DAVE WILLIS
Age 35
Occupation Cofounder, Bully Boy Distillers
Residence Jamaica Plain
WILL WILLIS
Age 39
Occupation Cofounder, Bully Boy Distillers
Residence Sherborn
What were you doing before Bully Boy?
DAVE Will was in real estate and I was an unhappy, disgruntled lawyer.
Your bottles are beautifully designed.
DAVE We wanted to create a bottle design that mirrored the image of our company. We’re a craft distiller. We grew up on a farm in Sherborn, and we grew up working on the farm, so we wanted something that was real. Not frosted glass, not one of these bottles that has a slick image behind it.
Advertisement
And you two spend a lot of time out and about — around Boston and on social media — as the faces of the brand.
WILL Looking back at earlier role models, one of the ones we always think of is the Nantucket Nectars guys — Tom and Tom. You felt like when you were drinking a Nantucket lemonade, you were like, Tom squeezed this. I know this guy! My brother and I have tried to build that connection. People post to our Facebook wall and we respond. You post on Smirnoff’s wall, you’re probably not going to get a response from Mr. Smirnoff.
Do you dress like "the Bully Boy guys?"
DAVE The clothes we wear, we wear because we like them, not because we’re trying to project something. — Rachel Raczka
Interview has been condensed and edited. Send comments to magazine@globe.com.