ALL THINGS: BEVERAGES

BEER

Monarch Beverage, Inc., On-Premise Sales (September 2001 – February 2004) Indianapolis, Indiana

This is where I stepped foot into the Three-tier system. My passion for beer, brewing history, and collection of memorabilia started here.  What you would NOT know is, that I did not drink until I was 21 years old.  My father is an alcoholic, so I took a very strategic approach with addiction being prevalent in our family.   This new world was extremely interesting to me, and NEW and EXCITING!   Not for the by-product of consumption, but the historical aspects and learning the history of something I knew very little about.

While at Monarch, I learned from the quintessential training leader in our industry, E&J Gallo.   Their 10 steps to a sales call is the backbone for how many distributors go to market today. 

My success in two territories in the on-premise lead to a choice between an Area Manager or a promotion with Miller Brewing Company, one I just could not pass up, but allowed me to stay with the same distributor.  My promotion was into a channel where I had NO experience, the OPGM (Off premise general market).  Yet another challenge I knew nothing about.

Miller Brewing Company, Off-Premise Manager (February 2004 – January 2005) Indiana

As a representative of Miller Brewing Company, I got better understand what working and partnering with the distributor and its sales force from the supplier side fighting for "share of mind".  I also worked along with independently owned liquor store retailers throughout the state, ensuring MBCo. products received competitive pricing, placement, distribution, and promotion.  I was also responsible for all General Sales meeting presentations and continuing the Miller partnership with the Reset team, Graphics Department, and Promotional teams within the distributor.  This is where I became certified in Solution Selling and Space Management with Miller, and began to use IRI and Nielsen Data to help drive decision making in my accounts.   We won the best DMA for Miller Brewing Company in 2004, the  High Life Achievement Award.  I also created a unique platform for advertising brands, taking a creative approach to winning and dominating in accounts.

  • Created marketing program used throughout the Mid-Central Market (2004). 

COFFEE

What I learned from Starbucks Coffee Company is exactly what I want from a corporate culture.  It was an amazing company to be a part of.  Collaborative, inventive, entrepreneurial, and experiential are just some of the words to describe my years there.   The concept of the third-place is real, and I was privileged to be a part of it during its most troubling times during the economic downturn.  I watched a company have a heart, treat partners with respect and dignity, and valued thoughts and opinions from all walks of life.  From Starbucks, I reinvigorated my passion for teaching, as I frequently taught the Starbucks experiences to local universities (Purdue, IU, Ball State) and mentored many of my co-workers to become Coffee Masters.  This is a sampling of the culture and my accomplishments HERE.

My experiences at Starbucks and managing distributors in Sysco and US Foods as a supplier, allows you to learn how to win and hearts and minds of sales teams to have them sell on your behalf!  Selling a premium product could prove challenging until we introduced Seattle's Best Coffee, and education was an important ingredient, as you had to ensure the Starbucks always tastes like Starbucks in every drip coffee to espresso drinks.  

SPIRITS & WINE

In 2010, Southern Wine & Spirits of America built its first greenfield operation in Indiana starting from absolute scratch.   I was blessed enough to have been a part of an ambitious group of people looking to change the three-tier system for the better and work as the example for all of SWS.  While at SWS, I have been promoted twice starting as a Key Account Manager in the Chain division.  I managed the day to day business and corporate calls to accounts such as Meijer, Strack & VanTil, Martin's, and our single largest customer of all SWS, CVS.  While in this role, I worked to position SWS INDIANA as the category captain for CVS, where we became in charge of all planograms and shelf planning for the chain as a new organization.

I then became a Trade Development manger for the Diageo portfolio of brands, in charge of marketing, pricing, innovation launches, the wine portfolio, and the Chain Channel of business. Where we grew the DC&E (now Treasury brands) portfolio and planned successful innovation launches for all of the Diageo portfolio.   I also wrote new processes in how we operated, many becoming best practices for the entire organization.

In August of 2016, there was a merger with Glazer's Wine & Spirits nationally to become Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits. With that change, came some new, brand opportunities, where I was recruited to move back to brand building and trade development. I went back to a elevated role of Director of Trade Development for the newly formed TransAtlantic Division - which included Bacardi, Heaven Hill & Patron - which we built from scratch once again.

I was the Director of Training for three years working to professionalize the position, and create a focus on our corporate culture, talent management initiatives, and ensuring we have strategic goals in place to ensure our future growth as an organization. I built our on-boarding program from scratch, which ultimately became the blueprint for a nationwide on-boarding program initiative across all SGWS markets.

As the Director of Training, I also created an Academy of Spirits & Fine Service for Bartenders, so they had a better understanding of productions methods, quality, and what makes a great cocktail from the classic to today. This Academy changed our marketplace as we invested in those who invested in our brands, and saw both sales and quality of cocktails increase in our state.

Beverage Certifications

  • Certified Specialist of Spirits

  • WSET 2 certified

  • BarSmarts (Pernod Ricard)

  • World Class (Diageo)

Teaching/Completion/Accreditations

  • Spin Selling Workshop (completion)

  • Priority Management (teaching)

  • Integrated Talent Management - ATD (completion)

  • Achieve Global (teaching)

  • Counselor Salesperson - Wilson Learning (teaching)