Meet Michele Meloy Burchfield
Today, Wednesday, August 26 is National Women's Equality Day. The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. We're so grateful to have a leader at the helm of Blume Honey Water who has always lived a life supporting equality for women and finding ways to continue and improve such!
The idea of equality literally began in the cradle for Michele. Her mother and father were both committed to equality for all. They raised Michele and her sister to believe equality should not even be questioned, it should just be. Their message was: be credible, compassionate and persistent in your desires and goals and you will succeed. Her mother was a civil rights advocate in the deep south in the 1960’s as a young woman and continues her pursuit of equality beliefs as a political strategist even now in her 80’s.
As we commemorate the 19th amendment Michele also finds it very important to not only recognize those women who lead this fight and who continue the pursuit, but also the men who, like Michele’s father, support equality both in family and in business. One such business leader Michele had the opportunity to work for was Jim Koch, founder of Sam Adams, who was a leader in the very male-dominated beer business. Jim historically encouraged, trained, promoted and recognized women equally. As a result of her experience at Sam Adams the beverage category became Michele’s playground.
As a sales and marketing expert with 25+ years of experience, Michele knows the industry inside and out. Having spent nearly 15 years at the Boston Beer Company, she helped build the Sam Adams brand before starting her own consulting business. Simply put, Michele never loses sight of what really matters for a beverage brand: the liquid inside the bottle. It’s no wonder she’s helped so many beverage companies successfully bring their brands to market.
Michele is also an avid cyclist, skier and tennis player and a green-thumbed outdoorswoman with the backyard gardens to prove it.