We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Angela Bosco. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Angela below.
Angela, appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
My sisters used to joke that I was the perpetual student in my 20s, and honestly, I still am. Here’s the big secret: I’m still learning how to do what I do. Every day presents a new opportunity to learn something.
The foundation of how I learned to manage and build brands comes from asking questions, constantly. I was fortunate to experience multiple sides of the industry, starting from the other side of the bar. I bartended my way through grad school, and that’s really where I learned how people engage with alcohol brands and their usage occasions. I saw firsthand what promotions resonated, which ones fell flat, and how the trade adapted (or didn’t!).
After college, I landed a job managing promotions in NYC for three major liquor brands. That agency gave me the chance to apply what I had observed behind the bar. From there, moving into sales felt like a natural progression, and sales is where I gained the most appreciation for the real-time feedback loop. Field sales puts brand messaging to the ultimate stress test, especially in NYC. If a pitch has holes, retail managers will point them out immediately. They’ll tell you if you’re priced wrong, if your point-of-sale materials are boring, or if your concept simply won’t work. And 99% of the time, they’re right.
When I later moved into brand management and ultimately brand building, I realized I had a perspective many marketers don’t have, simply because I had lived so many different touchpoints of the brand journey.
As for speeding up the learning process, I honestly don’t think there’s a shortcut. In fact, I think the opposite is true: the more time you spend truly understanding the many facets of the business, the better positioned you are to build a brand with real staying power.
I’ve never felt like I had obstacles to learning. I’ve been incredibly fortunate-supported by mentors, surrounded by colleagues and agency partners with deep experience, and constantly learning from customers. The only real hurdle to learning is pretending you already know everything.
Angela, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m currently the VP of Marketing and Commercial Operations for Avalon Spirits Inc., a company specializing in sales and marketing within the spirits industry. Avalon owns Whiskey Row Bourbon and also provides a U.S. route-to-market for our agency brands, Santa Ana Gin, and Togouchi Japanese Whisky. Our mission is simple but rare in this industry: pair sharp commercial strategy with equally strong marketing, and solve problems with nimble, tactical solutions.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working on brands at pivotal, high-growth moments, most notably Jefferson’s Bourbon (acquired by Pernod Ricard) and Don Papa Rum (acquired by Diageo). There’s nothing more rewarding than helping build a brand to the point where the largest players in the world take notice (and put their money where their mouth is!). That kind of momentum creates an energy you can feel every day. With Jefferson’s, we were outpacing category growth and offering something truly coveted by consumers. Don Papa brought its own magic: one of the most creative teams I’ve ever worked with, where collaboration and camaraderie were effortless. I’m grateful for what each brand taught me, both professionally and personally.
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
I think I’m actually living my favorite marketing story right now. The reimagining of the Whiskey Row brand has been one of the most exciting, fulfilling, and high-risk journeys of my career.
Whiskey Row was originally created by the late Steve Thompson, a legend in our industry, who wanted to honor the earliest bourbon route to market. The brand pays tribute to the true origins of bourbon: not a single, pristine lineage, but a moving, evolving blend shaped by geography, trade, and time. Whiskey Row, known as The Birthplace of Bourbon, sits at the center of a story that hasn’t been told this way before.
And yes, launching a bourbon brand in today’s economic landscape is a risk. But we believe it’s a risk worth taking, because we’re offering something consumers have been missing: a bourbon narrative that reflects what bourbon originally was. Not just the story of a single distiller’s family tree or a perfectly replicated mash bill, but the story of a melting pot. Barrels distilled in Virginia or Pennsylvania making their way downriver and landing on Whiskey Row to be blended with Kentucky bourbon. It’s transient, nimble, and dynamic. That movement is what made bourbon bourbon.
When we purchased the brand from Steve’s estate, one of the first decisions we made was to upgrade the packaging. Steve used to say, “I’ll make the stuff, you market it.” So in many ways, this felt like a continuation of his blessing. We also wanted to double down on the true heartbeat of Whiskey Row’s story: blending.
That’s what inspired our Triple Wood expression-aged first in oak, then finished in cognac and sherry casks. The result is a bourbon that tastes like what bourbon was always meant to be: not static, but always in motion.
And this is just the beginning. I can’t wait for the next chapter-creating limited editions that follow the historic bourbon route down the Ohio River, each one honoring a different American city with a flavor profile that reflects its culture, its energy, its significance.
Building anything new in this environment is a challenge. But the odds have never scared me, and they’ve never stopped our team before. We’ve built beloved brands against the odds, and we’re going to do it again.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
What I’m most proud of is a decision I made about my own path. When Pernod acquired Jefferson’s, I was offered the chance to stay and continue working with the brand. The experience I gained during that time was invaluable, and their marketing capabilities taught me an entirely new level of discipline. But it’s easy to get comfortable in a machine that big. I’m proud that I trusted my entrepreneurial instincts, spoke up when something wasn’t right for the brand, even if it didn’t align with the established playbook, and ultimately chose to return to what I love most: helping build brands from the ground up, not just scaling them.
Leaving one of the largest spirits marketing organizations in the world wasn’t the easy choice, but it was the right one. That decision is what brought me back to the work that energizes me. If I had chosen to stay comfortable, I would not be back doing what I love at Avalon and for our brands.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.whiskeyrowbourbon.com
- Instagram: @whiskeyrowbourbon
- Facebook: @WhiskeyRowBourbon
