‘There have been Sundays when I wished I could just sit on the couch and look out the window at the rain’

As a young child growing up in Cork in the 1980s, Andrew Fitzgerald displayed an early aptitude for sales and marketing. Back then, it was about plying his mother’s home-baked goods with great enthusiasm to local shopkeepers. He knew his market well and kept it satisfied.

“I remember telling my mother that she had to have cakes ready for the shops on Saturday,” he says. “I would merchandise the shelves and make sure her cakes had the best position.”

It developed a lifelong passion for selling fast-moving consumer goods. The 46-year-old, a graduate of Cork College of Commerce and Munster Technological University, has honed his skills over the years marketing alcoholic beverages on both sides of the Atlantic.

A move to San Diego in 2014 on a green card led to a position at Heineken, having previously worked with the brewer in Ireland. This led to a new life for himself and his wife, Jane. The couple are now firmly rooted in the southern Californian city with a four-year-old son, Alfie, and have just secured their US citizenship.

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Fitzgerald moved on from Heineken after about a year when a friend in the business suggested a suitable opening.

“He introduced me to a company called Mike’s Hard Lemonade, who were looking for a key account manager. I spoke to them and got the job. It involved talking to huge retailers – the equivalent of Tesco and Dunnes – for the western half of the country. One conversation might lead to having our products stocked in 400 stores, but they would need to know how you would support them to sell your brands. It was a great challenge, and I really loved the job.”

[ ‘With my surname, everyone assumed I was German and fluent in the language. I hadn’t a word’ ]

Fitzgerald played a leading role in the launch of a product called White Claw Hard Seltzer, which became the best-seller in a rapidly growing drinks category. White Claw, a drink combining sparking water and alcohol, is now a $2 billion global brand.

“Launching the product involved me sitting in a boardroom presenting a new concept to retailers. It brought me back to when I was nine years of age in SuperValu Midleton telling people how great my mother’s cakes were – ‘You must stock them’.”

“We executed, we sampled the product, we educated the market, and I built my reputation on that,” he adds.

Fitzgerald has made a number of career moves since and has launched alcohol brands for other firms, including Costco. He is now national account manager for a Canadian firm that markets canned cocktails under the Club Tails brand.

Fitzgerald is highly driven. “I probably would have been a workaholic in the past, but I think I have the balance right now, especially since I’ve become a dad. We’re enjoying Alfie and that’s opening up a new world to us all.

“It’s a very vibrant culture here and very positive. It’s Ameri-can – not Ameri-can’t, and that is very infectious.

“There are some things I scratch my head about, though. You really are on your own and you must find your own way. There’s no help from anyone. You learn to accept that but it’s very different from the way it is in Ireland, where the government is very involved in providing support when people need it.”

We’re always talking about Ireland, which is nice in one way. I struggle with this, though, as it’s hard to live in two countries in your head

San Diego is a bustling city of 1.3 million people with an enviable climate of all-year sunshine and moderate temperatures affording ample opportunities to enjoy its beaches and parks. The downside is that this has made it one of the most expensive cities to live in the US, with sky-high property prices.

The family rents a house in the suburbs while continuing to rent out the former home they still own in Ireland. They enjoy a good, active, outdoor lifestyle.

“I do miss the different seasons that we have in Ireland. There have been Sundays when I wished I could just sit on the couch and look out the window at the rain.”

A huge influx of workers crosses the border every day from Mexico and returns each evening. A former colleague of Fitzgerald’s at Heineken made this trek every day with a two-hour queue at the border until the Irish man convinced his employers to organise the background checks so his colleague could get a Sentri (border) Pass. “He still thanks me for this many years later,” says Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald and his family have enjoyed their share of ups and downs over the years, and he has captured his experiences and live lessons in a book called How Did I Get Here? It details the genetic cardiac condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome he was born with, which led to a near-death experience of having to have his heart stopped and restarted in 1999. The couple also suffered four miscarriages before Alfie was born.

The Cork man does miss many aspects of Ireland.

“I call it the three Fs – family, friends and familiarity. Married to another Cork person, we’re always talking about Ireland, which is nice in one way. I struggle with this though as it’s hard to live in two countries in your head. You have to get stuck into life here.

The couple will have their naturalisation ceremony days before Christmas. “Having now become US citizens, I think we’ll probably feel an extra sense of belonging here.”