Smokecignals LLC, Born From Bad Juice

On March 4, 2010 I bought my first electronic cigarette. It was a simple cigalike that was par for the course at that time, and it didn't take me long to upgrade. I got an Ego kit a few weeks later and gave up the analogs. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot available for good liquid at the time. What was out there was overly sweet or plastic tasting. I did some research and started making juice for myself.

I had turned friends on to vaping, and over the next year, my personal juice making was being shared with them. I was a full-time restaurant manager with a kicked habit and a product that I knew that I loved.

I set up a clean room at home to accommodate my new mixing endeavor and before long decided that I would give it a try as a business. I launched smokecignals.com in June of 2011. I was still working my restaurant job and staying up all hours of the night developing flavors and filling orders. I realized that hardware would need to be a part of the website, so I placed an order for the Smoke Tank - Smokecignals' branded ego-T. As orders started coming in, I realized that working 50 hours a week for the man, and another 50-60 for smokecignals wouldn't work. I left my job as a manager and took a part-time gig waiting tables. My then fiance was a wreck over this. I can't say that I blame her, but the orders kept coming in and the demand for my time got greater...


...And Then It Almost Died

I was set to get married in October of 2012, and I knew that I needed a blitz of things to happen to get out of the restaurant, and make smokecignals the reality that I had hoped for.

I decided to run a buy one get one deal on the site, and orders came pouring in. I was swamped working through all of the orders and getting them out to customers. Then a hurricane popped up in the Gulf of Mexico and it was headed straight for us.

Being born and raised in New Orleans, you think you have a pretty good idea of when to worry about a hurricane and when to freak out. Well Hurricane Isaac didn't look like much of a threat (we get thunderstorms in the summertime that are nearly as bad as this was projected to be). The problem, as it turns out, is that this storm didn't want to leave. It ended up being a very slow moving system that crippled the city for nearly a week.

I had no electricity for 8 days. Realisticly, I should have been able to mix without power, but the fact that the temperature was above 95 degrees all day, I was sweating like a pig and it would have been very unsanitary for me to fill bottles. Some customers understood the setback and the time it took for them to get their orders, others got angry. There were many cancelled orders and refunds. More than a few customers never came back, and money got really tight really quickly.

My heart was set, though. I was leaving my job at the end of the month and I would make it work!

Retail Store in New Orleans

I signed a lease, three days before I got married, to open Louisiana's first vape shop. The doors opened for business a month and a half later, and it's been great.

It didn't take long before I needed help and Josh the Vape Ninja came calling and has been by my side ever since.

Smokecignals now has four retail stores, a wholesale division, and a website that gives us the opportunity to offer our products all around the country. At the time of writing this I have a team of 32 great employees, a beautiful wife, and a customer base of absolutely wonderful people, and I am so thankful for all of you.

A lot has changed over the last five years since this journey began for me, but my mission has remained the same. Offer great products at great prices with exceptional customer service and attention to detail.







No More Bad Juice,




Anthony













June 19, 2013

Smokecignals, LLC

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