Patricia Vasconcelos had a circuitous path to the spirits industry. “I was originally meant to go to Washington, D.C.,” Patricia Vasconcelos tells Grazia USA. “I was studying international business at Penn State and envisioned a career in foreign policy or become a diplomat.”
An overachiever, Vasconcelos was determined to land a job before college graduation. “I would go to these career fairs and I met this gentleman from Gallo wines. He said, ‘Don’t go to D.C. You belong in spirits industry.’ Then he told me it was a remote job long before remote was a thing—and I was intrigued.”
She took the job at Gallo, where she got a crash course in the spirits business. “At the time, Gallo was known to have a really strong training program, like going to an Ivy League university but for spirits,” Vasconcelos says. “If you were trained at Gallo, people in the business know you had the skills and were the real deal.”
Vasconcelos embraced the new position and learned everything she could— until a medical condition sidelined her. “I got Lyme disease and didn’t know what was going on,” she explains. “I was misdiagnosed for many years and was trying to figure everything out. I could barely move, had fluid in my joints and had to have all these crazy surgeries.” It was a real blow for Vasconcelos who took a temporary job working in fashion.
But she was soon back in the spirits space working for Jack Daniels as a multicultural expert in NYC and other markets. Next up was a move to California, where she headed marketing for a tequila company. “We cut a deal to own the distributing rights for Corralejo tequila and we launched in over 40 markets,” she says. “We really reshaped how brands went to market. This was in 2006, 2007, 2008; we were pioneering a lot of what the industry is doing now.”
Vasconcelos and her partners also worked on Tequila Ocho, helping revamp the brand and relaunching it. “It became really noteworthy and buzzworthy,” she says. “But it was before social media and Instagram so we couldn’t even brag about it.”
After the market crashed in 2008, Vasconcelos took another break, touring around the United States. But another opportunity—this time with LVMH, as a multicultural specialist to run theWest Coast—came knocking.
This, Vasconcelos says, is where she really dug my heels into luxury execution and experiential events. “I was able to throw incredible events and with the pedigree of LVMH, we created some amazing programs.
After a decade with LVMH, Vasconcelos returned home to the East Coast, joining William Grant and Sons as director of luxury, North America. In this role, she works with super premium luxury products from the portfolio including The Balvenie and Glenfiddich— think bottles that run anywhere from $200 to $140,000 — and delivering them to clients in a way that is truly memorable. “There are a limited number of bottles of The Balvenie Sixty and this is master blender and malt master David Stewart’s life work,” she shares. “It’s a huge responsibility to deliver these bottles thoughtfully.”
To get things done, Vasconcelos, a certified Kundalini yoga teacher and avid meditator, channels her inner New Yorker (she is now Miami-based) and a get-it-done attitude. “It helps that I lived in NYC in my 20s so there is a real sense of urgency and resourcefulness,” she admits. “I have produced so many events that I really have so much experience to draw on. Plus, I thoroughly enjoy trying to figure out the pieces of the puzzle to make things happen.”
