James Miles is the Chairman, Managing Director, and Co-founder of Liv-ex, the leading marketplace and data source for secondary sales of fine wine. Liv-ex has a membership that spans across 560 wine companies from 43 countries. Members can trade confidently and anonymously with other wine businesses worldwide. James attended Harris Manchester Colle…

Sarah Shadonix is the Founder and CEO of Scout & Cellar, a Clean-Crafted™, woman-founded and led winery that has created a higher standard for how wine is made by creating a more authentic, sustainable, and delicious approach to the wine-making process. After several years of practicing commercial litigation, Sarah decided to pursue her passion for…

Bryan Monteleone is the Co-founder of Drinkubator, a company that lives at the collision of beverages and technology and leverages digital strategy for spirits, RTDs, wine, and non-alcoholic brands to help them make better business decisions based on live data and analytics. Bryan oversees business development and relationship management and brings…

Anna Lundstrom and her husband founded Folksy Hard Kombucha, a better-for-you alcoholic beverage that’s more thoughtful and more enjoyable. At Folksy, they are committed to pure ingredients and honest practices that put people and the planet first. Their better-for-you alcoholic drink is made from a light combination of organic fruit juices and nat…

Carlos de Jesus is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Amorim Cork, the largest cork producer in the world. He played rugby at the national level before cutting his teeth at Breakstone & Ruth LLP, a leading New York-based investor and shareholder relations firm where he worked in media and investor relations and corporate communications…

Alexi Cashen is the Co-founder and CEO of Elenteny Imports, a multifaceted logistics company dedicated to growing its partners’ businesses in the wine, beer, and spirits industry. She is also the Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of St. Hildie's Spiked Tincture Tonics, boozy craft tonics made with natural ingredients and botanical tinctures. Alexi …

Gina Fugina is a passionate female Spanish wine importer and the Owner of Able Beverage LLC, a Maine-based Spanish wine import company. Able Beverage imports high-quality biodynamic, vegan, and certified organic Spanish wines to more than 15 states, including Maine, California, New York, Colorado, and New Jersey. Gina is also the owner of her sip f…

Helen Johannesen is the Owner and Founder of Helen’s Wines, a naturally-driven and organically farmed wine shop. She is also the Director of Operations and the Beverage Director at Jon & Vinny’s restaurant and all associated restaurants, including Animal, Son of a Gun, and Petit Trois. She is passionate about food and wine and was titled Best New S…

Donna Katz is the Founder and CEO of G’s Hard Ginger Beer, a ready-to-drink dry hard ginger beer brand made with 100% real ingredients. She is focused on bringing natural, cleaner, and transparent ingredients to the alcohol beverage space. Donna is an Australian native and moved to Napa Valley, California, in 2013. She began dry-farming a small blo…

Marisa Wilairat is the Alcohol Compliance Manager at Elenteny Imports, a multi-faceted logistics company dedicated to growing its partners’ businesses in the wine, beer, and spirits industry. The Elenteny team handles all the details of compliance, logistics, and delivery for their clients so their team can focus on sourcing and selling exceptional…

Blake Hershey is the Founder and CEO of Sippd, an AI-powered plugin and app that helps users discover their new favorite wines using Taste Match technology. Blake has a background in the aerospace and technology industries, working at companies including NASA and JPL. He founded Sippd in 2019 after leaving his position as Chief Innovation Officer a…

Roni Ginach is the Owner of Roni Selects, an importer and distributor of natural wine made by a community of savants. When she was studying at New York Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, she worked in the food hospitality and wine industry — and had her first taste of being a sommelier. Roni has experience as a Wine Director for Cliff’s Edge and Mi…

Diana Novak joined Palm Bay International in 2010, one of the leading wine and spirits importers in the country, to spearhead education for the spirits portfolio and serve as a connection between distributors and key accounts in Chicago and the Midwest markets. Diana was promoted as the National Director of Craft Spirits Education in fall 2013 – a …

Emily Darchuk is the Founder and CEO of Wheyward Spirit, a farm-to-flask, award-winning company that creates specialty spirits made from upcycled ingredients. Emily forged her career as a food scientist in the natural food and dairy industry before disrupting the liquor sector through ingenuity and a commitment to sustainable spirits. After many tr…

Jennie Ripps is a tea sommelier and the Founder and CEO of Owl’s Brew, which offers a range of fresh-brewed, organic tea and botanical-based mixers as well as spiked, sparkling boozy teas. Jennie is also the Founder of Brew Lab Tea, a company specializing in crafting custom blends in partnership with restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, and other ret…

Jordan Salcito has been curious about wine since learning her grandfather made it in his basement and fell head over heels for it since her first harvest in Burgundy in 2006. She began her career in New York as a hostess at wd~50 before becoming a prep cook at DANIEL, sommelier and manager at Eleven Madison Park, then eventually Wine & Beverage Dir…

Kat Hantas is the CEO of 21 Seeds, an all-female-founded, all-natural, fruit-infused tequila brand. They are committed to using all-natural ingredients, both in their tequilas and cocktails. Their three signature infusions are Cucumber Jalapeño, Grapefruit Hibiscus, and Valencia Orange, which can be turned into delicious, low-calorie cocktails. In …

Caitlin Landesberg was the Founder and CEO of Sufferfest Beer Company. She grew and scaled her brand to success through strategic marketing and determination — ultimately, selling her brand to the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. She has experience as a marketing executive working for Adobe, Strava, and Mozilla. Caitlin is a passionate investor at Th…

Grace O’Reilly is an Agronomist for Waterford Whiskey, where she combines passion with agriculture. Grace grew up on a sheep and suckler-to-beef farm in the northeast of Ireland and is from a fifth-generation farming family. Her previous roles include working at Minch Malt, where she gained valuable experience working in different parts of the coun…

Aimee Cronin is the Vice President of Trade Growth for City Hive, an omnichannel commerce platform for over 2,500 wine, beer, and spirit retailers. City Hive combines mobile apps, websites, and advanced customer engagement into one easy-to-use system. Aimee is also the President of Little Big Fish, a strategic sales, marketing, and brand developmen…

Scout Driscoll is the Founder and CEO of VINT, Wine Branding & Design, based in Chicago. Her all-woman studio expertly guides wine brands through strategic branding and packaging evolutions, digital design, and more. She is a firm believer in storytelling through innovation, and her company advises brands to become Instagram-worthy. For nearly 20 y…

Sara Moll is the Founder and CEO of Vin Social, a premium virtual hospitality solution. Vin Social delivers a service for companies to connect with and entertain their most valued audiences through craft wine and spirits. Sara’s approach to the alcoholic beverages industry combines storytelling with seasonal trend-spotting to craft unique experienc…

Kate Holden is the Owner of De Luca Fine Wines, one of Canada’s fastest-growing private wine and spirits brands that offers retail, e-commerce, and subscription box delivery. She truly marches to the beat of her own drum and is passionate about taking wine to the next level by enhancing customer experience and creating moments of joy. Kate is also …

Ashley DuBois Leonard is the Founder and CEO of InnoVint, a revolutionary wine production management software company. Ashley founded InnoVint to solve existing issues with wine-related software by offering a reliable, precise software solution made by winemakers, for winemakers. Before founding InnoVint, Ashley worked at multiple notable wineries,…

Deborah Brenner is a social entrepreneur and the Founder & CEO of Women of the Vine & Spirits, a membership-based organization that is dedicated to making the wine, beer, and spirits industry more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. Women of the Vine & Spirits seeks to empower women across the globe to advance their careers and foster gender diversi…

Amy Ezrin is a Member at The Piedmont Guy, a national importer of fine wines exclusively from the Italian region of Piedmont. Amy is also an Independent Wine Consultant at Amy Ezrin Consulting, where she helps wineries position their brand, coordinate with importers, and increase sales. Over the course of her storied career, Amy has held many estee…

Maria Calvert is the Co-founder of Hispanics in Wine, a social organization dedicated to showcasing Hispanic/Latinx roots in the alcoholic beverage and hospitality industry. Hispanics in Wine promotes equality, embraces diversity, and helps Hispanic/Latinx professionals advance in the wine industry. Maria is also the Public Relations Consultant at …

Kate Laughlin is the CEO of Martine’s Wines, a 42-year-old fine wine importation and distribution company for French and Portuguese wines. She is also the Director of the US Wine Trade Alliance. Kate stands out as a passionate entrepreneur and an enlightening leader. Throughout her career, she has worked in the hospitality industry, sourcing, worki…

Liz Willette Danneels first developed a love of wine while working for the luxury travel company Butterfield & Robinson. After a year in Burgundy and five years in Italy, she taught herself about wine mainly by buying the best bottles she could afford, studying them, and (of course) drinking them. She ran a wine bar in a Relais & Châteaux Hotel in …

Christy Frank is a passionate entrepreneur, gifted professional, retail mastermind, saleswoman, advanced sommelier, author, speaker, and educator based in New York City. She is a seasoned wine professional with 20+ years of experience in all US wine trade tiers, ranging from large, global drinks firms to small boutique distributors to on- and off-t…

Mike Provance, is the CEO and Founder of 3x3 Insights LLC. 3x3 Insights is a marketing platform for beer, wine, and spirits retailers and brands. The company aggregates off-premise and on-premise consumer purchase information in the beverage alcohol space along with third party data to provide robust analysis, forecasting, and actionable insights. …

Marisa Wilairat is the Alcohol Compliance Manager at Elenteny Imports, a multi-faceted logistics company dedicated to growing their partners’ businesses in the wine, beer, and spirits industry. Elenteny handles all the details of compliance, logistics, and delivery for their clients so that their team can focus on sourcing and selling exceptional w…

Aaron Polsky is an innovator, award-winning bartender, influencer, musician, and entrepreneur. He is renowned for his creative cocktail programs that demonstrate a reverence for the classics while showing an affinity for the modern. He began his hospitality career in New York City at the age of 1 while working for Thomas Keller at Bouchon Bakery an…

Alexi Cashen is the CEO of Elenteny Imports, a multifaceted logistics company dedicated to growing their partners’ businesses in the wine, beer, and spirits industry. Alexi is fondly called the ‘Chief Executive Optimist’—spreading the gospel of empathetic customer service, sales panache, and meticulous operations. She scours ideas and drives home s…

Josh Jacobs is the Co-Founder and CEO of Speakeasy Co., an e-commerce and logistics platform that allows beverage alcohol brands to sell directly to consumers from their website. As the leading DTC solution for beverage alcohol brands, Speakeasy Co. empowers their partners and helps them sell directly to consumers without disrupting the three-tier …

Rebecca Banks is the former Beverage Director of the Keith McNally restaurant group in New York City. A wine professional extraordinaire, Rebecca was formerly the Beverage Director of Balthazar and was a Wine Educator at The International Culinary Institute. In this episode… From a fashion design background to becoming a Beverage Director at the pr…

Ari Weinzweig is the Founding Partner of Zingerman's Community of Businesses (ZCoB), a family of small food-related companies and entrepreneurial ventures that includes Zingerman's Delicatessen, Zingerman's Creamery, and Zingerman's Bakehouse, ZingTrain, and more. No two businesses in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses are alike but they all s…

Christian Troy is the CEO of Indie Wineries. Indie Wineries is a family-run operation that supports other family-owned businesses. They provide sales distribution for a select group of micro wineries in 7 states and they believe that the future of the wine business is in being connected to all the different components of wine through a company that…

Delphine Gardére is the CEO of the iconic Haitian rum distillery, Rhum Barbancourt. It is both the oldest and biggest rum exporter of Haiti. Rhum Barbancourt was founded on March 18, 1862 by Dupré Barbancourt who used the Charente method of double distillation that was usually reserved for creating Cognac for his rum. This allowed him to create a r…

Maggie Henriquez is President and CEO of the illustrious champagne house, Krug. The House of Krug is at the very top of the Champagne industry. It is the house that has created Prestige Champagnes since 1843. Before becoming the President and CEO of Krug, Maggie was the President of the Association of Manufacturers in Venezuela, Mexico, and activel…

Juliana Colangelo is the Vice President, California, for Colangelo & Partners. Colangelo & Partners is an integrated communications firm that propels a brand story across the modern media landscape for beverage alcohol brands seeking to grow their business in the US and beyond. In this episode… The COVID-19 pandemic has forced creative pivots in th…

Liz Willette Danneels is the Sales Manager and Sale Boulder at the Natural Wine Company, Colorado’s leading distributor of fine wine made naturally. Prior to moving to Boulder a few years ago, Liz was a partner in Grand Cru Selections based in New York, an incredible importer of old world wines.Liz Willette Danneels, Alexi Cashen által

Kyle Groombridge is the Dallas Key Account holder for the Victory Wine Group. Before joining Victory Wine Group, Kyle worked for Total Wine & More, where he grew from a Wine Sales Associate to become a Wine Manager in under five years. In this episode… Many people experience detours in life. Kyle Groombridge was an Associate Pastor in Chicago befor…

Erin Jolley is the Florida Sales Representative for the Progress Wine Group, a company that’s committed to thoughtfully servicing their customers, while building a family of inspired producers of wines and spirits-collaborating with both innovators and icons. They pursue sustainability for both the planet and their company, while simultaneously set…

Bonnie Crocker is the Sales Representative of PDX Wine in Portland, Oregon. PDX Wine is a wine importing and distribution company based in the State of Oregon. They represent some of this country’s top importers of fine, European wine, including Louis/Dressner, De Maison Selections, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants, José Pastor Selections, Marc De Grazi…

Eva Zorad is the New Jersey Sales Representative and National Sales Liaison of BonHomie Wine Imports, a company who is passionate about people and their stories. They work with wine makers with smaller estates of about 8-hectares who have generations of experience and knowledge in traditional wine making partnered with the newest innovations, and w…

Marisa Brown is the Los Angeles Sales Representative at Nomadic Distribution LLC, an import and distribution company that brings in bottles of alcoholic beverages from the coast of Morocco to the backcountry of San Diego, to the hills of France, and the heel of the boot. Marisa is also a Certified Sommelier who is driven by bringing enjoyment to ho…

Gretchen Pen is a Sales and Marketing Representative from Vintage ‘59 Imports, a company who looks for wines with depth of fruit, length and elegance, rather than for obtrusive oak, over-extraction, or excessive alcohol. They focus on the rich relationships that spring from the community of growers, instead of just the commercial imperative and loo…

Josie Zeiger is the New York City Sales Representative for MFW Wine Co., a wine distribution company representing producers that strive to make real, terroir-driven wines. MFW Wine Co. operates out of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. In this episode… Selling wine requires more than just pitching a bottle. It’s a personal expe…

Kate Cornelius-Schecter is the Chicago Sales Representative for the Selection Massale, importers of natural wines from small wineries. After quitting her acting career to pursue her passion for wine, she started her wine sales career at Red & White Wines in Chicago. That passion intensified after she had the privilege of learning about wine making …