Asked to complete the sentence “Women who whisky are ____,” Sue McCollum, the chairperson and CEO of Major Brands Inc., responds: “Collaborative, innovative, strong, willing to take a risk.” And she has a simple explanation for what inspired her nonprofit of the same name, Women Who Whisky, a collaboration of women business and nonprofit leaders in the St. Louis area: “If we’re running for president and running board rooms, it’s time we start leaning into the bar.”
Major Brands' Sue McCollum
St. Louis has an abundance of women in senior leadership roles, McCollum—who leads the largest women-owned and operated distributor in the country—recognizes. It's something that is often overlooked outside of the region. Tapping into some of that potential, McCollum amassed a group of women who also hope to “elevate the region” through giving back, and together they traveled to the Maker’s Mark distillery in Loretto, Kentucky, last May.
There, they worked together to create a barrel of limited-edition Private Select Bourbon. The barrel, which will produce around 200 bottles, is “the first to be created by all women, the first made by a distributor, and the first whose proceeds will go 100 percent to charity.” Along for the ride were Rebecca Hatter with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri; Lesley Hoffarth with Forest Park Forever; Lisa Melandri with the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; Susan Sherman with the Saint Louis Fashion Fund; Ellen Sherberg, special adviser to the CEO of American City Business Journals; Suzanne Sitherwood, president and CEO of Spire, Inc.; and Cabanne Howard, CEO of Kaleidoscope Management Group.
Initially, the idea was that the bottles of bourbon would be divided up among the women to raise funds individually, but as they traveled together, their “bus ride became a bit of a shark tank,” according to McCollum, and they decided that they could raise more money working as a collective. “Getting together and building relationships is how to improve a community,” she says. And so was born Hatch the Batch, a fundraiser to be held on October 4 at 6 p.m. at Big Brothers Big Sisters’ ANEW Rooftop in Grand Center.
All proceeds from Hatch the Batch will go to the St. Louis Community Foundation fund, benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri, Forest Park Forever, the Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis, and Saint Louis Fashion Fund. The beginning donation price is $1,000, which includes two tickets to the event and one bottle of the special-blend whisky.
