Laura Papa

My journey in the wine and spirits industry began with a dream I literally wrote down on a napkin while working concession stands at a basketball game in college - I wanted to own my own vineyard and winery. I've always believed in understanding an industry from the bottom up, so I started bartending and teaching myself about wine. A conversation with a customer at a bar I opened in New Orleans led to me becoming the first person in Louisiana to work for Oyster Bay Wines (now Delegate). I ran their tasting program and increased their state sales by about 40%, which led to a full-time position and relocation to Houston. I then made the strategic switch from wine to spirits to better understand the distribution realm, spending about 6 months learning how distributors work before Sazerac reached out. I spent about 5 years with Sazerac on a very niche team focusing on strengthening the on-premise realm, which taught me how to pivot during the pandemic when our $72 billion industry in Texas was hit very hard. I've developed a knack for launching brands in Texas and have built relationships across the board with distributors and wholesalers - to the point where I can pick up a phone and people trust my work ethic and follow-through. After serving as Director of Sales at Fierce Whiskers with an entire sales team, I joined No Sleep Beverage as their first employee about a year and a half ago. This role is a new learning experience because we're not just a supplier - we're also a venture capital company offering sales advocacy. My mantra is to constantly work at bettering yourself and practice patience, understanding that this industry is more of an art that's constantly evolving, and you'll never know everything about it.