Our Team

CHAD OWEN has spent the last 15 years in the spirits and hospitality industries. Chad began his career in cocktail and whiskey bars, growing into business operations and developing industry acknowledged expertise in the category of whisk(e)y.

He started his career while in college in 2008, and in 2012 Chad moved to Southern California and began working at Seven Grand Whiskey bar where he stepped into the deep end of whiskey culture. This was a natural fit combining his enthusiastic pursuit of all things history, culture, production, product, marketing, and storytelling – innate to the whiskey industry.

 

Chad’s ambitious nature led him to a BA in Entrepreneurship from the University of Missouri Kansas City, co-founding multiple small businesses along the way. With a proven track record of business development and growth, in 2016 he stepped away from Hospitality and spent a brief period with Altamar rounding out his industry knowledge, and becoming an expert in Rum, Tequila, and all things spirits – in addition to a fundamental understanding of the 3 tier system, and industry marketing and sales.

 

Chad later stepped away from the bar, and into a larger role with Pouring with Heart as a Director of Operations, helping a new generation of General Managers learn business operations, brand development, and staff leadership. In 2024 Chad left hospitality, and has rejoined his educational roots to lead the Product Development and Brand Education for High N’ Wicked Fine Whiskeys.