A theatrically-trained actress turned wine professional, Anitha works in NYC and is always looking for reasons to travel abroad to wine countries. As a top Sales Representative for David Bowler Wine, covering both Manhattan and Brooklyn, Anitha offers her insights and perspective as a mentor for anyone looking to start fresh in this industry, especially in sales, and to be candid about all of the challenges that await, from opening and managing accounts, to education and to managing your own bottom line. As an under-represented member of the wine community (South Asian women), Anitha wants to be a part of changing the landscape of our world of wine, reaching a broader audience - and one which looks more like her...and like you. Interests include helping lift up the voices of BIPOC folx, and not just the ones you see, but also the ones in the vineyards who support this entire industry, mostly in the background.

Follow her on Instagram at @happybellyhappylife.

Abbie is a self-professed 'music junkie' who likes to share the gift of a great glass over the sounds of a great album. She discovered her passion for wine while studying abroad in Rome in 2010 on an extended trip to Piedmont. When she returned stateside, she knew she wanted to nurture this newfound passion. In St. Louis there was no better place to learn the ways of wine than at Brasserie by Niche, a restaurant in the vibrant Central West End.

A desire for mountain life and a passion for all-things outdoors brought Abbie to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in 2012. Fortunately, the fine dining scene in Vail allowed her to continue growing her wine skills as the GM/Sommelier at La Tour while also developing her hiking, biking, and skiing skills.

Eventually, craving some city life and more advanced wine education, she found herself amongst the wine team at Mercantile Dining & Provision in Denver’s newly revitalized Union Station. Working at Mercantile is where everything really started to click for Abbie. She had the opportunity to experiment with a huge program under the guidance of an advanced sommelier, Wine Director, Patrick Houghton. With his encouragement and mentorship, she attained her Certified Sommelier through the Court of Masters, she ran a tasting menu program, and she was given the space to develop a staff continuing education program; a weekly program offering continuing education in all areas of hospitality to a staff of over 100.

During her time at Mercantile, the idea for the Women’s Wine Guild (WWG) of Colorado was sparked between Abbie and Sarah Shoemaker. Knowing the impact a mentor can have on the trajectory of a career and seeing the benefit continuing education can have on the success of those in the hospitality industry, Abbie knew she wanted to create an organization that would mentor, educate and lift up women in the wine world. And, as Co-Founder of the WWG, she’s doing just that, making high quality, yet affordable wine/beverage education available to all who seek it.

Abbie has since moved back to the Mountains where she works for The Harvest Wine Company. Her home base of Summit County is the perfect place to spread the mission of the WWG through the peaks and valleys of the Rocky Mountains over a great glass and the sounds of a great album.

Claudia grew up in a winemaking family in the Napa Valley in the late 1960s-1980s. A dual citizen of the U.S. and Germany, she returned to California in 2017 after spending nearly 30 years in Germany, where she raised her daughter (now 30), ran her own wine import and distribution company and managed the European export market for Schug. For six years, she also served as California Wine Institute’s German representative and its European Trade Education Ambassador.

Claudia has a BA in Economics from Stanford University and attained the WSET Diploma in Wine & Spirits in 2009 after which she entered the Master of Wine program in 2010. Through her education and professional experience, she has built a global network, cultivated a deep knowledge of all aspects of the industry, and has tasted a broad range of wines of domestic and international importance. Claudia is active on several wine association committees, continuing her father’s collaborative spirit in advocating for California and Sonoma wines.

Claudia was a Level 1 and Level 2 Batonnage mentor in 2022 and is excited about continuing as a Sales & Distribution mentor in 2023.

Emily heads sales at Alt Imports, a low-intervention wine and spirits distributor based in downtown Las Vegas. She previously managed the wine program at Momofuku's first steakhouse, Majordōmo LV, and championed natural wine at Washington DC's acclaimed Thamee and Dio Wine Bar. Emily holds WSET Level 3 certification and is currently studying for her WSET Diploma. Prior to her wine life, Emily worked in academia and earned her MBA from Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School. This fall, Emily co-founded Las Vegas' first natural wine fair, Co-Ferment, to help connect the city's low-intervention wine community.

Follow her on Instagram @embaddock.

A New York City native, Giuseppe grew up in Italy where he graduated in Economics and Business Administration. Giuseppe moved back to New York in 2002 and in 2010 received his MBA from Fordham Graduate School of Business.

Until August 2016, Giuseppe was the Vice President of Portfolio Management for Leonardo LoCascio Selections, the Italian Wine Imports Division of The Winebow Group. In January 2017, Giuseppe founded his own Consulting Company and Import Agency, based in NYC. As an Agent, Giuseppe serves 12 US Markets with a selection of high-quality Italian wineries. In April 2017, Giuseppe became one of the few US-based Italian Wine Ambassadors for the Vinitaly International Academy program. Since 2019 Giuseppe has been teaching the class on the US Wine Market for the Master in Wine Business of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy. In July 2020, Giuseppe co-founded and launched Lucidity Wine Merchants, a boutique Import and Distribution company located in Sacramento, California.

Julia currently leads the B2B sales team at Coravin, which includes wineries, off and on premise accounts and distributors. She comes with over 20 years of beverage experience; Managing distributors, Marketing, Field Sales and National Accounts with Red Bull, Diageo, Remy Cointreau and Heineken. All of her personal travel is about experiencing local beverages, whether it is wine, coffee, spirits or beer. She grew up not having any female leaders to look up to in the industry until she was in her 40's and because of this, she feel a very strong social responsibility to the industry to provide coaching and mentoring to the future generation. Julia’s personal time is spent in the gym, dining/drinking out, traveling and reading. As much as she loves adult beverages, she is very passionate about practicing a healthy lifestyle - both physically and mentally.

Katixa Mercier started her career 18 years ago, on-premise in fine dining, curating and managing award-winning programs. After a brief stint on the hôtelière side -while consulting privately for other beverage programs- she was scouted by Favorite Brands in New Mexico, where she began as a territory sales representative, climbing the ranks to sales and portfolio manager and lastly, running it in tandem with ownership through the trials, furloughs and tribulations of Covid.

A year ago, she was approached by importer French Libation where she ran the west coast and most recently, accepted the western division sales management position for importer Boutique Wine Collection.

Matthew Gaughan is a WSET Certified Educator, who has taught wine courses in California for the last eight years and has an educational podcast aimed at wine students. He has also worked in retail in both the UK and California over the last ten years, both in wine shops and in tasting rooms. He now owns and runs blackpoolmatt’s wine club, an online club specializing in small-production wineries with an educational aspect in the presentation of the wines—a position that has allowed him to work closely with wine distributors large and small on a daily basis. He has also written for Harper’s Wine and Spirits, The Buyer, and jancisrobinson.com.

Michelle (Perry) Egan learned the wine business from the ground up, starting with her first job after graduating with a degree in Marketing from the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management. She joined E. & J. Gallo Winery as a sales representative, and over the next seven years gained an invaluable foundation in virtually every aspect of the wine industry, including marketing, brand management, and sales strategy. In 2007, Michelle left Gallo to join Constellation Brands’ where she spent 11 years and over her tenure, she grew to VP, Fine Wine Marketing and the Direct-to-Consumer. Michelle had a short stint at Realm Cellars as VP, Sales & Marketing, where she learned further about the luxury consumer. Today, Michelle brings her extensive wine industry experience to Terlato Wine Group overseeing the Estate Family Brands wine marketing and Direct-to-Consumer sales for wineries including Chimney Rock Winery, Rutherford Hill, Sanford Winery, and Klipsun. Michelle has a tremendous track record as a strong leader with a wealth of experience across sales, marketing, and DTC.

Based in Houston, Natalie Vaclavik is currently the National Sales Director for a collection of family owned estates in Santa Barbara, Jonata, The Hilt Estate, and The Paring. She has extensive experience in distribution and sales, starting her career as a Sales Rep for Glazers Domaines & Estates Wine where she was a top performer specializing in high-end wine sales for the top accounts in Houston. Over a decade ago, she became the Regional Sales Director for Evening Lands Vineyards and then became the first sales manager for Terroir Selections representing Qupe, Leviathan, Mayacamas, Sandhi, and Mulderbosch. From there she created a successful distribution company Victory Wine Group, built from relationships first on both producer and customer ends.

Follow her on Instagram @purplecowgrl.

Paul Stroud founded Craft Wines in 2014, after having previously worked as a sommelier and restaurant director, with the aspiration of introducing this generation of producers to Colorado. We work with some of the most dedicated families, growers, and producers who ardently farm their vineyards sustainably, organically, or biodynamically to produce authentic, terroir-driven wines. Our goal is to connect these impassioned producers with equally enthusiastic customers.