The man who named it Gold Medal
Dan O’Shevlin has built nine companies, flown Air Force rescue missions and studied medicine in New York. His most personal venture began with two recipes his family carried from County Armagh.
Before his vodka had won a single award, Dan O’Shevlin put the words “Gold Medal” on the label. It was a bet, and in 2015 it paid off. Bonn Óir Gold Medal Vodka took gold at the International Craft Spirits Competition. Bonn Óir is Irish for gold medal, so the name had been a promise from the start.
Naming the result before you have it is how Dan has worked for more than three decades. He has done it as founder and CEO of nine companies. He has done it as the turnaround executive that failing corporations call. And he did it as a grandson who agreed to finish a job his grandfather started more than a century ago.
Before the boardroom
Dan’s path to business started in the sciences. At the University of Miami he studied biochemistry and quantum physics. He then went to the School of Aerospace Medicine and graduated valedictorian of his class. His research there looked at how hypoxic hypoxia and vertigo affect the human body at high altitude and mach speeds.
That work caught the attention of the United States Air Force, which recruited him. He served four years attached to the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. He flew sorties and took part in real rescue and recovery missions aboard UH-1 helicopters. He was honorably discharged so he could continue his studies.
Those studies took him to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Columbia University in New York. There he pursued advanced work on the human body, quantum mechanics and theoretical physics. The research produced the first of what would become thirteen inventions brought to market. It also gave him his first job as a chief executive.
Nine companies
Dan’s first CEO role was at a medical manufacturing company built around his invention. He took it all the way to a successful exit. Since 1992 he has planned and launched nine companies as CEO, in medical manufacturing, research and development, patient care, entertainment, and food and beverage.
He has also proven himself in the harder job of rescue. Three struggling corporations recruited him to reverse their negative cash flow. He brought each one back to a positive return. In one case the return on investment reached 233 percent within six months.
The method behind the numbers is simple, and Dan repeats it on purpose. He hand-picks his team. He sets the highest standards of quality and integrity and holds everyone to them. He plans the exit from day one. Then he does it again. He calls this his “rinse and repeat” policy.
He only asks that his people bring the same fire and passion he brings. In return, he gives them a seat at the closing table.
The seat at the closing table
Talent sits at the center of that policy. Dan recruits young entrepreneurs who want to be mentored, and grooms loyal employees to help him in management, sales, marketing and project management. He is known for spotting talent early and rewarding people for what they contribute.
In 1996 that meant something few employers would attempt. Dan sent 60 of his 128 employees to Atlanta for three weeks, all expenses paid, to see the Summer Olympic Games in person. Gestures like that are why so many people stay with him from one venture to the next.
A recipe from County Armagh
In the fall of 1916, a young man named Philip Joseph O’Shevlin II left his family and County Armagh behind for America. He brought his faith, a dogged determination and a closely held family recipe. His dream was to build a new life in the United States and make his own Irish spirit.
He did not live to see it. After a long battle with cancer he died, leaving two distilled spirits recipes to his first-born son. That son, Dan’s father, asked Dan to finish what the elder O’Shevlin had started. Dan had spent years in biochemistry, research and development. He was also a loyal son and a devoted family man, and he said yes.
He set out to make the first Irish-American vodka, along with an Irish-American whiskey, here in the United States. The family spirits would reach the market through the O’Shevlin Importing Company in Dallas.
Building Bonn Óir
Bonn Óir (pronounced bän ôr) is made from the top grain of soft white wheat and pure glacial water. The family method uses continuous-column distillation and its own filtration technology to deliver an ultra-smooth taste and a clean finish. The vodka is all natural and gluten free. The company billed it as the first true Irish-American vodka.
The gold came in June 2015 at the International Craft Spirits Competition. In that competition, panels of industry judges taste entries blind from independent producers around the world.
“Our family is so proud to be recognized by the industry for this international gold medal award for our vodka. It has been my dream to bring our grandfather’s recipe to fruition.”
Two weeks later the company launched Irish Fire. It is made with Bonn Óir vodka, infused with natural cinnamon sticks and finished in toasted oak barrels. The result is a deep red, 76-proof spirit with notes of caramel and a fiery finish. At the SIP Awards, where consumers act as the judges, Irish Fire won the Platinum Award for taste against 423 entries. It also won a silver medal for its retro flask bottle. A third expression, Bonn Óir Lite, has 40 calories per serving.
Bonn Óir went on to win 21 gold, triple gold, platinum and best-of-show awards in international competition. The spirits went on sale in stores and appeared on the menus of well-known Dallas restaurants, including Nick and Sam’s and Ocean Prime.
Serving those who served
Dan never left his Air Force years behind. In 2017 he founded the United Services Academy in Richardson, Texas, and became its CEO. The academy helps military veterans move into the civilian workforce with the skills and mindset to thrive there.
His medical background shaped another venture, the NMA Academy. It offers a hands-on, two-week course in aesthetic injectables for practitioners who want to offer the service right away or grow their careers.
Home field
Away from work, Dan spends his time in McKinney and the north Dallas area. He mentors young entrepreneurs, supports efforts to help the homeless, and coaches girls’ softball from developmental to select leagues, ages 6 to 14.
He coaches the way he runs a company. He teaches hard work, integrity, loyalty, support for your teammates and focus on the task at hand. His teams have won championships year after year.
The values are the same whether the setting is a boardroom, a distillery or a softball diamond. Pick good people. Ask a lot of them. Reward them well. Then put the goal on the label before you start.