Wine with a Purpose: ONEHOPE’s Disruption

Speaker 1: trying to get it sold through three- tier distribution which we still do we noticed we are very commonly the only women in the room and so we're just really touched that we were able to bring so many women to the wine industry because we all know that women love wine and we're the more dominant wine consumer and buyer in this industry so we're so excited to bring more women to the wine industry to sell it as well I'm Melanie bar welcome back to the Sheil it podcast your go-to place to empower you to live the life and business that you crave I'm here to talk about everything from Having the courage to make life and career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech Innovation I'm here to celebrate your wins and navigate through your challenges I live in the city now but I grew up in a town of a thousand people I've navigated major life leaps a senior level corporate career worked in professional sports and now as a successful entrepreneur who loves business technology family and making meaningful connections with you and the Sheil it Community I also love a good workout and dose of self-care magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so turn up the audio open your favorite Notes app grab your favorite drink and here we go thank you for joining us Kristen welcome to the Shila podcast share with us the story behind one hope and what gave you the idea to start it thank you so much for having me Melanie one hope we started in 2007 there was eight of us that initially started it so people are always amazed you had eight Founders we were all in our early 20s we all met working for the largest Wier in the us at the time and we were selling wine in grocery stores when you go to your grocery store I know you're in California you see these Mass displays that is what we did we sold those and we like built them we would physically build those displays which was so much work it was literally Blood Sweat and Tears carried around a box cutter and a feather duster but it was selling wine in grocery stores in our early 20s especially during the month of October that we saw so much cause marketing going on at the time for breast cancer awareness month so here we were selling and building wine displays and seeing other departments within the store like Campbell Soup yl yogurt these brands that were doing some incredible initiatives to support breast cancer awareness but there was nothing represented in the wine aisle and then at the end of the month when October was over everything went back to business as usual so we were thinking okay how come these companies aren't giving back year round why is it just a one-month campaign why are they putting caps on what they can donate instead of donating $20,000 they could probably be donating $20 million and then third why isn't there a wine brand that's involved we started working in wine because we love wine it's an incredible product it brings people together you open it on special celebrations and holidays that brings people together around a bottle wine so we just thought why isn't there a wine brand that's giving back at the time so these are all the the things we started talking about at happy hour we were starting at 4:00 a.m. so we were done at 2 or 3 p.m. so yeah when you're 22 23 of course you just go to Yard House for happy hour and so we were just talking about it all the time it would be such a great idea we started our own wine brand and I think most people that have a really good idea don't do anything with it and that was initially what we just thought this movie was like oh it's a great idea to have a wine brand that gives back and so we all went on to do our own things at this company I moved up to Wine Country to napan and Sona I was working and tasting rooms up there for the company J clob Dan our CEO gave me a call one day he's like Kristen remember that company we always talked about starting I'm going to do it because I had a very close friend she just called me she's diagnosed with cancer she's 23 I'm going to do this are you in are you going to quit your job and join me and at this time I was no kids no mortgage I said sure let's do it so quit my job moved down to Southern California and we started one hope literally out of the backs of our cars we found a small little custom Crush facility that made wine for us and let us label it ourselves and we started selling it out of the backs of our cars which is illegal by the way that's how much we knew we thought we knew everything we needed to know about the industry we were very quickly put in our place like oh no you need a licensed distributor to sell your products I'm sure every entrepreneur that's listening will admit that there's a lot of learning curves we always say going from zero to one is the hardest part when you're starting a business and you're learning the ropes that way but that's essentially how one hope got started was we wanted a brand that didn't just give back back during a one-month campaign like cause marketing initiatives were going we wanted a cause brand and giving at the core and eat those who who we were and you're so right an idea is an idea without the execution so great that you all came together to make it happen and can you share with us how it works if someone comes to your website when you purchase your wine how can someone give back and also how can someone be involved absolutely and our giving has evolved since we've started our brand because how we distribute our brand has changed so much direct to Consumer wine Li shipping laws have changed so much but it's so cool because we've evolved now to where we let our customers pick whatever cause they want to support with their wine purchase so when you go to one hope wine.com you'll see there's a banner right at the top it says select a nonprofit to support you click that and you can search any nonprofit you can search by name the EIN number so whether it's your child PTO school program a big Global nonprofit everything in between that's how we give back and 10% of any purchase can support that cause and what's so cool about that is you think okay 10% and we see the backend numbers and it all adds up to so much these nonprofits get checks from us they're like oh my gosh thank you who can I thank for this because we ask our nonprofits to do nothing in return a check magically gets delivered to them and what I love so much about this 10% too is so many people are gathering together in living rooms because we do wine tasting fundraisers as well well so it's not just the donations that are being raised but it's the conversation and awareness that's taking place with it too so that is how we give back there's so many different ways that people can get involved ordering our wines becoming a wine club customer as I mentioned we do these really fun wine tasting fundraisers where you could host a wine tasting fundraiser in your home and bring people together bring that Napa Valley wine tasting experience to your home where we can have a representative come to your home and Sample through the wines and then again every purchase that's made by attendees 10% goes back to the host cause of choice and then if you wanted to become one of those Representatives a fun wine entrepreneur cause entrepreneur we developed that platform it really blossomed organically because we had so many people that were reaching out to us saying oh my gosh I love your product I want to work in the wine industry how can I get involved and so we just created our cause entrepreneur program where anybody can join we give you amazing wine education you can you earn commission on sales that you wines that you sell and then you can also fundraise for causes that matter most to you and your community which is great and we've had now over 10,000 I say women because it's 99% women which is awesome and my counterpart Tiffany and I when we were first starting this brand and trying to get it sold through three- tier distribution which we still do we noticed we were very commonly the only women in the room and so we're just really touched that we were able to bring so many women to the wine industry because we all know that women love wine and we're the more dominant wine consumer and buyer in this industry so we're so excited to bring more women to the wine industry to sell it as well so much of what you do is positive and fun and brings together community and it's so great that you listened to what was needed and developed the platform in that way it just came about organically and like I said direct to Consumer wine shipping laws really changed in our favor too because when we first started one hope we could legally ship wine to four states so we were really like I said selling out of the backs of our cars which was illegal so we found Distributors and we are national distributed we're sold in thousands of restaurants and hotels and we love our Distributors but it's also great because we can ship wine now to 46 States I believe we just greenlighted I think another state so because we could direct ship to so many people's homes this direct to Consumer distribution Channel blossomed organically and I love our cause entrepreneurs they're just an incredible group of women change makers who love wine who just want to give back and I've just met some of my greatest friends through this program I love that so fun yeah what advice would you give other entrepreneurs who are interested in incorporating social responsibility into their business model I would say make sure it's authentic to you and who you are versus just picking a miscellaneous cause because the more and more you get into it you want to make sure that you're very passionate about it I know Melanie you and I were talking about being on nonprofit boards and you lose your interest if you don't have a genuine passion about wanting to change that problem to fix that problem so I would make it very authentic to who you are whether it's something that helped you as a child in your business something in your local community that inspires you but just make it very personal to who you are and then when you're also incorporating it into your business because if you are giving back you want to make sure that you're very transparent to the customer and we figured that out along the way where certain percentage going back like you want to make sure it's Crystal Clear so when you go to website that's why you want to show when you make a purchase how much money is going back to the nonprofit so just to be very transparent about that is something I'd suggest too that's really good advice I say the same thing to people who are starting podcast if you start a podcast you're going to talk about it every day and every week also probably people get involved with organizations that have affected their families absolutely there's a restaurant owner here in Arizona where I live he's the nicest guy he always donates product whenever I ask for it and the last last time he brought it himself he's a busy guy he owns like 10 plus restaurants here in the valley and I'll never forget he told me his community programs gave me everything as a kid and I owe everything back to them so whenever a community program asks me for a donation I don't hesitate to do it so reflect back on on what's changed you what programs have benefited you maybe it's something with your family at a certain program a friend but yeah just make it very personal you because you're going to tell that story a lot we even go back to that to with one hope because we're now a platform to give 10% of every purchase supports that person's cause of choice but there's still a lot that we do at one hope as Founders that's important to us and we really focus on ending the cycle of poverty each of us have we want to ensure that we're funding water wells because I personally have been able to go to certain areas of the world that does not have access to clean water it's been an amazing experience but also so eye openening things that we take for granted so much here in the US so that's been a big pillar of ours as Founders is making sure that we are funding programs that provide clean drinking water to people that because of that it's helping keep kids in school we there's a lot of things that we keep wanting to go back as bers it's so great that we're a platform to give but we want to continue to do some great things that's very personal to us as founding members of One hope and it's incredible you're able to give back in such a big and meaningful way yes it's been amazing and it's all through simply enjoying delicious wine together which is so fun too and the great conversations that come from sharing a delicious bottle of wine with one another what do you look for in team MERS and how are you building a sustainable company culture we look for people that are genuinely very inspired by our purpose because that is the North Star for us at one hope to nourish the future to change the world and so that's a big core principle of ours is looking for people that are just very genuinely moved by what we're doing most of the people on our team that's why they joined is because they're just very inspired by what we do a lot of them just love wine too and love that we make a delicious bottle wine and that's great as well but keeping that as our North Star what we're always trying to accomplish at the end of the day yeah we're doing that through wine but we are just fundraising causes and inspiring other people to innovate on ways that they can give back share with us a memorable moment or success story from your journey in running one hope I the entrepreneur will admit there's like ups and downs and crazy twists and turns but there was one moment in the early day I remember I was sitting at the airport and it was an exhausting week of trips because when we were first building this brand we were living on airplanes trying to get Distributors all over the country and you know what it's like being a working mom it's crazy you're exhausted and I I got two texts from F friends on different sides of the country and one of them had seen us on a restaurant menu in California and the other one was at New York it's some like fancy event and they saw our wine there so that was a really exciting moment okay Nationwide people are starting to recognize us and then from the donation standpoint many times when we were growing we were just issuing checks to nonprofits and it's sometimes you don't always get to see the end result for it but a couple years ago I got the opportunity to go down to a very remote Village in Colombia and build myself with some teammates at eight panel solar unit that we funded a few years prior to that the project was being complete and we got to go down there and do it and so not only did we get a build this solar unit for a school that didn't have electricity but we got to turn the light bulbs on for for the first time and to see we waited till it was dark they counted down and we got to turn the light bulbs on and the like the way that these children just lit up and to have a TV turn on in their school that was a really cool moment for me personally because we didn't just it's fun when you get to send checks don't get me wrong but when you get to actually see the people that you're helping that was a really special moment for me that's such an incredible story I actually have chills and we're just going to take a moment and celebrate that with you because that is so amazing I slept in a hammock I woke up in the middle of the night to a goat licking the back of my head it was an amazing incredible trip and we did it with an awesome nonprofit called give power Foundation what is next for your W company both in terms of business growth and philanthropic Endeavors so we opened a winery and tasting room in Napa Valley in 2020 I'm obviously very biased but I think it's the most beautiful Winery in the entire world we right off Highway 29 so anyone that's been to Napa Valley knows that Highway 29 is this long road that goes up and down from Napa all the way up to Coga it's kind of like Disneyland for adults because there's just like wineries up and down it's so amazing but we opened up our beautiful Flagship Winery there we're right across the street from Cake bread so we're really excited to continue to do events and grow our incredible tasting experience there we just revamped our wine club to offer even more incredible perks for our wine club members including complimentary tastings at that Winery so we're excited to grow that and then of course our cause entrepreneur program we're really excited to continue to grow that program and get even more people involved with us and have our impact continue to grow exponentially because if you were to ask me when we first started this Kristen do you guys do you think you'd ever be able to get to a point where you'd have a Winery Napa and have donated $10 million I'd be like no you're crazy because we started so small so we're just so excited to grow all of those channels that way we can continue to grow our impact exponentially too so fun I can't wait to visit your Tasting Room next time I'm in Napa yes you have to come visit us it's like I said I'm bias but it's very special we have a chef on site so we do a beautiful food and wine tasting experience we have some pickle ball lovers at the winery that worked there so they put a pickle ball cord on the crush pad behind it so you can play pickle ball amongst the vines and it's a special a very special place magic happens when we focus on the part of our business and our that brings us joy what is one thing that you make sure to do to find and live your joy oh my children I'm obsessed with my kids they're nine and 11 so they're just at this magical age that I just want to be with them all the time and somehow they still want to be with me too I know we're I'm near in the teenage phase with my oldest one where mom's not going to be cool anymore but I love driving them to all of their 10,000 activities they seem to be in it feels like I'm an a glorified Uber driver sometimes but just the fun conversations we have in the car and I love that so the more time I got to spend with my kids that brings me so much joy and as a mom of 10-year-old twins I'm with you there 3:00 you become the sports and activity Uber driver and I tell myself they're going to be 16 soon and I'm not going to be doing this so about six more years I'm sure you hear it too everybody that has older kids will they tell me like you're going to miss these days you're really even though sometimes it seems super overwhelming you're stuck in traffic you're driving all over the place you're exhausted you're going to miss these days that you get spend so much time in the car with them so I trying to soak that up as much as possible and I also love when I drive all their friends in the car too because the conversations that have together is so entertaining yes this is so funny right I told myself I was a little stressed at getting to three different activities last night and I told myself I don't have to play in the baseball game why am I stressed all I have to do is drive them there totally it's like it's sitting on the sidelines for soccer you're like come on hustle and I'm just sitting the whole time it's so funny thank you for building such an incredible business and doing so much to give back to the world I encourage anyone listening to check out one hope please tell us how and where we can find you absolutely so you can go to one hope wine.com and that's where you can choose a cause of choice that you want to support and Shop any of our wines we have bundled packs if you don't know where to begin you can also go to oneop wine.com host if you want to host a wine tasting fundraiser and like I said we can bring the Napa Valley tasting experience into your homes and fundraise for a cause that matters most to you or you can join as a CE because like I said we have so much fun we give back so much and we just have so much fun drinking wine together and learning about wine so you can join as a cause entrepreneur as well you can also follow us on Instagram we have some really fun content that we love to share and recipes so follow us one hope that's o n o p one hope on Instagram thank you for joining us today I'd love to hear from you reach out to me at hello Sheil it.com on our Sheil it website or at Sheil on social thank you to my editor Rich draino who always makes us sound good until next time let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that you crave