Forty Under 40: Amber Muehlbach

Amber Muehlbach is an avid road and mountain biker and a Tough Mudder competitor. It is no wonder she has successfully navigated career detours and unusual paths to become a tech entrepreneur.

Muehlbach, a Harrison native, holds a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness from Arkansas Tech University and a master’s degree in horticulture from the University of Arkansas. After finishing her post-graduate degree work at the UA, she saw more opportunities to remain in the region by working in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) arena.

With an affinity for research and managing big data, she went to work in 2006 as a category analyst for PepsiCo. She followed that with a similar job at Newell Rubbermaid. Muehlbach then took a detour into the adult beverage category as a business insights manager for Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, the largest wine and spirits distribution company in North America.

Last year she co-founded STX, a data management company that markets its products to vendors, primarily in the adult beverage category.

The company has since secured multiple clients, including several of the top 10 wineries, distillers and breweries in the world, and revenues are up 300% in 2019.

Muehlbach leads the technical side of the business and has professional accreditations from Microsoft and the Category Management Association as a Certified Professional Category Advisor.

“We’ve had tremendous success as a startup,” she said. “The next step is to replicate that in technology and customer service as we scale to a much larger organization.”

Of her love for the outdoors and an active lifestyle, Muehlbach said: “We are truly fortunate to have companies in the area that have a vested interest and encourage the community to get out and enjoy all the amenities we’ve got here.”