Year-End Letter from Shawn, Co-Founder of PKGD Group
I spent a large part of this year standing in the middle of places where the ground is literally changing beneath people’s feet. At El Pandillo, where G4 Tequila is crafted, almost every corner is under construction — welding, dust, new machines, new tools, new walls, new employees, new responsibilities, and a new scale of ambition. Growth shows up wearing a hard hat, not a celebration jacket.
In the next moment, I watched Ale García direct her first full-scale production shoot, leading her team with clear vision and creating an incredibly beautiful film that will live long after today’s challenges fade into memory. That contrast captured the spirit of PKGD today. We are building, and we are becoming.
This year taught me something uncomfortable and valuable. Even when every light is green and opportunities surround us, not everyone will experience it as success. Some will see stress before they see possibility. Some will notice what is missing before they recognize what is emerging. I used to believe that once we won the big battles, everyone would feel the same joy at the same time. Now I understand that leadership requires holding multiple emotional truths without losing direction or compassion. Pressure means we are alive. Demands mean we are trusted. And discomfort means we are growing.
The Compass of Authenticity
One of the clearest images in my mind is Sergio Garnier standing in the wild desert of Durango with Mezcal Ultramundo. Cameras do not capture the wind. Photos do not record the exhaustion of remote production. Words do not carry the full weight of what it takes to make a spirit in such an unforgiving environment. When I think about “authentic storytelling,” I think of the people who have chosen the hard way because it is the only honest way. That is what we stand for when we say producer owned, world class, and transparently made. Those are not marketing lines — they are the coordinates of our moral compass.
The essence I protect most fiercely is our producer-owned identity. If PKGD vanished and I had to save only one thing from the fire, it would not be a video, a logo, or a bottle. It would be our commitment to the people who make these spirits with their own hands, on their own land, with their own families. We are not here to build a catalog. We are here to build opportunity — to create the moment when someone looks back and says, that project changed my life.
This year reinforced my belief that our future is not defined by scale but by alignment. I no longer hold the illusion that the largest players in this industry are meaningfully committed to the purity of the craft or the well-being of the producers. Profit became their compass, and once that happens, you stop noticing how far you drift. That realization did not make me bitter; it made me bold. Because clarity is freedom.
A Family Across Borders
The opposite of that world is the one I see every day inside PKGD. Our Mexico creative team surprised and inspired me — individually and as a collective. Logan learned at lightning speed under Renee. Jeff cared enough about me to protect my confidence as fiercely as my vision. Mark and Chris showed that sales success can grow without sacrificing integrity. And together, all of us became un gran familia con muchos, muchos primos in two countries, working side by side to build an opportunity that travels across borders and stays rooted in truth.
If you ask me what I want people to believe when they see the PKGD stamp, it is simple:
You no longer need to research. The bottle in your hand is world class, fairly priced, and made by the people who deserve to own the story.
For most of my life, I worked hard but never felt deep pride in what I was building. This year changed that. I have never felt more aligned, more challenged, more supported, or more proud. I finally know what it feels like to do work that matters in places that matter with people whose hearts are pure. We are not perfect. I am not perfect. But sincerity, honesty, and effort are no longer negotiable for me. We work every waking minute to create success for every person touched by PKGD. That is the promise that closes this year and opens the next.
We are not just building a business.
We are building opportunities.
We are building a legacy.
We are building a family.
And the best work is still ahead.
