Opening Keynote – Setting Your Course: Lessons Learned from an Industry Icon
Keynote Presenter: Rhonda Kallman, Founder, Boston Harbor Distillery
As the Founding Partner and Executive Vice President of BBC for 15 years, Kallman knows how to build a successful organization. One of Draft Magazine’s “Top 10 Innovators” in the beer industry, Kallman helped build Boston Beer’s innovative infrastructure and create the most admired and best-trained sales force in the industry. With $200+ million in revenues, Kallman utilized unique go-to-market strategies that capitalized on the power of sales, promotion and marketing. With a coordinated, integrated message, Samuel Adams Boston Lager quickly became regarded as “The Best Beer in America.” Throughout her time with the Boston Beer Company, Kallman was committed to recruiting and promoting women within the company, shattering the proverbial glass ceiling that was once standard among the industry.
Currently, Kallman is Founder and CEO of Boston Harbor Distillery, where she focuses on her first love: whiskey. A native Bostonian, she is spirited, tenacious, passionate, hardworking, and grateful to the pioneers, like herself, who have paved the way for local artisans to make and present their craft.
