I know this might sound disrespectful of a high achiever like the co-founder of Four Pillars Gin, Stu Gregor, but this is a guy who has literally created a business model where he has drunk his way to the top!

And I have actually watched him do exactly that as he went from creating a start-up PR business called Liquid Ideas in the 1990s, into making the stuff he so effectively markets now (did I say he’s been drinking his way to the top?). He did that first with a wine label called Donny Good Mac, which gave him and his partners the street smarts to eventually create a gin business with retail sales of around $35 million and has led to beer giant Lion Nathan buying half the business.

This is the stuff of most business owners’ dreams. You start a business you love, where you love the product, you have to consume it — for business purposes! — and then along comes a giant multinational who offers you a bucket load of money to help you grow it even bigger.

Now that’s something worth popping a bottle of bubbly over. But Stu Gregor has been popping bubbly for nearly two decades in business after starting Liquid Ideas with his business partner Angie Bradbury.

These two were legitimately the real world “odd couple”, where Stu was Jack Klugman and Angie was a female version of Tony Randall.

My insights on this spectacular success story go back to the early 1980s when I taught Stu at Sydney Grammar School. Not only was he a Commerce and then Economics student of mine, he also played fullback for me in the 2^nd XV, where he never really covered himself in glory in that position.

The next year when I left SGS to start a PhD and tutor at the University of New South Wales, he went on to play on the wing in the 1sts and even got selected in the GPS rep team! He could’ve been a better player for me but also I could have been a better coach!

He eventually became a News Corp journalist. After six year in that gig, he pursued his hobby — drinking and living the high life. First by getting some real wine-life experiences in Chablis in France before enrolling in a higher degree course in viniculture, which sent him on the road to becoming a “wine expert”, which he’d hate me for calling him, but you can say what you like about your mates.

I’m giving you a potted history of Stuart because those who didn’t know him might have had a brush with him and might have underestimated his potential. But his story is an inspiration for anyone who wants to achieve at a high level.

That decision to study viniculture, which was followed up by him enrolling in a Masters of Marketing course at Melbourne Uni, showed at a young age that he had an inclination to hang out with the right people. And while there he found the right potential business partner in Angie, who had been a young gun McDonald’s manager. Stu struck gold as Macca’s not only pick the best to lead, they make them even better!

Liquid Ideas was founded to help fledgling wine companies in the 1990s, when some great new labels were starting to see the light of day. The pair helped these businesses get column inches in newspapers and magazines when that’s what people read before the Internet seized control of our eyeballs.

They turned winemakers into TV and radio personalities and Stu became a PR version of Len Evans, entertaining all and sundry with his theatrics and great relationship-building character. Meanwhile Angie laid down the systems that had been engrained in her from her days at the ‘Golden Arches’.

Keeping Stu grounded was his wife, Sally, who was a widely respected Fairfax journalist in her time and Liquid Ideas went from strength to strength.

But Stu always had a hankering to do more than just help flog great wines. He wanted to make wine so he paired with some well-skilled friends and Donny Good Mac was born.

This is what renowned wine expert — a real wine expert — James Halliday said of the wine:

“The improbable name is a typically whimsical invention of the three proprietors: Donny is contributed by Stuart Gregor, whose marketing and PR prowess has hitherto prevented an entry for the venture in the Wine Companion. Kate Goodman is the (genuinely) good part of the team, while Cameron MacKenzie is the ‘mac'. Kate and Cameron both work full-time at Punt Road, where Kate is chief winemaker. What started as a little bit of fun in 2002 (less than 50 dozen made) has grown to the dizzy heights of 600 dozen, utilising old-vine shiraz from the Pyrenees, and chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon from a couple of old vineyards in the Coldstream area of the Yarra Valley.”

As you can see, James knows Stu and underlines his PR prowess but he also pointed out how he has quality companions, which is a lesson for all success story aspirants.

James and his wine writings have been legendary and the aficionados lap up every word he pens. But in 2006 Stu got into the writing caper producing a book that should not have shot the lights out in sales with a title like “Don’t Buy Wine Without Me”. Marketing experts say “Don’t” doesn’t work in headlines but it worked for Stu as it became a best seller.

This is what the QDB books reviewer said about his wine guide: “The irrepressible Stuart Gregor, columnist for the Sunday Herald Sun and the Sunday Telegraph, is once more on hand to present the best Australian and imported wines available in Australia. He also includes awards for this year's best value wines and wineries, a guide to winemaking regions, an extensive glossary, full- colour bottle shots, and codes throughout. Informative, fun and user-friendly, Don't Buy Wine Without Me is fast becoming the most popular guide of its kind on the market…”

You can see how he has used all manner of media to get his company name out there and his force-of-nature personality (helped by a strong team) meant Liquid Ideas became a go-to PR team for those in wine and then food and other businesses wanting exposure.

But how did Four Pillars come along?

Did I say Stu liked a drink? Well, he says while having a gin with some mates (Cameron Mackenzie and Matt Jones) some seven years ago that they lamented the poor quality of the typical tonic water that they had to mix with their gin and resolved to make a better tonic water!

That might have been the grog talking but after some investigations into how to make a better tonic water, they realized that they were ill-qualified to compete with Schweppes and the like, and realised with their wine-making backgrounds maybe they could teach gin-makers a thing or two.

And that’s exactly what they’ve done! And Lion Nathan agrees, which is why it has backed the trio in making Four Pillars a huge international brand.

Right now, the business has been battling the perils of COVID-19, with 20% of the company’s sales in export markets and duty-free outlets especially important for the annual turnover. In an interview I conducted with Stu on Wednesday for my Switzer Show podcast, he explained that before the virus came to town, they were set to start selling Four Pillars in some of the biggest duty free shops in the world but that’s on hold until we all can fly overseas again.

Not to be outdone, Stu and his team have created the Four Pillars Lab, which combines their stills in a laboratory-like setting, along with a cocktail bar called Eileen’s.

What are the big take-outs from the Gregor success story? Try this: pursue quality with the products and services you sell, hang out with quality performers and continually work at marketing your business like your life depends on it.

And I think you have to really love what you are selling. In Stuart’s case, his efforts were a labour of love because he was flogging what he truly loves — a nice drink!

(If you want to hear Stu’s story from the ‘horse’s mouth’, go to https://switzer.com.au/the-experts/switzer-podcast/how-four-pillars-gin-became-a-global-sensation/ )