Shawn Starbuck Kelley
By David Ransom

The last thing Shawn Starbuck Kelley ever expected, was to be on the receiving end of a pitch… In her life, it’s usually her that does the asking. Not that she isn’t thrilled to be promoting something to the press. That’s something she’s VERY comfortable doing! It’s just that she’s just usually discussing one of the many spirits brands in her stable, not the finer points of the world according to Shawn. So when I asked her if I could interview her for Rocks Stars, Shawn, while surprised, was thrilled to sit down for a chat.

As Director of Public Relations for Pernod-Ricard USA (www.pernod-ricard.com), producer of such iconic brands as Absolut, Beefeater, Plymouth, The Glenlivet, Chivas, and Jameson, Shawn is one of a handful of names at the top of the leader board in the world of spirits, mixology and cocktails, who didn’t get there by shaking a shaker, or squeezing a lime. Not that she didn’t roll up her sleeves and do some dirty work along the way, it’s just that her path was a bit more circuitous, and possibly, dare I say it…, more interesting?

No, she wasn’t a lawyer, doctor, or pop singer who gave up a lucrative career to follow her dream of a life in food, nor did she leave the family coffee shop business, as her name may imply, to strike out on her own. Starbuck is a family name, but they’re not based in Seattle, and the closest she comes to being in any way associated with a coffee brand, is that Pernod Ricard owns Kahlua.

Growing up as the last of five children in a middle class family in Detroit Michigan, Shawn recognized early that food (and drink) would always play an important role in her life. She says, “I came from a family of gourmands. I grew up with an appreciation for good food, whether it was fresh fish and local veggies during summers on the shore of Lake Michigan, or learning how to make my parents’ evening drinks when they came home (Mom’s drink was an Old Fashioned and Dad drank

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