Sydney Block Followed a Passion to Launch a Mezcal Brand

The job on Wall Street fell short for Sydney Block. She wanted to follow her fiery passion for sustainability and something bigger. But, as she describes it, she was just a “cog in the system.”

It just didn’t meet up to expectations and she had unfinished business as an environmental science major with a love for Mexican culture. So she left and poured her soul into something new: her mezcal company.

Sydney cultivated Catedral de mi Padre, a brand that brought together her love of community and family, her desire to create a sustainable and artisanal product, and her appreciation for Mexico and mezcal.

As the owner of a woman-led mezcal business, Sydney puts all of her talents, experiences and her whole spirit on the table. She’s gone from being just a cog to the one turning the ignition.

A Spark of Passion

When she started out, Sydney followed a passion. She studied environmental science in college with the intention of working toward sustainable products. After graduation, she took a job on Wall Street and for a few years, she lost sight of that drive to create something that would benefit the environment.

It came flooding back when she returned to Mexico with her family. She and her family traveled to the country often throughout her life, spending a tremendous amount of time exploring places and getting to know the people. In 2015, the whole family ventured to Oaxaca for the first time.

“Right from the get-go, we knew it was different,” Sydney recalls. “We fell in love with the people, the rich and diverse culture, and of course, the delicious food and drink that are indigenous and unique to the state of Oaxaca.”

While visiting her parents, who spent the better part of their year in Oaxaca for several years in a row, Sydney discovered mezcal. She got to know the handmade beverage and its artisanal and sustainable processes. In her research, she learned that the spirit existed on a strong foundation of families, often made with family recipes passed down through generations.

Over time, Sydney got to know mezcal and its cultural importance. In the process, she grew to truly appreciate the beverage and everything that goes into making it. It also stood out to her as a drink meant to be savored and sipped, in sharp contrast to her experiences back in the states.

“My peers back at home were drinking beer and shots of tequila and were doing stuff that wasn't necessarily my thing,” she notes. “I was really drawn to mezcal [and] the way people drink it. It's really to appreciate the body, the different flavors, the way that it was made.”

Into the Fire

After digging into mezcal as a beverage, Sydney became aware that she’d developed more than just a casual interest in the spirit. “I realized why I was so passionate about mezcal all along: it was authentic, sustainable, cultural,” She admits. “It’s a community and I think that that's what I was looking for all along.”

Once that was established, it made sense for Sydney to leave that job she had zero interest in and create something she actually cared about. Her drive to cultivate sustainable products and work on something important kicked in. She was going to found a mezcal brand.

Given mezcal’s history of family engagement, it made sense for Sydney to team up with her own family to launch Catedral de mi Padre. With support from both of her parents, Sydney and her father, Jeff Block, co-founded the brand and started working hard to get it off the ground.

“My parents are an amazing support team for me,” Sydney points out. "[Jeff and I are] really at the reins of this new brand, doing everything under the moon."

With no in-house public relations or marketing team, Sydney heads up everything from branding and creative to operations and supply chain. She hired a team of primarily women to run the spirits industry start-up with her at the helm.

Braving the Flames

Starting any business from scratch requires a good bit of learning. Sydney has taken that on with the same drive that led her to launch a spirits brand. Together with her father and her team, she figured out the rules, regulations, permits and legal filings she needed to create a liquor company.

Even as she was busy building the brand so that she could bring it online, rules and regulations changed around her. Spirits producers gained the ability to sell product online and Sydney stayed on top of it, juggling all the moving pieces of a brand new business.

“There's no rulebook or playbook on what things you need and what permits you need and how to go about doing anything,” Sydney explains.

Add to that navigating the mezcal industry and the spirits industry in general. Sydney categorizes it all among the many challenges she’s experienced in her journey to developing a woman-led spirits brand. But being a woman in a male-dominated space? She counts that not as a challenge but as a strength.

Kindling a Community

In fact, Sydney’s discovered a community of like-minded women who offer support and advice. “I've sought out female mentors and friends and even reached out to many female owners of spirit brands myself.”

Being able to unlock that source of guidance inspired Sydney to keep moving forward and work toward success. “Getting that encouragement from women in the industry has really made me want to continue to pursue this endeavor as a woman myself and as someone that you know can help,” She explains.

Doors have opened to Sydney thanks to her membership in the elite club of women running companies — not just spirits companies. It’s been such a boon to her career that she hopes to act as a mentor to other women. She’s already doing what she can to welcome more women into the industry.

“I try to do my part as well in hiring women,” Sydney explains. “When we do contract work, [we’re] hiring predominantly women-run businesses as well.”

Efforts like these, Sydney claims, are creating a more inclusive environment across the spirits industry.

“You see more and more that women are becoming part of the picture,” Sydney insists. “And especially in spirits, you see that a lot, and I think it's really inspiring to be part of that movement. I feel really lucky to be part of that change.”

Reigniting a Former Flame

To add to her drive to create a spirits brand that represents women, Sydney also hopes to incorporate another of her passions: environmental science.

“Incorporating sustainability into women-led businesses is extremely important and something that I have been really passionate about,” Sydney discloses. “We've partnered with a botanist who is also a mezcalero and is cultivating wild agaves, enabling us to create wild varieties of mezcal without cutting down wild agave in the environment.”

When it came down to making her business a reality, Sydney had to combine all of her passions. So now she’s created a woman-driven company that creates a spirit she loves and uses sustainable processes, a value that is incredibly important to her personally and professionally. Catedral de me Padre really represents everything Sydney is at her core.

Discover Catedral de mi Padre and so many other woman-owned, woman-operated, and woman-lead distilleries through our Distilling Women map. Do you know of a woman-run distillery that’s not on the map? Add it here.