What’s your current position at your brewery, and how did you get started in the craft brewing industry?

As vice president of sales and marketing, I lead the sales, marketing, and retail teams at Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio. Joining GLBC gave me the opportunity to move back to my hometown after a long career at Starbucks.

What’s new at Great Lakes?

2018 marks our 30th year, so we are making plans to celebrate this milestone. We have some great new beers coming out and a few returning from the vault in honor of our anniversary.

What’s the best part of being a part of the craft brewing community?

The camaraderie, the impact we have on our communities, and the immense pride we all have for our beers and our breweries. Plus the fact that our fellow beer drinkers care as much as we do’there are not many other products out there that people can be so passionate about, whether they love us or not!

Name a favorite food and beer pairing.

I love Edmund Fitzgerald Porter with salted caramels, and Eliot Ness Amber Lager with a pizza.

What’s your biggest accomplishment unrelated to your job?

I have had the opportunity to serve on a few nonprofit arts organization boards. It is incredibly fulfilling to help these folks build, grow, and bring important, socially conscious work to their audiences.

What’s your favorite beer that your brewery does not produce?

Revolution Sun Crusher, New Belgium Fat Tire, and North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner.

What’s the most memorable travel destination at which you’ve had a chance to sample the local beer?

New Zealand. I had some great beers from Garage Project when I was in Wellington. Best craft beer I have had outside of the U.S. And as a marketer at heart, I think their packaging and social media are awesome. On that same trip, I had Lazy Yak from Matilda Bay Brewing Company in Australia that was pretty good, too.

What do you like to do in your time away from the brewery?

Rediscovering the new Cleveland and preparing for my next sailing vacation.