Claudia Romo Edelman had spent her career building brands for social causes. Launching one of her own meant asking a different question: who should own the products that carry Mexican culture into the world?
Her answer was Sotol Romo, a spirits brand produced in Chihuahua, Mexico, that she had recently launched when she sat down with Hispanic Executive at AVANCE Global 2026 in Las Vegas.
“It’s fine to think of us like Cholula, but also think of us like Chanel,” she said.
For Romo Edelman, Mexican identity belongs in the luxury market. After years of working in communications for humanitarian organizations, she wanted to put that conviction into a business of her own.
The founder of We Are All Human and Hispanic Star has long worked to change how Latinos are perceived, including how they see themselves. During Hispanic Heritage Month, that work includes giving organizations shared data and messages so their efforts can reinforce one another.
But recognition raises another question. Once people understand their economic influence, how do they use it?
She saw AVANCE Global as a place for that next step: connecting leaders across industries who could make choices together about contracts, spending, and supporting Latino businesses.
“The question now is clear. We’re powerful. The question is, what do I do with this power?”
For her, one answer was to become an owner. She saw an opportunity to build a Mexican luxury brand around a spirit that many consumers had yet to discover. Her family’s experience producing sotol gave her a starting point.
It also meant taking risks in an unfamiliar role. She described an industry dominated by men, a difficult market for alcohol, and the work of introducing customers to a category they might never have heard of.
“It is a new journey, it’s a new venture,” she said.
Her ambition extends beyond the bottle. Produced in northern Mexico from a plant distinct from the agave used for tequila and mezcal, sotol offers a way to introduce consumers to a different part of the country.
Romo Edelman hopes that building demand for the spirit can bring jobs and opportunity to the region. She sees growing the category as part of growing her company.
That ambition connects her business to the community she has spent years advocating for. At AVANCE, she spoke about the choices Latinos can make as customers, business partners, and owners, and what those decisions might build over the next twenty-five years.
“We’re moving from economic participation to economic ownership.”
With Sotol Romo, she is making that move herself.
