Certified Sommelier & restaurant consultant
My work
I’m an entrepreneur and problem solver by nature, and I believe in doing it without taking yourself too seriously. I love dreaming up, launching, and tending to businesses, and then digging into the day to day challenges as opportunities for powerful growth. I love to do this for myself as much as I love helping others achieve their goals.
Founder and ceo
Lois
New York’s first all-tap wine bar, focused on the democratization of food and wine. Lois is female-owned (my business partner and Lois chef Phoebe Connell is a friend from high school in Cleveland!) with a focus on innovative and efficiency-driving business practices.
The Absolute Best Bar in the East Village - New York Magazine
Our 15 Best Date Spots in New York City - Bon Appetit
Lois Is NYC's First Bar to Implement No-Tipping Policy - Thrillist
The Laidback Euro Wine Scene Hits New York - Harpers Bazaar
Aida
Aida is a line of packaged snacks, with a focus on crackers you can’t stop eating. Developed out of community feedback from the snacks we served at Lois, we created a line meant for easy entertaining, focused on accessible ingredients and engaging branding.
Snacks From an East Village Wine Bar Available Online - The New York Times
Is This The Next Big Trend in The Foodie World? - Domino Magazine
A Slightly Obsessive and Highly Subjective Look at the Best Things We Ate and Drank in 2018 - Bon Appetit
Oh, but there's more
Catering & events
Through Lois, I built a substantial catering business, focused on over the top (both in terms of presentation and quality) grazing tables. Clients included Buzzfeed, Diageo, Kate Spade, CAMP Toystores, and more.
As Head of Events at Lois, I also worked on a weekly basis to create intimate events for life milestones and joyful celebrations. Each event was custom designed with food, wine selections, florals and decorations to meet the production needs for each client.
Brand partnerships
I love to connect the dots for creative, fun, mutually beneficial collaborations that help businesses thrive by building off eachother’s communities. In the past I’ve connected both Lois and Aida with fabulous partners like Everlane, Lacoste, Kate Spade, That Cheese Plate, Yes Way Rose, Buzzfeed, & Donna Chai (among others).
Past experience
Food, wine, & hospitality - Tuscan style
Ah, youth! My post-college year was a dream, working at incredible establishments in Tuscany (La Bandita, La Foce, Monteverdi Tuscany) showed me what a great life could look like, sparking my drive to focus on my passions of food, wine and thoughtful hospitality.
PR, branding, & focusing on passion
After returning from Italy I made a brief foray into the corporate world (don’t we all!), but I kept returning to my passions of food, wine and travel. I gained experience in marketing, storytelling and brand-building for companies in travel (CLEAR), food & beverage (Colangelo PR), and the world’s largest cookbook publisher (Penguin Random House). While those experiences gave me the understanding of how important cohesive storytelling is to brand building, I knew that the 9-5 world wasn’t for me and I needed to get my hands dirty and follow my passions more directly.
Happiness in wine
Throughout my time in the corporate world I knew I wanted to start my own hospitality-focused wine business, but I also knew I needed to earn the chops by working in as many facets of the industry as I could.
I started by working as a harvest intern making wine at Brooklyn Winery. From there, I went onto manage ABC Wine Company, helping transition through a shift in ownership, growing sales, and building community through social media and weekly newsletters, all while earning my Sommelier Certificate from The Sommelier Society of America. I also worked at Alphabet City Beer Company to learn life behind the bar and inside another small business. Those years of learning were crucial for building knowledge and confidence that would allow me to launch my own businesses.