Discussion With A New Grape Leader
June 3, 2013 
1) You’ve got an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School of Business, and you’ve worked for companies such as General Mills, Universal Studios, and Dairy Management, where you worked with dairy farmers throughout the U.S. for seven years. What made you want to take the marketing position with Sonoma County Winegrowers in the first place?
When I first heard of the opportunity with the Sonoma County Winegrowers, I finally felt that the twists and turns that my life has taken over the past 15 years made sense. With both my parents growing up on Midwest farms and many days in my young childhood spent following my grandma and grandpa around the farm, agriculture has always been in my blood.
As I got older and pursued business education and marketing, I was happy for the training at organizations such as General Mills and Universal Studios, but always longed for a job that felt more tangible and had more of a connection with people. My most recent work with dairy farmers realized my desire to connect with the people I was working on behalf of, but my passion was in the wine industry and I wanted my roots to be firmly in Sonoma County.
There is something very gratifying about agriculture. Shepherding growth, being a steward of the land and being able to have a product at the end that can be shared, makes the hard work worthwhile.
I am proud to work on behalf of the 1,800 vineyard owners in Sonoma County. I am excited to work every day to leverage my experience to be an ambassador for agriculture, the wine industry and Sonoma County.
2) Does it make easier to assume your new post having already been with the commission for nearly a year, serving as marketing director?
Absolutely! I have had almost a year to be mentored by (current president Nick Frey), interact with the Board, committees, and many of the growers in Sonoma County, and really understand the position. I get to hit the ground running. This position and organization tackles everything from marketing on the national and international stage to dealing with labor and vineyard issues in our community. Being able to observe, learn, and start to build my own vision over the past eight months, allowed both the board and me the opportunity to interact and understand each other’s style and priorities. This is critical in working together to continue the positive momentum of the Sonoma County Winegrowers.
3) You’re succeeding Nick Frey, who is widely respected not only on the North Coast but throughout the winegrape industry. Is that a daunting task? What advice has Nick given you?
Many people have told me that I have big shoes to fill with Nick’s retirement. I respond that I have smaller feet, but I am tenacious! Translated, I respect Nick and his accomplishments tremendously. Nick has been an unbelievable leader for the organization and grape growers in Sonoma County for 14 years. He established the organization, built strong relationships among diverse stakeholder groups, and gave the winegrowers a common mission that united them.
I will bring a fresh perspective, a new energy, strategic planning, and my own experience building collaboration among stakeholders and elevating brands to this organization. I don’t see that as daunting, I always welcome a good challenge. As Nick reminds me, he has spent 14 years building these accomplishments, so I should just do my best and know that the board and grape growing community will be there to support me. I know that I still have a lot to learn, but I am on my way.
4) You have your own little vineyard, correct? How does that help you understand growers’ issues?
Yes, I have 5 acres planted in Bennett Valley up on Sonoma Mountain. The best example I can give is that during harvest, there were many “nights” I was communicating with my board members at 2 or 3 in the morning during a night pick — we would connect over the quality of fruit, labor shortage, or even the spectacular full moon. In addition to dealing with similar vineyard issues and regulations as my fellow growers, I have a very personal and vested interest in Sonoma County being rightly recognized as a world class grape growing region.
5) Speaking of growers’ issues, what are the three most serious ones facing your members, and what kinds of things will you be doing in response?
On a national front, the biggest issue facing growers is labor, not just in Sonoma County and grape growing, but for agriculture in general. We have been providing input on immigration to our Congressmen and Senators, but this is one that we will have to wait and see what shakes out with the reform. Once we do have immigration reform, we will provide education on the implications through our grower programs.
Closer to home, water and pest management will most likely always be part of the discussion. These are two things critical to healthy vineyards and high-quality grapes. We have approximately 12 Integrated Pest Management grower programs throughout the growing season, which allow growers an opportunity to meet and share best practices.
More than 60% of Sonoma County winegrowing acreage is enrolled in the Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Program. This program is a series of increasingly high standards and best management practices to incorporate sustainable practices into grape growing and a good template for water management. Our goal is to continue to enroll more vineyard land into this important self-assessment program.
Finally, demonstrating winegrower value within our own community is critical to remaining part of the culture and landscape within Sonoma County. This will be accomplished through our new Community Relations and Outreach program.
6) In the letter announcing your hiring, Frey and John Balletto, the chairman of the board, said that they were impressed by the fact that you have already developed an 18-month strategic plan for Sonoma County Winegrowers. Can you briefly summarize the plan?
In the first few months as the marketing director, I realized that in order to really understand the business, I needed to tackle writing a strategic plan. It would help me sort through the different activities that we do as the commission and most importantly understand which tactics ladder up to a meaningful strategy. This would also allow the board and my marketing committee to learn what I was prioritizing and how I planned to spend their commission dollars. There were, and will continue to be, under my leadership, two main ways that the commission provides value to the Sonoma County winegrowers — through preserving and promoting. Preserving growers’ ability to farm is the foundation of the commission. This means ensuring their freedom to own and operate vineyards in Sonoma County and ensuring a marketplace for Sonoma County grapes. Promotion is the mission part of the commission. It is about growing and creating value by building the Sonoma County brand in the marketplace and by leveraging partnerships to provide greater impact with limited resources.
There are three primary strategies to providing these values to the growers. The first is through launching and elevating the joint Sonoma County brand in partnership with Sonoma County Vintners and Sonoma County Tourism. This is being done through national advertising partnerships, a new website, regional events, educational materials, and joint communications.
The second strategy is ensuring a marketplace for Sonoma County grapes through Sonoma County Winegrower specific initiatives. This includes evolving our own trade advertising and programs such as Vineyard Walks, Grape Camp, and our 50+ grower education programs. The biggest change was an overhaul of our grant program. The commission provides almost $200,000 a year in grants to help market Sonoma County wine and grapes. The grant program was redesigned to be more flexible and inspire more innovation that could be scalable and repeatable. Recognizing that the best ideas do not always come from the inside, for the first time, the commission is doing an Innovation Grant fund. I am excited to see what new ideas this program ignites!
The third strategy, and the one that I am most passionate about, is a Community Relations and Outreach program on behalf of both the growers and vintners. We so often focus on the brand or messaging about Sonoma County to others outside of the county and miss sharing our story within our own community. With only 6% of Sonoma County’s 1 million acres planted to vineyards, yet contributing more than 70% of the agriculture income, the Sonoma County Winegrowers provide great economic value to the county. Eighty percent of those grapes are planted on parcels of less than 100 acres and 40% are planted on parcels less than 20 acres. The majority of growers in Sonoma County are small, family-run businesses, many multi-generational. In addition, growers have a vested interest in being stewards of their land for future generations and are active in their communities.
It is important to share this story locally, build relationships among the diverse stakeholder groups, many with whom we share common values, and invite the community to be a part of the agriculture and wine industry that is in their own backyard.
There is a lot of opportunity for the Sonoma County Winegrowers. I am honored to be a voice on behalf of this community and hope the growers are proud of their legacy and excited for their future.
7) Finally, on a lighter note, if you could have dinner with one person who is either alive today or from the pages of history, who would it be and why?
This is an easy question to answer, but maybe not on a lighter note. If I could have dinner with anyone, it would be with my brother who passed away seven years ago. I would love to share a bottle of wine and tell him about moving to Sonoma County. Starting a wine label with three barrels of wine. Buying a vineyard on Sonoma Mountain. And now, a toast to this new phase of my life, as the president of the Sonoma County Winegrowers.
My brother was always my biggest champion and the person who inspired me to learn more and always show up and work hard. It was his passing that motivated me to leave “corporate America” behind and take a chance on moving to Sonoma County and building a wine business. I realized life was too short to not pursue something that makes you happy. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. He will never realize the gift that he gave me. I feel so fortunate to be in beautiful Sonoma County, surrounded by a great community, doing something I love.
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