Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Liz Edwards. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Liz, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you manage your own social media?

Social media is an important part of any business, and staying on top of the forever changing algorithms is a nightmare. I manage my own as I am so close to the festival. I have tried hiring someone to help manage, however I keep coming back to doing it myself. I find that there are also a lot of fake accounts and I found that out first hand. One of my posts was for a discount off the ticket price to the festival, the strangest part is that the post had over 2,000 views, 50 shares and not one ticket sale? That in itself tells me that even though its important to use social media, I should not trust the numbers, Marketing is a key component to my business and finding the right mix on where to spend my valuable recourses is a changing challenge.

Liz, 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?

Most people don’t realize that I do it all; from building and maintaining the website, to social media, and writing the newsletters, I literally wear all the hats. What sets me apart is that when a brand or a customer calls they actually speak to me, and when I cold call and do marketing, people are surprised to hear my voice and not that of someone who doesn’t know my company.

I stand true to my brand. I built the festival from the ground up and even though at first it was hard and like everyone I have learnt from early mistakes. The San Diego Spirits Festival is just that its a festival and its geared to both the consumer and the industry, with events like mine, in the past they were only for industry professionals and I have opened the door and made the festival all inclusive.

I have dedicated herself to ensuring that the festival continues to evolve every year and is laser-focused on delivering a stellar experience that brings spirits brands and spirits lovers together in a fun, high-energy environment.

This is year 13 and I have taken another leap, by changing the venue of the festival and taking it more upmarket with a move from the downtown location to La Jolla. I am nervous of the move and the changes but I also feel that this is the way to take the event upmarket and to take it to the next level. San Diego has become an epicenter for spirits and mixology, and I have been at the center of it all through a world-class event that showcases emerging trends and exciting brands.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

From the beginning I have had to fight to get brands to believe in me. There are not that many fully women owned festivals like mine, in fact I do not believe there are any. My background was in media and marketing and when I started the San Diego Spirits Festival, brand owners were very much men they didn’t see my vision and didn’t think that I would make it in the industry. I have proved them all wrong as here I am 13 years later with one of the largest cocktail festivals that is wholly woman owned with no outside investors.

I never give up, in 2020 when Covid19 shut down the country and I also had to cancel the San Diego Spirits Festival which is the public event I still wanted to have the private blind tasting, the lock downs didn’t stop me, I was still able to have the San Diego Spirits Festival bottle competition. I could not find a venue that would allow me to have the event. I decided to have the event in my own backyard, the judges were all screened and we had the event with social distancing. The judges loved the fact that I held this in my own home and it was more intimate.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Before launching the San Diego Spirits Festival, I founded Let’s Play Downtown, a media production company, where I interviewed international popular culture icons like Larry King and Drew Carey. This role seeded my passion for the spirits industry as I filmed and participated in spirits events, while forming key relationships with leaders in the industry.

I built my reputation as being honest and reliable. I have integrity and I follow through. I am not afraid to make marketing and cold calls, I leave voice mails and most of the time people return my calls. I do not give up.

People know that when they call they will speak to me, the owner the founder and its always great when I hear the surprise in people when they realize they are speaking to me.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoSpiritsFestival
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/spiritsfestival
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/sdspiritsfestival/ https://www.sandiegospiritsfestival.com/

Image Credits
Chris Brake Photography