Local attorney turned entrepreneur serves up a rare feminine touch for the tequila industry

“Tequila” and “grandma” are two words that don’t typically go together, but for Mara Smith, they have everything to do with one another. The founder and CEO of a new tequila brand, Smith credits her beloved late grandma Miriam for helping to inspire her business fittingly called Inspiro–which means “inspired” in Spanish.

Even though she had little formal education, Miriam–a Holocaust survivor who passed away in 2019–had “a great business acumen and strong math skills,” and passed down to Smith her aptitude for numbers. Miriam also passed down a steadfast belief in her granddaughter. “She really had the utmost faith in my abilities,” Smith said. “She never questioned what direction I would take in my career.”

Smith’s career, indeed, took an intrepid new direction when she launched her company in the fall. A former commercial real estate attorney, she gave up her legal career almost 20 years ago after she was ordered to go on bedrest while pregnant with her twins. The Northbrook-based Jewish wife and mother of three spent the better part of the last two decades as “CEO of my household.”

In February 2020, right before the pandemic, Smith dove back into the professional world, this time around opting to be her own boss. The Shark Tank aficionado with an “entrepreneurial spirit” decided to start her own company.

Now all she needed was a business idea. “I kept coming back to tequila,” she said. “Maybe having teenagers drove me to tequila.”

As she toyed with the business idea, she found that the tequila industry was dominated by men–and marketed with a male consumer in mind. Women, she said, were an untapped market. “I’d walk down the aisles of the liquor store, and the bottles were super masculine looking. Nothing seemed to be focused on a female consumer,” she said.

Paradoxically, when Smith embarked on her research, she was surprised to learn that over half of tequila drinkers are female. Many health-conscious women, Smith included, choose tequila (she prefers hers with soda, on the rocks) over other libations because they find it to be a cleaner option.

With only a tiny fraction of tequila brands run by women, Smith figured the industry was “ripe for the female perspective.” Yet, she wanted to go a step further–employing women in every aspect of the brand, from production to distribution.

That’s when she was introduced to Ana  María  Romero  Mena, a celebrated master distiller in Mexico–one of the few women in a once-again predominately male profession. With the help of Zoom and language interpreters, Smith and Mena collaborated on a taste profile attractive to a female consumer with “smooth and sweeter notes, but additive-free.

Early on in the brand development, Smith and her mother–who along with her grandma Miriam inspired Smith to launch Inspiro–were doodling ideas for a look for the bottle. Whereas tequila bottles are typically heavy, dark, and masculine looking, Smith wanted hers to have a feminine aesthetic. “I wanted something bright and light, and a sleek, slim bottle that is easy to hold and pour,” she said

Just as women inspired her to launch her own brand, Smith hopes to inspire other women on their professional journeys–including her own daughter, a freshman in college. Smith encourages her to be bold in her choices, and to pursue her dreams, just as she has. “I hope to inspire her to do anything,” she said. “I want her to know there are no limits.”

Inspiro is currently in the process of getting its kosher certification. The brand is only available online, but Smith hopes for bottles to hit retail shelves in 2022.

For details, check out inspirotequila.com .

Try this Inspiro-inspired mixed drink recipe below!

Inspiro Paloma

2 oz. Inspiro Tequila
2 oz. fresh grapefruit juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. organic agave syrup
4 oz. soda water

Step 1: Mix Inspiro Tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and agave syrup

Step 2: Pour over ice and top with soda water.

L’chayim!