Interview with The Mobile Cigar Lounge
In this blog, we interview Joey Mac Dizon, aka “Joey Mac,” CEO and co-Founder of the Mobile Cigar Lounge. Our interview was conducted to cover topics pertinent to the wedding and events industry. It also touches upon our personal interests in music and cocktails as they relate to cigars.
Since its inception in September 2018, The Mobile Cigar Lounge continues to create beautiful experiences and turn them into unforgettable experiences with one of the most prominent luxury items in the world, a fine cigar. The Company delivers the ultimate cigar experience in New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, and the surrounding areas at weddings, private events, and festivals.
We were introduced to the Mobile Cigar Lounge by Princeton NJ-based event planner Mary Harris of Mary Harris Events. In addition to offering a quality cigar lounge experience, we were intrigued to learn that they are a Veteran-Owned business.
Conducting the interview is Ambient DJ Service President Gregg Hollmann, noted as “GH” conversing with Joey Mac Dizon, noted as “JM.”
GH: How did you come up with the idea for the Mobile Cigar Lounge? How long has the company been in business?
JM: After serving in United States Marine Corps and later attending military college in Vermont, I became interested in entrepreneurship. I evaluated a mobile food truck business in Florida on behalf of a friend, and appreciated the flexibility of this concept and that it didn’t require a fixed bricks & mortar location. I experienced my first mobile cigar rolling service in Long Island NY, and upon closer study saw a huge market opportunity for this service in New Jersey. I was familiar with cigars from my time in the military where they were enjoyed to celebrate milestone achievements and battle victories.
We are still a young company. September 2020 will mark our second year anniversary of being in business.
GH: When did you serve in the military? How did you connect with the other two principals of the company?
JM: I served in the United State Marine Corps from 2005-2011, which included deployments to Iraq in 2008-2009 and assignments in Mongolia and Norway.
Alvaro Patrick, our Chief Officer of Marketing and Branding - we served together in Iraq in the US Marine Corps.
Miley Massed, aka “Miley”, our Chief Officer of Client Relationships, is a US Army Veteran who served in Afghanistan. He and I attended college and played rugby together in Vermont.
In addition to being 100% Veteran-owned, all of our cigar rollers are military veterans or retired first responders.
GH: Thank you for your service to our country.
JM: You’re welcome. I appreciate you saying that.
GH: It’s also very cool that as a start-up that you are able to carve up job functions to capitalize on your individual strengths. Most small business start-ups feature a solopreneur who must wear all of those hats.
JM: For sure, we’re really fortunate to have assembled this team so organically.
GH: Were you born and raised in New Jersey?
JM: Yes, in Belleville. I recently moved to Hopatcong. It’s beautiful up here by the lake. And quiet.
GH: You describe your offerings as an "experience" - tell us about what the ultimate cigar experience is like from a guest perspective.
JM: At the Mobile Cigar Lounge, we like to say that cigars are a “vessel.” The opportunity is “the experience.” Smoking cigars is a great way to bond among friends, family and community. Now more than ever, people need to come together. Our robusto cigars are 5 inches long containing premium Nicaraguan tobacco, and take about 20-45 minutes to smoke. It’s a great opportunity to spend some quality time with loved ones. At a wedding, guests can relax for a few minutes, be themselves, and “take it all in.”
GH: So that’s where all of our dancers are disappearing to after dessert! Just kidding, at a wedding it’s all about the total entertainment experience.
JM: To continue, our cigar rollers come dressed in a guayabera shirt (a functional and stylish Cuban shirt designed for hot weather) and fedora, but are flexible to wear other attire upon client request. For a typical wedding service, the artisan will roll 50 cigars for guests, also cutting and lighting them upon request. Our cigar rollers and tobacconists know that cigars can be intimidating, and are there to make guests feel at ease and to demystify the entire process. For example, they’ll instruct guests on the proper way to light up and smoke a cigar.
Few wedding attendees have ever experienced a live cigar roller. Guests are curious to learn more and experience our niche service. And because it’s so sensory - touching upon the various senses (smell, taste, touch), people tend to enjoy it more than they ever imagined. While most of the smokers are male, some brides and female guests join the cigar smoking session – or at least stop by to check it out.
Most of our wedding packages feature a two-person team with a Tobacconist and a Cigar Roller. The reason being, is that we are typically hit with a large swarm of guests around dessert time, meaning that we want to be able to accommodate guests as efficiently as possible and get those cigars lit up!
For an additional charge, customers can add customize cigar labels with their names or initials.
GH: Are there any misconceptions about cigars/cigar parties? How are guests surprised about what a cigar party is actually like, versus what they thought it was going to be?
JM: We receive a lot of comments from guests about the power of cigars to stoke up nostalgia and fond memories. For example, a female guest will comment, “while I don’t smoke cigars myself, this smell reminds me of my Dad or Grandfather.” Smoking a cigar at a wedding or event will stir up memories of other joyous milestone moments in life where cigars were present. As I like to say, you might not remember the cigar you smoked, but you remember the people you smoked it with.
GH: That’s amazing! In the musical realm as DJs, we’ve observed the same power of music to stir up nostalgia. There is an emotional connection between memories and the senses.
JM: Agreed! Also, the sensory nature of cigars is why we love to attend Wedding Expos and get in front of prospective clients. Words on a website can’t compare to experiencing one of our cigar rollers in person – seeing them work their craft, the fragrant smell of the tobacco, and so on.
GH: For a wedding, who typically books your mobile cigar lounges?
JM: Often it’s a cigar aficionado groom who seeks out our service. It’s often a perk that he can squeeze into the wedding budget. However, we also have many brides who seek to surprise their fiancée with a mobile cigar experience, and book it discreetly with us.
GH: Can you speak at greater length about what it means to be a Veteran-owned business.
JM: As a Veteran-owned business, we have a responsibility to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We strive to deliver superior customer service and responsiveness in our business, serving as a role model to the Veteran community at large.
On top of that, we donate 5% of our gross sales each month to charity. We rotate these charities each month. For this month, we’re donating to The Mission Continues, Newark Platoon. They focus on working with urban agriculture non-profits and local schools in the Newark area.
While we don’t target veterans and first responders in our marketing, many of these individuals feel strongly drawn to our services because of who we are.
Like I mentioned earlier, eight of our nine workers are military veterans, with the ninth being a retired police first responder.
GH: That’s wonderful to see you serving veterans and giving back financially to the community!
GH: So the big story in 2020 in the wedding & events business has been COVID-19. How has the pandemic affected your business?
JM: Well, in the early days of the company in 2018, we were emphasizing large events like festivals. Over time, we came to realize that festivals were time and labor-intensive. In 2019, we decided to re-focus our marketing efforts on weddings. For a typical wedding, we have one or two staff members working for two or three hours. With this re-focusing on weddings, we began to scale up, recently hitting a milestone backlog of 100 wedding bookings! While many of them have postponed to later this year or 2021 due to COVID, we’ve been able to generate strong bookings and collect deposit money in 2020.
We’ve also used the down time to tighten up our marketing, strategic course and brand identity. I’ve personally been taking some business classes at Rutgers. With the warm summer months and outdoor nature of our service, we’ve been working more recently.
GH: Congratulations on scaling up your wedding business so quickly! The market loves you, and things will only get better once the referrals start flowing in as you work through your backlog.
GH: What type of music do you suggest while enjoying a fine cigar?
JM: Music is surely an enhancer to the cigar smoking experience. For me there is no one “go to” musical genre for cigar smoking. I like to mix it up. Some of my favorite music styles for smoking cigars are smooth jazz, crooners like Sinatra, classical music, country music, Latin music, 90s hip hop – even Kanye West and Drizzy Drake! The only musical genre that I don’t recommend for cigar smoking is EDM – it’s too intense.
Note: in celebration of this interview, Ambient DJs curated a Mobile Cigar Lounge cocktail hour playlist with some of Joey’s favorite musical genres that can be enjoyed on Spotify at https://tinyurl.com/MobileCigarLounge
GH: What type of adult beverages go best with your cigars?
JM: Similar to pairing food & wine, there are certain rules of thumb pairing cigars and alcoholic beverages. Our cigars for weddings & events tend to be mild (as opposed to medium or full-bodied), making them pair well with a lighter beer or IPA. Many cigar smokers like to enjoy their smoke with a fine bourbon, scotch or rum. I personally drink my whiskey and rums “neat” (i.e., without ice), paying homage to the original flavors created by their master distillers. Similarly, I never dip my cigars in cognac as it detracts from the original flavor imagined by the manufacturer. Did you know that on average 300 pairs of hands touch a cigar before it is smoked?
GH: I had no idea! Hey, do you have a favorite cocktail?
JM: My favorite cocktail is an Old-Fashioned using Basil Hayden bourbon and a black cherry.
GH: Yum! I love Old-Fashioned cocktails as well.
GH: are you planning to introduce any new services going forward?
JM: We recently introduced a VIP Cigar package with a personal cigar roller for up to two hours and 25 guests. This is a great option for backyard parties or for a pre-wedding ceremony smoke session while the groom is getting suited up.
For those who don’t require our mobile party services, you can purchase a box of six fine Nicaraguan cigars plus cigar cutter and lighter housed in a wood box for $65 plus shipping. For more information visit our website at www.TheMobileCigarLounge.com
GH: Sounds like a great gift idea!
GH: So Joey, what are your preferred social media accounts, and how can people book your services?
JM: Our two big social media platforms are Instagram and Facebook (both @TheMobileCigarLounge). Please connect with us! On our Facebook page, we post all of our upcoming public events such as wedding showcases, festivals, and brewery appearances.
We have a modern website at www.TheMobileCigarLounge.com You can also connect with us on Linked-in (Mobile Cigar Lounge).
GH: Your website is beautiful. Shout-out to your web designer!
JM: For package/pricing information, you can email me at bookings@themobilecigarlounge.com We offer a discount for veterans and first-responders.
GH: Thanks so much Joey Mac for your time, and wishing you and The Mobile Cigar Lounge success in all of your future endeavors. We are proud to refer your services to our wedding DJ clients, and look forward to working with you at that August wedding! (even though it’s been postponed to August 2021)
