Anne Louise Marquis

I still loved theater after bartending for a few years; I still do. When I first started bartending, I was really fascinated with the performance of hospitality and the opportunity that hospitality offered to create immersive experiences. So I started throwing parties. I was doing circus school at the time, and I had this vision of a drinkable circus. I started hosting parties before pop-ups were really a thing. 

So we were doing these low-budget bar takeover pop-up events (my best friend Leslie Pariseau and I) with $100 or less. We threw cocktail parties revolving around specific themes. Like the day before Valentine's Day, we hosted a party in honor of breakups. The drinks had names like “Plenty of Fish,” and we only served ramen. We invited people to come, drink, eat noodles, and feel their feelings about breakups. I didn’t think anyone would come, but we sold out. A couple actually came and formally ended their relationship at the event; they popped a balloon in the middle of the restaurant and that was that.  

Another time, we hosted a Running of the Bulls party where we had everyone dress up like bulls and run through the streets. It was that kind of stuff where it was for the industry, creative, immersive, very simple to execute parties and events. That caught the eye of Pernod-Ricard. Leslie used to work for Pernod, and when she left her role to go be a full-time writer, I took her old job. So I did that for two years on Pernod Absinthe, and then I went to Grand Marnier for two years. Then Grand Marnier was acquired by Campari America, and I went to Campari America.



I'm the National Portfolio Brand Ambassador for Campari America, which means I cover all the brands and I cover the country. As such, I work in a more strategic role. I do market visits, product training, host events, and give a human face to these brands. I also think about how we talk to the bar community in a macro sense.

I manage our newsletter and our Instagram account, and I send out mailers to people with fun swag that keeps them connected to us. When I think of what I do, what all brand ambassadors do, is distilled in this description of a lighthouse. 

I describe it like this: We stand right on the border between the company and the community- with one foot in both places. Our job is to take the message of the company and share it out. Then also, as we come back around, we take all that information from the community and shine it back to the company. So we're that space in between where that information is shared.

So this might sound kind of weird, but I am good at being a human. I think that sometimes when we talk about “soft skills,” like interpersonal skills, conflict management, and empathy, they are not as valued as much as “hard skills” might be. So, it's something that often gets discounted, but it is the single most important piece in building relationships, building connections, and offering meaning and belonging to people. I think that any brand ambassador needs to have that level of empathy to relate to the people they are teaching. You might be talking to another bartender who's just learning how to bartend. It might be a bartender who's been bartending for 20 years and has their own set of knowledge. It might also be a consumer or someone who's never made a cocktail before. It’s vital to have empathy and be able to tailor education to the audience so they can get the most out of it. 

I think being creative is vital to this role. It's so competitive. There are so many brands out there, and everyone's doing cool stuff. I love that everyone's doing cool stuff. I love that everyone in our industry are friends, and we cheer each other on and support each other. But we're also competing to throw the best party and to have the best program and to do the most original idea. Being creative is challenging, as is producing those creative ideas into existence. Most people can’t do both. If you can be both very creative and then also be able to implement that idea, that makes you the most employable person in the world. Because most people are one or the other. 

Lastly, for anyone considering this kind of role — it’s imperative that you love the brands you work on and know them inside and out. Then you have to be able to synthesize that knowledge into a format that allows other people to also love and understand the brand. We are in the business of teaching teachers and empowering advocates. I just love watching my team present because they're such great educators; their depth of knowledge is so inspiring, and that encourages other people to also want to learn and share it with others in return.



I think that swag is really important because it's a physical manifestation of a brand. It is rare and special to get a piece of it. It's symbolic of your relationship to that brand and of how that brand feels about you. It's this little token, this little item that symbolizes a lot.

A recent piece that sticks out in my mind is so silly and so small but was really impactful. We made a little keychain for 1757 Vermouth that said, “Put the vermouth in the fridge.” It’s an inside joke for bartenders because most people don’t realize that vermouth goes bad if you leave it on the shelf. Bartenders loved them. It was so exciting to see the response. I think finding ways to let people feel like they're on the inside of the joke fosters connection. I still see them on keyrings all the time.

The trends that are interesting to me are mostly centered around how people adapted to COVID and how the industry is going to be impacted long-term — what changes are going to stick and what's not. It’s been exciting to see bartenders and bars become more entrepreneurial, expanding beyond brick and mortar with products like cocktail kits and RTDs. We're going to continue to see that kind of innovation.

One of the other fascinating things we're going to get out of the pandemic in the drink world is a whole lot of new sophisticated and educated consumers. There are a lot of people who spend a lot of time at home learning about drinks. I'm interested to see how this influences bars and restaurants. I think there's a chance that in the near future, you’re going to be able to walk into a big chain restaurant and get a cocktail usually only served in a mixology bar. I think we're going to see a lot more complexity arriving in bars that had been simpler before.



The drinks industry has been very male-dominated for a long time, but that is changing. There are so many incredible women both entering the industry and moving up into leadership roles within it right now. We're seeing women leading kitchens, leading bar teams, and leading brands. It is really exciting to have more visibility for women and to see more women being mentored and trained into all types of roles in production, supply chain, and sales, plus more female master distillers stepping forward and being promoted. So my advice to women is to know that there's space for you and to go claim that space. There is room for you at the table, and your voice is important. You are needed.

But I think women know that and don’t need my advice. I believe in women. So my advice is really for the men. Men in leadership need to make space for women. They need to include them, champion them, and bring them up. They need to listen to them, support them, and work on unlearning their cultural programming around gender biases. Without awareness and intention, people tend to default to hiring people who look and act like them; that's a disservice to everybody. It takes humility and bravery to confront your biases, but it leads to more people at the table, and that’s better for everyone.

So be brave and be bold, continue following your passions, and if and when you have the opportunity to raise somebody up, do it.

ANY CLOSING THOUGHTS BEFORE WE GO?

My last thought for your readers is to go out and go to bars. Especially if you are passionate about spirits and cocktails. I think that the hospitality industry got hit so hard, and it's really important, especially now, that we go out and support them. Most great drinks were created IN bars, so we need to continue to support those, now more than ever.