When Jimmie Muñoz started his business Passport Destilados, he aimed to distribute craft spirits from Mexican beverage makers in the United States, focusing on showcasing businesses owned by people in minority groups or those who would face challenges growing their businesses.
Passport Destilados was among the local business exhibitors at the Latino Pride Festival in downtown Phoenix on Saturday, an event hosted on the weekend of Mexican Independence aimed at celebrating LGBTQ+ people and Latin culture. The event was organized by the Latino Pride Alliance.
“Being a gay man from Phoenix, an event specifically focused on Latino pride lets us see there are other people like us,” Muñoz said.
In Latin culture, he said, families are very tight, and no one wants to disappoint their families, so coming out and opening oneself up to rejection or judgment can be especially difficult, he said.
“I wanted to give local artisans a leg up in the market,” he said.
One of those beverage makers, Jovy Ortega, the creator of Riablo Sotol, was a classmate of Muñoz when the two were studying at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Ortega set out to create and distribute artisan sotol, a liquor from the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, and partnered with Muñoz for distribution.