The article I read was about a woman run mezcal business called Yola Mezcal. The main focus of the article is Yola Jimenez, who started the company. She was born in Mexico City but her grandfather started distilling mezcal for fun but it grew into a business. All the agave is still grown in Oaxaca and from growing to distributing the mezcal is mainly made by women. The article quotes Jimenez saying “some of [workers] are the granddaughters of the distillery’s original workers.” This shows how much the mezcal business is a part of the culture, that it is more than a business but a part of society.

Yola Jimenez

The business spans the US-Mexican border with all the agave being grown in Mexico but the company being run from Silver Lake, LA. Jimenez runs the business with two other partners Lykke Li and Gina Corrnell Aglietti. Each partner running a different section of the business but Aglietti is the CEO of the company. The article also quotes Aglietti discussing the sales plan saying “we brought it up in an informal way, we brought it up as a family.” This choice of quote by the author shows how much of a family this company is and these three women who run this company. The article mentions a music festival organized by the company called Yola Día which had an all-female line up (including Megan Thee Stallion), was organized by women, and women lead security teams.

A bottle of Yola Mezcal ($69.99)

This article does not really focus on Mexico, more on the company itself. It was interesting how they are highlighting the business success in the US and less on the women in Mexico and the cultural significance. The article discusses how this was Jimenez’s grandfather started the discusses but not what it means to the culture.

In class we have been discussing Díaz who is from Oaxaca which is where Yola Mezcal has its farms. I know this is a bit of a stretch but I think it is a funny coincidence. The company’s website explains more about the importance of distilling Mezcal to the culture which informs us of the cultural background of Díaz. In class we also have mentioned the importance of women in the revolution so it is interesting the parallels between the strong women in the revolution and the women who run this company.