The taste of the first cigar to touch Steve Mann’s lips burns deep in his memory.
“It was disgusting,” he said, laughing.
The less than desirable experience was short-lived, however. After graduating from Georgetown University, the Brambleton resident began his career as a corporate lender.
At 25, Mann was introduced to cigars and bourbon by senior bank partners.
“I fought them tooth and nail, but they finally got to me,” he said. “We still laugh about it almost 30 years later.”
Mann spent 24 years as a corporate lender and the past decade in various roles for Microsoft. He retired last year at age 54.
With plenty of time on his hands, Mann turned to his hobby of cigars, which led him down a fortuitous path he never imagined.
To read about the amazing multi-pronged cigar business that Mann has launched, the business lessons he has learned, and where his beloved stogies might take him next, click here and head over to the Ashburn Magazine website for the rest of the story.