Karen Locke - Entrepreneur with Several Spirited Ventures

Robin Thieme - The Distiller’s Accountant

With over 30 years of financial and accounting experience, Robin is not just a numbers person. She is a passionate advocate for the efficiencies that new technologies enable and is dedicated to growing businesses. Together with the KBS Team, she provides entrepreneurs with strategic guidance and system-based solutions, ensuring that every client's business has the potential to thrive. KBS CFO provides CFO, Controller, and the full spectrum of accounting department solutions and has developed niches with organizations with more complex accounting needs. Industries served include manufacturing, contract manufacturing, craft distilleries and breweries, startups, eCommerce, professional service with project management, and general contracting industries. Robin has earned designations from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), including Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA), Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Recent certifications include Certified Intacct Service Provider, PlanGuru, Advisor, and Certified LivePlan Expert (LivePlan) Robin is an active member of the Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA) and a frequent speaker on accounting technology trends and tools. In 2019, Robin authored and is the subject matter expert for the first continuing education class offered by the AICPA for Virtual CFOs.

Jenny Griffo - Wine Country Distiller

Jenny is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Griffo Distillery, which is an internationally awarded distillery with an event space, tasting room, and white label program. Jenny has 6 spirits and two canned cocktails on the market in 15 states and 3 countries. Jenny loves growing her business in Sonoma County and is known for her love of community and social justice.

Andie Ferman - Spirits Industry Veteran and Lover of Life

Andie has been inspired by and working in the spirits industry for nearly 20 years and is still completed motivated to learn more and to share more so that she can help grow this community and expand love throughout our hospitality family.  From having managed a successful tasting room to crafting a prolific tour program, to designing special events, she conceived and delivered seminars including: “Taste the Rainbow”: A journey into sensory perception and Synesthesia” for The Manhattan Cocktail Classic;  “It’s Getting Hot In Here” an exploration of just how much heat effects spirits evaluation; “Exceeding Expectations” - an interactive discussion on hospitality and thoughtful guest interactions; “The Nose, Knows”: a study on just how much glass shape and size can impact spirits tasting at Portland Cocktail Week; “Hospitality: A Thespian Approach,”  at the United States Bartender’s Guild Regional Conference.  Andie is still educating and sharing her love for connecting people and helping others grow into their best selves. Andie is an ACI Certified Confidence Coach and loves to move, dance, sing, paint, perform, and, most of all, spend time with her loved ones and her dog Rae Rae.

Karen Locke - Entrepreneur with Several Spirited Ventures

Karen is founder of High-Proof Creative & creator of an industry-specific product mapping software called Small-Batch Maps. She is author of “High-Proof PDX: A Spirited Guide to Portland’s Craft Distilling Scene” and has been a food and drink writer for nearly 10 years. Karen has been published by GQ magazine, Bon Appétit, Thrillist, Sip Northwest, and more.  Karen launched Women in Distilling, an initiative highlighting marginalized people in distilling (distillingwomen.com [http://distillingwomen.com])

Marcia Likarish - The Mother of Texas Whiskey

Originally from Butte, Montana, Marcia met her husband John in college at Montana Tech. John's career took them all over the US, where she held various jobs including speech pathologist, volunteer EMS, and a PPCD teacher. After working for the Amarillo, TX school district for several years, Marcia retired to see the world.  However, a few years into her retirement, her sons, Jonathan and Robert, realized they needed someone to help manage their fast-expanding Ironroot Republic whiskey business (and them). Who better than their mother (Marcia) to help and join the staff? The Likarishes mash, ferment, distill, barrel-age, and bottle on-site in Denison, TX. The spirits are made using high-quality heirloom and non-GMO corn from local farms to capture the authentic flavor of North Texas. Now with dozens of whisky awards, Ironroot Republic is real proof that great bourbon is a result of excellent ingredients and loving dedication - not location.