Elephant Craft Hard Seltzer

Brett Lawrence, born in Newport Beach, California, is a visionary with numerous successful businesses over his two-decade entrepreneurial career. As the acting CEO of Rancho Las Lomas, Orange County’s renowned private estate and event venue, he has opened various profitable revenue streams and broadened the property's paths to prosperity. Among his notable projects is Towne Park Brewery, which he started in his garage in 2015 ultimately expanding to a 20,000-square-foot brewery and tap room in 2017. As he embarks on this next venture, he is able to apply his multitude of experience in business operations and ownership to Elephant Craft.

Ian Knowles is a CPG veteran with over a decade of strategy, investment and operational experience. He is the founder of Spruce & Norton, a beverage/CPG focused, venture development firm that assists investors, strategic buyers and entrepreneurs on business optimization; including overall business strategy, revenue growth, profit improvement, finance and M&A. He also served as the co-founder and managing partner of Dunn's River Brands, previous owners of Sweet Leaf Tea, Tradewinds Tea and Temple Turmeric and helped lead strategy for the launch of Legacy Breweries, which previously acquired Ninkasi Brewing Co., Laurelwood Brewing and Aspen Brewing Co. Over the last decade, Ian has run diligence on over 300 Alc/Non-Alc Beverage companies and remains an active strategist and advisor for many Beverage and CPG brands. After coming together with friends and industry veterans Brett Lawrence and Stephen Young, the group was inspired to do something different. After identifying a gap in the market for a fun, premium and natural craft hard seltzer...an Elephant was born! Ian is based in Brooklyn, New York and when he has a minute of free time you'll be sure to find him exploring the NYC restaurant scene, surfing, snowboarding, reading a good book or playing chess.

Stephen is a beverage industry veteran with over 15 years of experience building and growing brands. Through his time with Stone Distribution he built and grew their chain team and brought brands such as Stone, Boochcraft, Modern Times, Pizza Port, and Bear Republic to dominance in Southern California grocery, department, drug, and convenience. After his time as President of Towne Park Brewery Stephen has taken on the role of CEO of Elephant Craft Hard Seltzer and is elated to parlay his success in the craft beer world to lead higher expectations in the new frontier of "Craft Hard Seltzer!" When he's not making the world better one seltzer at a time, Stephen is all about family, friends, and fun. Catch him on the slopes, in the ocean, or traveling.

With 20+ years experience with Beer, Hard Seltzer, Wine, Spirits and Non-Alcoholic beverages across the biggest retailers in the US, Randy is no stranger to the game! Previously of IRI, Anheuser-Busch (14 years), and now the Director of Alcohol for goPuff (which recently acquired national beverage retailer BevMo), his expertise and insight provides the Elephant Craft team with an incredibly advantageous resource!

Truly a hospitalitarian at heart, Sarah has an established career in operations for breweries, restaurants and hotels for 20+ years. She has been privileged to learn from industry leaders such as the Hillstone Restaurant Group and Towne Park Brewery. These work experiences have afforded her a well-rounded knowledge of various departments including but not limited to accounting, culinary, service and training. Sarah's foundation of proficiencies in all areas of management makes her an unparalleled addition to the Elephant Herd.

The driving force behind Elephants disruptive, quirky & creative brand identity, Stuart Dooley is a creative force to be reckoned with. Born in South Africa, Raised in the UK & now residing in SoCal, Stuart is truly a student of the world. With over a decade of experience in branding, marketing and visual storytelling, Stuart’s skills are as diverse as his past; ranging from brand identity to video direction to illustration, to strategizing large-scale marketing campaigns. Warm, engaging and naturally an ‘out-the-box’ thinker, his work orbits around the belief that truly great creative will inspire an emotional response. His professionalism, creativity & exemplary work-ethic come together in a unique, high-impact package.