Entrepreneur Highlights: Luke Battiloro, CEO of Vavoom Vodka & Intrepid Philanthropist
For today’s entrepreneur highlight, we’ll be covering the founder and CEO of the premium spirits brand, Vavoom Vodka, Luke Battiloro!
Vavoom Vodka has gained quite a reputation in recent months, having surpassed its goals with an astonishing 300% growth rate in the midst of the pandemic! And at the helm of the company is CEO Luke Battiloro, a man that has been referred to as the ‘entrepreneur who wears many hats’, in reference to his history working in various industries.
Luke is a go-getter that’s passionate about learning every single thing about business. In fact, he personally had the hand in the production, the design, and the marketing of his own vodka brand. And today? We’ll be getting up close and personal to figure out what makes him tick!
Luke Battiloro’s Early Career
Luke Battiloro got his start as a marketing producer that brought back major leads for companies. This is where he got the bulk of his experience as an entrepreneur. And, even now, there are still companies out there that reach out to him for help.
The experience didn’t hurt his prospects either! The most notable part of his early career is his work in the supplement industry back in 2013 — when things like diet pills, nootropic supplements, and all that had been one of the major sellers.
He spent big money on the CBD industry after that. And is even acknowledged as one of the first people to sell CBD direct-to-consumers after investing over $860,000 on marketing it on the biggest platform at the time (Facebook.)
It should also be noted that it is this particular aspect of his early career that ended up inspiring much of what he did later on. More specifically. according to Luke Battiloro himself, from an interview with Jax Daily, it was this experience that gave him “the confidence and the know-how” that he needed to start selling Vodka. It’s also why he decided to push Vavoom Vodka as a premium spirits brand that was exclusively sold online and direct-to-consumers.
The Founding of Vavoom Vodka
When Luke Battiloro was asked about how he came up with the idea of founding Vavoom Vodka, he said this in an interview with Feedvoice:
“It just came to me, and I do mean that literally. One day, I was going out shopping for some alcohol for a dinner I was invited to. I’m not the kind of guy to do things halfway, and I wanted to liven things up a bit. So, I was looking for something fun. Fun, but still nice and classy, you know? Something that would stand out.”
He goes on to say that he had been pretty disappointed with the lack of appealing choices at the time. And, because he couldn’t find the one that he had in mind, he decided to make it for himself! Setting off his journey to create ‘one of the smoothest Vodkas’ available in the market today with ferocious determination.
Breaking Barriers with Vavoom
With the plan set in his mind, Luke Battiloro then proceeded to deep-dive straight into the 30 billion-dollar US distilling and distribution industries without reserve!
Starting with designing the fine-art Vavoom Vodka bottle, which Luke Battiloro had actually sculpted by hand himself!
And then working with a vodka manufacturer with over 30 years of experience creating custom-vodka to come up with the 100% grain-based, gluten-free, and five-times distilled premium spirits formula that they now distribute directly to their consumers.
It turns out, his gamble with selling Vavoom Vodka exclusively online ended up being the best possible move for the company as well. As it is this very decision that allowed them to not only survive in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic but also to beat out their competition. Going so far as to level the playing field even with some of the bigger private equity firms that make up most alcohol brands — who, at the time, were forced to catch up to their distribution capabilities.
Philanthropic Movements | ‘I Choose to Live’
Breaking through the alcohol industry is not the only thing that Luke Battiloro had in mind for Vavoom Vodka! The next step for them was giving back to the community! Already, they had taken the time to create a message around their brand that encourages the empowerment of women. And this was just part one of their attempts at giving back and making a change in the world.
For example, Luke’s history in the supplement industry had allowed him to form connections with doctors and lead cancer researchers. This became one of the foundational supports for his nonprofit, I Choose to Live. An organization that he had founded to support cancer patients who are struggling with the effects of the radiation treatments and chemotherapy that they have to go through to manage their condition.
The organization’s mission is to help these patients with their bills and support them as they fight against cancer. For this, they host campaigns like their I Choose to Live t-shirt campaigns or create other charity components directly connected to Vavoom Vodka itself (like the Vavoom Fund).
That’s not all for Luke’s philanthropic movements either! He also regularly helps out with other organizations, like ‘The Other Side Academy’ that was founded by one of his best friends. An experience that Luke describes as follows: “I wake up every morning and ask how I can give back, or how I can pull someone up for today. The feeling that I get from helping someone is so much better than financial and material gain.”