Want to be a Leader in the Alcohol Beverage Industry? Education Could Hold the Key

Rachel Harris is the Vice President of On-Premise at Beam Suntory. She had planned to be a doctor.  But then discovered a passion for the hospitality industry; and today, she one of the highest-ranking females in our commercial organization. She is  focused on paving a career path for women in the hospitality industry, empowering and advocating for integral roles within Beam Suntory and beyond.  As a result of her work, teams across the business are united with a common goal of continual expansion and excellence.  

From growth marketing to strategy consulting, Kim has dedicated her career to helping brands grow their digital presence and profits online in a number of industries from consumer-packaged goods to non-profits to home goods. She is now applying her direct-response expertise to the wine & spirits industry. Kim is currently the Vice President of Marketing at Speakeasy Co., a technology and logistics platform that transforms beverage alcohol suppliers into direct-to-consumer ecommerce brands, while remaining three-tier compliant. She is a published writer, speaker, and thought leader, and is dedicated to modernizing the spirits industry digitally.

Absinthia Vermut is an entrepreneur with a passion for vintage spirits made with wormwood. Her first taste of absinthe was in 1996. She served her first bootleg bottles to friends a few months later on April Fool’s Day 1997, where she received the nickname Absinthia. In 2013, she legally changed her name to Absinthia, trademarked it, and founded Absinthia’s Bottled Spirits, LLC, in order to bring her organic absinthe to market. Her last name, Vermut, German for wormwood, is on her birth certificate. This is pure coincidence, as she discovered this after being called Absinthia for years. AbsinthiaTM Organic Absinthe Blanche Superieure began to appear in bars, restaurants, and bottle shops in 2017 and won its first gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2018, officially changing Absinthia’s status from bootlegger to award winning absintheure! In 2021, Absinthia acquired Nickel Dime cocktail syrups, of which she was a founding partner. Absinthia’s Bottled Spirits now produces three absinthes, four cocktail syrups, and a gift pack, with more products on the way. Most recently, Sunset Magazine Spirit Competition awarded Absinthia Best Woman Distiller, Absinthia Absinthe Verte with a 97 rating, double gold, and Best Liqueur, and Caged Heat syrup with a 92 rating, gold, and Best Non Alcoholic Mixer. Absinthia’s Bottled Spirits, LLC, is WBENC certified and 100% woman owned, and all products are made in California with the highest quality ingredients available. Absinthia, with a BFA from NYU and an MBA from Babson College, lives in Berkeley, California with her daughter, a Berkeley High student and their two dogs.