Liaisons, Superwomen, Advocates: Meet Malteurop’s Customer Success Team
August 6, 2025
“We’re not customer service; we’re customer success. We are proactive instead of reactive.” – Casey, Customer Success Engagement Specialist
“We’re here to make sure your orders go through without hitches.” – Ariel, Customer Success Engagement Specialist)
About Malteurop Malting Company (MMC)
We are a collective of craftsmen devoted to making exceptional malt. We are innovators, designers, scientists, farmers, brewers, distillers, and artists. We are your link from farm to beer, and we want you to know us as a vital part of the craft beer and distilling community.
Meet Malteurop’s Customer Success Team
April, Ellie, Casey, Ariel, and Emily comprise Malteurop’s Customer Success (CS) Team, with Matt Kapplehoff at the helm.
“He’s [Matt] the backbone of Customer Success. I think that’s the best way to describe him. He’s like the backbone for us.” Ellie
“Matt goes a long way to build a really good team and to make sure that we all know that we can come to him with anything that we need.” Ariel
MMC’s CS Team has a competent and well-liked person as the leader, but when the team works together, that’s when the real magic happens.
“I think the company is awesome, and we’ve got a top tier product. We have a remarkable team that really cares. It is refreshing to be a part of a company where we love what we do and enjoy being around each other. It is wonderful how everyone is dedicated and truly cares about what we produce and provide for our customers. Our customers are focused on creating awesome and unique products, and we are focused on being there to help them achieve that in any way that we can.” Emily
Matt Kapplehoff crafted a team of customer success experts, and we were honored to be able to sit down with each of them.
These five Customer Success Engagement Specialists are engagement specialists, but they are so much more. April, Ellie, Casey, Ariel, and Emily are advocates, connectors, problem solvers, liaisons, and action-takers. We’ve even heard the word Superwomen being thrown around!
Customer success starts with you, the customer. However, here at Malteurop, you are more than a customer. You are a friend and a part of the family.
“I feel like we are very personal, and we get to know our customers, honestly. I feel like we’re talking to a friend.” April
“You’re a family when you order from us.” Ariel
“We work as a team to take care of customers.” Casey
They know you. It’s time to get to know them.
Meet Ellie Rivera-Knight
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Ellie has been at MMC for almost three years. While she never planned on working for a malting company, she took advantage of a career change when a position opened up at MMC and has never looked back. She calls herself the middleman, but we like to think of her more as the glue that holds it all together. She loves the educational opportunities such as Barley Days and the Pink Boots Society that help her become a leader at customer success.
“Malteurop has done a really good job at giving us knowledge and a positive atmosphere. They want to see everyone succeed. And at the same time, they allow their employees to be adventurous and make their own decisions.”
What’s Ellie like outside of work?
“I am creative. I make shirts and sweatshirts, and I’ve done mugs. I can be a homebody for sure. I’ll say shy because I am shy, but a lot of people don’t really know that.”
Meet Casey Narvaez
Casey was also born and raised in Milwaukee and has been a part of the MMC team for three years. With a background in health care administration and business, Casey’s strengths have continuously been helping customers and resolving problems. But long hours played a role in a career shift, and she found Malteurop.
“It was a good fit for me to continue working with customers. It was a bit of an adjustment having to start over, developing knowledge in malting and logistics and transportation, and it was challenging for me at first, but I’ve grown to really enjoy it. The whole process is very interesting knowing that we take [barley] from the fields, and then we turn it into malt, and then we supply it [to the brewers and distillers].”
What’s Casey like outside of work?
“I’m crafty. I beat to my own drum, and I’m very upbeat, very positive. I can’t sit down at home. On the weekends, my husband’s watching TV, and I’m just like, I just did a million things.”
Meet Ariel Graham
Also born and raised in Milwaukee, Ariel has been with Malteurop for five years. She originally had planned on being a nurse, but not wanting to be away from family to do so, her plans changed. She shifted to inside sales for 15 years while also working as a pharmacy tech. Wanting to shift gears and get away from the constant pressure of meeting metrics, through a previous employee of MMC, she found her current position, which she defines as more of a customer advocate.
“I’m a big proponent for the customer. I’m always going to fight for our customers to make sure that they’re getting the best thing at the right time and when they need it.”
What’s Ariel like outside of work?
“Aunt Sassy, dog mom and wife, and friend. I love my niece and nephews. They’re my world. I just like being around my family and friends. I don’t get to see them as much as I would like, so I do value the time that we do have.”
Meet April Kegle
April grew up in California, a little south of Sacramento, and has been with Malteurop for four years. She originally went to college for psychology with an interest in experimental psychology. Deciding that the length of time to accomplish this was too much, she changed her career path and found retail and then the manufacturing and corporate world. With those jobs being customer facing, she gained the skills she needed when the job opportunity opened up at Malteurop. She likes to call herself an international problem solver.
“I actually really loved [the corporate world and manufacturing] because it’s like a puzzle. Every day you have to figure out how to get the customer their product. And that’s what I love about Malteurop – figuring things out and working with the customers.”
What’s April like outside of work?
“I would say I’m friendly. I am a traveler. I like to go and explore new places. I just got married last year, so we went on our honeymoon to Thailand. But I will always go back to Mexico because that’s where my family’s from. And I am a fur mom. I have a dog and a cat, and they’re like my babies.”
Meet Emily Noblin
Emily was adopted from South Korea and spent the first eleven years of her life in New Jersey, but claiming Texas as home. Her husband was in the army, and the two of them made their way to Milwaukee for his retirement. Emily has been at Malteurop for two years. She has an Associate’s Degree in dance, and a Bachelor’s in communications. She had plans to get into broadcast journalism, but randomly found her way into manufacturing, instead, which she is fascinated with.
“The more I talked to Malteurop, I found myself very intrigued, especially with the malthouses. I love manufacturing because there’s so many things that you don’t realize that go into making something. Like taking barley and making it into all different kinds of malt is absolutely fascinating. Also, getting to talk to all the different brewers and being a part of Pink Boots Society is an amazing opportunity to expand my brewing education that Malteurop has afforded me.”
What’s Emily like outside of work?
“Three things I do in my free time: I take dance class, I go to concerts, and I go to church. And those are what I usually choose to do. I try to get away from my family a little bit because we’re always home. We try to get out of the house and find fun family experiences when we are able.”
How does the CS team work with others at MMC to get customers what they need?
Each and every one of these amazing women speak highly of each other and their customers they work with every day.
It may be their job to ensure their customers get the products they ordered, but to this team, it’s more than just a job. It’s a passion. It’s a partnership.
A partnership between the CS team, everyone at Malteurop, third party partners, and the brewers and distillers.
“It’s not just a one person show that gets the customers what they need. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that the customers don’t really see. And we work with all those people.” April
“It’s crucial to also build those relationships with that third party person.” Ellie
“We’re all in the loop with everything. We’re in constant communication. It’s great that we’re a cohesive unit like that. Our brewers [our customers] don’t feel like they have to just reach out to one person. They have a team.” Emily
“There’s a lot of just transparency and fostering relationships so that customers can trust both internal and external partners. We’re really good at communicating back with both the customer and the sales rep.” Ariel
Malteurop’s Customer Success team is an advocate for you. They work to get you what you need, when you need it. Your success is their success.
“We truly care about our customers and want them to make good quality products. It’s something that is very important to us and being there constantly, being able to answer any questions or help out in any way, that’s our number one focus. To make sure we’re helping everybody be at the top of their game because it’s a reflection of our product, too, when other people are having success with their products.” Emily
What sets the CS team at MMC apart from other companies?
Success cannot happen without a genuine relationship. That relationship is what really sets them apart from others.
“Our customers really like the personalization that we have on our CS team. They get a personal touch because they are talking to a real person, and we try to have a personalized touch with everyone. We really do care about our customers, and we want to know what’s going on with them and how we can help them out in any way.” Emily
“I really think that it’s because we’re so personal with our messaging. I feel like we are very personal, and we get to know our customers, honestly. You know? I feel like we’re talking to a friend.” April
“I really like forming those personal relationships, fostering not transactional. You’re a family when you order from us. We’re going to do what we can to make you happy within our ability.” Ariel
“With Barley Days and Pink Boots they really promote us to go out there and connect with our customers. Malteurop has a very positive atmosphere, and they wanna see everyone succeed.” Ellie
“We’ve developed these relationships within and with our customers. I would say we very much pride ourselves on our customer success and our follow-up. We work as a team to take care of customers.” Casey
The CS team focuses on building extraordinary relationships with their partners, but that’s not all that sets them apart from the rest.
“I feel like we’re very prepared all the time, which is great. We’ve always got options for our customers. We have speed and can get them their order as soon as possible. That’s an advantage of being a bigger malt company. Malteurop emphasizes that personalization piece and the importance of education and understanding what is going on throughout the entire company and how that has an impact on our customers, which are really actually our partners.” Emily
Raise a glass to the team!
At the end of the day, it’s all about the final product. No, not the beer or the spirit. The connections made.
So, whether your favorite is a lager, a pilsner, a sour blueberry, a Spotted Cow, Jameson, a glass of wine, or something else entirely, grab your favorite beverage and raise a glass to the advocates, the problem solvers, the liaisons – the Superwomen that make up the Customer Success Team. They will get you the malts you need to craft the liquid in your glass.
How can we help?
“You can always reach out to us. We’re very easygoing, easy to chat with if you ever have questions. That’s something that you should take away from this in general. You know your sales rep. You talk to them directly, but we, the Customer Success team, are just as happy to talk to you or help you out whenever you need it.” – April, Emily, Ariel, Ellie, and Casey
Customer Success
Malteurop Malting Company
Milwaukee, WI
414-671-1166 or 844-546-6258
customersuccess@malteurop.com
Premium grains from field to flavor.
About Malteurop Malting Company (MMC)
Malteurop Malting Company (MMC) is based in North America—specializing in growing and producing quality malts for the beer, whiskey, and food processing industries. With local farms and Malthouses spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, Malteurop’s commitment to excellence is fully ingrained into every batch it produces, ensuring businesses of any size can create the finest beverages and food products on the planet.
Visit www.malteuropmaltingco.com to learn how we can support your malting needs.
Contact us at customersuccess@malteurop.com or (844) 546-MALT (6258) for questions or to place your order.
Malting is our passion. Quality is our promise.