Craig Ceccanti - CEO

Craig Ceccanti is a founding member and CEO of Pinot’s Palette (formerly Pinot & Picasso), Houston’s first and premier, upscale BYOB Painting Studio. As a pioneer in the newly developed and rapidly expanding Sip and Paint industry, Craig has directed an innovative start-up business with one location to a concept which is now being sold nationwide.

His contributions at Pinot’s Palette have involved strategy, financing, architecting proprietary technology, developing and standardizing operations, fundraising, building a team-based culture and a purpose-driven brand. These efforts have helped Pinot’s Palette attract both local and national media attention from TLC Network, The Business Journal, 002 Houston, Envy, Houston Press, ABC 13, Great Day Houston, among others.

Outside of Pinot’s Palette, Craig stays true to his background in Consulting and Project Management. He actively devotes his time to supporting young entrepreneurs, charities and alumni chapters in the Houston community. Some of his favorite projects include teaching as a professor at Rice University, and working with the LSU Houston Alumni Chapter, and Jones Graduate School.

Charles Willis - President

Charles Willis is a founding member and President of Pinot’s Palette (formerly Pinot & Picasso), Houston’s first and premier, upscale BYOB Painting Studio. As a pioneer in the newly developed and rapidly expanding Sip and Paint industry, Charles has played an instrumental role in expanding both the Houston corporate business as well as developing the business through national franchising.

His expertise has evolved Pinot’s Palette’s growth strategy, streamlining supply chains, developing key markets and strategic management techniques. His project management efforts have helped Pinot’s Palette attract national franchisees as he guides them through the process from introduction, implementation and ongoing support.

Outside of Pinot’s Palette, Charles stays true to his background in Project Management. He actively devotes his time to supporting local charities and alumni chapters in the Houston community and spending time with his wife, Beth, and their daughters.

Beth Willis - CCO

Beth Willis is a founding member and Chief Creative Officer of Pinot’s Palette. Beth is regarded as the leading visionary for product development, represents the customer’s perspective, and identifies key consumers trends. Within this role, she collaborates locally and nationally to develop multiple new paintings every month for the Pinot’s Palette library, including any custom paintings requested by Pinot’s Palette customers, and plans the monthly calendars according to customer demand.

In the first days of Pinot’s Palette, Beth presented key evidence for consumer market sustainability of the Paint and Sip business which provided fuel for Charles and Craig to put their plans into action. She is both credited with scouting the Montrose location and designing the Galleria location, including the stylish Picasso room.

Outside of her work with Pinot’s Palette, Beth is a full time Clinical Pharmacy Specialist and mother of two daughters.

Mari Sokolowski - Franchise Development Director

Mari Johnson Sokolowski joined the Pinot’s Palette team in 2011 as Marketing Director, the first full-time hire to the headquarters team. Since 2012, Mari has been directing franchise development from coast-to-coast through managing the national marketing budgets as well as leading the Pinot’s Palette sales efforts from her satellite office in Chicago, IL. Her passion for the industry and Pinot’s Palette brand has helped guide over 22 new franchise partners through the sales process, making Pinot’s Palette the fastest growing paint and sip in the nation. When Mari is not working with qualified candidates, she focuses her time on opening her own franchise studio in Chicago, IL, volunteering and spending time with her family.

Mari graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with undergraduate degrees in both Marketing (B.B.A., 2005) and Advertising (B.S., 2005), and has marketing experience with national brands like P&G as well as local media start-ups like CultureMap.

Lori Lockerd - Franchise Development Manager

Lori Lockerd joined Pinot’s Palette in 2012 as the Franchise Development Manager. She grew up in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from the University of Colorado with Bachelor Degrees in both Advertising and Fine Art. Following graduation from college, Lori found work with Village Voice Media (known in Denver as The Westword Newspaper). She started her career as an Account Manager for the sales staff, moved into the position of Marketing Coordinator, and found her way to Houston via a promotion to be Marketing Director of the Houston Press. After spending 8 years with Village Voice Media, Lori took leave to start her own social media business. She worked at home for 2 years before taking the opportunity to work with Team Pinot. As Franchise Development Manager, Lori helps drive the sales process by transmitting information to potential partners, following up on inquiries, and planning the logistics of Discovery Days and Signing Days. She will also wear the hat of Event Planner, and will be an integral part of both the Pinot’s Palette Annual Retreat and Art Tasting Event. When not offering the Pinot’s Palette opportunity to the nation, one studio at a time, she can be found spending time with her husband Patrick and son Owen.

Brian Gray - Franchise Marketing Director

Brian has over 15 years of consumer marketing and brand management experience. He began his marketing career at Johnson & Johnson, marketing Lactaid and Sesame Street Vitamins. Motivated by a keen passion for image driven categories, Brian then went on to assume marketing leadership roles with strong global brands such as Heineken, Dos Eqius, Sol and Jose Cuervo. In those roles he drove strategic brand planning, launched new products and developed break-through marketing campaigns. Throughout his career, Brian has sought to continuously expand his marketing capabilities by applying his experiences across multiple categories. He loves the challenge of learning a new category, and that has proven to be a driving force in his achievements. Brian has served as Director, Brand & Marketing Communications of Direct Energy and most recently as Managing Director of StategyBAG, a brand and marketing consulting firm. Brian is a graduate of Howard University with a BBA in Finance and holds a MBA in Marketing from Clark Atlanta University.

Will Borel - Marketing Director

Will Borel joined the Pinot’s Palette team in 2011 with a multitude of marketing experience gained through his experiences with companies ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations. His primary focus at Pinot’s Palette is to further expand awareness for the Pinot’s Palette brand while working to ensure continued success for the Pinot’s Palette franchises.

Will is a proud graduate of Texas A&M University and also earned his MBA from the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Outside of Pinot’s Palette, Will enjoys spending time with his family and friends, supporting his beloved Aggies, and is an avid sports enthusiast.

Chasiti Mosely - Operations Director

Chasiti Mosely joined the Pinot’s Palette team in early 2012 as the Operations Director. With over six years of experience working for Rosetta Stone and European Wax Center, she is an expert in managing retail establishments and was instrumental in the development of their nationwide franchise systems. Her expertise in customer service, employee relations and business operations, as well as her love for art, culture and community, makes Chasiti an asset to the Pinot’s Palette team.

Hannah Padley - Operations Coordinator

With a background in customer service, hospitality, and sales, Hannah’s position as Studio Manager for Pinot’s Palette was a perfect fit. After spending a year managing the Houston-Galleria location as well as helping to maintain the Montrose and Memorial City studios, she was promoted to Operations Coordinator on the Pinot’s Palette Headquarters team. This role allows her to use her studio management experience and proficiency in the Pinot Technology Suite to help sustain a high level of quality in the Houston studios, as well as provide support to our national partners. When not Painting, Drinking, and Having Fun, she enjoys reading voraciously, attempting gourmet recipes in her kitchen, and taking her dogs out for walks in the woods.

Eric Wright - Technology Manager

Eric Wright joined Pinot’s Palette in 2012 as the Technology Manager. He holds Bachelor Degrees in both Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Houston. Eric has worked in IT for 3 years, including 2 years in the role as a software developer at JV industrial. His primary role as Technology Manager at Pinot’s Palette is to make sure the PTS systems and features are performing with high utility. When he is not writing code, and fulfilling requests, he enjoys spending time with his family and watching the Rockets and Texans.

Ashley Gardner - Artist Trainer

Ashley quickly accelerated into the Artist Trainer role after starting with Pinot’s Palette in 2010. Since then, she has been instrumental for onboarding and training initial artists across the Pinot’s Palette system. Her photography, event coordinating skills, and painting background has helped her develop the training programs that are successful in our studios across the United States. Ashley is opening a Pinot's Palette studio in Oklahoma City in the spring of 2013. Outside of Pinot's Palette, Ashley enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and still continues creating her own unique multimedia pieces of art.

Carmen Talbert - Artist Trainer

Carmen Talbert has been working with Pinot's Palette since August of 2010. She studied art at California State University East Bay acquiring her Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Studio Arts. Not only has Carmen volunteered as an Art Docent at the elementary school in Alameda, California, where she lived for several years, she has also volunteered as a curator for a small Gallery in the historic area of College Avenue in Oakland, California. Her work has been shown in California, Louisiana, and Texas.

"I have always considered myself an artist as far as I can remember; always creating and making things since I was a small child. I never imagined myself making a career strictly as an artist." says Carmen.

Pinot's Palette has allowed Carmen to continue her passion as a freelance artist while sharing basic techniques with people who do not paint on a regular basis. She is recognized as a Senior Artist at Pinot's Palette and is involved with artist and partner training. As the Off-Site Manager she loves bringing the Pinot's Palette experience to our customers and has mastered the challenge of replicating the Pinot’s Palette atmosphere off-site.

Natalie Wells - Artist Trainer

Natalie joined the Pinot team in 2011 after earning a BFA in Art and working as a self-employed photographer for 5 years. Her background in creative expression and customer service, as well as her enthusiasm for expanding the painting library, has quickly led her to her position with the corporate team. As an artist trainer, she hires, trains and mentors new artists and provides support to ensure their success. Natalie also manages the Master Painting Library, working with artists and franchise owners to promote the growth and integrity of our painting selections. Her other contributions include developing and coordinating our kids’ camps and special classes, as well as teaching regular public classes in the corporate studios. She works with both artists and the headquarters team to develop strategies to ensure maximum success in our classes, and she is excited to be part of the future endeavors of Pinot’s Palette.