Bertha González Nieves

Bertha González Nieves (born May 6, 1970, Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican businesswoman, whose career is rooted in the consumer luxury goods market.

Forbes has identified her as one of the 50 most powerful women in Mexico.^[1] She has also been named one of Mexico’s top young businesswomen by Revista Expansión, Mexico’s leading business magazine.^[2] Her career has had an emphasis on the tequila industry. She is the first woman to be certified as ‘Maestra Tequilera’ by the Academia Mexicana de Catadores de Tequila, the organization recognized by The Tequila Regulatory Council ^[3] (CRT).

Present

González Nieves is currently Co-Founder & CEO of Casa Dragones Tequila Company, a handcrafted, limited edition tequila brand which she co-founded with businessman and founder of MTV Bob Pittman.^[4] Casa Dragones is a 100% Blue Agave Joven tequila, handcrafted in small batches in Jalisco Mexico, and considered a sipping tequila.^[5]

She has been featured in full page-articles in top publications worldwide, including El Universal,^[6] Harper’s Bazaar,^[7] and Blackbook.^[8]

In May 2010, she was featured in LA Times Magazine and praised for “bolstering the top-tier-tequila movement,” and was dubbed the “First Lady of Tequila.”^[9]

On December 17, 2009, González Nieves appeared on The Martha Stewart Show ^[10] and demonstrated how to correctly taste Casa Dragones tequila.

On November 29, 2010 CNN’s premier food blog Eatocracy.com featured a spotlight on Bertha’s tequila knowledge in a round up of “Five Things You Should Look For in a Great Tequila: Bertha González Nieves.”^[11]

In November 2010, González Nieves received the prestigious French luxury design award, Grand Prix Strategies de Luxe, for the product design of Casa Dragones.^[12]

In 2013, DuJour Magazine called González, "the personification of Mexican business acumen.”^[13]

She is a regular guest professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (UAG) teaching the university’s first course on tequila, Tecnico Tequilero.^[14] The course focuses on the history and importance of tequila, federal governmental regulations surrounding tequila production, quality control, and the commercialization of tequila worldwide. The goal of this course is to continue to develop and evolve the tequila category, and inspire new generations of tequila producers.

Past

Prior to co-founding Tequila Casa Dragones, González Nieves, spent over ten years as a top executive for Grupo Jose Cuervo, the largest tequila company in the world, and one of the top ten global spirits.^[15] While at the company she held senior marketing and commercial positions, including Commercial Director for North America, Global Director of New Business and Innovation and Global Brand Director. González Nieves was also instrumental in establishing the company’s global team in New York, and played a key role in the recent upsurge and popularity of the Tequila category in the US and worldwide.^[16]

Prior to her position at Jose Cuervo, Ms. González Nieves served as a consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton, where she designed and implemented marketing strategies for leading global packaged goods companies.^[17]

Entrepreneurial spirit

In addition to her work in marketing, González Nieves has taken on several side projects. In 2006, she helped launch Revista DF,^[18] Mexico’s City Magazine, an Editorial Mapas publication.^[19]

She also was one of the producers of the feature film Matando Cabos, which was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005.^[20]

Education

González Nieves graduated magna cum laude from Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico City with a BA in Business Administration.^[21] She also holds a Masters of Science degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from the Medill School of Journalism & J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.^[22] She received the ‘Arthur E. Tatham Award’ for exceptional performance and outstanding promise in the field of marketing communications.

Additional distinctions

• Board Member of Legal Momentum, New York, NY (2007, 2008, 2009)
• Board Member of Museo del Barrio’s Marketing Committee, New York, NY (2007)
• Partner and Board Member of Editorial Mapas Mexico (2005)
• Selected by Japanese Government to represent Mexico on the Ship for the World Youth Tokyo, Japan (1993).

References

External links

• Bertha González Nieves
• The First Lady of Tequila, Tedx San Miguel de Allende
• Entrepreneurs in the News on Inc.com
• The Tequilera's Guide to Mexico City, Fathom Away
• Holiday Gift Idea, The Martha Stewart Show
• How to Sip Tequila, Miami New Times
• Talking Tequila with Bertha González, The Latin Kitchen
• How to Wear Fall's Must-Have Pieces, O Magazine
• ¡Vamos a beber (y comer)!, GQ
• Sipping on Casa Dragones Tequila, The Manual
• Tequila Boss Ladies, Tequila Aficionado
• The Tequila Industry's Leading Lady, Ocean Drive Magazine