innovation in Texas heritage to create distinctive spirits rooted in native West Texas junipers.
Molly Cummings
Male dominated world with branding is often straight lines. G IO geometry to me, a bit boring. Being a female in this world that is male dominated, you stand out more. You add elements of female creativity that other brands aren't going to do. The plan is my hope is to become the Titos of gin. Not only the dominant Texas gin, the dominant gin in the United States.
Ray
It spans the globe like a super high cold Internet Elvis Presley.
Guest or Other Speaker
Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone. It's not over until I win.
Ray
The Living youg Legacy podcast.
Molly Cummings
For those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary.
Guest or Other Speaker
The impossible has been. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan, Open Chicago with the lead. You said Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream.
Ray
Welcome back to another amazing episode of the Living youg Legacy podcast, the Women in Power edition. Joining me today is another powerful woman, Molly Cummings, all the way from Texas, but she has quite the superpower. She somehow can bottle all of Texas in a bottle.
Molly Cummings
That is damn straight.
Ray
Right on. That's quite the superpower. Molly, welcome to the show.
Molly Cummings
Thank you so much for being here. I'm thrilled.
Ray
All. Yeah, yeah, I'm glad to be here. So we just finished filming your episode for Women in Power. How do you feel? Besides hungry?
Molly Cummings
I feel just absolutely thrilled.
Ray
Right on.
Molly Cummings
Yes.
Ray
What are we going to learn about you in your episode?
Molly Cummings
Well, we're going to learn about how you can parlay between academia into the Spirit's world of business. And that there's strength in being different and new to a field.
Ray
Right on. Let's begin with your beginnings. You began as a teacher academia.
Molly Cummings
Yes, I still am. I'm still juggling both hats.
Ray
That's awesome.
Molly Cummings
They're big hats to fill, for sure. But yes. I'm a biology professor at the University of Texas in Austin. I've been there for about 20 years.
Ray
Wow.
Molly Cummings
And I essentially had to give myself my own kind of sabbatical. And so going west and finding these amazingly unique Texas junipers has just filled my life with joy.
Ray
Yeah. Junipers In Texas, I would never cross, pollinate, or cross the streams of especially West Texas. Why West Texas? What's in the water? Is it the oil? What's going out there cosmetically out in West Texas?
Molly Cummings
Well, it's funny you should say that. Texas likes to brag about things. Texas. And Texas has lots of bragging points, but you find very few people bragging about the junipers. It takes someone a little bit on the bio geek side, like me, to do that. But the reason why Texas has eight species of junipers, more than any other state in the United States, is because of the width of Texas and that parts of it have volcanic soil. So you don't think about mountains in Texas, but they're there. You may have heard of Big Bend, and the Texas mountains that I forage in are the Davis Mountains. They're north of Big Bend. And I had never heard of them before I went on a hunt for the alligator juniper.
Ray
The alligator juniper. How does one hunt these junipers and what do they look like? What's some of your superstitions? How does this work?
Molly Cummings
Well, first of all, you get to. You have to get to know these ladies. Junipers are, generally speaking, most juniper trees and bushes. They are male trees and female trees, and only the female trees produce berries. Okay, so where I go out in West Texas, it's a pretty harsh climate. You know, it's high elevation, it can go through long periods of drought. And the juniper berries have this tendency or their reproductive cycles, they take two years before they produce berries. So they're putting in all the resources. When they decide to go for it, they go big. And so I've gotten to know that some of my girls are odd year girls, and some of my girls are even year girls. And I figure out their personalities and figure out when they decide to bloom. But when they do, I can get upwards towards 50 pounds of junipers per single tree.
Ray
Wow. Someone on the Internet said, because everything on the intern as real and true, that there is sentient souls or there's something going on within plants, like there's beyond what we believe is really going on. There's something going on.
Molly Cummings
Funny you should say that. I literally am reading right now a wonderful book called the Hidden Life of Trees. And actually I'd listened to it first as an audiobook and I highly recommend it. And so what this book is about is all the features of trees we don't really understand. And they make an argument that they are potentially sentient, that they're learning, that they're communicating, that they have relationships. And I'm glad you brought that up, because my trees, being wild trees, they have a greater amount of community sense and relationship and helping out others than trees that are in domesticated farms. They've realized that trees literally help their neighbors. They'll send them nutrients through their mycorrhizal kind of their root structure. And if someone's not doing well, someone helps them alongside of them. But they don't do that in domesticated farms. So when you're having wild trees or some product of wild trees, it's extra rich in goodness.
Ray
That's fantastic. It's crazy how you can find the juxtaposition of the contrast between the trees. Let's talk about these junipers. And I always want to keep saying juniper Jupiter, because I have a tiny m. You mind? How did you. How did. How does one go from academia and stumble into these junipers?
Molly Cummings
Right. So what adventure were you on? What adventure was I on? Well, I come from. Kind of goes back to my family. I come from this big Irish Catholic family, and my brothers were interested in getting into the American craft spirits world. And when we were talking about it, and we were talking about, well, if we did gin, I chimed up and I said, you know, if we do gin, Texas has a lot of junipers. I should go find the best ones for gin.
Ray
For research.
Molly Cummings
For research, exactly. And, you know, I experimented. Austin, we have a juniper that lives in Austin and plagues everyone with cedar fever, allergies. And so, of course, I experimented with. Yes, I experimented with that one. And the good news is for everybody is that makes a terrible gin. My master distiller, when I sent it his way, he's like, never send that thing to me again. It's horrid. So I was disappointed for all of 30 seconds when I realized, oh, this just means I get to go to the mountains. So went on a hunt for this great alligator juniper with the great name, great bark, and the rest is history. I mean, driving out west is a little bit like having a spa day for my mind. My troubles just peel away. Those big open skies is such therapy for the soul.
Ray
Wow. What are the junipers saying to you? Like, how do they speak to you when they speak to you? What do you see and feel?
Molly Cummings
So they speak without words, But I speak words back to them whenever I'm foraging. I'm thanking them. I first, you know, we find a tree that's in full bloom with all of her glorious berries. And then we usually try to decide on a name right away, because what I want to do while I'm foraging is actually thank her. So I'm literally, let's say, Fertile Myrtle. Fertile Myrtle. Myrtle got her name because she's just was loaded with berries. And so when I'm foraging, I thank Fertile Myrtle and thank her for their berries. I often tell the trees that, that's her right now.
Ray
That's Fertile Myrtle right now calling you. Are you talking about me?
Molly Cummings
Yeah, exactly. I often tell the. The tree that, don't worry, I'm going to use your berries to make babies. They're just not going to be juniper babies.
Ray
Okay. Okay. I love it. I love it.
Molly Cummings
Somebody's going to make a baby out of my juniper and my djinn.
Ray
We spoke about this on your interview. That I love the fact that you very much speak of these junipers as people souls. He.
Molly Cummings
They.
Ray
She talk about that philosophy and beyond.
Molly Cummings
Yes. So these going back to the trees do speak to me. They've got these essentially, these souls and certainly these personalities. And the alligator juniper is just the biggest, most majestic tree in the west of Texas, and it's certainly the tallest and biggest, baddest of the junipers. So, of course, he strikes me as masculine. And with the berries of alligator juniper, I turned that masculinity into a very bold James Bond West Texas dry gin,
Ray
which is actually right here in front of us.
Molly Cummings
It is, yeah.
Ray
Yeah.
Molly Cummings
I really should refer to him not as my James Bond of gin, but my James Dean of gen. Yeah.
Ray
James Dean is far more precise.
Molly Cummings
Right.
Ray
Because Bond's got so many faces. Dean is. Well.
Molly Cummings
And geographically, it's even more appropriate because this movie starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor, and James Dean's first appearance.
Ray
Oh, wow.
Molly Cummings
In a movie. It was called Giant. It was filmed in Marfa, Texas.
Ray
Wow.
Molly Cummings
Marfa, Texas, is about 23 miles from my mountains. So really, the James Dean of gin is my wild bark.
Ray
Oh, gosh. You just made it happen. I wonder. I wonder how you can license that. I wonder who runs the Dean estate.
Molly Cummings
At some point, doesn't it become public domain?
Ray
I think it does. Kind of like, I think Santa Claus and Winnie the Pooh's public domain. And the only reason why I know that is because a friend of mine made a horror movie about the two.
Molly Cummings
So I'm like, oh, no.
Ray
Okay. It was quite terrible. So where does your download come from? Your. Your inspiration, the labels, the coloring?
Molly Cummings
Ah, yes, exactly. Well, may I fondly product?
Ray
Yes, fondly, your product. As long as you don't fondle Rudy's slate. It tends to happen A lot.
Molly Cummings
Will do. So I really feel like the eyes are the windows to the soul. And so I picked this label. I worked with an artist and I asked her to make, you know, our star, which is the star of the show, Wild Bark, and have a canine. A wild canine wrap around this star. And the reason for that is while I named Wild bark or gave the name Wild Bark to my West Texas dry because it features the alligator juniper. The alligator juniper is also called the checker bark juniper due to the corrugated patterns of its bark. Well, and because it's not very exciting to show a bunch of bark on a tree, I wanted to do a double entendre or get a canine involved. So this is a wild coyote.
Ray
Wow. It's beautiful.
Molly Cummings
And I just love those eyes. And if you looked on the inside of the label, you'll keep turning it around and you'll see that he's winking at you.
Ray
Oh, that's really clever.
Molly Cummings
So, yeah, he's very. He's very handsome and playful.
Ray
Now, I gotta ask, is that expensive to do the double print?
Molly Cummings
It is expensive, yes. But pretty much everything I do is about quality, and it catches people's eyes, literally, and therefore worth it to me.
Ray
Right on.
Molly Cummings
The other unique attribute of our labels is that when you look on our side label, you'll see the name of the tree from which I forage. Those junipers from. From a tree I mentioned. These trees are big and they've got lots of berries on them. I can do single distillation batches from all the berries from one tree.
Ray
Wow.
Molly Cummings
So this one is called Starchild. She was out by the McDonald's observatory, so hence the name Starchild. Sure, sure. But I love it because the trees truly are the stars of my gin.
Ray
Wow.
Molly Cummings
And this way I get to honor them.
Ray
That's beautiful. Now, not to shit on the competitors, but let's shit on the competitors a little bit. I'm assuming a lot of folks that are in the gin business don't really talk to trees.
Molly Cummings
No. When they're ordering their junipers, they place an order online and they come sh over from Europe. So I don't know if you know this.
Ray
I do not.
Molly Cummings
But you already. Okay. The name for gin actually comes from the word for juniper in Dutch.
Ray
Okay, I did not know that.
Molly Cummings
So gin was originated or originated in the Netherlands. And it comes from the word genevere, which means juniper in Dutch. And that gives you a clue that the key ingredient in a gin is juniper. So because Europe doesn't have a lot of biodiversity in juniper, everyone uses guess what the common juniper. So it's in everything over there.
Ray
Wow.
Molly Cummings
And so every other distillery, or nearly like 99.9% of all the other gins in the world, are made by simply ordering your common juniper that comes to you from Europe in a box.
Ray
It blows my mind that you should be a celebrity here. Like, you have such a great voice, such great energy, great storyteller. And even in your photos, I'm like, there should be more of this constantly. I love your homework. Go straight home and build a little station just like this with a. Doesn't have to be a fancy camera, but a camera where you're just comfortable to just flip on and start talking and then grab that clip and share it with the world. Thank you. And folks like me and people that see you and understand your passion and drive, like folks on this platform, a plug will completely get it. Like a lot of folks that do what you do. Do not talk to trees. That's important. Can you please explain to our audience why that's important, why we're all connected and doing this together? Especially if the trees can do it for one another, we can surely do it for ourselves.
Molly Cummings
Exactly. I mean, most of the things we put in our mouth come from plants. Even if it's an animal, that animal was eating plants first. And so it all comes back to plants. And those of us in the spirits world, sometimes we forget every ounce of alcohol comes from a plant. And it's important to have lots of diversity when we're talking about this world, the natural world. Biodiversity makes this world go round. As soon as we start focusing and monoculturing, the world kind of tips over and gets in trouble. And so keeping and honoring biodiversity is really key. And what I love about gin is it is the most biodiverse alcohol out there.
Ray
Yeah.
Molly Cummings
It's got more plants in a bottle than any other spirit. And mine has the most Texas plants or Texas junipers, I should say, in a bottle than any other.
Ray
Yeah. What are you doing to get these bottles out there? Are you just knocking door to door? Are you on the Internets?
Molly Cummings
Yeah, no, I'm partly. That's why I'm here.
Ray
I saw you were just waving and cruising.
Molly Cummings
We launched a week before COVID which was hard on any startup brand for sure. In the spirits world in particular.
Ray
I'm familiar.
Molly Cummings
Yeah, exactly. And so I first did radio. I mean, I wasn't on the radio, but made radio ads. I felt like, okay, if I can't be there at this liquor stores, I don't know if you remember this. But you go to a liquor store and no one could do tastings. So there's a saying in the liquor business. Liquid to lips. Right. You gotta get people to taste your product. Cause I have an amazing product. But for the first eight months of COVID they won't let you do tastings in the store.
Ray
Yeah. Even if you could, you can't because you've got.
Molly Cummings
Yeah, exactly. And so everyone had a Covid hobby. My Covid hobby was making an antiviral cocktail enhancer that I gave away for free. You know, I got super. I'm already geeky. And I got super geeky. I went and I started reading all these plant medicinal plant books and realized there's amazing compounds in junipers. In fact, gin originated for its medicinal properties. But I digress. Nonetheless, I made some extracts, put together a cocktail enhancer, put it on the shoulder, gave it away as a little sample.
Ray
Yeah.
Molly Cummings
And tried to get the word out, and it seemed to work. But nowadays, you know. Yeah. I'm doing Instagram and Google Ads and trying to focus on the Texas market before I go big. However, anyone who's listening, you can order our gins online. All you have to do is go to wildgins.com and order our project. We will ship product. We will ship it to you. But. But the plan is, my hope is to become the Tito's of gin. And therefore, I first need to dominate the Texas market. And the good news is that there is no dominant Texas gin in front of me. So it's easy to kind of clear the decks and come to the forefront.
Ray
Now, did you base this off of research or just waking up every day and living life and not seeing any competition on the horizon, or how are you building this confidence? Just march forward. Just for entrepreneurs that are just completely just basing it on faith and intuition, like, you are.
Molly Cummings
Right.
Ray
And a little bit of pizzazz and guff.
Molly Cummings
Yeah. Some chutzpah here and there. So I looked around. Well, so I live in Austin, and Austin is a hotspot for entrepreneurialism. Certainly a hotspot for making alcoholic brands come to life. Tito's vodka is the number one alcohol in the world. Wow. And I've paid attention to how he made that path happen. The first thing he did is he dominated Austin and then he dominated Texas. And like it or not, the Texas brand has a lot. People are somehow fascinated with things Texas.
Ray
Oh, it's huge.
Molly Cummings
So my business model and I could be fully naive. Yeah. I do a little research, and one of the bits of research I'VE come across is that that Texas is home to, I believe, five of the top 10 most populated cities in the United States. So if I dominate those cities and the rest of the state, then it's really easy to spill over.
Ray
Oh, yeah.
Molly Cummings
My goal is to be not only the dominant Texas gin, the dominant gin in the United States. And right now, that would be aviation.
Ray
Wow.
Molly Cummings
But that's okay. Ryan Reynolds, thank you for paving the way and putting American gin on the map.
Ray
Ryan Reynolds. And. And cell phones, apparently. Mobile device. It's not cricket. It's the other one, though.
Molly Cummings
I'm gonna say engine.
Ray
Yeah. St. Jen. As a matter of fact, somebody from Austin, Texas is calling me right now. I still have my Austin number, too. My 51 12. I mean, my fun one, too. But my. My adventures in Austin were during COVID so I just hit out in Lakeway, which anyone that knows Lakeway is not Austria, and
Molly Cummings
that is for sure.
Ray
Yeah, it's definitely its own little beast. But if you've been to Bastrop, I miss Bastrop. A great studio out there, too. Spiderwood Studio. That's been there out there for eons. Cool. Cool tribe out there. Enough about that. So you're clearly writing your own playbook as you're doing this. How does that feel knowing that you've got Tito's as kind of like your contender, like the Rocky. Now you're going to be the creed in this adventure. But as a woman in power, like that gives you, I believe, in my opinion, and for folks watching, quite an upper hand, a head start. And you just make the whole journey, may I say, sexier than whoever this Tito's gentleman is.
Molly Cummings
I love it. And I don't view Tito's as a competitor because he's in a different line. He's in his own line called vodka.
Ray
Yeah, completely different.
Molly Cummings
And here's the thing. Gin is what vodka wants to be when it grows up.
Ray
I love it. No, that's. That's it. That is the way you open up your kit every time you take a stage. Bam, boom.
Molly Cummings
Because to make gin, you start with vodka. Vodka is a neutral grain spirit. It's supposed to be flavorless, not saying anything more in that direction. So what you do is you start with vodka, and then you redistill with a suite of botanicals. Now, originally, those botanicals to this day had medicinal properties. Not only did it taste better, it was better for you. And it's more refined. And so, yes, I'm grateful for Tito kind of showing me that the Texas brand can Sell like gangbusters.
Ray
Oh sure.
Molly Cummings
And you're absolutely right. Being a female in this world that is male dominated, you stand out more. You add elements of female creativity that other brands aren't going to do. You know, we've got, you know, these beautiful creatures.
Ray
Oh yes.
Molly Cummings
On our bottles we've got me foraging or supposed to be foraging on this side we've got interesting looks that frankly aren't typical of a typical Spears brand. A male dominated world with branding is often straight lines. Geo geometry to me a bit boring.
Ray
Oh yeah.
Molly Cummings
And so a lot of women by their wine and I'm one of them by the look of the label.
Ray
Same. I'm one of those ladies as well.
Molly Cummings
So I want an eye catching friend.
Ray
For sure. For sure. But I also drink boxed wine so I'm part of the problem.
Molly Cummings
Wow, that is an admission.
Ray
I know. Part of the problem. But I can redeem myself. I do smoke American spirits when I have a chance. So that's my social vice.
Molly Cummings
There you go.
Ray
I don't know if I redeem myself or not. Enough about me. This is all about you, my love. How can folks find you, follow your journey and get to fall in love with you.
Molly Cummings
Yes, please do welcome you to go to our website wildgins.com our landing page is also very unique. We're a nature based gin company.
Ray
Good for you for calling it a landing page.
Molly Cummings
Yes, our landing page. You come in and it's drone footage of the Davis mountains filled with alligator juniper. So you get a sense right away the majestic, just amazingness of west Texas. On that page you can figure out where to buy. If you're in Texas you can figure out how to get our products shipped to you. If you buy four bottles, which I highly recommend we cover the shipping so you know, plan for the holidays and get a lot of them.
Ray
Right on.
Molly Cummings
That's how you can.
Ray
It's been such a joy.
Molly Cummings
Likewise. Right on.
Ray
I hope you had experience. I'm looking forward to the editing of this podcast and episode and have it all together. I'm sure we'll stay in touch and continue working together.
Molly Cummings
Absolutely. Thank you so much.
Ray
Oh for sure. Molly, it's such a pleasure. This has been awesome. What a great way to wrap up our Tuesday day with that. That concludes another episode of the Living your legacy podcast, the women in power edition. That's Molly. I'm Ray. We're inside.
Episode Title: From Biology Professor to Building America’s Next Gin
Host: Ray (with Rudy Mawer as producer)
Guest: Molly Cummings, Founder of Wild Gin
Release Date: May 22, 2026
In this inspiring episode, Ray sits down with Molly Cummings, a University of Texas biology professor turned gin entrepreneur, as she shares her transformation from academic life to founding Wild Gin. With deep roots in science and a passion for Texas biodiversity, Molly discusses how her scientific approach, love for the environment, and creative vision have helped her craft America’s most botanically diverse gin.
Listeners are treated to candid stories of foraging in the Davis Mountains, reflections on creativity in a male-dominated industry, and insights on leveraging Texas heritage to build a standout spirits brand. The episode is packed with memorable moments, actionable advice for entrepreneurs, and a celebration of legacy, biodiversity, and daring to be different.
On Biodiversity and Gin:
“It's got more plants in a bottle than any other spirit. And mine has the most Texas plants or Texas junipers, I should say in a bottle than any other.” – Molly (00:00, 15:27)
On Female Creativity in Spirits:
“You add elements of female creativity that other brands aren't going to do.” – Molly (21:22)
On Entrepreneurship:
“My goal is to be not only the dominant Texas gin, the dominant gin in the United States.” – Molly (19:05)
On Legacy and Standing Out:
“There’s strength in being different and new to a field.” – Molly (02:11)
On Her Brand Philosophy:
“The trees truly are the stars of my gin. And this way I get to honor them.” – Molly (12:48)
On Gin vs. Vodka:
“Gin is what vodka wants to be when it grows up.” – Molly (20:34)
This episode of Living Your Legacy offers a heartfelt, insightful look at how Molly Cummings is blending science, local heritage, creativity, and entrepreneurship to redefine what American gin can be—from the wilds of Texas to nationwide shelves. It’s a must-listen for entrepreneurs, spirits lovers, women in business, and anyone seeking motivation to pursue the unconventional and leave a distinctive legacy.