Nicolette has immersed herself in the world of wine and spirits evaluation and promotions for her entire career and brings to L.A. Spirits Awards a wealth of competition experience that is without equal in the industry.

As Managing Director of the San Francisco World Spirits Competition from 2015 to 2018, Nicolette singlehandedly streamlined the event’s complex operations to smoothly chaperone thousands of entries through the Competition with ease.

Nicolette has always maintained a close relationship with competitions involving copious amounts of liquid: Prior to diving professionally into the wine and spirits industry, she was a three-time Olympic swimmer for her native Singapore.

As founder of Pace Design Group, his San Francisco-based strategic marketing firm, Joel spearheaded record-breaking sales for Charles Schwab Mutual Funds and crafted E*TRADE Securities’ upstart image by challenging a common misconception that financial services marketing should be dull.

Joel helped launch the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2000, developing promotional programs for the event and its winners that quickly made SFWSC the largest and best-known event of its kind.

He can’t one-up Nicolette’s Olympics experience, but if pressed, he will modestly tell of his first-prize victory in KCRW’s Good Eats Pie contest, savory division.