I have always believed that at the end of my life and when I move on to an even greater future, that my well lived life will make total sense to me, that I will have perfect clarity and understanding of why everything that I have experienced has happened to me, that all of my experiences will have assembled themselves into a perfectly laid out puzzle, where every piece has fallen into place. My life will make total sense. It still doesn’t stop me from pondering now how I have found myself in the wine industry, working alongside very passionate and very serious wine industry veterans, after several decades of building and growing technology related companies.
When I decided to take on the challenge, I justified my purchase of Woodberry Wine and J&J Importers as the culmination of my development as a business leader and entrepreneur, fed from my desire of wanting to constantly learn new skills, like importing logistics and distribution. My college major of International Relations with 3 years of college level French made sense. By my ability to see how we could apply technology to an already strong business model felt like this was a perfect complement to my skill set.
But as I have been thinking about it more during many of my sleepless nights, I believe my good fortune of becoming associated with the wonderful team of people that I now work with, has really been brought about because of what wine has meant to me over the years – relationships and experiences. Some of my best memories and conversations were shared with a perfect bottle of wine. The camaraderie I have experienced as a member of the Detroit Historical Food and Wine Society for the past 12 years with 23 other passionate and generous wine lovers have allowed me to share some incredible dining and wine tastings, and exposed me to vintages and pedigreed wines no longer available on the open market.
Some of the greatest dinners, the most incredible sunsets, the perfect toast, the hearty laughs, or the celebratory events, were shared with a loved one or friends along with a great bottle of wine that made the moment more special.
I believe I am at Woodberry Wine because I am a relationships person – I love meeting people, taking care of customers, sharing experiences, and building a greater future. I think that is true of many of the great people in our Company. The fact that wine is such a central element to this journey is only making it that much sweeter, although as I am realizing, for me, wine has always been a part of the journey. Of course, I won’t really know for sure until about 50 years from now!
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