Our Story

Gray Duck was founded in 2018 by Jerry Schulz, Mark Cotter and Jamie Quesnel, along with former Minnesota Vikings captain Chad Greenway.

The company was inspired by an end-zone celebration led by Vikings Kyle Rudolph on the biggest stage: national TV. It sparked a nationwide debate on how Minnesotans play Duck, Duck, Gray Duck instead of Duck, Duck, Goose.

For centuries, people have been making their own versions of “spirits” for a wide variety of reasons. Today, some of the biggest companies around the world are dedicated to the production and distribution of various forms of alcohol. Some of our most recognizable brands are for beer, wine, and our favorite spirits. It’s big business dominated by serious players.

So who were we, just a group of friends, to think we could step in and compete with these guys? What possibly could have inspired us? Well, it was a game. Not just any game, but one that stands for more and means more than the game itself.

It turns out our game represented much more. It was about pride. It was about competing. It was about identifying things that uniquely define you and are important to you. A tradition that spoke about where you are from matters. It reminded us of friends and family and sharing good times. It was a game that felt like it was uniquely us, that we had put our own personal touch on it.

We decided to use that inspiration to start a business. One that we could do together, learn new things, have some fun, and take advantage of what made us who we are. While we named our business after that game, we are building and running it on some serious ideas: to have pride in what you do, support one another, give back to the community, never forget what really matters, and little things can make a huge difference.