Last week, I went into a certain retail establishment (that is best known for their little blue boxes) in order to purchase a Valentines Day gift for Laura.
When the kind sales lady pulled up my customer profile, she noticed my former email address–you know, the one with the “C-A-O” in it. She then asked if I worked for CAO and I told her I had. She relayed a story of how she had recently called to arrange for a tour of CAO for her and her boyfriend (apparently a big CAO fan), and she was told that the company had left Nashville and relocated to Virginia. She expressed that they were sad to learn that CAO was no longer Nashville’s very own.
She then asked me what I was doing now that CAO had vacated the premises. I told her about launching Crowned Heads–and honestly, I’m not lying here–her face lit up like a Christmas tree, she reached out and took my hand, shaking it and saying, “Well we are so proud of you and thank you so much for choosing to stay in Nashville–I can’t wait to tell my boyfriend that we are going to have a new cigar company here at home!” I completed my purchase and she handed me her card and asked that I include her on any upcoming Crowned Heads emails or news.
When I worked for CAO, one of the most often-asked questions I received was, “Why Nashville for a premium cigar company?” The short answer was and is that Nashville is where Cano Ozgener (CAO Founder) decided to start his family and subsequently, CAO. Now, 43 years after CAO was founded, if you ask me that question today I would tell you that Crowned Heads is in Nashville because of one reason: people. The people we love are here, and the people that supported us when we were with CAO have remained loyal and are here, as well.
I’ve said it before; however, it is not often that we are given a second chance to have a “do-over” (one of my son’s favorite things when we’re playing a game) in life. Now that we have that “do-over” with Crowned Heads, I feel an even bigger sense of responsibility to do it even better than before–responsibility to ourselves, our families, our city, and to you–our future Crowned Heads customer.
Jon Huber
Crowned Heads
Also being a proud resident of the Volunteer State, I want to add my Thanks to you and crew for choosing Nashville.
I concur with David and also want to wish you outstanding success and happiness.
There was never any other choice other than Nash! Thank you for the well-wishes…hope we will make everyone proud.
Congrats for staying true to your roots in Nashville. The old saying is to “dance with the person who brought you” and Nashville obviously has been very kind to you.
I get a kick out of the old-school mentality that a business must be located in New York or Washington or Chicago or Los Angeles (which is usually a mentality still touted by people in those cities). We now have broadband internet in all but the smallest rural areas, we have smart phones with free long distance, we have airplanes serving even medium and smaller markets with scheduled service (and Nashville is not a small market anyway… I’m just making a point).
Keep breaking the mold. Do things the right way and the innovative way. I’ll be among the first in line for a box of the new product!
Thank you, Ted…and, yes, I’m very fond of the saying, “Dance with the person that brought you.”
We appreciate your continued interest and support.