Meet Ryan Thompson | Founder & CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ryan Thompson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ryan, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve been an entrepreneur and have loved business since I was a kid. It’s in my family DNA and it’s something I’ve always had an interest in. From lemonade stands on the neighborhood corner growing up, to whiskey tasting rooms on Bridge Street in Vail village, and many businesses in between, it’s all very fun and interesting to me. Although challenging at times, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Company just celebrated our 8 year anniversary. Although we’ve overcome many challenges to get to where we are today, it feels like it was just yesterday that we started. There have been some amazing days and there have been some really tough ones. We’re a military centric company that has many opportunities to work with active and retired soldiers through different military non-profits and organizations. We’ve learned, heard and scene first hand the affects war has on individuals. Our hardest of hard days don’t compare anywhere near what some of our soldiers have had to face and will continue to overcome in the future. We keep this in mind if and when things in business don’t seem to be going our way or if we’re having a particular hard day for some reason. We remember some of the challenges that our friends have had to endure and overcome and that keeps us motivated on a bad business day to continue to move forward. From a business perspective, if you don’t have a ‘why’ to keep you going, then your business will suffer.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well this is easy…we have so much to offer in Colorado! After picking them up from DIA we’d head straight to Coors Field for a Rockies ballgame. We’d stay at Union Station and enjoy the number of amazing restaurants in the area, including Mercantile Dining & Provisions.
The next day we’d go for a hike a Red Rocks then catch a concert at one of the most iconic venues in the world.
From there, we’d head up to Vail for a few days to catch a tour of the distillery, enjoy Vail village, maybe squeeze a golf game in and check out whatever else is going on around Vail.
Of course, we’d have to schedule a day to get on the trail at sunrise at Mt. Elbert and bag the highest 14er in Colorado. Post-hike, we’ll have to grab a cold one around Leadville and see where the state capital almost was going to be!
If we’re lucky, we’d have one more day to get on the river and do some white water rafting down Gore Canyon just so they have a crazy story to bring back home with them.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My dad passed away 2 years ago. My mom passed away 4 years ago. They were both instrumental in my business and personal development. They always had encouraging and wise words of wisdom to point me in the right direction when needed and were my biggest fans. I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today without their support and guidance. I miss them dearly.

Website: 10thWhiskey.com

Instagram: 10thMtnWhiskey

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whiskeyryan/

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Yelp: 10th Mountain Whiskey

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