Thrive Loud With Lou Diamond

What compels an American combat veteran to risk everything and smuggle suitcases of wine and vodka out of a war zone?In this eye-opening episode of Thrive Loud with Lou Diamond, Lou sits down with Sam Lerman, founder of Spirit Worldwide—a venture that’s bringing the finest Ukrainian wine and vodka to the United States while fueling life-saving humanitarian efforts back in Ukraine. Sam’s journey began not as a business strategy, but as a deployment: a seasoned military and defense industry expert, Sam entered Ukraine at the height of the Russian invasion to help equip and train the Ukrainian armed forces. But what started as a few weeks in a war-torn safe house soon turned into a life-changing mission, blending Sam’s love of Ukraine’s people, culture—and surprisingly world-class spirits—with a new entrepreneurial purpose.Key highlights from this episode:Sam’s powerful origin story: from U.S. Army service to front-line procurement and advisory roles during the Ukraine invasionThe clandestine (and sometimes come