Elayne Duff on Finding her Voice

©  Elayne Duff

With over 20 years in the industry, Elayne Duff has had a momentous career. She talks about hands-on learning, the true meaning of advocacy and carving her own path

 

“I'm lucky to be born with a voice that sounds the way it does.” Elayne Duff certainly commands the attention of any room she walks into. Growing up on Staten Island, New York, as the youngest of nine children, it’s no doubt come in handy over the years. And when it comes to her career, it’s a voice that resonates deeply in the international spirits and bar industry.

Duff began her professional life in fashion. By the age of 24 she was running a couple of showrooms, living in New York, and was – in her own words – “completely broke”. Needing some extra cash, a friend introduced her to the world of promotion modelling in restaurants and bars – and so a new career in drinks hospitality was born. “It really piqued my interest. I loved history at school, so when we would do trainings, I really fell in love with learning about the history behind the brands. I wasn't a big cocktail nerd yet, I just really appreciated that there was this depth to everything that we were doing.”

In the 25 years since, Duff has become one of the most respected and recognisable brand ambassadors and educators in the industry. Having spent 10 years with Diageo as head trainer, mixologist and brand ambassador for its luxury portfolio, she moved to Anheuser-Busch InBev, before becoming COO of Duff on the Rocks, founding the Beverage Brand Ambassador Academy and most recently, in 2023, joining the team at Samson & Surrey as its director of advocacy.

A regular face on the international bar show and competition trail, Duff also sits on the Tales of the Cocktail Catalyst Committee and in 2022 launched her podcast ‘Celebrating the Brand Ambassador with Elayne Duff’.

 

Blazing a trail

Duff’s entrance into the industry may have begun as a side-hustle, but what followed was the beginning of her making her own distinctive mark on the industry. Indeed, her role at Diageo USA was the first of its kind when she joined in 2006. Nevertheless, it cemented her in the twin peaks of education and advocacy, which she has championed ever since.

Getting there, of course, was not a linear journey. “It was a strange and interesting career move,” says Duff who also had a young child to raise. In the early Noughties, ambassadorship wasn’t really a career that existed, but more of a new and novel part of the industry. “I knew there were market managers, and I was definitely aware of sales and distributer jobs. I understood that was an avenue I could have taken but I didn’t want that. I wanted to provide people with education.”

Around that time she met Steve Olson, a revered educator himself and someone who lit a spark in Duff to pursue her preferred, if not too clear, path: “He was just so dynamic, and how he presented and educated people… they were just so thrilled to be in a room with him.” And so she pitched the idea, not once, not twice, but three times before she got a ‘yes’.

Duff’s drive is possibly the strongest string in her bow – and a well measured one at that. Understanding what people and businesses need has been a clear line throughout her career – and being active in pursuing goals has been key to her delivering that for them. “My advice is that if there is a job you want, you have to let other people know that you want it. But you also need to know how to pitch it in a way that makes sense for a business.”

 

Education evolution

Considering Duff’s fluency in educating on brands that span the categories, it might come as a surprise that learning isn’t something that comes easily to her. “I don't learn things easily, I don't retain information easily. It's not my forte. Even in college I would have to rewrite a textbook.” For Duff, visual and hands-on learning are her preferred methods, and she’s keen to impress that it’s important to find your own learning style. Using the information once she’s learned it is also tantamount in retaining it: the adage ‘if you don’t use it, you lose it’ rings true for Duff.

As does finding topics that matter to you. “Obviously there’s spirits and cocktail knowledge, but then you have to find topics that matter to you and are relevant in the industry. Career development and diversity and inclusion are things that matter to me. I have a platform and with a platform comes responsibilities. So I committed myself to do the work to educate myself, as well work with others within the industry so that we can effectively inform others.”

How we educate the industry is also something that Duff believes can be improved on. Hands-on learning is by far her favourite and most impactful learning method and something she thinks needs to be implemented more. “At conferences, we generally listen to people with minimal engagement. There have been some exceptions, and I believe these types of seminars have a more significant impact on their audience.”

Duff herself uses this method with her staff, especially in distillery settings. “The team is allowed to load grain into the fermentation tanks, stir the mash, drill barrels, work the bottling machine, and learn how to create their blends while getting to spend an entire day with the distiller.”

 

Building a business

Her role as global manager of training within Anheuser-Busch was a springboard for her building the Beverage Brand Ambassador Academy (BBAA). “Within AB-InBev I launched numerous educational programmes on a global scale. Working at this level gave me the courage to become an entrepreneur – it showed me what I was capable of.”

The BBAA was created by Duff to distill more than 20 years of her own experience, as well as insights from other successful ambassadors into a platform that could help others excel. With education and mentorship as its primary focuses, the programme teaches skill mastery in both on- and off-premise settings, corporate career skills, idea development and marketing, and offers private coaching sessions with Duff herself.

Duff believed it was important to equip ambassadors with the tools they are often not provided with to enable them to excel in their roles. According to Duff, as a brand ambassador, there is currently no educational platform or formal training available. While individuals may learn about the brand and receive mentorship if they are in the right company, they often have to figure things out on their own.

In cultivating ambassadors at Samson & Surrey, mentorship plays a crucial role for Duff. “It's imperative to foster a non-judgmental environment during this process. When I onboard new team members, I emphasise that I hold no judgment towards their knowledge gaps. It's unrealistic to expect anyone, including myself, to know everything.”

Moreover, at Samson & Surrey they encourage their employees to think like entrepreneurs, to think outside of the box and to continuously level up. Duff takes pleasure in learning alongside her team. One of the most rewarding aspects for her is collaborating with her team on projects. “I guide them through the process while also allowing them the freedom to unleash their creativity and learn from their mistakes. This approach empowers them to develop and thrive in their roles.”

 

True advocacy

When it comes to advocacy, Duff is nurturing her team to be true advocates for the brands they represent. “We do things a little bit different. The one thing we talk about a lot is that I want the team to be more like consultants to their accounts.”

Post-Covid, an exodus of experts has made room for a new generation of bartenders who need more than a sales pitch from brand ambassadors, and a knowledge gap to be filled. “Some of my team has over 15 years of industry knowledge. I encourage them to not just make menu placements or product placements, but to take the time to work with their accounts, providing them the tools and knowledge needed to not only survive but to thrive in this tough industry.”

That can mean anything from showing them how to create a streamlined pour station, to helping develop a cocktail programme, sharing resources and generally being a support system for whatever they need. Creating an ecosystem where ambassadors become as integral to bars as they are to the brands they represent is a culture that Duff is creating for a new generation of talent: “That's what I think advocacy is really about.”

As for the future? She’s optimistic, but also hopeful of change. While still a believer in working hard, balancing bartenders’ quality of life with business’s bottom lines is something she’s keen to see get better. A thirst for knowledge is of course high on the priority list, as is following her lead and being less judgemental of each other.

“People make mistakes and instead of jumping to a negative conclusion, give them the benefit of the doubt and take a moment to call them to understand the bigger picture. It goes back to that old but very valid statement: treat others as you would like to be treated. If we all did this, the industry would be nicer place.”