Bartenders, managers, creators, distillers and ambassadors. Our beloved drinks industry is filled with women who are rocking it on the daily. We like to celebrate these females 365 days a year, but for International Women's Day 2021, we're gonna really shout about how bad-ass these ladies are.
Jo Last
Malt Whisky Ambassador for Diageo + World Class Ambassador
Why is she a bad-ass? Jo has gone from shaking up magical cocktails in The Savoy's opulent Beaufort Bar, to repping the whiskies of the Diageo catalogue as the Malt Whisky Ambassador. Yes girl! Over lockdown, she also Co-Founded "The Booze Brain" with fellow Savoy alumni Maxime Schulte; an awesome series of online programmes aimed at helping the bartending and drinks community through the crisis. We're all about the industry looking out for the industry. Go Jo!
Rebekkah Dooley
Brand Development Manager for the Umbrella Project + Founder of Discard The Zine
Why is she a bad-ass? This gal has the drinks industry flowing in her veins. Her career has seen her help in the curation of a menu that was awarded "World’s Best Cocktail Menu’ by Tales of The Cocktail; consult on the growth of some of the biggest spirits brands in the biz; and helped start up a free educational platform for the UK hospitality sector. That's all pretty impressive, but then she went and created an epic industry mag, too, with killer writing about the biz by people in the biz, with absolutely zero bullsh*t - just how we like it.
Nicole Sykes
Makers Mark UK Diplomat
Why is she a bad-ass? Is there anything this gal can't do? She's gone from rocking the Southbank at Lyaness, kicking ass in Edinburgh at the Voodoo Rooms and ruling the roost at Satan's Whiskers, before becoming the UK winner of the Bacardi Legacy cocktail competition and taking on the role of Makers Mark UK Diplomat, flying the flag for one of the best Bourbon's in the biz. Yup, she's a legit drinks-fueled Super Woman.
Anna Sebastian
Bar Manager at Artesian at The Langham, and founder of Celebrate Her
Why is she a bad-ass? Accolades and awards seem to have the same level of codependency for Anna as our dog has had for us since lockdown started, AKA they follow her everywhere she goes. You'll currently find her slaying it as the award-winning Bar Manager at the also award-winning Artesian, where she's known for her natural hospitality and warmth. She's also a pioneer for gender equality in the drinks industry, and in 2019 founded Celebrate Her, a non-profit organisation aimed at elevating female talent in the hospitality industry. This year, she's specifically aiming to secure funding from industry partners to offer financial support to women looking to develop their careers in hospitality. What a woman! Read Anna's Most Wanted interview here.
Dr Anne Brock
Master Distiller for Bombay Sapphire
Why is she a bad-ass? The Dr is in, baby. Anna has one of those brains you'd expect to find on University Challenge - but instead of using it to answer questions we can't even begin to understand, she uses it to create one of the most legendary gins on the market. With a PhD in Organic Chemistry (from Oxford, y'all), she's the literal authority on the science of creating epic booze and perfectly balanced cocktails, which is what she's been doing at the Bombay Sapphire distillery for the last 4 years. You'd think that'd take up a lotta her time, but she still finds plenty of it to bring her knowledge and authority to the Board of Directors at the Gin Guild. That's big time. Seriously, pay attention in school, kids - it could get ya gin.
Thea Cumming & Lucia Massey
Founders of Stokey's sassy mezcal bar, Doña, and creators of Dangerous Don mezcal & London Mezcal Week
Why are they bad-ass? These chicas are the sassy duo behind Doña, the epic mezcal joint in Stokey which has the vibrancy of Mexico and the sexiness of a 1920s Harlem jazz club. These babes have made sure this scarlet and pink plush basement bar is all about girl power - celebrating the empowered feminine energy and championing female performers in the nightly live music sets. They bring love and sass to everything they do, in front of and behind the bar, which is where you'll find plenty of bottles of Dangerous Don, a wicked mezcal which mixes coffee and mezcal (AKA the two things that have helped BarChick get through lockdown) which happens to be Thea's own perfectly smokey creation. BOOM.
Nitzan Marrun
Founder of Satryna Luxury Tequila
Why is she a bad-ass? Nitzan is the woman making waves in a seemingly male-dominated sector; she took a 70-year-old family recipe perfected over three generations for epic premium tequila and shared it with the world. This girl! Taking inspo from the kick-ass women in her family, she's formed a team of awesome females who are helping her break the stereotypes coming at her from this male dominated industry, and they're absolutely killing it.
Pippa Guy
Tanquerey Ambassador + World Class Ambassador
Why is she a bad-ass? Lets kick things off by talking about how f*cking cool it is that Pippa was the first lass in over a century to become Senior Bartender at The Savoy's American Bar. A wicked claim to have on its own, but while helping to get the bar to the No.1 spot on the 50 Best Bars list, she also went and rocked a couple of side hustles which saw the publication of her awesome book of recipes featuring all the best kindsa of bubbly, and her co-creation of the Coca-cola Signature Mixers which brought a mixology twist to those iconic glass bottles. Now having hung up that white jacket, she's repping one of the world's most recognisable gins as the UK ambassador to Tanqueray. YES, GIRL.
Hannah Sharman-Cox & Siobhan Payne
Founders of London Cocktail Week
Why are they bad-asses? These wonder women have put millions £££ back into the drinks trade since they kicked off the UK's biggest drinks festival over 10 years ago. It might have started out as a pop-up in Selfridge’s designed to bring together their friends in the trade and showcase London’s cocktail scene, but in the last decade, it's done a metric sh*t tonne to support and champion those in the industry. Even with hurdles like the pandemic, this duo have made it an epic success every year. We're always psyched to see what these babes will do next. Read their Most Wanted interview here.
Carole Bryon
Owner of Lady Of The Grapes
Why is she a bad-ass? Carole opened Lady of the Grapes in Covent Garden back in 2018 with the goal of shining a light on the women taking a lead roll in the traditionally male-dominated wine making industry, and she does it in the best way possible: by serving biodynamic and natural wines made by female winemakers. Even though around only 10% of the wine makers around the world are women, more than half of the names on her carefully curated wine lists are female. That's the kinda representation we're here for. Read her Most Wanted interview here.
Jane Frances LeBlond
Founder of Mothership, an all-female brewery in South London
Why is she a bad-ass? Looking for a woman who is out to crush cliches and inspire women to get involved with beer? Jane is your girl. She's been leading a new wave of beer making and drinking, and baby, everyone's invited. She founded Mothership in 2019, an all-female beer collective that is all about championing women in beer, and she's created an epic catalogue of seasonal socially conscious smashers in the process. That's what hard graft and a love of big flavour gets you.
Becky Paskin & Georgie Bell
Founders of OurWhisky
Why are they a bad-ass? In this duo you've got one woman who spent 6 months working as a bartender before swapping her shaker for a pen and using her inexhaustible knowledge to write about all things spirit (with a leaning towards those of a malted nature); and another who has worked as a global whisky ambassador and basically made it her life's mission to get under the skin of the amber liquid. Together, they're a force of nature, bringing a hurricane to shake up and disband the stereotypes that come with the so-called image of being "Women In Whisky" by founding OurWhisky; a global campaign to highlight the diversity of the whisky industry. Draaaaaam, girls.