Not long ago, our next guest was milling flour at a local organic grain operation. Being around grains all day and being a beer lover, inspired him to experiment with home brewing. It wasn't long after, that he and his wife graduated to whiskey distilling. That product turned out so well, it motivated them to go pro. Mike Switzer interviews Phil and Jessica Crouch, owners of Crouch Distilling in Columbia, SC.
After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.