Today we’d like to introduce you to Sammy Jay Halpern.
Sammy, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Miami runs through my veins. I’ve never lived anywhere else nor will I ever move. I’ve lived and breathed baseball until I was twenty-one when I had to make a career decision to either be drafted to play professional baseball or begin my journey into a business that my family has been apart of for generations. In the months leading up to my Junior year of baseball, I met with Coastal Wine & Spirits to possibly build out the first internship program, as their first intern. While completing paperwork for both the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays, my future flashed before my eyes and I didn’t see baseball. Thereafter during my internship, a full-time position opened up and I officially secured my role within the company. Hence the beginning of my eight-year career into the wine and spirits industry.
I started in sales and my relationships grew fast, which fueled my growth to success. I started in the Fort Lauderdale market but was quickly promoted to the Wynwood market after eight months of success. My role was to introduce Moet-Hennessy and Diageo brands, grow sales and market share and consult on the overall business as it relates to liquor sales. In 2015 Wynwood was on the brink of its boom and I am happy to claim that I was apart of it. I helped open and consulted on venues such as Coyo Taco, KYU and Wood Tavern where some of the partnerships I implemented still stand today.
Moet-Hennessey then recruited me to handle all nightlife and high energy in South Florida, managing Miami’s top accounts such as Kiki on the River, Rockwell, E11even, and Space. I worked on partnerships within venues where I was in charge of representing and activating the Moet Hennessy brands. This job was a bit different because it was not directly sales. I was now in charge of brand planning, brand execution and consumer interaction. This job taught me an entire other side of the business. My goal in this industry was to learn as much as possible to implement what I was able to learn into something for myself.
Working for the two largest wine and spirits suppliers in the world and the largest liquor distributor in the world brought me to a new project, being a partner at Happy Head Marketing. Happy Head is a full branding and sourcing company that focuses on the cannabis industry creating unique packaging and branding solutions to help make brands and ideas come to life.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No road is smooth, especially in Miami with these drivers! But in all seriousness my biggest struggle has always been being the youngest at the table. Luckily through my hard work, I had my own seat, but this table was fully of 30+ year old professionals and here I was 22 years old in one of the most important roles in the company. I kept my head down and always went above and beyond but most importantly always kept my word and was always brutally honest. Baseball taught me self-discipline that I carry with me everyday and I will forever use in my everyday life.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My new company is Happy Head Marketing where I share the business with two gentlemen whom I love and trust. We specialize in branding, brand strategy/creation and packaging with a focus the cannabis world but branching off into liquor/wine, food and cosmetics with no limits. Ryan one of my partners owned a wine and spirits consulting company for over 30 years building brands like Grey Goose and Jägermeister. My other partner Jonathan has been working in the packaging industry for 35+ years working with companies like Welches Fruit Snacks and Volvo. Together we form a trio of new and old minds looking to take over any industry we can get our hands-on. For now, we have been crazy successful in the cannabis industry working with over 300 brands bringing ideas to life, the most well known are Beboe CBD and Harmony Extracts out of Colorado. We have worked on projects that need entire brand conception, simple child-resistant packaging to now owning our own electronic vaporizer factory where we make millions of units for brands across the world.
I am most proud of my new venture with Happy Head and cannot wait to see what this company turns into but I have to bring up the fact that I was able to build and be apart of a team that conceptualized and completed a 2500+ person music festival called Raise The Dead. After traveling the world partying, I have always wanted to bring my own ideas to the Miami nightlife scene, doing something different and making it mine. In August of 2020, I will be launching my own concept built with my knowledge and experiences from nightlife in Miami and around the world. If you know me ask me about it and you’ll find out why.
What were you like growing up?
I was an interesting kid growing up, I grew up an athlete in both tennis and baseball molding me for discipline and success. Regardless I still found ways to get myself into as much trouble as possible. I grew up with my mother’s temper and always had a very short fuse, which put me into some interesting situations. Looking back on it, I wish I could tell myself to simply take a breath and digest what’s going on around you before reacting, but that’s not what kids do. Without sports, I have no idea what I would be doing or where I would be in life. I thank my parents for introducing me to sports at a young age.
Who else deserves credit – have you had mentors, supporters, cheerleaders, advocates, clients or teammates that have played a big role in your success or the success of the business? If so – who are they and what role did they plan / how did they help.
It’s cliché to say but my father deserves all the credit possible, he has been with me step by step throughout my life. He came to every baseball game he could and after began consulting me on my career in the wine and spirits industry. We talk almost daily about work and life but it turns into mostly golf and when we get to play next. The best lesson he ever taught me was to always be myself and be my own man, become Sammy Halpern and don’t be Mark Halpern’s son.
Contact Info:
- Website: happyheadmarketing.com
- Email: sales@Happyheadmarketing.com
- Instagram: @happyheadmarketing
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