Nic Roldan-The Face of American Polo
Nic Roldan is arguably the United States best polo player, the face of American Polo. He is the present leading American polo player with an impressive eight goal handicap and is currently Captain of the U.S. Polo Team. Recently, he has achieved notable career milestones. Playing in two of the world’s most prestigious events, Roldan competed in Argentine Open and won the Queen’s Cup in England- both impressive accomplishments. The Queen’s Cup is played in the presence of Her Majesty, who personally presents the winning trophy. When he is not saddled up on the polo field or working as a model for Wilhelmina, he is expanding “[his] entrepreneurial endeavors and becoming more involved in the business elements of [his] projects.”
Richard Gerding: Beyond your career in polo and modeling, what is your latest project and how did you get involved?
Nic Roldan: I have been wanting to get involved with spirits for some time now. I’m friends with the founder of one of the leading, innovative spirit brands, Matti Antilla of Grain & Barrel. Along with our other partner Diego Urutia, we came up with the idea of doing a Gin. We wanted to come up with a catchy, aspirational, polo aspect to our brand and we all share a passion for the sport of polo. It is called High Goal Luxury Gin, and it is a one hundred percent American made premium Gin with hints of mint and citrus. I am a co-founder, along with Matti and Diego, ambassador, and the face of our brand. I feel like Gin has a huge opportunity now. It is very popular in Europe, and the vodka and tequila markets have been too saturated in my opinion. We will be launching in December and are looking at a price point of around $50. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time now and am so excited to finally see it come to life.
RG: I hear you have also been working in collaboration with Revo sunglasses. What can we look forward to in that respect?
NR: Yes, I am very excited to be working on a couple of projects with them. For one, we are coming out with a pair of lifestyle sunglasses based on their Quinn model, but what I’m most excited about is a pair of protective glasses specifically for playing polo. There are many ways to get injured playing polo, but if you lose your eyes that’s it. Your career is over. So it is
very important to protect your eyes. Up until now, we as polo players have been using all sorts of sunglasses designed for other sports but none of them were designed with polo in mind. This will be a high-performance deign specifically for polo players. I am friends with the new owner of Revo, and he has been wanting to get into the polo market, so the partnership has been a perfect fit.
RG: Another endeavor you’ve been working on is interior design. What has it been like working with your Mother on some of these projects?
NR: I just finished my first Spec Home with a partner and good friend of mine, Michelle Kamine, who has built numerous houses inside the prominent Palm Beach Polo and Country Club here in Wellington, Florida. It’s a modern farmhouse design with views, incredible views, overlooking one of the prettiest holes on the Cypress course. My Mother and I have been working on other projects together. We work great together. Her ideas and mine go hand in hand. Our styles are really different, but they really compliment each other. I love being involved in the building and design process. Real estate is something that has been a passion of mine for a long time now and something that I want to get more involved in.
RG: Apparel is another business you’ve been getting involved in. Can you let us know what you’re working on?
NR: I am involved with an apparel company called Polo Gear. It is a line for polo players, and we are making apparel and gear. Fashion has always been a passion of mine so it was something I’ve always wanted to do.
RG: Let’s talk a little polo. You are working on a World Polo League with the Ganzis. How is that going?
NR: Yes, our first year was a great year for the World Polo League and the second year was becoming even better! We had ten teams, all extremely competitive. We had some of the best players in the world and it has really taken a big step forward. We have some amazing corporate sponsors this year, such as Seminole Casino who I played for with Mellisa Ganzi. Unfortunately our season got cut short due to the pandemic, so we will be here until we leave for the summer in Aspen. Hopefully we will be able to play by then, but we are just taking it day by day as of now.