Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Prato Zenny.
Hi Caroline, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Hello, and thank you for the opportunity to share my story.. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs and always being a very hard worker, I was a business owner at a very young age in Haiti where I owned a very successful retail store. In parallel I even helped my father run his rum (Clairin) distillery in the countryside of Leogane Haiti in my late teens. Later, I married and had two beautiful girls…But after an unfortunate event of being robbed at gunpoint in Haiti, and to keep my family safe, I decided to move to South Florida with my two precious little girls and my mom.
I left everything behind: my successful business, my house, my cars…starting my life all over again from scratch…
Being a very savvy and aggressive salesperson helped me climb the corporate ladder at a very quick pace to become the Director of two very prominent companies in South Florida. In total working in Corporate America for 20 years.
Fast forward to a January 1st, at a family dinner at my house. Through very casual conversation, an uncle of mine named Eric (my mother’s younger brother) said to me: “Caroline you have your dad here, why don’t you do your own thing instead of making so many companies make millions of dollars? Your dad has the recipe to make delicious rum (Clairin), you have the experience as well because you worked with him when you were younger. Why don’t you make your own branded rum? Use your distribution and sales knowledge and become a rum brand owner.”
That night was a sleepless night for me as I contemplated this amazing message sent to me by my uncle from no other than God… I immediately started my quest to become a female rum brand owner.
With the help of my amazing parents (who both live with me…who were were literally my mentors, my advisors) – my mom Jessy and my dad Jean (better known as Ogaro) we spent countless days and late nights that turned into weeks and even years working on the brand name, the label designs, the bottle selections and of course the perfection of my dads’ recipe from generation to generation – a smooth & delicious rum (Clairin) the native spirit drink in Haiti made of 100% sugar cane.
Finally, the rum was created, legalized and named after me – my nickname – KAKI.
In parallel of creating the KAKI RUM, I decided to become a licensed alcohol distributor which was also a very tedious and complicated task. All to ensure a great distribution of KAKI RUM… KAKI WHITE RUM was distributed personally by me in over 150 liquor stores in South Florida. Two years later – after much customer demand, KAKI DARK RUM was created and is now also available in liquor stores and online.
I remain focused and determined as I strive to put forth all my effort to bring KAKI RUM to all – as a top-notch quality rum. It’s delicious neat, and a must for cocktails with its smooth and delicious taste made with 100% sugar cane. And of course, I continue to strive and take pride in building my KAKI RUM empire as a female entrepreneur for my family for generations to come.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It was not at all a smooth ride…as mentioned above we spent long days and nights that turned to months and even years to prepare the product and get it approved…and also then becoming a licensed distributor was very difficult with multiple layers of processes and background checks etc which took a very long time.
One simple example: I had to take a risk to lease and pay a warehouse with a 12-month contract before even knowing if I would be approved as a distributor…
My label was rejected 5 times with weeks of intervals between each new submission before finally getting approved.
As for distribution, multiple liquor stores turned me down as a new brand in the market. As the market is very competitive with thousands of liquor brands…
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a very proud female rum brand owner entrepreneur.
I am proud of being able to break the barrier against all odds as a woman entrepreneur to have my own branded rum in 150+ licensed liquor stores in South Florida.
When I engage in any project be it big or small… I never let any obstacles get in my way or slow me down to achieve my ultimate goal…
So maybe we end by discussing what matters most to you and why.
Building the Kaki rum empire for my family for generations to come. Showing them, through example, that with a dream, a goal, perseverance, persistence, dedication, and hard work you will achieve success despite all odds.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.KakiLiquors.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaki_rum/
- Other: https://jensensliquors.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Kaki+rum
