Katie Shaffer
Co-Founder & President, PACA Holdings (AXYN & SEEAT) |
Founder, Feast it Forward & Feast.Network
Katie Hamilton Shaffer is a fierce visionary entrepreneur, experiential marketing innovator, and brand builder with a passion for transforming ideas into immersive experiences, and building businesses at the intersection of hospitality, entertainment, and technology.
After hanging up her cleats from the newly formed semi-pro soccer league, Katie moved to Napa Valley to pursue a career in food and wine. Katie launched Feast Network in 2011, a digital platform created to entertain and inspire through original content featuring master chefs, musicians, actors, influencers, and tastemakers. After nearly seven years producing content around the country, she opened The Studio by Feast it Forward in downtown Napa in 2018, transforming the space into a dynamic film studio, experiential showroom, and live marketing venue hosting culinary productions, concerts, and immersive brand experiences.
In 2026, Katie expanded her vision into hospitality with Rotation by Feast it Forward, a full-service restaurant at Oxbow Public Market pioneering a global chef residency program featuring month-long residencies that bring acclaimed chefs and musicians together to create distinctive culinary experiences celebrating food, culture, and community.
Today, Katie is building the next chapter through PACA Holdings and its two complementary products. AXYN is embedded ticketing infrastructure that enables festivals, venues, and digital platforms to sell tickets as their own product through their websites and apps while retaining ownership of their customer relationships and protecting their margins. Live in production since September 2026, AXYN is designed to give event operators greater control over ticketing and the data behind every transaction.
SEEAT extends that relationship beyond the ticket. The guest app brings together festival passes, programming, and personalized itineraries while connecting attendees with nearby dining, tastings, accommodations, and experiences. Launching with Napa Valley StreamFest in April 2027, SEEAT is designed to help destinations turn one-time event attendance into deeper, lasting visitor relationships.
Across hospitality, media, live experiences, and technology, Katie’s work is driven by a shared vision: to connect people, places, and experiences while empowering event producers to own more of the guest journey—from the first ticket purchase to everything that happens before, during, and long after the event.