Meet the team behind our brands

Alexis Arons

Alexis Arons, West Region Vice President of Sales, joined the TBS team in 2022 with over 10 years’ beverage sales experience at the wholesaler and supplier levels. Her career started with Breakthru Beverage, formerly Charmer Sunbelt Group, in Philadelphia and then Colorado, and then she moved to the supplier side working with Brown-Forman in Florida and then California. She recently worked with Red Bull North America to build their national distribution strategy within the beverage network.

Alexis says her time at Breakthru helped build the foundation to set her up for success in the alcohol beverage industry. She strives to build a positive culture for her team that values humility, ownership, and collaboration. While in college Alexis played two Division I sports, lacrosse and tennis, which has informed her belief that coaches and teammates, both in athletics and in the beverage business, can inspire one another to perform beyond expectations. Her goal is to empower her team at TBS as well as our distribution partners and suppliers to grow both personally and professionally.

Alexis holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Food Marketing and a minor in Fine Arts from St. Joseph’s University. She lives in Santa Monica with her partner Francisco and their two Swiss Shepherds, Dash and Aspen. They enjoy visiting California’s numerous wine growing regions and exploring delicious food, wine, and spirits internationally. When Alexis is not working, you can usually find her in her garage pottery studio creating functional ceramic art.

Brad Cooksey

Brian Fox

Brian Fox leads sales and marketing for TBS nationally. Brian believes that the supplier, wholesale, and retail fragmentation in the U.S. beverage alcohol industry offers a unique environment for small and mid-size brands to grow rapidly.  He is passionate about assembling the best talent in the industry to achieve this growth.  Brian takes tremendous pride in cultivating the TBS team’s rare blend of brand passion, data-based decisions making, and commitment to out-working our competitors on a daily basis – all while having a lot of fun.

Prior to joining TBS, Brian was a management consultant with PwC, leading transformational projects in the retail and consumer goods industries across pricing strategy, salesforce effectiveness, loyalty program design, and commercial and SG&A synergies. He partnered with over 50 companies large and small, including Coca-Cola, Acosta, RJ Reynolds, Tire & Battery Corp., and Delta Airlines. Prior to PwC, Brian held positions in equity valuation at New York-based Endurance Capital and Chicago-based Crystal Rock Capital Management.

Brian holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a B.S. in Economics and Organization Development from Vanderbilt University. A Chicago native, he now lives in Charleston with his wife and two daughters.

Sam Grizzle

As Chief Financial Officer of Total Beverage Solution, Sam Grizzle brings over 10 years of industry experience and a strong prior background in business, technology and finance. His experience includes a history of helping establish and develop several companies by creating systems and controls to manage the businesses. He has also been deeply involved in developing and leading teams to enable rapid growth.

At TBS, Sam has worked diligently to help transform a startup environment into a truly flexible and efficient supplier and leader in the market. Sam has continuously welcomed and driven change within the business to integrate new tools, new acquisitions and new brands, contributing to a culture of growth and opportunity.

Prior to TBS, Sam worked through the company’s investor group, Jackson Healthcare Solutions, on fund-raising and business planning for clients and portfolio companies. Sam holds a B.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Management and a MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Originally from Georgia, Sam is an avid runner and tennis player currently residing with his wife and 3 young children in Charleston, South Carolina.

Neal Horgan

Neal Horgan, General Manager of Wine and Spirits, works with our wine and spirit suppliers to help establish goals and build strategic plans to achieve business objectives in U.S. beverage market. With over 30 years of experience in the industry and in-depth brand knowledge, Neal helps existing suppliers’ goals become reality. These capabilities also assist him with pursuing key brand acquisitions to expand the TBS portfolio.

Neal believes that the secret to developing brands is people. He has learned that good interpersonal relationships create highly motivated people as well as good business opportunities and takes great pride in the diverse relationships he has developed over the course of his career. Neal holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Suffolk University in Boston. An avid boater, Neal tries to spend as much time in the water as he can, boating with friends and family in the waters near his home in the summer, and escaping the harsh New England winters by traveling to warm, tropical locations. Neal also enjoys traveling to Europe and on a recent visit was inducted as a “Keeper of the Quaich”, an award given to those professionals who have made significant contributions to the Scotch Industry.

Dave Pardus

Dave Pardus is the Founder and CEO of Total Beverage Solution which he launched in 2001. Dave’s mission was to provide access to the challenging US Beverage Alcohol market for smaller, international brands. Traveling the world, he discovers numerous unique, historic, and distinctive brands which he collects to build the distinctive portfolio of TBS today.

Along with building the TBS portfolio, Dave is also focused on building a team of talent to enable the best care possible for these brands. If that wasn’t enough, Dave is also building his family with his wife Jayne, spending most of their time outside of work chasing two teenaged daughters around swimming pools all over the country. If there is any free time, Dave can be found on the golf course with Jayne, a former Professional Golfer, who regularly makes it clear she is the best golfer in the family.

Dave’s leadership style is consistent and steady. He believes in doing the right thing and from running over 10 marathons – likes to “finish strong”. The leadership culture is one of a growth-orientation, mirroring the 15 consecutive years of growth in the business. From the start, Dave made sure TBS is a place where people can perform and grow personally as well as professionally – not having to choose one or the other.

This is what drives Dave every day towards building a business others want to work with and a company people are excited to work for.

Caitlin Regan

Cait Regan has a focus on building relationships across the distributor and off-premise channel and is facilitating the growth of TBS’s export market business. She has a passion for sharing the story of TBS’s products about where they come from and why they are special.

Recently joining the TBS team with 15 years’ experience in the alcohol beverage industry, Cait previously worked for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, E. & J. Gallo Winery, and Southern Wine & Spirits of NE. Having worked for both a supplier and a distributor in the industry, she can better develop solutions for customers and support sustainable growth for TBS. Cait feels lucky to have built relationships with such wonderful people over her career from the supplier, distributor, and retailer network who have supported and guided her.

Cait is an MBA candidate in Food Marketing at St. Joseph’s University and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food Marketing from the same university. She has also achieved her WSET Level II certification. Her values are founded in her parents’ examples to have a continuous desire for learning new skills and meeting new people, while most importantly having fun. Outside of work, Cait enjoys running or hiking with her husband and their two dogs in the Philadelphia area. You can also find her enjoying a glass of wine with family and friends, reading a good book, or playing her dad’s piano.

Marina Terzieva

Marina Terzieva leads the Finance and Accounting department and has worked with TBS for over 10 years. In that time Marina has grown in her career and helped develop her department to where it is today. She takes an honest and conservative approach to financial reporting, developing and managing budgets, and overseeing all aspects of TBS’s finances. Marina has established many of the systems TBS uses to track brand marketing expenses and performance accurately across its markets.

In 2016, Marina was voted by her peers to receive the inaugural First Class Award. This award is given to TBS supporting office team members for their willingness to help others. Marina enjoys being a part of and contributing to the positive, supportive, and dedicated culture of the TBS team.

Marina holds an MBA from The Citadel Graduate College and a double major Bachelor’s degree in Accounting as well as Advertising and Marketing Communication from Wesleyan College. Now living in Tampa with her fiancé, she loves attending live music, yoga, spending time with friends and family, and traveling to her home country of Bulgaria.

Heather Yargus

Heather Yargus, Central Region Vice President of Sales, joined TBS in 2018 and brings 15 years of experience in the beverage industry and a strong knowledge of the 3-tier system having held roles across categories. She leads a sales team and distribution network of 20+ states throughout the Midwest and the South.

Heather believes the key to success of developing TBS brands and achieving growth is based on meaningful relationships, effective communication, and positivity.  She likes to lead her team in a fun yet functional environment that utilizes team collaboration to find solutions and opportunities both within the company as well as with valued distributor and supplier partners. Heather takes pride in the relationships she has developed and the knowledge that she has acquired throughout her career in the beverage industry as well as in her previous career as a litigation paralegal.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies and is certified as a Cicerone Level 1 and Wine & Spirits Level 2 (WSET).  A Napa Valley native, she now lives in Chicago and enjoys traveling the world, hiking, yoga, live jazz, and opera, and is an avid supporter of the arts.