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- [00:00]
A
I don't have that interesting of story. I'd say if anything I could relate with probably most of the audience of just being pretty average and just deciding that, you know what committing to something, you know, persevering through stuff and just following, you know, the little voices in your head that say, hey, this might be a good idea or you should explore this or you should do that. And just going on my journey with me, I guess would be kind of the biggest thing.
- [00:23]
B
Ty Murphy is a serial entrepreneur, marketing strategist and technology driven business builder and the founder of Greenside Cigar Co. Which he launched in 2018 to bridge the golf and cigar industries. So how do you, how do you ascend your clients? How do you keep them buying more cigars? You almost gamified it.
- [00:40]
A
We did, yeah. It makes it more fun. So.
- [00:42]
B
Bingo.
- [00:43]
A
It's a very. The funny story on this is we thought if we came out with better branded cigars for golf and we go straight to golf course and say, sell these cigars, they're cool, they're gamified. More guys will have more fun picking these out to play with than any of the thing else you sell. You'll sell more cigars and they probably sold a little bit more cigars. But after three years of running with that message, It spans the globe like a super high cold Internet Elvis. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the it's not over until I win the Living your Legacy podcast for those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary. The impossible. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan Open Chicago with the lead.
- [01:37]
B
You said Paul is the fastest man on the planet.
- [01:40]
A
You can live your dream.
- [01:48]
B
Welcome to another episode of the Living youg Legacy podcast for Inside Success. I am Ray Gutierrez. Joining me today is something that's very close to my heart because I'm 50% Cuban and as a Cuban, there is already no a well known fact that my fingers are made to roll Cuban cigars. Watch. See? Ty Murphy is going to help me get more Cuban cigars. Apparently. No, yeah.
- [02:08]
A
If we can, we gotta, we gotta work with the border there.
- [02:10]
B
It's okay.
- [02:11]
A
Dominicans are good too. Right on you.
- [02:12]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm born and raised in Miami, so I know I may know a couple of people.
- [02:15]
A
Yeah, this is a good town for cigars, I'll tell you that. Bought some last night actually.
- [02:19]
B
Right on. Well, Ty Murphy, welcome to Miami.
- [02:22]
A
Thank you. It's good to be here.
- [02:23]
B
Welcome to Inside Success.
- [02:24]
A
Yeah. Appreciate you for having me.
- [02:26]
B
You are literally moments before. You're literally moments to film your episode. For legacy makers, what will we learn about you?
- [02:34]
A
I mean, I think the most important thing you'll probably learn is, I think, just my path to starting a business. I mean, I don't have that interesting of story, I'd say, if anything, I could relate with probably most of the audience of just being pretty average and just deciding that, you know, what, committing to something, you know, persevering through stuff and just following, you know, the little voices in your head that say, hey, this might be a good idea, or you should explore this or you should do that. And just going on my journey with me, I guess, would be kind of the biggest thing.
- [03:03]
B
Right on. When you stop and talk to yourself in your head, do you naturally have a good day when you kind of like, affirm that there is multiple people in your head? Yes, because I did that this morning, and so far it's been going great.
- [03:13]
A
Oh, man. And sometimes that person's very positive, and sometimes that person's like, what the hell are you doing?
- [03:18]
B
Yeah.
- [03:18]
A
And I. And those days are dark. I mean, it's like you've got everything on the line. And you could. You could say, I wasted the last four years. It's like we don't know what we're doing, and this is the thing that's going to kill us. And then, like, it's amazing. Maybe even not even an hour or a week later, whatever it comes, it's like you have a ultimate high and you have a success, and then that other voice goes. See, it's like the people on your shoulder, you know, See, I knew what you were doing. Like, you're smart. Like, just listen to me. So it's. It's a challenge. It's fun. It's.
- [03:46]
B
It's definitely so Ty Murphy, a legion of voices.
- [03:50]
A
Yeah. Yeah. A lot of voices. And I'm glad they're in here. Nobody else can hear them.
- [03:53]
B
Yeah. Right on.
- [03:54]
A
But sometimes I get out.
- [03:56]
B
So cigars. I know. It's a terrible intro. That's the best I can do. I'm sorry.
- [03:59]
A
Yeah, no, you're good. Yeah. So we focus primarily on golf and cigars. So the sport of golf, we kind of recognize there's not a better pair than other than maybe cigars and like a rum or an old fashioned. But in terms of sports. Golf is it. Right. You're never going to have a cigar playing basketball or tennis. You die yet. Yeah. Yeah. You can try. Never. You can try it. And we just noticed that there was a gap there. Right. Nobody had really cemented that bond. So you had the golf industry and you had the cigar industry and yeah, they'd sell, you know, the cigars in the golf. But if you're a new upand comer into cigars and you want to have one on the course for one day, you really don't have any connection to what brands are being sold in there. So we try to change that.
- [04:41]
B
Ty, you're telling me that no one goes, arnold Schwarzenegger, cigars, golfing. No one put it all together.
- [04:48]
A
They did. And they listened to that little voice that told them not to. I don't know. I don't know.
- [04:52]
B
Good for you, Ty Murphy, for listening for all your voices and creating this. Yeah. One of my favorite conversations that I always like to bring up is I had a surgeon here and they're like, we surgeons like to talk shit when we're like, there's a body and there's words standing there for 12 hours.
- [05:05]
A
Yeah.
- [05:06]
B
You'd be surprised how much locker room talk is happening there. Yeah. And this is coming from a woman.
- [05:10]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [05:12]
B
So, like, talk about what it's like to network on, like, when you're golfing, like, what, what happens there.
- [05:17]
A
Yeah. I mean, a lot of business happens in golf. I think the great thing about golf is you're committing four hours to being outside with the four same four people. Yeah. So whether you like those four people and, you know, or you're just meeting somebody for the first time, there is four hours to have conversations. And you really only swing in a club, you know, if you're good 80 times. But me, I'm probably closer to 90.
- [05:38]
B
I like how you look at a Kofi.
- [05:39]
A
Well, we talked earlier about the golf game and it's like, you know, some golf days are longer if you're not playing very well. But yeah, I mean, you, you meet all kinds of people. And I, being an entrepreneur, I'm interested in their business and their story too. So, like, you learn a lot. So it's like, here's something I'm not going to do in my business or here's something I should try and pivot for my business.
- [05:57]
B
Very cool. Yeah, Yeah. I like how you all golfers talk to each other by just getting the nod. I'm just here going, you mean a role playing game where there's four of you, you're stuck for four hours?
- [06:05]
A
Yeah.
- [06:05]
B
That's called an rpg, sir.
- [06:07]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [06:09]
B
So what do you all kind of like, man? Do you. What's the word I want to look for? Do you kind of just brag. Now, when you're out golfing, you've got a more expensive cigar than someone else. How do you kind of like vouch for dominance now besides your golf game? Yeah, you're holding a cigar.
- [06:25]
A
I mean, so actually this, the cigar I usually choose. So I try and always do one of ours. And if I can't do one of ours because I'd like to share, so I have some on hand, I'll give them to somebody else to try. But also like trying everybody else's cars because you always want to know, how do you stack up against the rest of the market in competition? But I usually go cheaper because I have half my brain on the game and I have half my brain on the cigar.
- [06:49]
B
Yes.
- [06:49]
A
So those I usually light up on occasion if we're really celebrating something, if I'm playing really well and I want to celebrate with something, or if I'm just not playing well at all and I just want to have a good time. For sure, I'll light a cigar for that. But yeah, I mean, cigars is kind of one of those things. They, they, they're all handmade, you know, so you have to kind of sit, nurture, take it in. There's so many different ingredients that can. Goes into the cigar and what experience you get. And you want to take that in. And then if you pair that with a drink while you're on the cigar or out the course, you know, that contributes to a different experience. So you have to, I think with cigars, have one some attention to it. And sometimes, I mean, like I said, you know, if I play golf every week, I probably have a cigar. As a guy that owns a cigar company, maybe once a month, just wow. Yeah. I don't do them that as often as I used to when we got started with it. Right on. Yeah. Just because I like when I have a cigar now, I want to sit down, I want to enjoy it, I want to have a good conversation.
- [07:42]
B
Sure, sure.
- [07:42]
A
Set an hour aside to myself. When I'm doing cigars on the golf course sometimes now it's fun when I'm having fun and I don't really care about the score, I'll do that, but I just like to. I like to sit down and really take in the art of them now.
- [07:53]
B
So you're not getting high on your own supply, sir?
- [07:55]
A
No, no, I try new one. I'll do one, but I won't for you. I share. I'm a, I'm a giver. I'm a giver.
- [08:05]
B
Talk about Your branding and because it is almost kind of like a luxury brand. Are you positioning yourself as a luxury brand?
- [08:11]
A
We are.
- [08:11]
B
How much of it is legitimate versus you're just making it up because most folks don't understand cigar culture.
- [08:17]
A
Sure. So. So the brand, you know, greenside cigars is an overall brand. We kind of just wanted to marry the. The golf and cigar. We were really caring about if it was, you know, pompous or anything like that. We kind of want to be a little bit more down to earth, but as we came out. So we have 13 different brands of cigars.
- [08:34]
B
Holy moly.
- [08:34]
A
And they go from the lowest of the low, which is our triple bogey. You know, the worst score you can make on the. On the course. It's our worst cigar. I'll never smoke it. That's the only time I'm going to talk bad about my own product. So they're just regs, but you got to hit. You got to hit a $5 market price. Right? So it's like, all right, what's a $5 cigar? Oh, man. But then we have our nice. Our nice ones, our birdies, our albatross. You know, those. Those things we spend time, and they are more.
- [08:57]
B
These are on golf references, right, Kofi. Just making sure I got the thumbs up from Ko.
- [09:01]
A
So, you know, as. As the score improves, the cigar improves. Right, Right on. And it's not. It's not a marketing gift. I mean, our Birdie cigar, they age the tobacco for five years before they roll it. I mean, it's. It's four times as more expensive for us to buy and make than it is our triple bogey. So the prices are. All of our margins are pretty much the same across each brand. So as the brands go up, the quality. Definitely. And if you put them side by side and tried them and you're a cigar person, you'd absolutely know the difference.
- [09:27]
B
So how do you. How do you ascend your clients? How do you keep them buying more cigars? You almost gamified it.
- [09:33]
A
We did. Yeah. It makes it more fun, so.
- [09:35]
B
Bingo.
- [09:35]
A
It's a very. The funny story on this is we thought if we came out with better branded cigars for golf, and we go straight to golf course and say, sell these cigars. They're cool. They're gamified. More guys will have more fun picking these out to play with than anything else you sell. You'll sell more cigars, and they probably sold a little bit more cigars. But after three years of running with that message, we got some courses we probably had, you know, 50 to 100, you know, golf courses in.
- [10:02]
B
Sure.
- [10:02]
A
And then we get back and we start getting some testimonials, and they're like, we're selling, you know, 3.5x more cigars than we did with the previous supplier. And we're like, those quilts are gold. So you take those to more courses and you go, you know, how. How is that possible? It can't be just a cool effect. Like, what is really doing that? Well, what we found out was we have disrupted an entire distribution chain. So the way cigars get over here and make it to a golf course is they come through Miami usually.
- [10:28]
B
You're welcome.
- [10:29]
A
They come through. Yeah, they come through an importer. The importer sells to a distributor, the distributor sells to a wholesaler, and then all that money gets trickled back down, you know, the line. So it's like at each stop, a little piece of margin is being held, and then the golf course finally buys it. And they're usually only seeing 20, 30% margins. So what do they have to do? They want to make 40, 50% margin. I want to carry it. So they mark it up. Well, you also have these distribution chains who say, yeah, I'll sell it to wholesalers, but if I could sell it to a wholesaler for 30% off, why can't I just mark it on my website at 20% off and keep the same percentage as I'm keeping over there and always sell it online to a bigger audience, direct to consumer. So what that done is that that undercuts the course. So now the course can't sell that cigar for even at msrp because they're always being sold online for cheaper.
- [11:15]
B
Yep.
- [11:16]
A
Well, we're the only ones that decided to build our own cigars. And because nobody would carry us, we had to build our own distribution channel. So we're the manufacturer and the distributor. We go straight into the course with the best margins they've ever seen. We don't sell online to these heavy online discounters. So when a golfer goes in, they see a cigar that they know they could order for, you know, $20 cheaper at being marked up there. They're hesitant to buy that. But what they see one of ours, they say, oh, this is kind of made for me, another golfer. This is kind of cool. They Google us. They know they can't get it any cheaper. They're like, I might as well try this thing. And then they usually like it. So our business usually like it.
- [11:51]
B
Which is the last part of the list. Oh, that's Right. They usually like it.
- [11:53]
A
They usually like it. I mean, we don't get too many bad comments, but it's a bonus if
- [11:58]
B
they actually like the point. I'm just messing with that.
- [12:01]
A
They don't actually tell me that. I just don't hear the bad. So I figure if they're. If somebody didn't like it, they'd let us know. Sure. But, yeah, we built it. Going straight through wholesale now to get to the direct consumer side was a little bit more challenging. Tobacco companies can't advertise, so social media is tough. So the way we kind of built that side of the business, you know, our first three years, we were 80% wholesale. We've moved now to probably almost 55, 45. Direct to consumer. Now we're building an audience. We're in these courses, and people are coming to the website to buy them instead of going back to the course. But we partner with influencers. So, yes, this happened to be paired around the right time when golf was taking off in YouTube. You know, you have all these YouTube golfers out there filming themselves, and people are like, man, this is cool. I can see golf from a different view, not just the pros, which seems boring. I'm not hearing them talk and chat about their shots and stuff. And so. So we reached out to a couple influencers who would have an occasional cigar while they're filming and, you know, say, hey, don't buy any more cigars. We'll send you a free product if you're smoking a cigar on your videos. We want it to be ours, right? And we partner with them and grow that way. And that's kind of how we. We had to be, you know, politely worked into what they were doing versus just advertising. And that's how we kind of drove our online business.
- [13:14]
B
Yeah, that's. That's clever. It's, you know, you're warming up, you're building that repertoire. You're understanding the culture. Let's talk about the culture. Like folks in 2025, and you're probably listening to this in 2030. Just kidding. Everyone's very eccentric now. I would say people have developed the taste just because they have the ability to look up something they don't want without even knowing what they want. So how are you? How are you, like, distorting, like their education, saying, look, it's. I'm not going to say on camera that it's great to smoke, but it is a social cue. I can't tell you how many people I've met at a rock club And I'm just having a cig.
- [13:49]
A
Yeah.
- [13:49]
B
And you're just like, hey, dude. And you're 45 minutes in. You're three cigarettes in.
- [13:53]
A
Yeah.
- [13:53]
B
But you've made. You made friends with, like, the CEO of Twitter.
- [13:56]
A
Yeah.
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B
This other dude. You're all just kicking and having a cigarette, doing nothing but networking casually.
- [14:01]
A
Yes. There's a social aspect.
- [14:03]
B
Absolutely.
- [14:04]
A
And it's weird because I go to the gym three, four days a week. You know, most golfers, you have to be pretty fit. But I mean, it's weird. You know, my friends were always like, what got you in this? Like, you never used to smoke cigars when we knew you in high school and college and all this. It's like, well, now I'm on the golf course a lot, and I'm working business deals and I'm being social. It's like, it's a good time to just sit down for an hour and have a cigar and talk. It's the only time it'll put me in a chair, keep me off my phone, engage with the cigar, and engage with the person I'm sitting with. So, yeah, I mean, if you don't smoke cigars. We don't encourage you to smoke cigars. Sure.
- [14:38]
B
We don't encourage you.
- [14:39]
A
No, don't. Don't start. But if you enjoy spending time or need something to slow you down or you want to take in the intricacies of how a cigar comes to be, I mean, it's a. It's a fascinating little industry.
- [14:52]
B
It is. And, like, when you. When you encounter, like, cigar bars and you see this little, like these boutiques, these experiences, low dim lights and, like, the cigars behind closed glass doors, like, there's a whole, like, it's a total vibe. It's just like, oh, man, I feel like a superhero. I'm like, I feel like I don't belong, but I do belong. Like, they recognize me, they see me. It's like, yeah, just you're engulfing that experience, and you're going to have that whiskey or a glass of wine, and then you're going to ascend to that cigar.
- [15:16]
A
And it's. And it's got a weird rap because it used to be you'd always see, like, it'd be like a mob boss have cigars.
- [15:21]
B
No, it's like, success now. It's. Yeah, it's kind of Johnson.
- [15:24]
A
Yeah. Just take an hour and you're having a moment. And it's weird because, you know, you look back to the Native Americans. They were all smoking cigars came over here. And then you go. You go to. This blows me away. Is that like you can buy a cigar for $5 when that thing started in a seed in soil, sat there for God knows how many years, was plucked off, then had multiple hands put it together, roll it, and then shipped over here. Like all the work that went into building that one little piece. Absolutely. You know, it's fascinating that they're not more expensive.
- [15:55]
B
I was just gonna say it's an art form. You can definitely feel the energy of the. Of the artist that created it.
- [16:01]
A
Yes.
- [16:01]
B
The entire. It's almost like. It's like. It's like the. The. To me, I always think of winos with her stories, but I absolutely get it when it comes to cigar.
- [16:09]
A
Yeah, it's very similar. We actually, we spun off another brand. So we have Greenside Cigars. We have this other company called Obvious Cigars. So, yeah, the point of Obvious was like, well, obviously they're cigars. But we wanted to. How do we get off the golf course and get into other locations like cigar bars, where golf's not as prevalent? Right. And what we want to do is communicate the art and the quality of the cigar. So we built the labels that just tell you exactly what each layer of tobacco comes from and what kind of notes to expect. And is this a strong or a mild cigar? Is there something sweet in there that I should look for? So it's really interesting because if you've never had a cigar before and you walk in, you're very dependent on the tobacconists and steer you in the right brands, the right direction, because you don't know any of these brands. They don't tell you what they're like. And they could have some strong ones, they could have some owl. As you pick the wrong one for the first time, you're going to say, cigars aren't for me. Right. But if you're married with the right one, the right time, and your profile can kind of change. Yeah, it's a lot easier if we actually say those on the label. So we have. We have started that just for that reason of like, hey, look at the artifacts in here, the soil types, you know, the climate it was in, the tobacco, how long it was aged, you know, what style of tobacco, the notes to look for. And that's when I think you. If you light a cigar and you take in all those things and you try and profile it, it's phenomenal. I mean, and then you mix it with a drink, you know, the drink will change the Cigar palette, too. So, like, I may love that cigar, but then I'd have this whiskey or this bourbon with it. Now it's a totally different experience, and
- [17:36]
B
it's a beautiful thing. I've had cigars in Japan, and it's just like you're. You're with a host and you're. It's a whole different dichotomy. Like, there is a level of. Of like. I wouldn't say bureaucracy, but there is a level of like, you know, not greater than doubt. But when I worked at PlayStation, everyone was very Japanese.
- [17:52]
A
Yeah.
- [17:53]
B
So, you know, you walk into an elevator, and if you're the.
- [17:56]
A
The.
- [17:56]
B
The youngest one there, you have to, like, order a floor. Sorry, I'm going on a tangent here. I guess what I'm trying to land on is cigars are very much a cultural thing across the globe.
- [18:06]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [18:06]
B
And it's.
- [18:07]
A
It's. I don't want to say, like, you know, cigarettes got slapped because they were cool.
- [18:11]
B
Sure.
- [18:12]
A
But cigars are kind of cool. If you go to a wedding and you're like, hey, let's get these five guys and we step out and have a cigar to celebrate. Right. Let's take it in. Let's talk about where we're at in life, you know, and how we got here and. And just, you know, reminisce a little bit. That's. It's. I've always said it's not about smoking cigars. It's about the experience I'm doing when I'm smoking a cigar.
- [18:31]
B
Right on. Ty, you seem like a pretty smart guy. We're obviously here, thought bubbling here, and we're. We're manifesting. Where do you think all of this cigar talk, branding, this perceived notion came from?
- [18:43]
A
Oh, man, I don't know. I mean, mine came from an experience, right? So, like, we were playing golf one day and we. This was six years ago. And, you know, I'm married, three kids, got a lot of friends that are married. You don't get a typical Saturday to go out and play golf very often with your buddies. So we did that day, and we were not very good at golf because we were just kind of getting started. And on one of the holes, we all happened to birdie the same hole. And so that never happened. Like, when you're bad at golf, you probably won't have a birdie for an entire year, Right? So the fact that we all suck and we all made really good on that one hole, we were like, let's party. Like, let's celebrate. We're all in good moods. Yeah. So we get to the next hole, and my. One of my buddies pulls out a cigar. He goes, when I make birdies, I celebrate with a cigar. And so he cuts that open, and I'm not doing cigars very often. Once a year, you know, fantasy football, drafts, weddings, that kind of thing. Bachelor parties. But the smell of it, being outdoors, I'm like, man, that's a perfect way to celebrate. Do you got another one of those? I'll celebrate with you. I made a birdie too, remember? And I was like, I'll pay you for it. He's like, no. He's like, this is my. My only one. He goes, I normally carry more in here. They're called my birdie stogies. He's like, I just. I leave them in my golf bag ready to birdie. I pull one out, but this is the last one I had, and this one was probably old and dried up and no good anyways, but it smelled good. So we go on and, you know, we go back to double bogey and making bad scores, and I'm getting mad again with my golf game, but he's still happy as a clam because that cigars lasted him four more holes, and he's still celebrating. And I just remember a week later, I'm like, you know, why did we not think or why were we not reminded to get cigars before we left out? You know, like, if somebody in that clubhouse would have said big sign cigars, like they do alcohol.
- [20:23]
B
Yeah.
- [20:24]
A
You know, they missed out on four, maybe more cigars, we would have bought for sure to take out there and reload. So our thought was like, well, how do we. How do we get that?
- [20:32]
B
How do we get that?
- [20:33]
A
How do we change that? You know? And yeah, sure. The easy answer is you could put a sign in there somewhere, or you come out with a company that's golf branded. That makes you think about golf and cigars more like we did.
- [20:44]
B
Right on, dude.
- [20:44]
A
Yeah.
- [20:45]
B
It's funny that you've just created an amazing brand and you already. It's product market fit to its finest. How can people learn more about your journey? Like, where can people find you?
- [20:54]
A
So greensidecigars.com we have a. We have an about us. We've got our whole story documented that you can actually see pictures of the holes. We were on pictures. Yeah. No way. We documented. We documented. That's what you got to do. So you go on there and read our story. You can read all about our cigars. We've actually spun off a nicotine pouch company from this as well. So you'll see those on there. You know, that came from a request from golf courses saying, hey, love cigars. But these nicotine things are really, we're getting requests for them.
- [21:23]
B
Dang.
- [21:24]
A
And so we're like, well, we tried to partner with somebody and distribute for them, but the margins weren't there and the quality and the quantity wasn't there. So we're like, we'll just start around with that. So you can go look at nukes. Nukes has taken off very well as well. You can find those at all of our golf courses that sell our cigars. But, yeah. Greensidecigars.com Very cool.
- [21:40]
B
Right on. That was quite the chat. Ty Murphy, my friend, thank you for your time and energy. I'm very stoked for your interview with legacy makers with KO Fi. With that, this concludes yet another episode of the Living your legacy podcast for inside Success. This is Ty Murphy and I'm Ray Gutierrez. Have a good night.
- [21:57]
A
Thank you.