Having already founded six business ventures ranging from fashion to chocolate to a national line of bath and body products, Stacie Parker Shonfeld wasn't exactly in search of another.

But when her travels to places as far off as Australia, China and Morocco repeatedly exposed her to fresh fruit-infused beverages, she couldn't ignore her new calling. Her mission was not only to introduce the art of infusion to the U.S., but also to find a way to bottle the exotic flavor of her travels.

After two years of creating recipes and perfecting her products, Shonfeld introduced a line of all-natural, fruit-infused, ultrapremium alcohols. The line features vodka, rum and tequila combined with various flavors and fruits. In 2006, she launched her Santa Ana, California, company, 267 Infusions.

267 Infusions' products make up what Shonfeld calls "a new category in the spirits industry." But it required paving a new path and moving forward despite many people's concerns that her concept was too innovative.

Even the South American handcrafted, gourd-inspired bottle, with its tapered, silver band-clad neck and artistic writing on the front, didn't follow the standards of the industry.

But Shonfeld, 41, let her intuition guide her. "I had so many men battle me, saying, 'That's not how it's done in this industry,'" she admits. "I don't think I could have [withstood] that in my first, second or third business. I never had the money to do it, I never had the gumption to do it and I never had the support.

But standing confidently where I am now, I was able to say, 'This is what I want, and if it's not going to be that way, I don't want to do this.'" The bottle has won several awards, and 2008 sales are already projected at more than $10 million.

Shonfeld continues to develop new infusions to add to her lineup, which already features Rum Infusion Mango, Tequila Infusion Chili Peppers and Vodka Infusion Cranberry, to name a few. The true spirit of the product, though, comes from her passion for what she has created.

"Every part of it was a challenge that I loved," she says. "I love the game of business, I love being creative and I love mastering different arts, so all that came together with this business." Sara Wilson is a staff writer for Entrepreneur magazine.

Originally published in Entrepreneur's Women In Charge magazine 2008