Montage Healdsburg resort hires spa director; Foley Family Wines marketing exec wins award; The Doctors Co. adds to board

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Carrie Sotebeer has been hired by Montage Healdsburg as the resort’s director of spa. The Sonoma County resort announced it anticipates the property will opening in late fall.

Sotebeer brings more than a decade of experience to her new role at Spa Montage, the resort group stated, where she will oversee all spa and fitness operations. Joining Montage from The West Hollywood Edition, Sotebeer has also worked at The Phoenician Spa in 2019.

Gerard Thoukis (MJ Wickham photo)
Gerard Thoukis (MJ Wickham photo)

Chief Marketing Officer Gerard Thoukis of Foley Family Wines has won the 2020 Wine Star Award for Wine Executive of the Year from Wine Enthusiast magazine.

Thoukis studied fermentation science at the University of California Davis and also earned a Master’s of Business Administration degree from University of Notre Dame. His early career was spent with E. & J. Gallo leading teams in sales, marketing of both wine and spirits, and e-commerce. After 21 years, Thoukis joined Foley Family Wines in 2017 as the senior vice president of Marketing and Commercial Capability before assuming the role of chief marketing officer in 2019.

Grace Vandecruze (courtesy photo)
Grace Vandecruze (courtesy photo)

Grace Vandecruze, MBA, CPA, has been appointed to the board of governors for Napa-based medical malpractice insurer The Doctors Company.

Vandecruze is founder and managing director at Grace Global Capital LLC, a consulting firm that has provided mergers and acquisitions (M&A) financial advisory, restructuring, and valuation services to the insurance industry and financial regulators since 2006. She also has served as a managing director at Swiss Re, where she was responsible for the firm's regulatory advisory practice in the insurance and financial services industries; as a vice president at a private equity firm specializing in the insurance industry; and as an associate in the Financial Institutions Group at Merrill Lynch.

Vandecruze earned an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA in accounting from Pace University. Before attending the Wharton School, she was an auditor for six years in the financial services industry at Ernst & Young and Grant Thornton.

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