OUR TEAM
Twenty20 has a strong team of industry professionals. The team is built around one organizing
principle. “Good people, who enjoy what they do, will do good work”. The strong relationships
built over the years with our distributor partners and customers show everyday in the results we achieve for our partners.
Ashley Burnette
Ashley has extensive experience in the distribution tier. He held many significant positions at Young's Market Company, the last being Executive Vice President of Marketing and Internal Operations. This experience gives him a unique perspective on how distributors and suppliers effectively work together to grow and develop brands, and he now utilizes that experience to the benefit of our portfolio. He is a results-driven, execution oriented, decisive leader with a proven track record of success. Ashley resides in Southern California and works across all aspects of our business to monitor sales execution, ensure strategy is consistent and our clients' goals are being achieved.
ashley@twenty20beverages.comAshley Burnette
Partner/Co-founder
John Ormiston
John has held leadership positions with some of the world’s largest wine and spirit producers. He has been involved in the development of successful brands including Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Pinnacle Vodka, Herradura Tequila, Sonoma Cutrer, Benziger and Fetzer Wines. He led the creation of the Alliance Company, a joint venture between Brown Forman and Bacardi, two of the world’s largest spirits producers. He created 1026 Beverage Company in 2015 which later developed into 2020 Beverages and is a leader in sales and marketing management in the wine and spirits industry. He received his MBA from Pepperdine University in 2000.
john@twenty20beverages.comJohn Ormiston
Partner/Co-founder
Damien Pascale
Damien is an accomplished liquor industry leader with extensive experience in strategic and tactical planning, trade channel management, portfolio management, pricing & programming, as well as budgeting. He has worked for and with top companies in the industry including Youngs Market Company, RNDC, Brown Forman, Bacardi, Remy Cointreau, Fifth Generation, Heaven Hill, Sazerac, and Proximo. He has helped introduce and/or manage many of the industries most successful brands.
damien.pascale@twenty20beverages.comDamien Pascale
Director, Portfolio Management
Clint Schwald
Clint is highly skilled at brand building. He has always had a passion for creating wildly creative ideas for the beverage, hospitality, entertainment, retail and consumer-facing companies. Prior to joining Twenty20 Beverages, Clint enjoyed 17 years of success as founder of Big Idea Marketing, Inc and prior to that held senior level marketing positions with Black Angus FunBars, Taco Bell, Chevy's Fresh Mex and T.G.I. Fridays. Clint has been a featured speaker at a variety of restaurant trade shows and has had articles published in major publications including Nation's Restaurant News. Clint lives in Southern CA with his wife and two daughters and enjoys family time, hiking, cooking, wine tasting and rooting on his San Francisco Giants.
clint.schwald@twenty20beverages.comClint Schwald
Director of Marketing
Chris Burnette
Chris has grown up in an industry family. His mother, father, aunt, and uncle have all enjoyed long careers in the Wine and Spirits industry working for such great companies as Brown Forman, Heublein, Youngs Market Company and Wine Warehouse. Chris is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in Business Management and Human Resources. Chris enjoys playing baseball, and rooting for the Washington Nationals and Kanas City Chiefs.
christopher@twenty20beverages.comChris Burnette
Operations Manager
Jacob Forsberg
Jacob is a successful sales executive with rich experience in the Wines & Spirits industry. He started his career at Gallo followed by leadership roles at both Moet Hennessy and RNDC, lastly in the role of SVP Sales for a developing regional brand in the West, Tahoe Blue Vodka. He is best known for his ability to lead teams, deliver results, and build rapport with diverse groups. With a thorough understanding of the marketplace, brand economics, and leveraging category analysis, he has been successful with a wide range of brands in the retail channel.
Jacob.Forsberg@twenty20beverages.comJacob Forsberg
Director of National Retail and Control States
Darren Kohlenberger
Darren has an extensive background in the spirits industry having worked for top companies, such as Brown-Forman and MGP. He has a successful track record across a variety of roles, including both on and off premise, as well as national accounts. In his spare time, Darren enjoys being around his family and playing in his ice hockey league.
darren.kohlenberger@twenty20beverages.comDarren Kohlenberger
Vice President
East
Brian Prawl
Brian is a service-driven and detail-oriented professional bringing years of progressive leadership and success through every tier of the Wine and Spirits industry. He has held senior roles with industry leading companies such as Brown-Forman, Santa Margherita USA, and MGP. Brian has worked on Iconic brands such as Jack Daniels, Woodford Reserve, Herradura and Santa Margherita as well as developed and launched brands like George Remus, TILL Vodka and Rossville Union. Brian is a top-performing and adaptable leader, with strong business alliances.
brian.prawl@twenty20beverages.comBrian Prawl
Director
Central
Zach Theiss
Zach has a passion for building brands. He has held sales roles in the on premise, off premise and chains from street level up to director level positions. Additionally, Zach lived and worked in Sydney Australia building his depth of experience launching US based spirit companies across Australia and New Zealand. His strengths lie in strategic planning for long term success, building and maintaining long lasting relationships and business development. Away from business, Zach enjoys surfing around the world, playing music and reading whatever he can get his hands on.
zach.theiss@twenty20beverages.comZach Theiss
Director
West
Michael Dennehy
Michael Dennehy brings more than 21 years’ experience in the beverage alcohol business. Michael has held senior supplier and wholesaler positions. Most recently, he served as Sales Director for Stellar Group, an Importer of brands, most notably Ruskova Vodka. He founded Catch 21 Consulting, LLC, a brand marketing company representing Don Q Rums, Caliche Rum and Comisario Tequila, to name a few. Michael also served as Marketing Director for Daucourt Martin Imports which owned X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, X-Rated Vodka, and Jean-Marc XO Vodka. He also was the Public Relations Manager for Maker’s Mark, Laphroaig, Glendronach Single Malts, Ballantines, Beefeater & Courvoisier and oversaw the Maker’s Mark 50th Anniversary campaign that helped grow the brand to over 715,000 cases nationally.
Michael.Dennehy@twenty20beverages.comMichael Dennehy
Area Sales Manager
New York and New Jersey
Harrison Pious
Harrison brings over a decade of experience in distribution, brand development and sales management. Based in Chicago, he has managed and expanded brands in the western Great Lakes working for MGP and Breckenridge Distillery most recently. A CSS since 2012, he is deeply interested in distillation and the rich history of spirits. In his spare time, he pursues art, reading and live music.
Harrison Pious
Regional Sales Manager
Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
Jess Nelson
Jess started in the food and beverage industry while in college in working in fine dining restaurants. Upon graduation, she ventured into the beer industry working on the distributor side in both on and off premise. Jess excels in areas including brand marketing, management, sales and customer service. She is passionate about the beverage industry and the state of Michigan. Jess loves the outdoors. Her hobbies include paddle boarding, fishing, hunting, and traveling around the state with her dog.
jess.nelson@twenty20beverages.comJess Nelson
Area Sales Manager
Michigan
David Bredine
David has been in the Spirit and Wine Industry for many years on both the distributor and supplier side. David has worked with Sazerac, Margaritaville, Luxco and Southern Starz. David understands what it takes to build brands having had great success building both the Fireball and Buffalo Trace brands in Colorado. When David is not out in the market, he will most likely be found on the golf course working on his golf game.
david.bredine@twenty20beverages.comDavid Bredine
Area Sales Manager
Colorado
Melissa Flores
Melissa was born and raised in Mexico City, and has a degree in Marketing from Universidad del Valle de Mexico. Melissa moved to Tampa, Florida 10 years ago and has been working in the spirits industry for over 8 years. Initially, successfully opening a new spirit category in a new market - Mezcal in Florida! She later managed the Florida market as a regional business development manager for a new London Gin and Russian Vodka. Her experience is in brand positioning, distribution, territory management, new business development and hands on sales including coordinating tastings and new account sales for both on and off premise. Melissa is a fitness enthusiast, go getter, hustler, proud Mom of a 9 year old daughter and 11 year old son and fluent Spanglish speaker.
melissa.flores@twenty20beverages.comMelissa Flores
Area Sales Manager
West Central Florida
Liz Epsy
Liz Espy is born and raised in the south. Liz lives in Atlanta, and has worked with spirits for over a decade. Liz has worked with companies like Constellation Brands and Diageo. She loves the art of distillation and blending, and has a passion for doing spirit education. She has extensive sales experience in both the on and off premise. She has worked for distributors and suppliers, throughout the Southeast in many sales, marketing and brand educator roles.
liz.espy@twenty20beverages.comLiz Espy
Area Sales Manager
Georgia
Bridgette Nevarez
With almost two decades in the hospitality industry, Bridgette definitely has a passion for people. Waiting tables through high school and college sparked a love for the industry that eventually led to a successful career in sales. She has spent the last five years working in On Premise Wine and Spirits for companies such as Republic National Distributing Company and Green Light Distribution. Outside of work you will usually find her with her nose in a book or spending quality time with her husband and son.
bridgette.nevarez@twenty20beverages.comBridgette Nevarez
Area Sales Manager
North Texas
Andrew Bryant
Andrew spent nearly a decade in the bar and restaurant industry learning about beer, wine and spirits as a Bar Manager while working closely with various distributor partners. As a native Houstonian, he has first-hand knowledge of what it takes to grow brands in this competitive market. While working for Molson-Coors and Revolver Brewing, he drove sales in both the on and off premise channels of trade. While he is not in market, he enjoys spending time with his family, making memories with his wife and playing guitar.
andrew.bryant@twenty20beverages.comAndrew Bryant
Area Sales Manager
Central Texas
Vartan Vartanian
I've built a career in the beverage industry by mixing strategy, creativity, and hustle. At RNDC, I led California’s Proximo Dedicated Team, driving portfolio growth through pricing strategies and promotions. Before that, I was an On-Premise Specialist at Brown-Forman, earning recognition for record brand growth. As Market Manager at Infinium Spirits, I helped build brands like Seagram’s Vodka and Skrewball through strategy and distributor collaboration. I started at Young’s Market Company, managing key accounts and surpassing sales benchmarks. In every role, I’ve leveraged data, planning, and strong relationships to drive success.
Vartan Vartanian
Area Sales Manager
Los Angeles, CA
