Hella Gives You
Our Core Values
Inspire Confidence
"ABC" Always be Curious
Diversity: appreciation, not appropriation. (Leadership, Occassion, Partners)
Giving 1% to the Community (Time, Talent, Treasure)
Meet the Team
Tobin Ludwig
Co-Founder, COO
Ann Arbor, MI
Tobin Ludwig has been passionate about food and drink his entire life. Inspired by his mother’s culinary genius from an early age, he started working in the hospitality industry at 12 years old. He continued to work in the F&B industry during his undergraduate studies at Ithaca College and then for nearly a decade in New York City until he co-founded his first enterprise, Hella Cocktail Co.
As an educator, entrepreneur and consultant Tobin has worked with internationally recognized brands such as Delta Air Lines, American Express and Diageo, to name a few. As the co-founder and COO of Hella Cocktail Co. he leads product development in addition to overseeing operations, supply chain and procurement. When he’s not trying to create the perfect balance of pH and brix, he’s spending time with his family, mostly in the kitchen.
Learn More About Tobin
- Go-To Drink Order: Negroni or bartenders choice
- Prior to Hella I... spent over a decade in NYC hospitality learning from the best in the business.
- Favorite quote: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Thomas Edison
- I can't live without Hella... Literally, they pay my bills. Also, the Bitters & Soda is pretty good.
- The next place I hope to enjoy a delicious cocktail: Any crowded bar or restaurant that's full of people, anywhere.
- When I'm not working you'll find me: Playing with my kids, cooking or gardening.
- Fave thing about being a part of the Hella Team: The unique perspective and passion that each individual brings with them everyday.
Jomaree Pinkard
Co-Founder, CEO
New York, NY
Jomaree Pinkard’s career journey has taken him from helping to develop and implement The Salvation Army’s September 11 World Trade Center Recovery Program to consulting for the NFL.
In 2012, he became the Co-Founder and CEO of a minority-owned craft cocktail company, Hella Cocktail Co. In eight years, he and his partners have grown a hobby into a nationally distributed premium-quality food manufacturer producing a line of nonalcoholic cocktail mixers, bitters, and newest innovation Bitters & Sodas that make it easier and more accessible to craft delicious drinks at home or behind the bar. Jomaree is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and also earned his MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Eddie Simeon
Co-Founder, CMO
Los Angeles, CA
Eddie Simeon has, in many ways, come full circle both professionally and personally. Long before breaking into the Food & Beverage space, or the competitive Media and Entertainment Technology industries in NYC, Eddie got his start behind the bar as a barback for one of Oakland, CA's trendiest and most cocktail-driven fine dining establishments, À Côté. It was there at the green age of eighteen that he was first introduced to the delightfully bubbly and bracing Bitters & Soda that he is best known for today.
But before he launched Hella Cocktail Co. with his best pals in Brooklyn, NY, his career would take him on a full lap around the commercial media and entertainment space. MTV, Martha Stewart, ADWEEK are among the myriad of brands and websites he helped build as a Product Manager and PMP certified operations expert.
Learn More About Eddie
Today, he resides once again on the left coast, Los Angeles where he upholds his post as a founding partner of the craft cocktail company, Hella Cocktail Co. There, he heads up all things relating to Direct-to-Consumer (D2C), e-commerce, and underlying communication and supply chain systems. He believes that great brands define and own a clear space in which they plant their flag. Everyday, his gold is to remain curious and work to design that space at the intersection of consumer insights, company DNA, and categorical awareness, while utilizing the culture surrounding all of us.
Go-To Drink Order: Rye & Soda with a lemon and Ginger Bitters. Or, when feeling festive, a fresh Margarita on the rocks with salt and a few dashes of Orange Bitters.
Favorite Quote: "The upside of painful knowledge is so much greater than the downside of blissful ignorance." ~Sheryl Sandberg
I can't live without Hella... Bitters & Soda Lemon Lime is competing for my top spot. But Smoked Chili Bitters is always indispensable in my kitchen and bar cart.
The next place I hope to enjoy a delicious cocktail: NYC or nowhere.
When I'm not working you'll find me: On the mountain bike trails of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Fave think about being a part of the Hella Team: Working together to define new spaces of celebration and wellness in the beverage industry.
Claudia Smith
Sales Associate
New York, NY
A Vermont native, Claudia Smith was brought up in kitchens ranging from classic french cuisine to traditional chinese. Being a chef's daughter, it was instilled in her from a young age the importance of flavor, salt, fat, and most importantly, love. Splitting her time between being a part of the Hella team and storytelling on stages throughout NYC, some of her favorite credits have included Jigglypuff in Off-Broadway's The Video Games, and of course Brand Ambassador and Sales Associate for Hella Cocktail Co. If she's not teaching you how to up your cocktail game or onstage making people laugh, she's probably petting dogs or enjoying a lamb over rice with extra white sauce.
Learn More About Claudia
- Go-To Drink Order: Sazerac or a Magic Hat #9
- Prior to Hella I... was playing the Jigglypuff (yes, the pokemon) in Off-Broadway's "The Video Games", an epic immersive hunger games style stage production in which audience votes determined the run of the show.
- Favorite quote: "I'm not funny. What I am is brave." - Lucille Ball
- I can't live without Hella... Spicy Bloody Mary Mix hands down. Micheladas bloodies, and it makes a great base for spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker!
- The next place I hope to enjoy a delicious cocktail: Needing to get back to Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop in New Orleans, either there or The Stanley Hotel in Colorado. If you know, you know.
- When I'm not working you'll find me: On a stage somewhere....or petting dogs....or watching wrestling.
- Fave thing about being a part of the Hella Team: We celebrate life milestones with each other almost bigger than we celebrate company ones.
Alicia Hollinger
Senior Manager, Business Development
New York, NY
Alicia Hollinger has spent her life living in three different places but all having one thing in common. A career around fabulous food, delicious cocktails, and wondrous events. Growing up in the South she first began her career being on the grand opening team of a number of restaurant chains. After spending summers in Hawaii, she knew that was her next stop. While working in fine dining in Hawaii, she also ran a market in her favorite beach town. Exposing her to even more local cuisine, and developing a love of the beverage industry. When her sister decided to start a catering business after culinary school, Alicia jumped at the idea to help run the venture, including all of the planning and front of the house. It was there she fell in love with planning events. At the ripe young age of 24, she started her first company, Milestone Events Hawaii. Many years of love, laughter, and happily ever afters ensued. After years of expertise as a wedding and event planner, she started her second company, Maison de Ware, a premier tabletop rental company.
Learn More About Alicia
- Go-To Drink Order: Bourbon, Bitters and Soda
- Prior to Hella I... had a Wedding & Event Planning company and Rental company on Oahu, Hawaii
- Favorite quote: Really part of my fave manifesto... "Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them so go out and start creating"
- I can't live without Hella... Smoked Chili Bitters, I usually have a bottle in my purse.
- The next place I hope to enjoy a delicious cocktail: Dancing at a music festival with all my friends around.
- When I'm not working you'll find me: Enjoying the streets of Brooklyn in search of the next best tacos.
- Fave think about being a part of the Hella Team: Our combined spirit to always do better and be better. And the endless support we get and give each other.
Elly Hutchinson
Chief Get-it-Done
Atlanta, GA
Elly describes herself as a perennial nomad who, in the last 5 years, has called Houston, TX; Brooklyn, NY; Warren, VT; and Atlanta, GA home. She likes to consider herself a jack of many trades, both at Hella, where her title is the Chief Get-it-Done, and in her personal life, where her hobbies include edible plant foraging, making vinegar and pickles, puzzles, and rewatching her favorite TV shows (including Bob's Burgers, 30 Rock and Arrested Development). She's currently based out of Atlanta where she shares her apartment with two pet ducks, Bitsy and Cheech.
Learn More About Elly
- Go-To Drink Order: Gin & Soda with lime and bitters if I'm burning the midnight oil. Vesper Martini if I'm feeling momentarily fancy.
- Prior to Hella I... Snoozed away in tech consulting
- The Favorite Quote: "The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind." (Humphrey Bogart)
- I can't live without Hella... It's a toss up between Bitters & Soda Grapefruit and Eucalyptus Bitters
- The next place I hope to enjoy a delicious cocktail: Bari, Italy
- When I'm not working you'll find me: Getting lost in the woods
- Fave think about being a part of the Hella Team: The support and genuine care we have for one another in both work and personal life. L'chaim!
Meet the Founders
Tobin Ludwig
Co-Founder, COO
Ann Arbor, MI
Tobin Ludwig has been passionate about food and drink his entire life. Inspired by his mother’s culinary genius from an early age, he started working in the hospitality industry at 12 years old. He continued to work in the F&B industry during his undergraduate studies at Ithaca College and then for nearly a decade in New York City until he co-founded his first enterprise, Hella Cocktail Co.
As an educator, entrepreneur and consultant Tobin has worked with internationally recognized brands such as Delta Air Lines, American Express and Diageo, to name a few. As the co-founder and COO of Hella Cocktail Co. he leads product development in addition to overseeing operations, supply chain and procurement. When he’s not trying to create the perfect balance of pH and brix, he’s spending time with his family, mostly in the kitchen.
Learn More About Tobin
- Go-To Drink Order: Negroni or bartenders choice
- Prior to Hella I... spent over a decade in NYC hospitality learning from the best in the business.
- Favorite quote: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Thomas Edison
- I can't live without Hella... Literally, they pay my bills. Also, the Bitters & Soda is pretty good.
- The next place I hope to enjoy a delicious cocktail: Any crowded bar or restaurant that's full of people, anywhere.
- When I'm not working you'll find me: Playing with my kids, cooking or gardening.
- Fave thing about being a part of the Hella Team: The unique perspective and passion that each individual brings with them everyday.
Jomaree Pinkard
Co-Founder, CEO
New York, NY
Jomaree Pinkard’s career journey has taken him from helping to develop and implement The Salvation Army’s September 11 World Trade Center Recovery Program to consulting for the NFL.
In 2012, he became the Co-Founder and CEO of a minority-owned craft cocktail company, Hella Cocktail Co. In eight years, he and his partners have grown a hobby into a nationally distributed premium-quality food manufacturer producing a line of nonalcoholic cocktail mixers, bitters, and newest innovation Bitters & Sodas that make it easier and more accessible to craft delicious drinks at home or behind the bar. Jomaree is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and also earned his MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Eddie Simeon
Co-Founder, CMO
Los Angeles, CA
Eddie Simeón grew up in a multicultural Mexican-Filipino-American family in Oakland, California. Like many grandchildren of immigrants, language was not his primary anchor to his roots. Instead, traditional comfort foods like albondigas, enchiladas, lumpia, leche flan, and calimanci were his gateway to the rich traditions of his familial homelands. Food is Eddie’s central connection to Mexican and Filipino culture, and as it turns out, his passion as an entrepreneur.
Learn More About Eddie
Today, he resides once again on the left coast, Los Angeles where he upholds his post as a founding partner of the craft cocktail company, Hella Cocktail Co. There, he heads up all things relating to Direct-to-Consumer (D2C), e-commerce, and underlying communication and supply chain systems. He believes that great brands define and own a clear space in which they plant their flag. Everyday, his goal is to remain curious and work to design that space at the intersection of consumer insights, company DNA, and categorical awareness, while utilizing the culture surrounding all of us.
Go-To Drink Order: Rye & Soda with a lemon and Ginger Bitters. Or, when feeling festive, a fresh Margarita on the rocks with salt and a few dashes of Orange Bitters.
Favorite Quote: "The upside of painful knowledge is so much greater than the downside of blissful ignorance." ~Sheryl Sandberg
I can't live without Hella... Bitters & Soda Lemon Lime is competing for my top spot. But Smoked Chili Bitters is always indispensable in my kitchen and bar cart.
The next place I hope to enjoy a delicious cocktail: NYC or nowhere.
When I'm not working you'll find me: On the mountain bike trails of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Fave thing about being a part of the Hella Team: Working together to define new spaces of celebration and wellness in the beverage industry.
Our Core Values
Celebration
We believe cocktailing is inherently about celebrations, large and small. At Hella Cocktail Company, we celebrate a great drink but also good health, the pursuit of happiness, and good fortune.
Roots
Just as we as a company are of a place, so are our ingredients. At Hella Cocktail Company, we have deep respect and reverence for culture, heritage, and where we’ve been inspires where we can go.
Diversity
We believe life is best when we shake things up and explore new worlds and perspectives. We welcome diversity of people, places, and recipes. We know variety is the spice of life - and makes for a great journey in mixology too.
Giving
We believe in a spirit of hospitality and generosity. From these roots, we live to discover and give those discoveries to the world, be it a good cocktail or a good story. Similarly, we build bridges with like-minded organizations who share our vision for hospitality and giving.