Women in Beverage: Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart
Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart is the owner and president of Koval, an organic distillery in Chicago. Women in Beverage is part of our 2024 Beverage Industry Inclusion supplement.
How did you get into the beverage alcohol business?
In 2008, my husband and I gave up our careers to follow a set of life goals that became more pressing after we had our first child: We wanted to work together, live in a city we loved, be close to family, and make our own rules (which for me at the time was running a business without checking my motherhood at the door — nursing on demand and being with my children at work.)
Robert comes from three generations of distillers, so we had the know-how, but when Koval became the first distillery in Chicago since the mid-1800s, there were a number of issues affecting the growth of our business: not least a number of outdated laws in Illinois. I actually had to go to our state capital in Springfield, IL, to get the laws changed so that we could conduct tours, tastings and retail on site – the first change to the liquor laws since the end of Prohibition.
Did you have a mentor in the industry? Have you been a mentor to others?
I believe that one can learn something from everyone. With this in mind, I have had a lot of mentors, some related to distilling, some related to business, many related to life in general.
With regard to business, my grandmother was a fantastic mentor. She showed me that one should always keep learning, and that one can change one’s course in life: she started as an educator, became a nurse when my grandfather was ailing, and later became a financial advisor. She was always learning, and always growing.
I try to mentor as much as I can, whether students or members of my team. I started my career as a professor, and I still love to teach. In fact, we have a side business, Kothe Distilling Technologies, through which we help educate people hoping to start distilleries.
We have educated over 3,500 in the art of the business, and have set up over 200 craft distilleries around the world for other people, including the largest in Uganda, first distillery in Jerusalem, and many, many more. It has been a joy seeing so many people achieve their dreams, and being a part of the process.
Have you faced challenges as a woman in a leadership position in what’s still a male-dominated industry?
In my mind, this is an industry dominated by very competitive brands, all vying for the same shelf space and consumers, in a liquor market that is becoming compromised by new categories such as cannabis, THC, and RTDs. This is the biggest challenge.
Women in this industry, like most industries, have to contend with manners of doing business that pose problems: a lot of business is conducted over drinks after hours, at times when children tend to require a mom’s attention, or while playing golf instead of croquet, which is lamentable. Of course, there has been an international magazine that interviewed me and attributed my quotes to my husband.
And there are the international whiskey festivals: where bar owners (that I do business with) think that it is okay (usually after listing off all of the samples they have consumed at the other side of the room that “I have to check out”) to walk me around the room pulling me close with a sweaty arm around my waist, or the reporters who come to the distillery and say, “are you the shop girl?”
But with allies like my husband, such reporters are told, “you have to speak to Sonat, the owner” while walking away, and we jump up and down together in disbelief over the false attribution in print. And I am cheered on as I write a heartfelt letter to the bar owner about his behavior, and why it is inappropriate and that he would never do that to a male colleague in the same way, in hopes that, coming from me, it will be taken to heart – and when it isn’t, my husband reassures me – a true partner in business, and in life.
When things are bad, I just think that my great grandmother starved herself to get her parents to allow her to come to this country – alone – to work; and work she did. She put three children through college and grad school, sewing day and night, without even being able to read. So, yes, there are challenges, but I have amazing male allies, and I have had some strong female role models that inspire me to power through.
How has your company benefited from having women at the table making decisions?
Yes. Most of my sales team is made up of women, and Dando Projects, run by my sister, does our art direction.
Do you think the beverage alcohol industry has improved as far as women and gender DEI in the past five years?
Yes, I really do think that it has changed on some levels. I also think that there have always been a lot of women in the industry at all levels, which has helped fuel this, whether distribution houses run and owned by women, distillers, brand owners, sales managers, and more.
I have been working with women since starting Koval at all levels of the industry, so even when things are difficult, I have never been alone. I have also known a lot of men who really have been helpful to women by giving them and their brand real attention.
What advice do you have for people (women in particular) looking to get into the beverage alcohol industry?
Women have been a part of this industry since its inception – ”Maria the Jewess” actually created the first still in ancient Egypt. This industry is there for you. Take it by the horns.
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