Today we’d like to introduce you to Eglys Martinez.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Although I was born in Caracas, Venezuela, I moved to Orlando Florida where I went to High School and University. When I graduated in 2009 from the University of Central Florida I decided to move abroad to get international experience and get my Masters. I started working for Edrington in Madrid, Spain at the end of 2009 while I was getting my Masters in Marketing Management from ESIC Business & Marketing School. I started in the marketing department at Edrington with Brugal Rum working with international markets. When I graduated in 2010, I changed jobs to work in their commercial department working with Southern Europe markets with the whole portfolio (The Macallan & Highland Park Single Malt Whisky, Cutty Sark & Famous Grouse Blended Whisky and Brugal Rum). I worked in various roles and had commercial responsibility for our Portfolio in South-Central Europe with direct responsibility for 8 distributors in France, Portugal, Belgium, Malta and Gibraltar for 4 years. In 2015 I was offered a new job and relocated to Miami, Florida to expand my geographical footprint as Sr Area Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not all been smooth but it has been very fulfilling, at the time I started working with Southern Europe in 2010, Europe had fallen under the economic crisis that the US had faced in 2008 so it was a very tough operating environment working with consumer goods therefore it was all about maintaining our business under a difficult economic landscape, but I think it made it more enriching for the start of my career working under those circumstances. The challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean were the complete opposite, managing a rapidly expanding business can also be very challenging, but I am very proud of the work the team in the Miami office has done expanding our footprint and opening new markets, especially with The Macallan. The other challenge I would say is that although it has changed massively, the spirits industry was typically very male dominated so there are natural challenges there, however, the industry continues to evolve and I work with many amazingly talented women in charge, including female master blenders for some of our brands!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Edrington Americas – what should we know?
Edrington is an international spirits company which makes some of the world’s best-loved Scotch whiskies, including The Macallan, The Famous Grouse, Highland Park, Cutty Sark and The Glenrothes. The portfolio is complemented by Brugal, the leading premium rum in the Caribbean, and by Snow Leopard vodka. The headquarters are in Glasgow but we have 21 offices around key cities in the world, soon to be 22 when we open in Mexico City.
The thing that sets Edrington apart and one of the many reasons why I love working for my company aside from our amazing portfolio is the strong values and social responsibility ethos. We have a very unique business model where we are owned by a charity called The Robertson Trust and we donate a 1% of pre-tax profits to good causes chosen by staff around the world. Charity is at the core of everything we do and giving more is something that is encouraged, we even get holidays allotted to giving back to the community, it’s something that every single employee is very proud of.
I’ve formed my career here and have been very lucky to work in various offices, in Miami I worked until April 2018 as Senior Area Manager growing our business in Latin America and the Caribbean and have now recently relocated to Scotland, to the headquarters of the business as Sales Development and Support Manager working with all markets, including our offices in the Americas. My new role means I get to work and help our global community be able to sell more and get a global perspective of how we operate our business so that is an exciting change.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I think always being willing to help! Earlier in my career I would try to get involved with as many projects as possible, this gave me a lot of visibility internally and then was able to be considered for more opportunities. I think continuing to be open to new opportunities, you would be surprised how much you can learn working in other areas of the business that you would never think would be of interest. I have been involved in projects from opening new route to markets to logistics and supply chain with our whisky ops team and our distilleries, everything that adds to your knowledge bank is always good. These projects have also taken me to very unique places like getting to live in Athens to traveling to the highlands in Scotland or the Dominican Republic fueling my love for travel which is a big passion.
Contact Info:
- Address: Edrington – FL
1101 Brickell Ave
18th Floor,
Miami FL 33131 - Phone: +1 305 742 0817
- Website: https://www.edrington.com
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