Italian Roots

Italians are known for valuing and celebrating life, from spending time with family and friends, to enjoying beauty in all its forms – especially eating and drinking well.

Our founder’s cousin, Guiseppe Guerrieri, grew up outside of Rome and loved this Italian lifestyle. He celebrated it by making the “Guerrieri Family Limoncello” that had been passed down through the generations. He was beloved – and invited to every event to spread his delicious cheer.

Guiseppe emigrated to America. And when it came time, he shared his unique recipe with the newer Guerrieri generations. Everybody liked it, but time and shifting drink trends had put a little dent in the Guerrieri Family Limoncello.

It was time for Guiseppe to hand off the Limoncello recipe. In 2019, Nick Guerrieri began experimenting with it – and before long was again hearing that familiar exclamation heard in the old country: “This is some of the best stuff I’ve ever had!”

CHELLY was born. After more refinements – and several medals and awards – a punchier, more refreshing and lower-sugar version of the old classic emerged… reimagined to be enjoyed at any modern get-together.

WHO WE ARE

The Team

Nicolas Guerrieri – Founder & C.E.O/ Board of Director

Nick was born in California’s Silicon Valley and grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. Raised in an entrepreneurial household with parents who started numerous businesses, it’s not surprising that Nick would one day become an entrepreneur himself. He began investing in the financial markets at a young age and always had a keen interest in understanding how businesses operate and identifying new business opportunities, which eventually led him to found CHELLY.

Nick obtained his Bachelor of Science in Finance at The University of Arizona in 2017. When not working or drinking CHELLY, Nick loves playing basketball, investing, and spending time with his friends and family.

Hunter Goheen – Master Distiller & Partner

Hunter grew up in Arizona’s Valley of the Sun, where he has lived since a young child. In 2017, Hunter earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Economics from the Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona. As a Business Analyst for a Fortune 10 company, Hunter developed and honed his expertise in process improvement and his excellent research and innovative thinking skills have been key to his professional success.

Hunter is a world traveler and scuba diver and is always ready for his next adventure, whether it be on land or underwater. When not enjoying the outdoors, you might find Hunter at the nearest local craft brewery or distillery supporting his industry colleagues

Roberto Guerrieri – Lead Strategic Advisor/Board of Director

Roberto has a proven 25-year career in high tech innovation, marketing, business development and entrepreneurship. He has held numerous marketing leadership positions within fast growing SaaS companies that targeted SMB and enterprise corporations, as well as companies that target healthcare IT, FinTech, business collaboration and customer loyalty.

Roberto held several leadership positions in Silicon Valley at both Hewlett-Packard and Apple. In 1998, Roberto co-founded Incentive Logic, a leading enterprise platform for loyalty and incentive management software companies. In 2007 and 2008, the company was named one of the fastest growing companies in America on the Inc. 5000 list.

In 2008, Roberto received The University of Arizona’s Eller School of Management “Shaping the Future” award for his body of work.

Rob Dunaway – Legal Advisor/Board of Director

Robert Dunaway, Attorney and Businessman, Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Dunaway has 30 years of corporate and technology experience as an attorney, management advisor and investor, having represented public clients such as Sun Microsystems, Tandem Computers, S3, Diamond Multimedia and others to hundreds of startup technology and Internet companies. A co-author of books on startup company management and intellectual property protection, he also has CEO experience and numerous Board of Director positions to his credit. He has lectured at Stanford Business School and Santa Clara University School of Law and was chosen one of Phoenix’s Top 12 Business Advisors in the New Times 2001 poll of metro readers.

Robert is also the Co-Founder of Pillsbury Wine Company. With 15+ years of experience in the alcohol industry. Robert serves has our lead legal advisor.

Giovanni Yakoo – Off Premise Industry Advisor

Giovanni and his family have been in the liquor industry for 20+ years. They owned a local liquor store here in the valley. After recently selling their prominent business, Giovanni saw the potential of CHELLY and got on board with the team. Giovanni currently serves as an industry advisor that specializes in brick and mortar retail strategy.

Giovanni lead as the operations manager and and generated over $2MM in revenue in each of the last three years of his retail store.

Dave Brennan – Marketing/Brand Advisor

Dave has been helping brands for over 30 years develop the marketing strategies and messaging that grows their business by more effectively connecting with their ideal customers. He began honing these skills while in Silicon Valley working at Morgan Stanley and UBS, analyzing the ways successful publicly traded companies grew their businesses.

A relocation to San Diego in 2001 facilitated a move to a national Direct Marketing agency to work directly with brands to more effectively grow their customer base and revenue.

Erin Fasano – Brand/Merchandising Advisor

Erin Fasano is an experienced CPG leader, with both corporate and start-up experience. After spending nearly 10 years working across various Los Angeles area ad agencies, leading work for brands like McDonald’s, Lexus, and La-Z-Boy, Erin earned her MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. After graduating, Erin entered the world of CPG at Dole Packaged Foods. During her time there, Erin led the Single Serve Fruit Cup, Pouched Applesauce, and Frozen Fruit businesses. There, she repositioned and relaunched Dole’s pouched applesauce offering, launched first to market Dole Acai Bowls and follow up items Dole Spoonable Smoothies, and regularly exceeded revenue and profit targets for the organization. After learning the CPG industry from inside a large organization, Erin moved on to smaller CPGs, bringing her experience to high growth brands. She joined Brandable, where she led the food vertical and grew the Veggiecraft Farms business through its retail launch. Then, joined Sagely Naturals where she was responsible for all functions of marketing, including Product Development, Consumer Programming, and Direct to Consumer. Erin launched the subscription program on SagelyNaturals.com, as well as the Target partnership with an exclusive product distribution deal. Erin also gives back to the CPG community through her role at Startup CPG, where she is the Managing Editor of the Blog & Magazine, tools intended to give Founders access to resources and information to help them grow their business. Erin is currently the Vice President of Strategy & Innovation for CORE Foods.

Keith Turner – Liquor Law Advisor

Keith Turner was a certified police officer in Arizona for over 24 years, having served with ASU Police, Phoenix Police and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. However, his real experience comes from having served fifteen years as a detective with the Arizona Department of Liquor Licensing and Control. Keith is now the CEO of Arizona Dedicated Liquor License Consultants, an Arizona-based liquor consulting business. Keith’s extensive experience and inside knowledge of AZ Liquor Laws are now being utilized to assist businesses like CHELLY to grow into a national brand and to assist them service their clients in the most professional manner possible. Keith is a former U.S. Marine and has been married for 27 years. When he’s not working, he spends as much time as possible with his wife, his daughter, and their church. Any time left after that is for hunting, fishing, and chores.

Ed Jordan – Industry Advisor

Ed is a member of the Ketel One Executive Team that grew the company from virtually unknown to one of the leading top shelf vodka importers in the U. S. He has launched a new low calorie, all natural, gluten free flavored vodka brand, Spa Girl Cocktails LLC. Ed has also served as Ketel One lead manager of the U.S. finance and personnel function in the completion of the distribution joint venture between the Company and Diageo.