The wine and spirits industry, much like its finest vintages, is shaped by visionaries who bring passion, innovation, and an uncompromising drive for excellence. These leaders craft brands that not only stand the test of time but also evolve with the shifting landscapes of consumer preference. Their influence goes beyond the products they create—they set the standards for quality, inspire global trends, and build legacies that transcend borders.
Katrina Stoneking, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member at Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits, exemplifies this greatness. Her leadership has been marked by a fierce commitment to excellence and an unparalleled understanding of consumer behavior. Katrina’s ability to refine operational processes while crafting brands that resonate with distributors, retailers, and consumers alike has solidified her as a transformative force in the industry. Her approach and passion for creating enduring brands position her as a standout leader in a field dominated by tradition and innovation.
Professional Journey of Katrina Stoneking
Katrina has had an impressive career spanning over 20 years in the alcohol beverage industry. Her journey began as an intern at MillerCoors while studying at the University of South Carolina, with a double major in Management and Marketing and a minor in retail with an emphasis on Global Retail and Entrepreneurship. During her internship, she excelled in analytics and the ability to show the value of insights to the retailer, which earned her a permanent position after presenting her work to the leadership board. She moved to Milwaukee, where she spent 2.5 years working on national accounts and sales planning, focusing on optimizing space management and understanding consumer dynamics from both manufacturing and retail perspectives.
Katrina’s career then took her to Bentonville, Arkansas, calling on Walmart US where she managed a $390+ million territory for MillerCoors, working closely with Walmart on category management, pricing, and innovation in packaging and products. She also played a key role in ensuring programming aligned with consumer and retailer needs.
Her next move was to Los Angeles, where she joined Red Bull North America, working on distribution and route-to-market strategy. She contributed significantly to creating apps with IT for field sales teams and streamlining internal and external communication. Following this, she joined Pabst Brewing Company, where she led the insights and analytics department, focusing on sales planning, and translating analytics into insights to be able to arm teams with tools to connect the distributor, retailer, and consumer.
Katrina later transitioned to Bacardi, where she managed insights and analytics on the West Coast, again aligning sales strategies with cross-functional teams and business units to further drive efficiencies throughout the company. She then went back into a senior sales role with Pernod Ricard USA on the wine and champagne side, handling national and regional accounts and rolling out new holiday value-added packaging with major retailers like CVS.
Seeking to make a greater impact on the alcohol industry, Katrina ventured into the start-up world, joining Summerland Wine where she ran sales and marketing for the East and private label for on-premise mainstays like Darden Restaurant Group nationally. Her experience in start-ups allowed her to streamline operations and boost profitability. In early 2023, she found the right opportunity and joined Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits as President of Sales, and later took over as CEO at the beginning of 2024.
Navigating Business Challenges
Katrina has encountered numerous challenges throughout her career across different sectors, including sales, marketing, finance, insights, analytics, and planning. One significant challenge she faced involved presenting strategic rollouts to senior leadership in a previous company, particularly in highlighting the differences in market operations between the U.S. and other countries. Despite her efforts and expertise, the leadership’s reluctance to adopt the U.S.-specific strategy led to delays in implementing changes. This difference in approach contributed to her decision to leave that company.
Katrina thrives in an industry that continuously evolves, keeping her engaged with consumer behavior shifts. She highlights the dynamic nature of the consumer—why, how, and when they purchase—especially with the constant influx of legal drinking-age shoppers. She embraces the power of data in today’s market, which has become much more sophisticated since she started her career. Now, companies can target consumers with precision, allowing for more efficient decision-making.
For Katrina, the excitement lies in the challenge of balancing consumer insights with financial and operational efficiencies. In contrast to larger companies that may have the capital to experiment widely, her focus is on using smaller budgets more strategically. This strategic, targeted approach is one of the primary aspects that drives her in her current role, as every day presents new challenges that keep her engaged and inspired.
Vision for Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits
Katrina Stoneking assumed leadership in January, aiming to enhance the company’s operational efficiency and strengthen its position in the alcohol beverage industry. Though relatively new, the company was founded on strong fundamentals, allowing Katrina to concentrate on amplifying the brand, operational efficiencies, and driving meaningful growth. Her vision is centered on making the brand resonate with retail and on-premise customers while maintaining authenticity in the craft cocktail space.
One of the brand’s key differentiators is its collaboration with celebrity co-founders and equity partners. Rather than relying solely on celebrity endorsements or licensing deals, Thomas Ashbourne fosters deep partnerships where each celebrity has a vested interest in their respective cocktail brands – from the very beginning developing the perfectly crafted cocktail that authentically resonates with each co-founder through working with retailers to reach customers. These partnerships allow the brand to connect with a broad consumer base through multiple touchpoints, creating a multiplier effect.
Consumers may discover the brand through one celebrity, the family of celebrities, or the quality of the cocktails themselves, which are crafted with care to be gluten-free, all-natural, kosher, and sustainably sourced and produced.
Katrina emphasizes that Thomas Ashbourne’s approach to crafting cocktails sets it apart from competitors. Unlike others who mask the flavor of their branded spirits, the company focuses on creating the perfect flavor profile first. Each cocktail is carefully crafted, and small-batch spirits are then produced to complement the flavors, ensuring the highest quality and taste. This method allows the brand to produce craft cocktails that stand out in the market based on taste and keep consumers coming back for more.
Looking ahead, Katrina envisions the brand continuing to innovate over the next five years by staying attuned to global trends and creating products that appeal to a diverse consumer base. With a commitment to sustainability and a growing celebrity family, Thomas Ashbourne aims to expand its reach beyond the U.S., establishing itself as a prominent global brand while maintaining its core values and unique approach to craft cocktails.
Sustainability at the Core
Katrina emphasizes that sustainability is not just a checkbox for the company but a core value embedded in its DNA. The brand’s sustainability efforts go beyond appeasing consumers or retailers; it’s about doing the right thing and minimizing the environmental footprint while delivering high-quality craft cocktails.
Thomas Ashbourne collaborates with organizations like Keep America Beautiful to ensure their operations are eco-friendly. They focus on minimizing water usage during production and ensuring sustainable sourcing across the entire supply chain. The company also prioritizes recyclable packaging and works to reduce environmental impact throughout the production process.
Sustainability is not only a brand commitment but also aligns with the values of the company’s celebrity co-founders. For example, Rosario Dawson, one of the brand’s key partners, shares similar values and actively incorporates sustainability into her other ventures, making this an authentic part of the brand’s identity.
Empowering through Personalized Leadership
Katrina’s leadership style is straightforward and centered around understanding and motivating her team members on an individual level. She believes that effective leadership comes from identifying what drives and motivates each person and aligning their goals with the company’s vision. Rather than focusing on herself, Katrina prioritizes what interests and motivates her team members and how she can help them achieve their personal and professional goals.
When engaging with her team, Katrina asks, “What excites you? Where do you want to be 1, 3, 5 years from now?” This question helps her craft opportunities that align with their aspirations. Whether someone is excelling in their current role or desires exposure to new areas, Katrina seeks to provide the support, mentorship, and resources necessary for their growth. Drawing from her own experiences with great mentors, she has learned the value of guiding others to explore their potential and hone new skills.
Ultimately, Katrina’s leadership is about fostering an environment where individuals can become the best version of themselves, whether they remain with the company or pursue new ventures. She believes that the key to driving the company forward is creating a motivated, empowered team that feels valued and supported in their journey.
Overcoming Challenges and Defining Feminism
As a woman in the industry, Katrina has faced numerous challenges from her early days as an intern to her current role. She acknowledges the industry’s slow progress in addressing gender biases but remains optimistic about the positive direction it’s heading. Unfortunately, like many other women in the industry, Katrina has experienced discrimination and harassment. She notes that while the right actions should be taken, especially in large companies, HR departments often prioritize protecting the organization rather than supporting the employee.
Despite these challenges, Katrina emphasizes the importance of career longevity for women in navigating such issues. Interestingly, most of her mentors have been men, and she credits their guidance and push for visibility in helping her progress. She’s fortunate to have found champions who have supported and coached her through various situations, offering insights from their own perspective and throwing her name in for opportunities that she wouldn’t have had exposure to.
Katrina firmly believes that her role should not be defined by her gender. She finds labels like “woman CEO” or “girl boss” problematic, as they unnecessarily emphasize gender over competence. For her, leadership should simply be about the job, not gender. In her view, resumes and hiring practices should focus on skills and qualifications, not names or appearance, to eliminate bias.
Reflecting on her journey, Katrina draws from her own background in sports, where she was the only female kicker on a men’s football team in high school. Sports taught her resilience, discipline, and the value of earning respect through performance. She believes respect and success must be earned, not given based on gender. Whether in sports or business, Katrina highlights the importance of showing up every day, bringing your best self, and striving for continuous improvement.
Her philosophy is clear: success comes from persistence, effort, and the ability to pick yourself up after setbacks. For Katrina, true leadership is about contributing to the team and being proud of your work each day.
Creating Impactful Brands
Katrina hopes her legacy in the alcohol industry will be marked by creating successful, impactful brands, companies, and teams. She envisions building brands that resonate with consumers, retailers, and distributors alike. Her goal is not just to manage a single company but to develop multiple companies that move forward and thrive.
Katrina focuses on identifying areas for improvement within a company and driving growth through strategic adjustments. She takes pride in leaving businesses better than she found them, helping them reach their full potential in terms of scalability and market impact. Whether the company is sold, acquired, or passed to a successor, Katrina’s mission is to ensure the foundation for continued success.
Advice for Aspiring Women Leaders
Katrina offers three key pieces of advice to aspiring women leaders looking to make a positive impact in the industry.
First, she emphasizes the importance of passion. Katrina advises women to find something they truly love and make it the guiding thread of their career. For her, that passion lies in consumer sciences—understanding how consumers think, why they make certain decisions, and even down to details of if something tastes sweeter to the consumer with a round label versus a square one. She encourages women to cultivate a love of learning and apply it to their careers.
Second, self-awareness and where you need to plus up your skill set. She encourages people to not be afraid of saying that they want more training in a subject or more exposure to a department. The thirst for knowledge shouldn’t be lost.
Lastly, she advocates for not staying in situations that bring misery. Katrina advises using logic over emotion when evaluating professional situations and making calculated, informed decisions to move forward. She also encourages women not to be afraid of taking the next leap. Grounded self-belief is the key.
