Meet Giancarlo Murillo | Business Owner & Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Giancarlo Murillo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Giancarlo, what role has risk played in your life or career?
My partner Jesse Montano and I (Giancarlo Murillo) have always seen risk as a necessary part of life, without taking risks there’s no getting ahead. You’ll never know what doors might open up for you if you’re not willing to try to knock on them. Risk has played a giant role in our lives, we were 19 years old when we decided to open up our business together in an industry where we had no guidance or mentors, only the knowledge we did have, our dream to succeed, and the drive inside of us to make it happen!

What should our readers know about your business?
My partner Jesse and I believe what truly sets us apart from others in our industry is our age and our mindset. Having only started our business at 19 years old was an extreme risk and something most that age don’t consider although we jumped right in and worked with the tools we did have. Getting where we are at business wise today was not an easy process, about a half year in things were looking very bleak. We had competitors opening up nearby us and business wasn’t going as expected. That was when we started doing marketing with KOLD and investing more into our business when most would have been trying to save their money but we believed that by doubling down on our vision we would reach the success we had planned and it planned out better than we had imagined! Now we’ve doubled our gross income from that time and still growing! The biggest lessons we’ve learned along the way is to always give yourself a chance because if you won’t then who will? One thing I’d love for people to know about us and our brand is that we’re for the community and always will be.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In our opinion the most fun place to go out in this area would definitely be the Tucson downtown area around 4th ave & Congress st. Lots of history and fun places to go out in the area! Food wise we would definitely have to go to 12th and 6th avenue down south for some of the best Mexican food in the country without a doubt! Not before we had some Lindys off of 4th avenue though! Also one of the best burger spots in my opinion (Giancarlo). Jesse also would highly recommend Pats Chili Dogs on the west side off Saint Mary’s Blvd definitely a Tucson icon! If it’s raining I’d definitely stop by 7 falls to show off some of the natural beauty we have in the area! If there’s no rain then we’d stop by Picacho Peak!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
One I do want to clarify there are two owners in our business and I’d like for us to be credited equally for our roles in the business. The two owners are Giancarlo Murillo & Jesse Santana Montano. We’d love to give a big shout out to all of our fallen angels on this journey, Jesse’s father, my Grandmother (Giancarlo), & our great friends Chandler Hartley, Kyle Hance, & Alex Sanchez who all passed away during the time we had been open for business. All very important and special people to our stories and forever in our hearts.

Website: www.tucsonsmokeshop.com

Instagram: @aromasmokeshopaz

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