Susan B. McCollum is chairman and chief executive officer of Major Brands Inc., a leading Missouri distributor of premium spirits, wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages, and the only major distributor that is woman owned and operated. She succeeded her husband, the late Todd Epsten, and represents the third generation of family ownership. With offices in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia and Cape Girardeau, Major Brands employs more than 600 people and serves more than 9,000 retail customers throughout the state.
McCollum also owns and serves as the CEO of Eagle Brands Sales, an Anheuser-Busch distributor in South Florida, that serves Miami, Homestead and the Keys and employs more than 250 people.
Before joining Major Brands, McCollum was the founder and principal of McCollum and Associates, a strategic marketing and communications consulting firm and an adjunct professor of marketing at Webster University. Prior to that, she was the director of public affairs at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. In 2008, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon appointed McCollum director of transition recruitment for his gubernatorial transition team.
McCollum currently serves on the boards of directors of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Forest Park Forever, CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation, the St. Louis Regional Business Council and the Board of Trustees at Washington University. She served on the board of directors of John Burroughs School, as vice chair of the St. Louis Zoological Commission and as chair of the New City School board. In 2015, she co-chaired the St. Louis Region’s United Way Campaign, leading it to record results.
McCollum received her bachelor of arts in broadcast journalism and economics and her master of business administration degrees from The American University in Washington, D.C. She graduated with a juris doctorate from the Washington University School of Law in 2015.
She lives in St. Louis with her sons, Michael (LA ’16), and Brian Epsten.