Scott Goldman of Party Can on Transitioning from Professional Hockey in France to Building a Serial Hospitality Empire

As a part of our series about the work ethic lessons we can learn from professional athletes (previous examples of participants), I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott Goldman.

Scott Goldman is Co-Founder and CEO of Party Can. Scott has made it his mission to bring the party and delicious drinks to people everywhere by creating the first-ever, ready-to-drink, craft cocktail in a large format, resealable can that serves up to 12 full-sized classic cocktail varieties, be it a margarita, cosmopolitan and old fashioned from the Party Can range. Scott is a serial spirits industry entrepreneur, who along with his brothers, created Party Can following the success of their other innovative companies ShakeStir, Cocktail Courier and CNI Brands, formerly known as Cadre Noir Imports, where Scott served as the President for 12+ years and successfully launched multiple liquor brands.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! It is a great honor. Our readers would love to learn more about your personal background. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up in the Philadelphia area with two older brothers and a younger sister. I started playing ice hockey when I was three because my grandfather and my brothers all played. The passion for the sport definitely runs in the family. Growing up, my parents ran a bar and restaurant that we all helped out with. We worked every position in the house, so that was my first introduction to the hospitality industry.

What or who inspired you to pursue your career as a high level professional athlete?

I grew up at the tail end of the Broadstreet Bullies ice hockey era — considered the golden age of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team. I used to watch highlights of them on TV growing up so they were a huge influence. The hockey player Bobby Clark inspired who I wanted to be as a player, he was gritty and tough. I chose to play ice at a college in Vermont, where my brothers were and together we won a national championship. Winning a national championship with my brothers was the highlight of my time in college. I still wanted to play hockey after college, so that’s how I ended up traveling to France to play professionally there.

None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?

My family and extended family have given me the most help and encouragement to be who I am today — it’s hard to pick one person, there are so many! My wife, siblings, parents and father-in-law have all played a hand. If I can only say one person it would be my wife. I remember when I called on my first bar account in NYC to try to pique their interest to stock Combier LIqueur d’Orange (the original triple sec recipe), it did not go well and the response was pretty blunt — they “needed another triple sec like they needed another !>@*** hole in the head!” When I got off the phone, I told my wife and she gave me so much encouragement and told me to just keep going — it’s only one bar, one call, there’s so much else out there.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your sports career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?

The value of the dollar (or Franc). In France, I was scraping by financially — most of our team was in fact. We were made up of a mix of Eastern Europeans, French Canadians, and Europeans. Our paycheck had a tendency to arrive late, and some Slovaks on the team complained to the coach. The next practice the coach had us line up on the side of the rink and skate back and forth the entire practice, as he shouted in broken English for all to hear “You want your money!?!? I’ll give you your fucking money. Now Skate!!!.” And then blew on his whistle, over and over and for an hour.

OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. As an athlete, you often face high stakes situations that involve a lot of pressure. Most of us tend to wither in the face of such pressure and stress. Can you share with our readers 3 or 4 strategies that you use to optimize your mind for peak performance before high pressure, high stress situations?

First of all, preparing and training beforehand helps you to perform at your best in high-pressure situations. Being disciplined helps you be mentally tough which is important to keep going. Secondly, working with your team can help you overcome stressful situations by focusing on what you have to do and how you can contribute, rather than trying to do everything which will only add to the stress. Finally, another way to optimize your mind is to know your strengths — back yourself and trust in your vision, because there will be times when there are setbacks or you get knocked down, and you have to remind yourself of your strengths to perform well.

Can you tell us the story of your transition from a professional athlete to a successful business person?

While I was playing professional hockey in the Loire Valley in France, I had a chance to really appreciate the French culture and lifestyle, particularly the food and drinks. I was introduced to aperitifs and the concept of drinking ice cold mini Kronenbergs in our locker room after each game. It felt so sophisticated and this was ultimately my first introduction to liqueurs and quality drinks.

In my first year in France, I had a chance to visit La Distillerie Combier, a family-owned distillery of the original triple sec liqueur, which was also designed by Gustave Eiffel, the man behind the Eiffel Tower lore. I was so impressed by this liqueur and the family behind it, that I needed to bring it to the United States- and was also more a chance to go into business with my brothers, a lifelong dream.

My brothers visited me on multiple occasions in France and while there were encouraging me to think of a life after hockey and to set myself up for something else. So when I left France, I kept in touch with the family at La Distillerie Combier, and continued to persuade them to allow me to bring their liqueur to the US. I was persistent and kept calling. Finally, the owner agreed to give me the rights to bring it to North America. That started my entrepreneurial journey. I always wanted to work with my brothers so we joined forces. Then I hit the pavement in New York City, right when the mixologist movement was really starting to take off with the likes of the Milk & Honey and Please Don’t Tell bars. It was the perfect time to grow interest in Combier triple sec.

Working with these bartenders, you quickly realized how powerful they were as the gatekeepers for building brands, yet there was nowhere for them to go or a tangible community for them to share ideas, recipes or market themselves. So my brothers and I created ShakeStir, almost like a Facebook specifically for the bartender community that was brand agnostic. And so my entrepreneurial journey in hospitality kept growing with new ideas building out of each venture, which led to Cocktail Courier in 2014, a cocktail kit delivery service to bring the world’s best cocktails to your door, and then Party Can in 2020.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting new projects you are working on now?

Party Can is the latest new project that we are working on that I’m excited about. We launched Party Can last year; the world’s first large-format canned cocktail line that’s designed to make craft cocktails accessible to everyone, everywhere — with 12 full-size, delicious serves in each 1.75L resealable can. We worked closely with world-renowned mixologist Scott Baird (behind the cult Trick Dog bar in San Francisco) to develop the recipes for the Triple Spice Margarita and the new expressions we just launched in October — the Cosmicpolitan (our passionfruit take on the Cosmo classic) and the Gold Rush Old Fashioned. Everyone is invited when it comes to Party Can! We use some of the best world’s liqueurs and spirits in our Party Can offerings — they’re designed to help people gather together and create their own fun speakeasy experience wherever they are. And we are especially thrilled to be launching our new Party Cans right in time for the holidays this year for gifts and entertaining.

Do you think your experience as a professional athlete gave you skills that make you a better entrepreneur? Can you give a story or example about what you mean?

Yes, being a professional athlete is physically and mentally demanding. You have to keep showing up and trying to improve and be on your A game, which are all skills you need to be a better entrepreneur. And getting out of your comfort zone is key. I think the story that best illustrates this is when I moved to France to play professional hockey. I booked a one-way ticket without having a team and went over with just a hockey bag. Everyone in my family thought I was crazy. I told myself ‘I’m going to play hockey’ so I just showed up and went to tryouts and took a chance, and I ended up making a team over there and settling in Loire Valley. It was the same when I first had the idea of working with my brothers to bring the Combier triple sec to the US, and then had the ideas for ShakeStir, Cocktail Courier and now Party Can. Every idea and venture is a similar leap of faith, and going through that experience in France taught me that I could do what I put my mind to.

Ok. Here is the main question of our interview. Entrepreneurs and professional athletes share a common “hustle culture”. Can you share your “5 Work Ethic Lessons That Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Athletes”? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Stay Consistent — you’re never as good or bad as you think you are, you’re only as good as your next game or shift. This was true in hockey and also when I worked in hospitality for my family and in college.

2. Be Present — when I was playing hockey before a game one of the rituals sometimes was to put a sugar cube in your mouth with a bit of vodka. Meaning you have to get out of your head and in touch with your senses, which helps with performance and improving your business everyday.

3. Focus on Your Own Game — don’t try to be someone else or all things to all people. Be yourself and stay in your lane. In hockey, you had to know your role within the team and it’s the same as being an entrepreneur working with a team.

4. Keep Moving the Needle and Showing Up — keep taking little steps to learn and hone your skills. Routine and discipline for training in hockey were crucial for performing well at games, and the first step for this is just showing up, which is what you need to do as an entrepreneur as well.

5. Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable — I didn’t know where I was going when I first started my business, and that is part of the entrepreneur’s journey. In hockey, you could never be complacent — you had to fight for your place in the team and on the rink in gametime as well. If you’re comfortable, you’re not learning and getting better.

What would you advise to a young person who aspires to follow your footsteps and emulate your career? What advice would you give?

The advice I’d give is to ‘dig in’, as it’s going to be a long fight. Believe in yourself and the direction you’re going. Obstacles will come up along the way, but it’s important to just keep going and you’ll get there. Stay in business and be in the game!

You are by all accounts a very successful person. How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’d say I have used my success so far to support and celebrate family-owned businesses around the world who are masters in their craft, whether it’s working with the largest co-op owned family mezcal business behind Banhez Mezcal, or bringing the original Combier triple sec liqueur to the US from an incredible family-owned distillery in France.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

If I could inspire a movement, it would be to always root for the underdog and assist those who are in need or don’t have an opportunity. I’d like to help them get on the right side of luck and give them a push to go after their dreams with my movement.

Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?

My favorite quote or life lesson would have to be the famous Teddy Roosevelt ‘Man in the Arena’ speech. “It is not the critic who counts…the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena”. I like this because it really is all about the man or woman who fights in the battle. This reflects my journey and approach in hustling to where I am today.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)

Restaurateur Danny Meyer. While opening some of NYC’s most beloved restaurants, he revolutionized the hospitality industry by setting new standards in operations. He took risks and made big bets, but never lost his vision. His path in taking fine dining to fine casual with Shake Shack motivates me with Party Can: making delicious craft cocktails fun, exciting, and available to everyone everywhere.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!