LeNell Camacho Santa Ana

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LeNell Camacho Santa Ana (born c. 1970 in Ft Payne as Tonya LeNell Smothers) is a writer, educator, entrepreneur, consultant and bartender.

Camacho Santa Ana graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in French and theater from Birmingham-Southern College in 1991. She later earned a master's in public administration at UAB with a concentration in organizational management with the accolade as Outstanding Woman Student of the Year by the UAB Women's Center.

In 1996, she was selected to run in the Olympic Torch Relay as a Community Hero Torchbearer as the relay came through Birmingham, Alabama on its way to Atlanta, Georgia. That same year The Birmingham News recognized her as a Community Hero and the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise flew her to Washington, DC, to accept an Achievement Against the Odds Award. This honor led to her receiving the title of Honorary Alabama Colonel from Governor Fob James.

In addition to her experience as a bartender and restaurant manager, she worked as a salesperson in both retail and wholesale wine sales in New York City before opening "LeNell's Ltd.", an award-winning wine and spirits boutique in Brooklyn in 2003. In 2006, The New York Department Of Small Business Services awarded the store Small Business Of The Year Award and New York Magazine selected the shop as "Best Liquor Store". LeNell's Ltd was recognized by Whisky Magazine as Global Retailer of the Year in 2008 and US Retailer of the Year in 2007, 2008, 2009.

In 2009, after losing her lease, Camacho Santa Ana relocated to Baja California Sur, Mexico where she and Demian, owned and operated "Casa Cóctel" lounge in La Paz. The couple relocated to Birmingham in 2011 and married on a merry-go-round in Chattanooga, Tennesse in November of the same year. They purchased the J. R. Copeland residence in Norwood in 2012. The couple announced the birth of their daughter Damiana Charbay Camacho Santa Ana October 13, 2012. Since moving to Birmingham, she created the opening beverage menu for Homewood's Little Donkey and helped found the Birmingham Chapter of The United States' Bartenders' Guild. She is working on site development plans to reopen LeNell's retail shop in Norwood.

References

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