As a veteran of the alcohol industry and an aristocrat of New York City night life, Ciroc national director Nick Storm has seen it all. His experiences as a marketer for both his current brand and his last, Hpnotiq, have seen him tackle tasks from modestly selling liqueur door-to-door, to hosting parties for celebrities and taste-makers in Manhattan, as well as everything in between.
But for a man who has proven such a success and seems like a perfect fit for the role of a marketing guru, it might be fascinating to consider that Storm's path to his current status wasn't the one he expected to take -- rather, the Harlem native was swayed over a decade ago by the brilliance of a man with whom he would soon form a strong partnership.
"I met Raphael Yakoby [creator of Hpnotiq] in 2000, when I was still working in the music business," Storm told Elite Daily contributor Niiaddo Quaye. He presented me with a product, which he had just came with from France, and offered me the opportunity to join him in kicking off the brand. I immediately fell in love with the product, and although my passion was always to be in music, I knew this opportunity could not be passed up. I couldn’t resist!"
Since entering the industry, however, Storm has looked anything but out of place, swiftly achieving monumental feats with both of the alcohol brands with which he has worked. After beginning his career with a relatively unknown Hpnotiq, Storm helped the notoriously blue drink reach over a million in case sells in three years before switching affiliations. After he received a call from Sean "Diddy" Combs to hop on board a project, which has proved very lucrative thus far, Storm repeated the same accomplishment with Ciroc as he had at his previous position.
The New York native of course emphasizes the qualities that are universally recognized as prerequisites for good fortune when he expresses his appreciation for how his past has affected him, "I would have to say they have both taught me a lot. Hard work, dedication, and drive had to be put behind both brands."
Storm also admits that a major reward of his career came after he took one of the biggest risks while working with Hpnotiq.
"I would say the turning point would have to be when I took a gamble by using the little money we had and putting it towards a music video for Fabolous, P.Diddy, and Jagged Edge," he told Quaye. "This music video then became a #1 hit, and it had finally come to me that cities and states were calling for the brand. At that point all my hard work and the huge risk which I had taken for the brand had began to pay off."
Since then, Storm has been able to enjoy his time with brands that have established themselves as some of the most popular in Hip Hop culture, while also having what he regards as the privilege to work with one of the industry's biggest icons, Diddy, whom he credits as a great visionary, leader and motivator.
But while he respects the biggest figure of his company, Storm is looking onwards and upwards to when he will be regarded as his own boss.
When asked about the goals he's set for himself for the next few years, Storm quipped, "I set goals for myself everyday!" before going on to discuss one aspiration that is unlikely to change by his daily brainstorming of ambitions. "...In the next few years my plans are to continue striving and fighting for my ultimate goal which would be to own my own brand one day."
Regardless of when he will achieve that mark and what such a success would look like, Storm is likely to go after it tenaciously and relentless, simply because it's just in his nature to do so.
"I want people to know that I am a man that never took 'No' for an answer," he said. "I didn’t know what the words 'giving up' meant!"
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