BIG Dreams
How Adam Guard took the task of educating the next generation of cigar smokers and turned it into a big business
It all started with a random TikTok.
“I was sitting on my porch smoking a cigar and thought, why don’t I try to do a review,” says Adam Guard, creator of Dreamer Cigars. “[My] first video hit 10,000 views, so I kept posting daily and within three months, I was at 50,000 followers.”
At this point, Guard says he knew he had something special, and that he wanted to do something more meaningful than just get free cigars. “That’s when I decided I wanted to be the person [who] focuses on cigar education — but not the education that you may think.
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Instead of fighting through online glut of information targeting cigar aficionados, Guard instead chose to stick to the basics — the very basics. “Forget about educating people on how cigars are rolled or even what different tobaccos are in certain cigars,” he says. “I am talking about which side of the cigar to cut, how to light it, what not to do at a lounge ... I wanted to be the one [who takes away] the intimidation factor surrounding cigars and the cigar community.”
Primarily a social media-based company, Dreamer Cigars originally started as a podcast where Guard and guests smoked cigars while discussing their dreams, struggles and stories. Today, it has roughly 93,000 followers on TikTok and has evolved into more of a cigar education company with the motto, “Transforming Rookies into Aficionados.”
“Our goal is to reach those that may have one cigar a month or just at times of celebration,” says Guard. “We want to allow them the confidence to be able to go in a shop and buy a cigar, and then be confident when smoking it without having to worry about looking stupid.”
THE “WORST OF ALL BEGINNERS”
Guard says he became passionate about helping cigar newbies because he “was the worst of all beginners. I have smoked cigars since I was 18 but I don’t think I really knew what I was doing till I was about 22 and actually did some research,” he muses. “I made all the rookie mistakes from “heating up” my cigar by running my lighter up and down the cigar before smoking to lying my butt off the first time I walked into a real shop.”
He was about 20 and “wanted to grab a stick for the weekend,” he explains. “I drive up to a lounge and sat in the car because I was so intimidated and scared to say something stupid. When I eventually walked in, I was greeted by the tobacconist ‘How can I help you today?’ This is where the lying began.”
Guard started spinning a tale about getting off from a long day at work and looking for a smoke to de-stress. “Mind you, I was in college at the time,” he laughs. “Once we entered the humidor, it just got worse: I lied about which cigars I’d had before, how often I smoked, and tried to hide the fact that I really had no idea what I was doing.”
He says he tells that story to let newbies know that he’s been there and understands the intimidation you can feel. “The good news is, with just a little knowledge, you can walk in confident that you won’t look stupid,” he says. “My best advice for beginners is to ‘put your humble hat on’ — walk into the lounge and tell [them] that you are a beginner and don’t know what you are doing. Most people will be so excited that you are new and will be eager to share all of the knowledge you are willing to take.”
Prior to starting Dreamer Cigars, Guard worked in commercial real estate. As his side hustle grew, he left his “day job” and focused on his entrepreneurial venture.
NOT ALL SMOOTH SAILING
As quickly as his business grew, Guard says there have been some roadblocks along the way.
“We were growing by the thousands daily and then just hit a wall,” he says. “At first, I figured it was just a plateau, but then I realized that others were experiencing the same thing in their social media endeavors.”
“After some research,” he says, “I found out that TikTok didn’t allow the ‘promotion’ of tobacco. At this point, we almost threw in the towel because how could we possibly survive — let alone thrive — with this sort of roadblock? Well, there is good and bad news. The good news…you can absolutely grow in the cigar and tobacco social media world. The bad news…it will be much harder to grow than if you picked a different category.”
Guard encourages anyone to pursue their passions, even if it means diving into the challenge of growing through social media. “Just know ahead of time what you are getting into,” he advises. “I suggest picking a social media platform that fits your style as your pillar platform. For me it was TikTok because I felt confident and comfortable in front of a camera and was not confident in my writing, so I avoided anything that involved that.”
“The other thing I recommend — and this might be the most important factor — is to post on every single platform you can think of,” he says. “Right now, we are posting on eight main platforms: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Spotify, and several smaller podcast apps. The reason that I suggest you do this is because you will be able to really extend your reach as much as possible, and you will be able to see which platform really takes to your content.
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Guard recalls, “Everyone laughed when I told them I was going to start posting on Pinterest, but in just two months we are now reaching about 75,000 people a month on the platform. Don’t pigeonhole yourself because you think you know what platforms are best.”
Stay one step ahead of the infamous “shadow ban” by doing your research and keeping up with constantly changing restrictions for each platform, says Guard. “I have read the terms and conditions around tobacco and related topics for every platform that we post on,”
he says. “Knowing exactly what they don’t want you to do is the first step in avoiding certain keywords and phrases [that can get you in trouble]. Remember to keep up with any updates as well — I had a couple videos taken down from TikTok because there was an update that affected my niche and I was too lazy to go read what the changes were!”
LOOKING AHEAD
In addition to the ever-evolving social ventures for Dreamer Cigars, Guard also has a few other cigar-related projects in the works.
Dreamer Cigars recently joined forces with Operation: Cigars for Warriors, and Guard now operates its official podcast to help it grow the organization that has already sent more than 1.1 million donated cigars directly to American troops serving across the globe.
Guard also collaborated on a book on cigar basics with industry giant Rick Rodriguez of West Tampa Tobacco. It is scheduled to be released before the end of the year.
“In the end, I think that eventually the tide will swing in the direction of loosening up the [online] restrictions around cigars and other related industries,” he says. “But don’t just wait for that day to come. Get in while the going is tough because there will be less competition for attention in your niche. And if anyone has questions, please feel free to reach out to me. I love helping this industry grow and would love to help you navigate the trials that come with it.”
