Megan Hurtuk is a marketing and commercial strategist who has been building award-winning, globally recognized brands for more than 15 years. With an eye for the next big thing, she challenges the status quo and pushes category boundaries– leading major companies like Sazerac and Constellation, as well as emerging businesses, to grow in competitive markets, reinvent established brand positions and create new-to-world opportunities.
In 2022, she founded HRTK– a boutique consulting firm– to share her expertise and insight with fast-growing businesses and start-ups across the alcoholic beverages, hospitality and cannabis industries. With a track record of redefining possibilities, launching new categories and identifying new market segments and trends, HRTK supports companies to develop and position their brands within premium and lifestyle consumer goods segments.
Megan previously spent 13 years leading Sazerac’s fastest growing portfolio of brands as Global Brand Director- Agave & Gin. She developed category visions and growth strategies for these two high-potential segments, and maximized volume, profit and efficiency of the portfolios. She led the creation and launch of Bond & Royal, a craft & specialty spirits division, and nurtured industry darlings like Del Maguey, Siete Leguas, Corazón and San Matías. During that time, she found her passion for partnering with companies rich in heritage, obsessed with quality and prioritizing sustainability, diversity and equity.
Megan’s professional and personal connection to the hospitality industry has long since been cemented as a partner, avid supporter and investor– not to mention through countless friends and family. She is dedicated to supporting organizations who lift others up and build community, such as Another Round Another Rally with whom she shares a vision to build a future-proof hospitality industry– one that is diverse, inclusive and supportive to all.
In addition to volunteering with Chicago area organizations, Megan served as a longtime member of the Evening Associates Board of The Art Institute of Chicago and now sits on the Associate Board of Gilda’s Club Chicago. In her spare time, catch Megan at a local music venue, visiting the latest cocktail bar and getting lost on a long bike ride or travel adventure.