An Interview with Fotis Georgiadis
“Breathe, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” This is my personal mantra that allows me to step back and be present while also holding the long-term vision in my mind.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicole Kearney.
Nicole Kearney is the vintner/founder crafting vegan wines for Sip & Share Wines and a writer with a master’s in fine arts in Dramatic Writing. She has been in the wine industry for several years starting with representing Black winemakers. She was named a 40 of 40 Black Tastemaker and 2021 Black Innovator on the Rise and Sip & Share Wines was named 2020 Pacers KeyBank Small Business of the Year and one of their wines, Conjure Zinfandel, was featured in Forbes Magazine.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I’ve always been interested in wine. In graduate school, we sipped wine and shared our work with one another. I felt this type of community should be available to Black and Brown wine lovers, while welcoming all. I did a Google search and there were 30 Black owned wineries listed. I started reaching out as I wanted to sip and share these wines with folks. The wine industry regulations were quite restrictive. Since I had always made Sangria and people were enjoying it. I decided, at my coach’s urging, to shift our business to a winery. Being a winemaker blends my creative and scientific sides together.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
I am part of changing the narrative around the definition of a wine enthusiast. I am among .001% of winemakers that are Black women and 1% of the wineries that are Black owned in the US. The current Black wine industry in the US is less than 30 years old. Sip & Share Wines is honored to apart of building our own tables that are inclusive and diverse, while centering new majority wine lovers.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
My son was assisting me at the first vending event I did. Sip & Share Wines introduced our red and white Sangrias. I was selling a glass for $6 and a ½ glass for $2.50. People were buying lots of half glasses. My son pointed out it was because the half glass was cheaper than the glass. We never sold half glasses after that event.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
QueenMentorSis Benita Johnson of The Vine Wine Club gave me two hours of her time less than two weeks before her major event. Her graciousness with her time and introductions will always be special to me.
QueenMentorSis Marcee Jones of Urban Connoisseur came from the introductions. She gave me advice on the business of wine and introduced me to QueenSis Theopatra of Theopolis Vineyard and KingBro Phil Long of Longevity Wines also who gave me winemaking advice. These relationships have provided me with a solid foundation in the wine industry.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Instead of waiting to be invited to the wine industry table, Sip & Share Wines and the diversity of other Black winemakers, are taking our wines to the people. Sip & Share Wines engages with Black and Brown wine drinkers in a way historically they haven’t been included. We bring the wine to the people offering a SipSperience (Sip & Share Wines Experience) that integrates wine as a lifestyle versus just drinking an alcoholic beverage.
We have experienced not so positive disruption too and those industry disruptions affect the core products. When issues or disasters arise like the wildfires in California or the current supply chain issues where glass bottles and cans are extremely hard to source, it can sometimes cause a hinderance on the industry and the products we provide.
Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
We were at Hue Society’s The Black Wine Experience at Essence Fest in 2018. We were pouring wines to get the wine lover’s feedback. I wasn’t sure I belonged in the room as a novice winemaker being in a room of veteran wineries. David Thompson, my partner-in-wine and life, calmed me down and said, “You belong in this room.” Our wines were a hit.
“Breathe, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” This is my personal mantra that allows me to step back and be present while also holding the long-term vision in my mind.
“Jump and the net will appear.” I read this. It’s about setting intentions and having faith they’ll manifest.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
We’re still in Act 1 of our story. We offer monthly virtually SipSperiences at sipandsharewines.com. In May we’ll be re-launching Culture Can, 4 can wines breaking the stigma around can wines, which originally launched Juneteenth 2021. We’re in R&D for a new offering. The rest you’ll have to follow us on our social platforms to see!
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
“SubScribed” by Tien Tzuo. It’s all about how any product can be sold via a subscription model. “StoryBrand” by Donald Miller who explains how to build the story of your brand. As a writer, telling your brand’s story to the intended is critical.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My personal mantra is, “Breathe. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” It’s to remind myself to breathe, be present, enjoy the now and the journey.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Healing trauma for Black and Brown descendants of enslaved Africans, First Person Natives (Indians) in order to restore, re-educate, and reunify the relationships among Black men and women.
How can our readers follow you online?
Sipandsharewines.com
Facebook.com/sipandsharewines
IG @sipandsharewines
LinkedIn.com/Sipandsharewines
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Nicole Kearney On The Five Things You Need to Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
