As the Marketing Director for a craft spirits startup, I learned to make my campaigns creative, efficient, and, above all, captivating.
In my early days, I was a one-man Marketing team and some of my earliest content was completely self-produced. However, I quickly learned when it’s time to bring in more talent to take your team to the next level.
Behind the Bar
ROCHESTER
Nathaniel Hall, Swan Dive
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“For bartenders and barbacks: greet customers with a smile, a menu, and water.
For patrons: don’t tap your credit card, don’t wave your money at me, and my name isn’t “Hey!” If you’re polite, you’ll receive proper hospitality back.”
2016 - ∞, website blog + social media content
Our legacy content series that was shined a spotlight on partner bartenders, showcased new recipes, and educated customers on our reach. What began as simple barstool banter evolved into deep conversations on the ever-changing complexities of the service industry and keeping up with cocktail culture.
WASHINGTON, DC
Sunny Seng, Kith/Kin
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“I’m 40, so 32 years. Seriously, the first Mai Tai I ever made was in my father’s restaurant. It was probably against child labor laws, but this was the ‘80s. The service bar was back behind this blockade, and he was teaching me how to make a Mai Tai like, “More rum, boy!” So I literally made my first Mai Tai at eight years old, but I’ve been bartending professionally for 20 years.”
COLUMBIA, SC
Spencer Robinson, The War Mouth
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“Never stop watching and listening. As a bartender still very new to the field, I think it is incredibly important to use every day as an opportunity to learn something new. The moment you stop listening and learning from others is the moment you’ve peaked.”
NEW ORLEANS
Marvin Allen, Carousel Bar & Lounge
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“My favorite part of working in the Carousel would be the interacting of the different types of people, their cultures, and where they come from. The Carousel has become a destination bar, and it's great fun to educate our guests on the different cocktails of the city and have them experience a cocktail they may not get in their hometown. They also want the recipes so they can return home and recreate the cocktails.”
RICHMOND, VA
Kacie Shortridge, Laura Lee’s
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“Women have most definitely made a strong name for themselves behind the bar, and there's no going back. In my own experience, women bring nurturing attitude and fluid energy behind the bar, more so than men alone. Of course, my absolute favorite is a mix of both masculine and feminine energies working together. When a man and woman can hold down a bar together, I feel like everyone instantly becomes more relaxed. There is something for everyone's comfort level and it eliminates that feeling of disparity between the two.
Women patrons have also been a huge part of the current cocktail movement. Today, you'll always find women right there in line to taste the next boozy concoction you've crafted and they are more than willing to tell you if it's balanced or not. It's awesome to see women take ownership over that knowledge and to become experts in the field.
As far as some people still living in the past, I've pretty much heard it all over the years. Sexist comments still get made and I don't think it's going away anytime soon. If it's in our society, it's going to be in our bars as well. Not too long ago, a man said to me, "You make a pretty good bourbon drink for a woman." Um... thanks?”
PITTSBURGH
Kimber Weissert, Butcher and the Rye
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“No guilty pleasures…I drink what I drink with no shame. Give me a PBR and a shot of Old Grand-Dad and I am a happy woman.”
Spring Cleaning
CREATIVE DIRECTION, COPY, PHOTO STYLING, and RECIPE DEVELOPMENT:
Brandon Day + Stephanie Stanton (Belle Isle Moonshine)
PHOTOGRAPHY: Joey Wharton
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Ingredients:
2 ½ oz. Belle Isle 100 Proof (or Black Label if you want a lower proof ‘tini)
½ oz. dry vermouth
½ oz. olive juice (optional)
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with olives, lemon twist, or any other garnish you'd like. Feel free to customize this recipe to make your ideal martini!
Sometimes startup life means throwing on a robe and posing next to a toilet!
APRIL 2019, website blog + social media content
To support the rollout of our new tagline "Replace your vodka," we came up with three ways to repurpose vodka for household chores and twists on classic cocktails that replace vodka with Belle Isle.
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Ingredients:
1 ½ oz. Belle Isle Blood Orange
½ oz. Galliano
4 oz. fresh orange juice
Preparation:
Add all ingredients to a mixing tin over ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
CLEANING TIP #2:
USE VODKA TO HELP SANITIZE SURFACES IN YOUR HOME
MOONSHINE BOOK, VOL 3.
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MOONSHINE BOOK, VOL 3. 〰️
2018, print publication + social media content
Directing the production of the third volume of the Moonshine Book, our collection of Belle Isle cocktail recipes, I sought to elevate the design from its previous iterations and include recipes from beyond just our home market. I spent three weeks directing shoots and collecting recipes from bartenders in 15 cities, then returned home to lead our in-house team in compiling and designing the final product.
CREATIVE DIRECTION, COPY, and DESIGN: Brandon Day, Stephanie Stanton, Marissa Bougher (Belle Isle Moonshine)
PHOTO STYLING: Brandon Day
PHOTOGRAPHY: Kate Magee + Joey Wharton