A New Career on the Vine

Written by Dianne Molvig Thursday, March 17 2011

Snapshot: Deborah Brenner
Deborah Brenner navigated a gradual but dramatic career transition a few years ago. She’d worked for nearly two decades in marketing and public relations in the high-tech industry. The first 16 of those years were in the employ of various high-tech companies. After that, she launched her own New York City-based marketing and public relations firm called SmallFishBigPond, serving such big-name clients as Quantel and NBC.

Then Brenner decided to ditch the corporate life. She’s now using her skills to help women winemakers and grape growers promote their products through a collaborative enterprise called Women of the Vine.

It all started with writing a book, also titled Women of the Vine, which profiles 20 women winemakers and grape growers. In 2007, it made Wine Spectator magazine’s annual list of best new books for a wine-lover’s library.

Womenetics: Why did you switch careers?
Deborah Brenner: The big catalyst for change in my life was a sudden and painful divorce. That made me re-evaluate what I wanted to do. I realized I hadn’t been fulfilled and happy in my career for many years. Like a lot of people, I was always trying to struggle and juggle to balance life and work. That’s when I took a leap of faith and went out on my own to set up my own marketing and public relations firm, in 2002.

But I knew that wasn’t where I would end up. I enjoyed it; it paid the bills. And I was using my skill sets. But I wanted to get out of that field, even though I was working for myself. I started to spend time figuring out my life – my new life being single.

When I was younger, I’d worked in the hospitality industry. I’d enjoyed that environment and started to think about going back to it. I’d always had a passion for wine, food, and travel. And I’ve always loved the outdoors. But I was spending my days in an office building in Manhattan not even seeing a bird fly by. So I started to think more about my lifestyle, not just a career path.

Womenetics: How did you come to write the book, Women of the Vine?
Brenner: I was exploring whether there was an opportunity for me to work in the wine industry. I took a trip to California to see what it was like and where my skills might fit in. A friend of mine knew Karen Cakebread of Cakebread Cellars, a well-known winery. She’d worked in marketing for Hewlett-Packard for many years. My friend figured Karen and I had a lot in common. Karen was gracious enough to have lunch with me.

That lunch was the catalyst that led me to the idea of the book. Karen and I talked about how male-dominated the wine industry is. I was curious about the women in the industry. So when I got back to New York, I started the book project, while still operating my marketing firm. I got turned down by many publishers, of course, but then John Wiley & Sons called me.

Womenetics: How did the book project turn into a business?
Brenner: I was so inspired by these women, by all the blood, sweat, and tears that go into making a bottle of wine. I knew I didn’t want to go back to my corporate world. I wanted to stay in the wine world. I could use my marketing and business development skills to help these women compete in a highly competitive environment.

Eighty-two percent of California wines are produced by multinational corporations. Once the big multinationals realized how much money there was to make in wine and how they could produce it in much larger volumes at much lower prices, the industry started changing. The small boutique wineries and grape farmers are competing against the huge multinationals. So these women who were pioneers getting into the wine industry are now being squeezed out by the competition.

Womenetics: How does the Women of the Vine collaboration work?
Brenner: All of us at Women of the Vine are entrepreneurs in our own areas of expertise. Currently, there are six winemakers and our farming partners – two sisters who are fourth-generation grape growers. All are in California.

I’m in Piermont, N.Y. They don’t need me out there in California. They’re tending to the land, the farming, and winemaking. You can’t be a grower or winemaker and be on the road full time. Getting out there to market and sell is a full-time job. That’s what I do.

I definitely chose a difficult product to sell because of the way alcohol sales work in the United States since Prohibition. We must sell wine through distributors, who then sell to stores and restaurants. Distributors have to pay for the wine and hold it in inventory. As you can imagine, they don’t want the wine to sit in inventory unless there’s a demand for it.

So I meet with distributors and also go to the retailers and restaurant owners to build a demand at the consumer level. I appear at special events, such as The New York Times Travel Show, where I participated in a panel and did a book signing. I spread the word. We’ve been featured in such media as Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine. And our wines have been served at U.S. Department of State and Kennedy Center functions.

Womenetics: Where can one buy Women of the Vine wines?
Brenner: They are available for purchase online in 34 states and the District of Columbia. And we’re in national chain retail outlets ndash; such as Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, and Target – in 15 states.

Womenetics: All Women of the Vine wines are made with sustainably grown grapes. What does that mean?
Brenner: Sustainable farming looks at everything from what’s environmentally sound to what’s economically feasible. It includes such practices as planting cover crops to attract beneficial insects or canopy management to reduce evaporation and use less irrigation. Sustainable farming also looks at how you treat your farm workers and interact with your community.

Womenetics: How and why did Women of the Vine become active in Farm Aid?
Brenner: We give ongoing donations and organize Farm to Table fundraising events to benefit Farm Aid throughout the year. The organization’s mission is to support family farmers and keep them on the land. Supporting Farm Aid is a natural fit for us.

 

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Dianne Molvig is a Madison, Wis.-based freelance writer who writes regularly about business management, financial services, law practice, consumer education, and other topics.