Turiya Luzadder, a former strategic analyst for Molson Coors, has joined 3 Tier Beverages as the Chicago-based data analytics and sales consulting firm’s first chief operating officer (COO).
Luzadder will report directly to 3 Tier Beverages founder Donn Bichsel Jr., helping drive “scale and innovation, while maintaining 3 Tier’s culture of customer-centricity and agile execution,” according to a press release.
Luzadder spent more than a decade at Molson Coors (then MillerCoors) in various analytics and consumer insights roles. She also spent time at Heineken, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Michael Skurnik Wines, and most recently served as chief growth officer at SGS & Co., an international packaging design and production agency.
“Surrounding your company with talented people makes your clients happy – finding someone to guide and support those people is the most difficult step,” Bischel said in the release. “Our organization needed to grow the vision of creating access and understanding of data across all beverage verticals and tiers.
“There has always been only one person for this role – we welcome Turiya to 3 Tier Beverages where her depth of experience will take us all to this next level,” he continued. “This is a transformational day for our clients, partners and internal organization.”
Luzadder’s hiring comes on top of several new additions to the 3 Tier Beverages team, including consultants Jason Gryzb and Linda Zunas. Gryzb spent more than three decades as a consultant for IRI (Circana), while Zunas has more than two decades of experience in wine and spirits, including eight years at Nielsen Analytics. 3 Tier Beverages also recently hired analyst Devon Hevener, a former consumer data and market researcher at the American Cider Association.
Brewbound caught up with Luzadder ahead of her hiring announcement to discuss her new position. Here are the highlights from the conversation:
On her time at Molson Coors and lessons learned … “Two things that were always important when I was there was being very smart about which data sets you’re looking to when you’re looking for answers … and then it’s a lot around really focusing on what decision are you trying to drive or what actions do you want your teams to take? And then you need to channel that in a way that really just makes it simple.
“You can very, very easily overwhelm people. And there are folks who love all the data and who want to dig through it, but that’s a small portion of the organization, and you’re trying to influence all your feet on the street, so you have to make it really easy for them.”
On why she decided to join 3 Tier Beverages … “What I saw in this past year that really brought me back to it is he [Bischel] actually ended up hiring a number of people who I had worked with in the past who were just amazing – Mary Mills and Danelle [Kosmal] – both people I consider [to be] unicorns in the industry, because they’re incredibly talented, good at what they do, but also really understand people and how to take what can be something very complex, and break it down in a way that makes it accessible to everyone.
“But also, [seeing] how Donn worked with the partners that are out there, I was incredibly impressed by the relationships that he has within NIQ, with VIP [Vermont Information Processing], working with Brewers Association, American Cider Association, all these people. And so that got me excited to come back to something that is in this really interesting stage of growth.”
On the next chapter for 3 Tier Beverages … “Thinking about how companies work well and function well, and realizing that 3 Tier is at the stage right now where they’re small, but they’re expanding quickly, now is the time to really start to make sure that the growth is scalable. And also that the culture is retained. So how do you take something that is really magical now and grow that out?
“First and foremost we take cues from our clients and try to recognize what is it that our clients need? And how can we serve them in a way that really helps elevate the whole industry? Because we are all invested in these industries doing very well. And then we start to say, ‘OK, what are ways that we can make data more accessible? And what’s the next logical? What’s the what’s the what are some of the most logical next steps?’
“There’s a lot of unlocked potential based on what some of our industry veterans know, and what we have experience with. And so there’s a lot from a solutions perspective that we can unlock, as it pertains to how do we support folks on their journeys with retail solutions? How do we work with folks with ABPs [annual business plans] and things like that?”
On the current state of the bev-alc industry … “The industry is more diverse than ever today, which I get super excited about. It is a very dynamic space.
“Consumers are driving a lot of that, because they’ve gotten used to innovation, and no one is pigeon-holing themselves in any one category, everyone’s kind of experimenting everywhere. And as a result of that, it has attracted a lot of talent that’s interested in innovation. And it has also made it accessible too.”
On the importance of diversity of voice in her team … “I think 11 of our team members out of 19 are women, which I think is fantastic – not what the industry looked like when I started. We have similar diversity in terms of ages.
“For me, it’s so exciting to be around people who are at the beginning of their careers, again, who also have a voice and how they’re shaping the strategy going forward. I love that sort of creativity, it just gets you to different ideas.”
Luzadder also noted that 3 Tier Beverages and NIQ will be sponsors at the third annual BREW and Alliance for Women in Beer: Making Moves event, taking place October 1-2 in San Diego, California, following the National Beer Wholesaler Association’s (NBWA) Annual Convention.
“It’s great that we have the ability to put the spotlight on those things and participate in some of those areas where we have passion for that. And there’s always more we can do to support the diversity in the industry, and we’re just continuing to try to find ways.”
On what type of leader she wants to be … “I want to see everyone develop as leaders and take ownership of their own thing. What I’m really focused on is saying. ‘With what we’ve done today, how do we make sure all those things [happen], but there’s someone beneath me who can lead that and be 100% accountable for it?’ And in some ways, I want to make myself redundant, because I want those next people to come in and say, ‘OK, I got this covered.’
“I want everyone who comes to 3 Tier to get that kind of professional development, those leadership opportunities that sometimes take three, four or five years if you’re in a bigger organization to get. How can we give those to people now, so that they really start to feel that pride and ownership.”