Travis Barnes grew up near the small town of Albion, Indiana. After the events of 9/11, Travis was compelled to leave college in 2001, and enlist as an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps. Later on, he was selected for the elite Marine Recon, where he served three combat tours in Iraq with First Reconnaissance Battalion. After obtaining his undergrad degree Travis went on to earn his law degree in the spring of 2013, where he met his wife Hilary. After law school, Travis and Hilary founded Hotel Tango Artisan Distillery in downtown Indianapolis. Hotel Tango is the first combat-disabled, veteran-owned distillery in the U.S. The mission of Hotel Tango is to create unrivaled experiences through premium spirits. In his spare time, Travis likes to hang out with his two amazing daughters & eat Korean BBQ. 

Hilary Barnes is an Indiana native that attended Indiana University where she received her bachelor's degree in Business Process Management. She continued her education at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and graduated in 2013. In addition to serving as general counsel for Hotel Tango, Hilary Barnes works for the law firm of Christopher & Taylor, where she focuses primarily on business litigation and personal injury cases. Hilary has been named by Super Lawyers as an Indiana Rising Star in the area of business litigation in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In her free time she loves flying planes & spending time with her two adorable daughters.

Nick was born in Northeast Indiana and grew up childhood friends with founder Travis. His roots are in rural Indiana and he resides there today, just outside of Fort Wayne. He started working in the food and beverage world at the age of 12 and grew a passion for the beverage side of the industry. Nick studied Business at Purdue Fort Wayne and then Ball State University where he ultimately gained his degree in the study of Entrepreneurship. His career path led him to beer first, working at the wholesaler level for nearly a decade. He then joined the team at Hotel Tango in 2016. He is married and the proud father of one wonderful daughter. Hobbies include writing bios for his work website, hunting, sports, cooking, traveling, and whatever else is on the family calendar.

Mike Grew up in Perrysburg, Ohio and is a 2000 graduate of the University of Dayton earning a Bachelors degree with a major in Economics. Mike is responsible for the planning, budgeting, and management of all financial and accounting activities relating to Hotel Tango. Prior to his stint at Hotel Tango, Mike spent 15 years in the golf course management industry, most recently as VP of finance with Green Golf Partners. Mike and his wife Jen live in the Warfleigh neighborhood of Indianapolis with their two sons Charlie and Everett. Mike enjoys watching and attending sporting events in his free time and his favorite Hotel Tango spirit is Cherry Liquor.

Ginger grew up in Albion, IN and is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, where she earned her bachelor’s in Communications, and San Diego State University, where she earned a Master of Science in Counseling. Ginger is responsible for facilities management and day-to-day operations of all Hotel Tango footprints to include 3 tasting rooms, a production facility, corporate offices, and Hotel Tango Farms. Prior to Hotel Tango, Ginger worked in the mental health counseling field after serving nine years in the United States Navy, specializing in operations.

Jory was raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana and is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, where he obtained his bachelor’s in business. After college, Jory relocated to Fishers, IN where he currently lives with his wife, Jen, and two children, Claire and Aiden. Jory obtained his MBA from Indiana Wesleyan in 2014, while working for Monarch Beverage. Prior to joining the Hotel Tango team in 2019 as Director of Sales, Jory worked in various sales roles in the liqour/beer industry for 9 years. In 2020, Jory was promoted to the Vice President of Sales where he is responsible for all civilian and military sales throughout the United States and manages the Hotel Tango's distributor partners.

Alisha is an Indiana native and attended the Kelley School of Business at IUPUI where she completed her degree with a double major in Human Resources Management and Business Management with a certificate in Leadership Studies. Alisha joined Hotel Tango as the Director of Human Resources in January of 2020 with over 10 years of human resources and operations management experience, directly contributing to organizational growth and development. Alisha was promoted to Vice President of Human Resources in January of 2021 and is responsible for identifying and implementing long-range strategic talent management goals. Alisha is also the co-founder and Executive Sponsor of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group at Hotel Tango where she is responsible for aligning the group goals with Hotel Tango ‘s overall strategy.

Kelsey is an Indiana native and attended DePauw University where she graduated with a degree in communications and education. After graduating she moved to Shanghai, China to teach at Shanghai High School International Division. She returned to the US after 3 years abroad and joined the Hotel Tango team in September of 2019. In her time at Hotel Tango she has held the role of brand coordinator, brand manager, and now sits in the Director of Marketing role. She is responsible for keeping local and national audiences up to date with everything Hotel Tango. Kelsey is also the co-founder and President of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group at Hotel Tango where she is responsible for planning and implementing initiatives to champion equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the group, workplace and community at large.

Holleh is a multifaceted creative, well versed in the arts, ranging from theatre, photography, graphic design, videography, music, and fine art. She combines her lifetime of artistic practice with a decade of mixology experience to become a sorcerer of spirits. Holleh also has a strong passion for philanthropy, and often incorporates this into Hotel Tango Drink-to-Donate programs. Holleh is the Director of Events and Fundraising for USBG Indy and a member of the Hotel Tango Innovation Committee. She says, “you can achieve whatever you set your mind to, as long as you have a lot of discipline and even more glitter.”

Chad grew up on the south side of Chicago, and is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana where he got his degree in Illustration and Graphic design. Chad joined the Hotel Tango team in June of 2020 as host in the tasting room. His role quickly changed due to covid being in full effect. He has held various roles at Hotel Tango, but currently works half the week as a part of the distillation team and the other half in corporate as a graphic designer. He is responsible for assisting the distillery with production of spirits and to produce campaign banners, graphics, ads and posters for any events or company needs. Chad is also a full time illustration freelancer when he is not at Hotel Tango.

Mark was raised in South Charleston, Ohio and attented Wittenberg University, in Springfield OH, where he graduated with his Bachelor's in Business Management. Mark moved to Columbus OH, where he had his 2 boys, Layne and Landon. Ten years later, he moved back to Springfield, where he currently resides with Julie. Mark has worked in the Beverage Industry for 20+ years with both alcoholic beverages and non alcoholic beverages. He came to Hotel Tango in January 2020 as the OH/KY Market manager and has since been promoted to the Director of Civilian Sales.

Troy is a resident of the GREAT state of Florida where he currently resides with his wife Jennifer and son Eli. Prior to joining Hotel Tango Distillery, Troy served 20 years in the United States Navy. During his tenure he was promoted through the ranks to Chief Petty Officer earning several accolades in strategic planning, management, leadership, and attended the University of Maryland, North Florida Coggin School of Business in Marketing and Digital Analytics. Troy oversees the daily operations between the distillery and the Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corp Exchanges. After his duties from slinging booze around the globe, he likes to slow down and enjoy life’s simple pleasures such as fishing, watching his son break ankles on the basketball court and enjoying some TV time on the couch with his lady!

Blake is a native Indianapolis resident who grew up working at her family's orchard and learning the basics of small business management. She attended Indiana University in Bloomington, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Management and was a 2013 recipient of the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award. Since returning to Indianapolis she has worked in the craft beverage industry selling both wine and spirits with a focus on growing business in national chain accounts. She is responsible for submitting Hotel Tango spirits and programs to buyers in grocery, liquor, club, drug, convenience, and restaurant chains across the country. Today Blake lives with her boyfriend, two dogs, and one cat in Indianapolis and spends her free time roaming the woods at Eagle Creek, watching cartoons, and reading murder mysteries.

Nicole was raised in Northwest Indiana and attended Valparaiso University where she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Classical Language and Literature. She currently resides in Crown Point and enjoys spending her downtime on the local bike trails. Before joining Hotel Tango in 2019 Nicole held various sales roles in the craft beer industry. She is currently the Northern IN + Michigan Market Manager and is responsible for managing sales and hosting local community engagements.

Jordan Smith is an Indiana native of the the small but powerful city of Fort Wayne. After graduating, he relocated to Texas and joined the US Navy. He was stationed aboard the CVN-69 Aircraft Carrier for 5 years, and he served as an At Sea FireFighter while going on back to back deployments. After exiting the military he was blessed with a beautiful daughter who is now a 6 year old fiesty Leo. Jordan joined the Hotel Tango team in March 2020 as the Texas/Louisiana Market Manger and is a board member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Team.

Amanda moved back to her Hoosier home state in 2019, after living in Chicago for sixteen years. She attended Kendall College, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Les Roche International School of Hotel Management. After graduating, she worked as a concierge at several luxury hotel properties downtown Chicago and the McCormick Place Convention Center. During her time at Hotel Tango she has held the roles of Indiana Market Manager, External Events Manager, and currently holds the title Director of Events and Partnerships. She is responsponsible for events, sponsorship, and partnerships locally and nationwide. She’s a city girl who loves exploring new places, arts and architecture, trying new restaurants, and beer + shot specials.

Thomas is a Florida native, but relocated to southern Indiana as a child. He attended Indiana University for a short term, but quickly learned that a standard academic career wasn't for him. After leaving IU he departed for Europe for a 4 month stint. As a classically trained ballet dancer he travelled and danced across Europe, eventually settling back in the midwest. As a service industry veteran, his tenure with Hotel Tango started off as one of the first service employees hired. Across his years with the company he has worked in every aspect of operations, and is currently the Experience Manager, hand crafting personalized experiences for guests and corporate partners alike.

Kati is an Indiana native and grew up in Carmel, IN. She attended Indiana University, Bloomington, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Tourism Management with a focus on event planning. Kati joined the Hotel Tango team in 2021, with nearly 10 years of event planning experience in Indy. Kati is on the events team and is responsible for events in the Fox Hole, ranging from weddings, rehearsal dinners to corporate events. When she's not planning events, she enjoys being outside with her two golden retrievers, Buddy and Junior.

Herschel grew up in Gary, Indiana and is a member of the Indiana Army National Guard. Herschel was deployed in 2019 in support of Operation Spartan Shield. Upon his return, Herschel joined Hotel Tango in October 2020 as a Brand Ambassador. He later sought for more opportunities for growth within the company and transitioned to the production department briefly. In July of 2021 he was promoted to the Sales Coordinator role. He is responsible for assisting sales, marketing and events with growth of the brand.

Tony was born and raised in Lafayette, IN. and attended Purdue University to pursue a degree in biology. He started homebrewing in college, fell in love with the science, and decided to make a career out of it. After graduating, he moved to Indy and started working in breweries. His early responsibilities included unclogging drains and cleaning the mash tun. Eventually, he was promoted to head brewer. Tony made the transition to distilling at Hotel Tango in September 2019 as the Production Manager before entering his current role as Director of Production. Tony oversees the producction department and is responsible for working closely with the Head Distiller, Production Manager, and Sales to ensure Hotel Tango manufactures the best product we can, it arrives to consumers in the most efficient way possible, and we keep key markets stocked with the products they desire.

Bobby is an Indianapolis native and has been brewing/distilling since the age of 19. He experimented with fermentation and brewing at home, eventually leading into winemaking and distilling over the course of the subsequent 5 years. Bobby moved into a head brewer role in a small brewpub and learned more of the brewing craft from one of Indiana's first Craft Brewers. Bobby started working at Hotel Tango peeling lemons as a second job hoping to expand his distilling knowledge and experience. He accepted The Head Distiller role in 2019 where he maintains quality and consistency amongst Hotel Tango's 9 Spirits, as well as Innovating 3 new brown spirit recipes and releasing the Classified series (the distillery's experimental line).

Jesse hails from Brooklyn, NY and is a veteran of the United States Navy. During his time in the military, he was twice deployed on Western Pacific cruises which took him abroad to lands such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Jordan and Australia. Upon completion of his service, Jesse began work at Brooklyn Born Chocolate, where he held multiple titles, including Distribution Manager and General Manager. At Hotel Tango, Jesse serves as the Production Manager where he oversees the operation of the facility's bottling line and as well as all retail order distribution activities.

Dilon grew up in Columbus, Indiana. After high school he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a MV-22 Osprey Crew Chief and Mechanic. After his 5 years Active Duty in the Marine Corps Dilon worked in Production Control, Logistics, and Quality Assurance in automotive manufacturing. Dilon joined Hotel Tango in the fall of 2019 as the Assistant Distiller after working at a local craft brewery for multiple years. Dilon currently lives with his girlfriend Avery, and their two cats, Frank and Leonna.

Shannon grew up in northern Indiana skateboarding and contributing his own stylized art through the punk and hip hop scenes of the 80’s and 90’s. After graduation Shannon enlisted in the U. S. Army serving his country for 4 years as a infantrymen. Honorably discharged from service Shannon decided to travel by freight train seeking out new adventures, getting involved in activism, working in kitchens, skateboarding and making art while exploring most of the U. S. Canada and Mexico. After traveling he began to pursue a career in the culinary arts eventually landing a few positions as an executive chef. He joined the Hotel Tango distilling team where he works hard to get the job done with discipline while raising his awesome son “Orion“.

Eric grew up in Michigan, attended Oakland University, and entered the hospitality industry in 1994. He quickly discovered his passion for servicing customers and excelled in the Food and Beverage Department services. Eric was promoted multiple times throughout every level of management in each department within the hotel organization, eventually being awarded his first General Manager assignment in 2009. After twenty-seven years of honing his management and leadership skills in the hotel industry, Eric joined Hotel Tango Distillery in 2021, and will contribute greatly to the Tasting Rooms’ quality product, service, and team leadership.