The bottom of every bottle of Dwayne Johnson’s Teremana tequila is embossed with the letters “TIJASI” – the first two letters of his three daughters’ first names.
Sweet? Certainly. But to Johnson – a wrestler turned multi-hyphenate box office behemoth – he hopes it’s also a reminder.
“What I try to do with the girls is show them that No. 1, the world is yours. And as little girls – and little girls of color – it’s out there,” he told reporters Thursday. “You’re gonna have your struggles, and if Teremana is an example of hard work [and] creating something for people [to] like and enjoy, let it be your example.”
Johnson explained this tribute to Tiana, 5, Jasmine, 7, and Simone, 22, over a glass of Teremana Blanco (poured over ice, with an orange slice, in case you’re curious) at Mana Holiday House, a limited-engagement brand-focused experience being held in Los Angeles this weekend, in New York City on December 12 and 13 and online.
In a laid-back chat, Johnson spoke about his family, shared lessons he learned launching a business during a global pandemic and joked about his favorite holiday drinking games.
Teremana was released at the start of coronavirus three years ago. Reflecting on the journey, Johnson said launching a new brand at a time when people sought comfort and familiarity was a challenge that required throwing away their initial rollout plans in favor of something more intimate.
They set aside their marketing budget and opted to launch Teremana Tuesdays on Johnson’s Instagram account, where he’d pour himself a drink and engage with the public.
This approach, Johnson said, allowed him to “really get to know people” and “them to know me.”
“It did enable me to connect with people – community – in ways that I hadn’t before that. Then I realized, oh, let’s just start applying this now to everything else as we move forward.”
Johnson said he’s a subscriber to the idea of “the best thing that never happened” – a hard-learned lesson born from instances of disappointment over the years. But, he said, “I believe in trusting my gut and I believe in having faith.”
“Whatever’s going to happen is the thing that needed to happen at the time,” he said.
Teremana’s early marketing pivot seems to have worked out well.
The brand recently announced sales had surpassed one million cases annually, according to a press release.
“I’ve said this before…the easiest thing we could be, the most powerful thing we could be is ourselves,” Johnson said. “And it took me years…I started saying it, but then I didn’t realize the power of it until I really started…living it.”
This holiday season, Johnson said he plans to continue his family tradition of togetherness, with, of course, a visit from Santa once his young ones go to bed around 11 p.m. after doing “their best to stay up as long as they can.”
The drinking games, meanwhile, start once they go to sleep. But his favorite one?
“They wound up making my babies so…” he said, laughing, “It’s the best.”
