Alex Gonzalez Featured in Orlando Voyager’s Hidden Gems: The Story Behind The Cigar Guys
Our own Alex just got the spotlight. Orlando Voyager featured Alexander Gonzalez in its Hidden Gems series, and the interview is a great look at how The Cigar Guys went from a few friends making short videos to a weekly podcast and media company. Big thanks to Orlando Voyager for telling the story. Here are the highlights, but we recommend reading the full interview on their site.
From marketing to the cigar world
Alex tells Orlando Voyager that his background is in marketing: SEO, social media, website development and video production. In 2022 he started bringing that experience into the cigar industry, building Besa Cigars and what became The Cigar Guys Podcast & Media Company “alongside friends and business partners.”
He helped start Besa with brothers Mark and Zach Nikollaj. The brand was inspired by their Albanian heritage, and Alex explains that the name represents “the idea of keeping a promise and honoring your word.” He’s honest that running a cigar business was new territory, even with cigar knowledge and experienced people helping: “We made mistakes, worked through obstacles, and learned a lot by doing.”
How The Cigar Guys got started
The Cigar Guys began creating content in April 2022, starting with short videos on social media. As the audience grew, the conversations got longer, and The Cigar Guys Podcast launched in January 2023. Alex co-hosts with Jared Burrows, Mark and Zach. As he puts it, the show has since developed into a broader media company, with weekly episodes and content that has reached millions of views across platforms.
Alex also talks about his work brokering for premium cigar brands, including Sans Pareil, Hooten Young, Bentley Tobacco and Besa, and working with retailers and lounges throughout Florida. Being on both the media side and the business side, he says, helps him understand “the work that goes into building a brand, communicating its story, and earning a retailer’s trust.”
The hard parts
Asked whether it’s been an easy path, Alex doesn’t sugarcoat it. One of the biggest challenges was learning to operate a cigar business while building one. With The Cigar Guys, the challenge was turning an audience into something sustainable. Views were encouraging, but building a loyal audience took time. Short videos helped people discover the show, while the podcast gave room for a deeper connection.
He also points to the advertising restrictions and monetization limits that come with the cigar industry, which added another layer of difficulty even with his digital marketing experience. On the brokerage side, he says lasting relationships with retailers and lounges meant “earning trust over time and following through on commitments.”
The common thread? Patience. “There’s a lot of work between starting something and making it sustainable,” Alex says, “and progress doesn’t always happen at the pace you expect.”
What makes the show tick
If you’ve listened to an episode, this part won’t surprise you. Alex says what sets The Cigar Guys apart is “the chemistry between the four of us.” The hosts are friends with different personalities, backgrounds and opinions, with experience across marketing, technology, construction and engineering. The result is humor, debate and “plenty of unexpected tangents.”
The goal, in Alex’s words: “We want listeners to feel like they’ve pulled up a chair and joined a conversation at a cigar lounge.” That covers cigar reviews, industry news, lounge culture and guest interviews, plus topics like what goes into a particular cigar, the cost of opening a lounge or building a home smoking room. There’s something for newer enthusiasts and longtime cigar smokers alike. For a recent example, check out our Episode 199 recap on cheap vs. expensive cigars.
Beyond the podcast, The Cigar Guys publishes short videos, written articles, reviews and industry coverage. What Alex is most proud of is taking something that began among friends and building it into a consistent media platform, while “keeping the personalities and friendships that made us start.” His message to readers: “the conversations and people are as much a part of The Cigar Guys as the cigars themselves.”
The secret ingredient: persistence
When Orlando Voyager asked what quality he credits most for his success, Alex’s answer was simple: “Persistence.” He talks about embracing the daily grind of making calls, following up, creating content, maintaining relationships and handling problems, much of it behind the scenes. “You have to stay committed long enough for those daily efforts to add up,” he says.
He also highlights delegation. With multiple businesses going, he says understanding everyone’s strengths and trusting them with responsibility is essential. For him, never giving up includes being willing to change how you work, whether that means a new strategy, a better process or handing something to someone better equipped to handle it.
Read the full interview
This is just a taste. Head over to Orlando Voyager to read Hidden Gems: Meet Alexander Gonzalez of The Cigar Guys Podcast & Media Company in Alex’s own words. Orlando Voyager is part of the Voyage Group of Magazines, which shares the stories of small businesses, artists and creatives.
If you enjoyed this, you might also like Alex’s recent conversation with another outlet: The Cigar Guys Featured on Taste the Dram. And you can always catch new episodes of The Cigar Guys Podcast on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Featured photo: Orlando Voyager. Quotes are from Orlando Voyager’s Hidden Gems interview with Alexander Gonzalez, published November 2026.
