April 8, 2025 • 34 mins
Kerri Futch is a friend of mine who moved from Northern California to Wisconsin to be closer to family and to chase a dream vision for a Wolf and Fox, boutique winery and an event space.
This episode is more of a casual conversation and catch-up between friends, but there are oodles of nuggets in her story, her strategic approach, and you’ll get real-time insights and perspective into what it’s like being in the midst of a less than 1 year-old business.
Kerri and her husband, Jon, purchased forty acres of land with a barn in Calumet County, Wisconsin with motivation to cultivate a diverse, sustainable farm, vineyard, and community event space.
Let’s hear how it’s going.
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Website: https://www.annemcginty.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to how I Built my Small Business.
I'm Anne McGinty, your host,and today we have Carrie Futch
on the show to talk about beingin year one of her business.
Carrie is a friend of mine whomoved from Northern California
to Wisconsin to be closer tofamily and to chase a dream
vision for a boutique winery andevent space.
(00:30):
This episode is more of acasual conversation between
friends, but there are oodles ofnuggets in her story, her
strategic approach, and you'llget real-time insights and
perspective into what it's likebeing in the midst of a less
than one-year-old business.
Carrie and her husband, john,purchased 40 acres of land with
(00:52):
a barn in Calumet County,wisconsin, with motivation to
cultivate a diverse, sustainablefarm, vineyard and community
event space.
Let's hear how it's going.
Thank you to our listeners forbeing here today, carrie.
It's so great to have you here.
Thank you, I'm so glad to behere.
(01:13):
So you left Northern CaliforniaI think it was four or five
years ago to chase this dream inWisconsin, right?
Yes, yes, we did.
Okay.
So what has transpired overthat time frame to get you to
today?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Oh, so many things.
I think where we were fouryears ago was in the middle of a
pandemic with the rest of theworld and I had my own business.
I ran a daycare out of my home.
My husband was a winemaker andwe lived in Sonoma County,
california.
But my husband's originallyfrom Wisconsin Calumet County,
(01:51):
wisconsin and had really beenthinking about the idea of
moving to Wisconsin and startinga winery there.
I wasn't ready.
I'm a Southern girl fromLouisiana, so the winters just
seemed really a hurdle for me.
But you know, it's a beautifulstate, there's so much here that
(02:15):
Wisconsin has to offer and Ijust needed time.
I needed a little bit of timeto warm up to the idea, so to
speak.
So the timing somehow was right.
It'll be four years in May andwe were evacuated from a
wildfire.
At the time we were in a hoteland made a decision at that
(02:37):
moment to sell our things, saygoodbye to California and move
to Wisconsin and start a wineryand slowly buy the family
homestead from John's folks.
So that's sort of like theshort version of it.
And so this is year four.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Okay, this is year four, but when did the winery
open?
June of last year.
And give us an idea.
How is it going?
What is it?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
like it is so much fun and it is so much work.
And you know it's funny becausewe aren't the type of people
that typically open wineries.
We just were hardworking folkswho you know we both still have
day jobs right.
We're just kind of building ourdreams slowly and surely, in
ways that make sense for us.
It took us about three years torenovate the barn and some of
(03:25):
the sheds that were on theproperty into a production space
for the winery and the barn asa venue both for the tasting
room and for other types ofevents like weddings and
corporate events.
So it took us those years,while working other jobs, to get
it to a place where it neededto be, while working other jobs,
(03:45):
to get it to a place where itneeded to be.
And in that time we were alsointerfacing with the township,
the county, the state and thefederal government because you
know anything with producingalcohol, everybody's hands are
in the pots, right.
So there was a lot of back endwork that we needed to do our
insurance, meet the lawyer, dropcontracts.
So it just, you know it takes awhile.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
And so you mentioned day jobs.
Do you still currently have aday job?
Yes, we both do.
How are you doing this?
So how are you getting a wineryand an event space started
while still working?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I have to have a great sense of humor about my
day-to-day life because it doesfeel like a lot of juggling all
the time.
But the big picture for me iswhat holds it together is that
knowing that for us it's morethan a business, it's a
lifestyle and it's a legacy,truly, because we didn't just
(04:42):
open a winery, we also planted900 native trees on the property
.
We also organized volunteers tocome and help us plant those
trees, plant a bunch ofdifferent pollinators and help
the birds and really createhabitat in our community.
So it's a bigger picture ofland stewardship that we're
(05:03):
trying to bring into our area.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Okay, so I've never been to Wisconsin before and I
don't know where your area is.
I couldn't pinpoint it on a map.
Is there enough of a populationthere in order to support a
winery and an event space Likewhere are you tapping into your
clientele?
Where are you tapping into yourclientele?
That's a great question.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
So we are really nicely located between Lake
Michigan in like NortheastWisconsin, between Lake Michigan
and Lake Winnebago.
So we're sort of centrallylocated between those two lakes
and we are surrounded by I wouldsay like mid-sized to large
cities.
So we're about 40 minutes fromGreen Bay, 30 minutes from
Appleton, 30 minutes from Fonddu Lac, sheboygan and Manitowoc.
(05:50):
All of these areas are a littlebit bigger in population and
have a lot more going on thanour specific town where we live.
So we pull a lot from thoseareas.
You know we have quite a fewpeople that have been to the
tasting room, surprisingly fromas far away as Chicago.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
So between locals and tourists, what sort of a
division are you looking atthere?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Oh, that is a great question.
I am not currently trackingthat very well.
To be honest with you, I feellike the word of mouth has taken
off in the community and we'vegotten so much wonderful support
from our local chamber ofcommerce, both in New Holstein
and Chilton, and so I feel likewe get a fair amount of locals
and then on the weekendsSaturdays primarily we're
(06:35):
getting a lot of out of townpeople that are heading up to go
camping in one of our beautifulparks here or, you know,
passing through up to theirsummer cabins up north.
Our main two income streams arevenue rentals and wine sales.
So we started venue rentalslast year and we're booking
weddings for this year.
(06:56):
So we had a few weddings on thebooks this year.
Actually, we had a few weddingslast year as well, because some
brave couples walked aroundwhile we were doing construction
and we weren't even open yetand they said we want to get
married here.
So kudos to them for havingfaith in us and they went really
beautifully.
(07:16):
We've had a few employee partiesalready.
This was really sweet.
We even had a memorial servicein the barn for a veterinarian
who had worked in our barn andhis family thought that it would
be a really sweet way to sendhim out.
So it's been really wonderful.
The wine sale started in Juneand we've paired that with
having music in the barn, whichhas been a huge hit.
(07:38):
So we have barn concerts everySaturday this summer afternoon,
concerts all ages and lots ofdifferent types of music.
So that usually brings a crowdout for wine tasting and hanging
out with family and friends.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And when the crowd comes out beyond wine tasting,
are they able to order otherdrinks or food or give us an
idea of what it's like to stepfoot into a barn concert?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Here in Wisconsin, which is unique we have a
manufacturing license to producethe wine and therefore, with
that license, we're able to sellall the things.
So we can sell beer, cider,seltzer, we sell non-alcoholic
mixed drinks, non-alcoholic beer.
We're working on non-alcoholicwine.
It's in process right now.
(08:21):
We also have bar snacks.
So we live in Wisconsin.
Cheese is major, major in thisstate, so we've partnered with a
local business for them to helpus get a selection of cheeses,
crackers, nuts, chocolates,chocolate covered cherries, all
sorts of things.
We don't yet have a commercialkitchen license, so we think
(08:43):
that might be something that canunfold in the future Our
partner with a chef or someonethat can hold that end of it so
that we can focus on wine andevents.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You've still got your day job.
Yeah, you're now throwingevents, both community barn
concerts, also renting out forweddings, and now the winery.
When will you make the leap andlet go of your day job?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
You know it's tough, like we made the decision to
self-finance our business, whichI know has people have like all
the feelings about that, butthat has to do with our
long-term goals and purchasingthe farm and not having you know
if anything were to go southwith, you know, the business or
something happened to one orboth of us.
We would just want to make surethat the farm is protected and
(09:31):
that it's something that we cancontinue to enjoy and share with
not only family.
But part of us opening thisbusiness was to really share it
with the public, you know, withthe community, because I think
land like that should be shared,should be open, should be
something that everybody canwalk around and see how much
land are we talking?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
So you mentioned the beauty of the land.
You mentioned over 900 treesbeing planted Right.
Describe the property to us.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Well, it's funny because John would probably want
me to talk about the grapes,but I feel like it's both Right.
So there's total 180 acres andon it it's arable land, so
productive land.
There's also wetlands, forest,and two creeks converge on the
land and there's a pond and twocreeks converge on the land and
(10:18):
there's a pond.
So there's quite a lot ofdifferent ecosystems.
And we've been working with ourlocal NRCS, which is like a
conservation organization thathelps us understand what's going
on in our woods and how we canmake it better and what trees
that we should be planting forregeneration of the land, so
(10:39):
things like that.
We've also partnered with afriend of ours who's become a
friend of ours, actually a sheepfarmer who is pasturing ewes on
our back 40 this spring, sowe'll get them as soon as right
after lambing they'll come.
So it's total 180, to answeryour question.
But we only own 40 acres rightnow.
So that's what we're tending toand cultivating right now.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
So, with that diverse landscape, would you ever
consider creating a glampingtype situation where multiple
people could stay at once?
Or if somebody decided thatthey wanted to have a wedding
weekend and invite their closest80 friends, would there be the
potential that they could stayat the property in tents?
I?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
love this question so much because, if it was up to
me, it would already behappening, but alas, this is
probably phase 10, because mydear husband, john, is really
good at pumping the brakes, butthat is something that we're
hoping for in the future.
There's a little bit moreliability involved in overnights
with a pond and open water, sothere would just be a lot more
(11:47):
things we'd need to have inplace licensing and insurance
wise to even, you know, considerthat.
But yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
It sounds like there's a lot of potential for
all of the directions you couldgo with this.
It sounds like there's a lot ofpotential for all of the
directions.
You could go with this.
So, okay, you're open for yearone of business.
What kind of growth are youexpecting from last season?
And we haven't even discussedthe seasonality of your business
.
But when are you operating andwhat do you expect last year to
look like in comparison to thisyear?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I'm not really comparing yet, you know, last
year to this year because Istill feel like I'm just really
in it.
You know, I feel like I'm likeday to day, week to week, and
right now, for example, I'mplanning all of the summer music
.
In fact, our lineup is done.
I just need to create the flyerfor it or the poster.
So I haven't had that likeperspective, that bird's eye
view, yet.
You know, last year versus thisyear, what I will say is that
we were really happy with ourwine sales.
I guess we've booked doublethis year than we did last year,
(12:45):
so that's great.
And then we've been givingtours for next year, weddings
and such.
So it's all moving along.
One of the things that I put out, I guess, in the universe was
that I want to call in moreartists and makers, crafts,
folks that would like to comeand teach and skillshare in the
barn, because I feel likethere's a great opportunity to
(13:09):
share.
For example, I have a friend,Natalie, who's a fiber artist.
She's going to be using thewool from the sheep that are on
our farm to create wool productsand I was like, why don't you
just come and do that here andlike, show, like, open that up
to the public and she just wassuper excited about it.
So we're dreaming up all thethings and I know that I should
probably be getting a littlemore practical about, like you
(13:32):
know, sales and numbers, but Istill feel like we're in a space
of of dreaming in a way.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Well, and you had mentioned that this is a
lifestyle business, so youreally get to pick and choose
what fills you up.
So a maker series.
It sounds like these communityevents.
Potentially glamping isobviously there's the winery and
the wine which is an anchorthere.
What else are you thinking up?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
I am thinking of variety shows, theater like
community theater, children'sprogramming, variety shows
theater like community theater.
Children's programming likenature-based I mean once an
early childhood educator, alwaysan early childhood educator.
So I'm thinking of schoolprogramming for like.
So once all of our perennialgardens are mature and our
diverse food forest is mature toinvite the public you know,
(14:17):
school to kids to come and beable to see like, oh, this is
what a honeyberry looks like, orthis is what a goji berry looks
like, you know.
So yeah, I have that in me aswell.
So having that long term visionof being able to not only have
a place to drink wine, but alsojust like to spend the day and
maybe learn one thing or two,you know, while you're at it.
We're both curious.
(14:38):
We both love music and the artsin general.
John also has a fine artsdegree, so that's what we end up
doing, for fun is being aroundartists, musicians, makers, so
that's what inspires us, and ifwe're going to build a business,
then we need to be doing thingsthat inspire us.
One of the things that's reallyfun and that we just did was a
blind tasting in order to figureout how we want our new petite
(15:02):
pearl that's in barrel right now, the oak profile on it, how we
want it.
Basically to pull out what'sgood, what's wonderful about
this varietal which a lot ofpeople don't know about, and to
soften the edges and to make itsomething that is just a really
delicious Wisconsin wine.
And for me that's like science,but it's also art, you know,
it's also sensory, and so I feellike if we can get the artists,
(15:25):
the chefs, you know, the othermakers in the room, it would
just be so fun to be doing thatall the time.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And when you're doing these summer series concerts or
you're inviting artists in todo a workshop, how many people
realistically can come andattend one of these?
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So our capacity is 175 max.
That's how much room we have inthe barn, and we always sort of
try to keep our events limitedto that amount, because it's not
like we can, you know, in badweather.
All we have is the barn, soit's important for us to keep it
at that number.
So a lot of our most of ourevents are ticketed events.
(16:03):
Some of them are free, but youstill have to reserve a ticket
just so that we can keep itcapacity and then how do you
handle the staffing, going fromnot necessarily needing anybody
there?
Speaker 1 (16:13):
if you're closed, I assume you're closed for some of
the weekdays.
Actually, I don, I don't knowwhat you're, what are your hours
?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So the venue operates seasonally, since the barn is
not climate controlled.
So we open May, end of May andthen through October like
mid-October is our kind ofseason and then the winter we
kind of shift gears and we moveto our production space in the
winter for wine tasting andthose hours are Thursday, friday
and Saturdays from 1 to 5.30.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Right now, so then, from May to mid-October, when
you have these occasional summerseries and you, let's say, you
pack the house and you get 175people there, how are you
staffing this?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Well, john and I can handle that number.
Like for weddings, we do that.
We've learned ways over time tobe able to manage crowds.
We have our bar packagesarranged in a way that make it
doable for two people, and ourparking is like you don't need a
parking attendant, people canself park.
We have good signage, sotypically we can handle it Just
(17:15):
the two of us.
We do have family members aswell, always willing to help.
So that's, that's nice.
But I hope to be able to starthiring folks in the community.
So we'll just see what thenumbers are and what the ticket
sales look like and however itunfolds in the next year, I'm
hoping to be able to get a fewmore people on board to help
(17:36):
with some of those events andalso that will help us to extend
our hour, our open hours.
Right now we're pretty limitedin our hours but hopefully, you
know, we can start to branch outa little bit.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Well, yeah, with day jobs and then running at lean
this way with you two runningthe show, you must be busy.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yes, and we have two kids, so it's a lot yes, and we
have two kids, so it's a lotOkay.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
So I know that that's got to be one of the hardest
parts is just juggling havingall of these things going on at
the same time between being amom or parents, I should say and
running this business, but thenalso having your day jobs
beyond that, specifically whenit comes to the starting and
getting ready and running ofyour business, what are the most
challenging parts?
Speaker 2 (18:21):
To get started in our industry, it was all of the
like, licensing and permittingthat we had to do.
There was a lot involved withthat, not only for like
construction and inspections,but also production spaces are
different than other types oflicensing, so there was just a
lot of kind of logistical stuffthat we had to figure out.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
And did you do this yourselves or did you hire
somebody to help you with this?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
No, we did it ourselves, which that's probably
why it took so long.
But you know, we know we're infor the long haul, so we were
willing to put in the work, andI think we also are people that
it's really difficult for us tolet go of something when we can
learn a new skill, and we'reboth like that.
So I think it's a good way tobe in the world in general.
(19:06):
But when you're both kind ofstarting a business, sometimes I
feel like we should just belike no, we should just contract
that out or, you know, findsomebody else and get it done
quicker.
So we need to balance that.
That's hard.
And then I would say the otherpieces.
Now what's hard is I feel likethere's this running list of to
do's it's a punch list, rightand we use a giant dry erase
(19:27):
board.
We were using like things on acomputer, but what we found was
like it just wasn't big enoughand we couldn't use it in the
way that we needed to.
We were visual, so like it'shard to find the time to go over
what I call scope of work,right.
So there's like the farm andthe homestead stuff, so that
includes like chicken chores andyou know, cats go into the vet,
(19:48):
like all the kind of stuff.
Then there's planting andvineyard maintenance and orchard
maintenance and perennialgarden and you know all that
kind of stuff, and then there'slike winery production, and then
there's venue, and then there'slike winery production and then
there's venue, and then there'sall the administrative stuff.
So, staying organized, I guess,and making sure that the big
picture there's things thatwe're returning to and, you know
(20:10):
, checking off in a way that itmakes sense.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
So this giant punch list on a whiteboard is like
those categories that you werementioning, are like the headers
, yeah, and then underneathyou've divided it up into the
sort of micro tasks underneath.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Yeah, and then we'll put our name on it Like he'll do
this or I'll do that, likewhoever's job, and then we'll
put a date if there's like youknow, all this needs to be done
by this date or this date.
Sometimes we've chosen to takethings off that feel like, oh,
we're just not going to do that,but so far it's not shrinking.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
I don't think it's going to shrink for a while.
But what do you do about thedecision making process?
So what motivates yourdecisions?
It sounds like it's notentirely income.
You'd mentioned lifestyle, thecommunity.
So what drives your decisions?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I think our vision and our values and our vision
really have to do with a lifethat we love and want to show up
for, and cultivating like doingthe things that we want to be
doing on our terms.
So you're right, like, whilemoney is, you know, something
that drives decision-making,it's not the number one for us.
(21:23):
You know, we want to have alifestyle that we both can feel
like spaciousness about, be ableto go on vacation every once in
a while, and also just like bewith our kids.
I mean, one of the reasons whywe don't work on Sundays is
because that that's.
We call it kids day and theyget to decide what we do and
we're not allowed to work.
So so a lot of times, you know,we'll do whatever they want to
(21:46):
do.
They like rock climbing, orwe'll go to the woods and make
fires in the woods, or Rogerreally wants me to play video
games, which you know, sometimeswe have to do things that they
want to do.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
You said video games and I was like oh, she's
probably not that into that.
No, but we all do hard things,so how realistically, how
successful does this businessneed to be?
Like, how driven are you?
How ambitious are you?
Do you have a target number inmind that you're like, once we
(22:19):
get that, it's all lifestyle?
From that point forward, likeall the decisions are about
lifestyle?
Or are you like, oh, if we canget this to, you know 200,000,
and then 500,000, like we'regonna go for a million.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
like I think I need to hire you to be a coach,
because I, you know, I reallyhaven't thought about that.
I feel like we're yeah, I meanthat that isn't something we
even talk about other than mygoal was to book 10 weddings and
we're not there yet, like in aseason, in one season, and we're
not there yet.
But now, because we didn't book10 weddings this year, I
(22:53):
pivoted, because that's what youdo when you're a driven person
you pivot and you decide, okay,if that's not going to be what
we're doing, then we're going todo other things.
We're going to bring in music,we're going to bring in artists,
we're going to have other typesof events, and so I think that,
just like keeping that openmind and moving forward, has
been really great.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
I remember being in year one of business and you're
just kind of operating,sometimes without a whole lot of
time to necessarily likeevaluate all the steps, because
it's you're in it.
So how are you going to growthis thing Like?
What are the strategies thatyou're going to use to pull more
people there, whether it is forthe barn concerts or your
(23:32):
science series and your kidsseries and your art series?
Yeah, how are you going to getthe word out?
Speaker 2 (23:37):
So John and I were not on social media before we
started our business.
Can we just pause for a minute?
That is pretty crazy this dayand age.
You know, john's never been onsocial media.
He just opted out and I was onand off a little bit.
I've been burned, we'll say itthat way.
So I was taking a break, kindof a long break, and then we
(23:58):
were like you know what we can.
So I was taking a break, kindof a long break, and then we
were like you know what we have,like we can't not be on social
media, right?
We knew we needed a beautifulwebsite.
So there was a huge learningcurve there for me to be able to
start posting and you know kindof figure out my way around,
how to get the message out andit's a whole thing, the whole
marketing piece.
So, to answer your question,we're still figuring that out in
(24:19):
real time and making mistakesand we're going forward anyway.
One of my strategies is to dosome direct advertising to some
of the colleges around us.
So that'll be like in the nextthree months, because that's
going to be kind of more for thevenue side of things so posting
about our barn concerts butalso for, like, weddings,
(24:40):
because that's sort of thetarget market, that age group.
We did some market analysis here.
What we found was who's buyingwine, who's coming to wineries
in our area are predominantlywomen, older women, middle-aged,
older women.
So we were on Facebook.
We're doing lots of posts aboutyou know events.
We're buying ads when we feellike we should.
(25:01):
We just paid someone to do ourwebsite like a proper website
because, guess what, we did ourown website.
I don't recommend it.
You know.
We did our best and there was alot we didn't know.
So I'm open, I'm totally opento any kind of advice about,
like, how to get the word out,because that's new for me.
(25:21):
I was never in those types ofpositions in my life, having to
sell things.
I've always been like you know,if somebody wants something,
they will go and get it, whichis so bad as a business owner
your business is one that I'venever really run before.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
I think you're doing the right thing with the
community events because thatgoing to draw people there,
hopefully repeatedly and I amthe wrong person to ask when it
comes to social media, because Iam like you, I think, where I
might post like once a month, Iknow it's an effective strategy.
But I do think there's otherthings that you can do in real
life, especially if you are nearthose university type campuses
(25:59):
and you're offering a funactivity for a weekend.
You know Mark's friend.
He he owned bars in New Zealandand they used to find the
connectors on the campuses andthey would give those connectors
T-shirts to give out to otherpeople for free that were
branding for the bar itself orwhatever it was that was trying
(26:21):
to draw people in.
And if you had one of theset-shirts you got free admission.
And so it became kind of thisfun little way to organically
spread the word about hey,there's this new venue that got
a cool band coming in, let's allgo, and it's free to get in
because you've got a t-shirt.
So I don't know if that's agood idea or not, but just
(26:41):
thought I'd throw that out there.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
I love that idea.
I love it so much, it's kind offun.
Yeah, it is.
That's great idea.
Actually, Mabel um my, she was10 at the time designed our
first t-shirt for wolf and fox,so it's her illustration of a
wolf and a fox they're facingeach other, and so that's like
we just have like one run ofthem.
So I can even do that.
(27:03):
I can put that in practice.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Yeah, it's like that.
I mean you could do a hat,anything to kind of like get the
branding out there and peopletalking about it.
Ok.
So what have you learned inthis process?
That you think if somebody islistening and you could help
shortcut it for them.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
It has more to do with like deciding that you're
not going to be good ateverything right away and like
being okay with that, likeleaning into that because
there's so much, I mean, unlessyou come from a background with
entrepreneurs around you thatcan give you advice like great,
but we weren't those people.
So, starting out, if you'resomeone like me who is like I
(27:38):
have a dream, I want to makethis work.
I'm a hard worker, I'm willingto do what it takes, it also
takes.
I'm willing to make mistakesand learn from them.
I'm willing to ask for help.
I'm willing to reach out topeople, mentors, like people
that are doing what you want todo and just learn what you need
to learn.
Just learn what you need tolearn.
That's the main part, is justlike having a dream is easy.
(27:59):
It's like putting yourself outthere and being vulnerable is
harder, and I think that that issomething that we're
continually doing.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
This has the potential to turn into as big of
a business as you want it toturn into, which was the other
reason why I was asking you like, what are you visualizing?
Like, so, let's say next year,okay, what does this look like
to you in a year?
And then say five years.
What does it look like to youin five years?
What is your ideal?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
I think that it would be so great if I was in a
position to be able to focus100% on this and let go of my
day job.
So for me, that would be my oneyear, my goal.
I don't know what that lookslike yet and then like two,
three, four or five years it's.
It's about making great wine,great connections in the
(28:48):
community, being a hub.
You know, I really want peopleto associate our name, our brand
, as not just a winery, like afantastic winery, but also just
like a place they want to go andrelax and hang out and like
learn and find their people andfeel like there's a lot of
positive things happening.
You know, because there's a lotof things in the world that are
chaotic and hard and I justwant our place to be a place
(29:09):
that people feel like, no, Iwant to go there, I want to
spend time there, I want to campthere, go to a music festival
there or whatever.
It is to be a hub and to be alight for folks Ooh, you just
said music festival.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
I did that sounds bigger than a barn concert.
So what is this, do you?
Speaker 2 (29:27):
want to have a festival there.
I do, Actually, we talked with.
The very first band that we hadover.
Last year was June 1st, ouropening day, the very first day
we sold wine, we had a band, andthat day I talked to the lead
singer of the band theWicksnippers is her name and we
were dreaming up.
After the set I was like youknow, it'd be so great to have a
day long music festival here.
(29:48):
We have all these bathrooms,great parking.
We could do multiple stagesLike it's.
It could be amazing, and sothat was.
I planted the seed and at somepoint I'll water it.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
I might know a couple of people who could help you
bring that vision to reality.
I'm all ears.
I'm all ears.
Yeah, well, we'll talk.
It could be a rev sharesituation, but you know, they
bring in their expertise andexperience with running music
festivals and then, yeah, you doa rev share.
You provide the land and thefacility.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Yes, that would be, and the facility, yes, that
would be perfect.
Honestly, that would be amazing.
And you know we're talkingsmall scale, right, because we
have a dead-end road in themiddle of a very rural area.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
So sounds exciting, though I know a surprising
number of people who areactually in this industry, but
not out there.
Out here on the west coast Ithink I know three or four
people and it can be verylucrative for a weekend.
But is it really?
Speaker 2 (30:41):
but is it like fun and relaxing for the organizers?
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Well, I think that that is you bring people in,
right, you're going to bring inthe team that is used to
producing that scale of an eventand then you learn from them
while they're there.
But okay, just as a finalquestion here, if you could go
back and talk with yourself whenyou were in your early 20s,
what life wisdom would you giveyourself?
Speaker 2 (31:20):
surround yourself with people that are smarter
than you, that you can learnfrom people that are doing
things that you admire.
I feel like that's the advice Iwould give, but then I would
also say like girl, you got this, like you, so so got this.
Like, keep going, and there'sgoing to be hard times, but keep
going, you got this.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Carrie, it was so great to catch up with you.
I can't wait to keep onfollowing along and checking in
and seeing how your business isgrowing.
And thanks for coming on theshow and sharing where you are
today and what got you there.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Thank you so much, and it was my absolute pleasure
to be here.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Today's key takeaways be open to your timing and
listen when life nudges youtowards something new.
And listen when life nudges youtowards something new.
Don't wait for perfect, becauseprogress beats perfection every
time.
You don't need to be an expertto start.
You also don't need to quityour job to start your dream.
(32:12):
Carrie and her husband builttheir winery while still working
day jobs.
Start small and build steadilyalongside your current
commitments.
Choosing to self-fund may slowyou down, but it can also
protect your long-term values,minimize risk and help you
(32:36):
maintain full ownership overyour project.
Be willing to make mistakes,ask for help and stay open to
learning as your businessevolves.
Asking for help is a sign ofwisdom, not weakness, whether
it's a giant whiteboard or adigital tool, create a system
that works for your brain tokeep all your tasks and roles in
check.
If you're interested in seeingCarrie's organizational
(32:57):
whiteboard, I'll post a link onmy Instagram page at
annemcgintyhost.
Set boundaries that serve yourwell-being.
For Carrie and her family,sunday is kids day, when no work
is allowed.
Designing a business aroundfamily rhythms creates balance
and ensures your kids seefirsthand what purposeful work
(33:20):
looks like.
Define what success means to you, not just by following
society's metrics.
How do your decisions supportthe life you want to live?
From volunteers planting treesto local bands playing barn
concerts, building communityaround your business can create
(33:41):
momentum, loyalty and long-termsupport.
Carrie has partnered with localcheesemakers, fiber artists and
conservationists.
Look around your own communityfor natural collaborators
instead of trying to doeverything alone.
Being near larger cities candrive traffic, so get clear on
(34:01):
your radius and tap into nearbyhubs and tourist patterns.
Having a long-term vision helpsyou stay inspired and focused.
Don't be afraid to imagine thefuture out loud.
Remember the what-if game fromlast week's guest, duncan Wardle
.
He was the former head ofinnovation and creativity at
Disney and he has so manyinsightful ways to expand your
(34:26):
creativity and innovate.
Lastly, be brave, do hardthings and surround yourself
with people who inspire you.
That's it for today.
I release episodes once a week,so come back and check it out.
Have a great day.
Welcome to how I Built my Small Business.
I'm Anne McGinty, your host,and today we have Carrie Futch
on the show to talk about beingin year one of her business.
Carrie is a friend of mine whomoved from Northern California
to Wisconsin to be closer tofamily and to chase a dream
vision for a boutique winery andevent space.
(00:30):
This episode is more of acasual conversation between
friends, but there are oodles ofnuggets in her story, her
strategic approach, and you'llget real-time insights and
perspective into what it's likebeing in the midst of a less
than one-year-old business.
Carrie and her husband, john,purchased 40 acres of land with
(00:52):
a barn in Calumet County,wisconsin, with motivation to
cultivate a diverse, sustainablefarm, vineyard and community
event space.
Let's hear how it's going.
Thank you to our listeners forbeing here today, carrie.
It's so great to have you here.
Thank you, I'm so glad to behere.
(01:13):
So you left Northern CaliforniaI think it was four or five
years ago to chase this dream inWisconsin, right?
Yes, yes, we did.
Okay.
So what has transpired overthat time frame to get you to
today?
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Oh, so many things.
I think where we were fouryears ago was in the middle of a
pandemic with the rest of theworld and I had my own business.
I ran a daycare out of my home.
My husband was a winemaker andwe lived in Sonoma County,
california.
But my husband's originallyfrom Wisconsin Calumet County,
(01:51):
wisconsin and had really beenthinking about the idea of
moving to Wisconsin and startinga winery there.
I wasn't ready.
I'm a Southern girl fromLouisiana, so the winters just
seemed really a hurdle for me.
But you know, it's a beautifulstate, there's so much here that
(02:15):
Wisconsin has to offer and Ijust needed time.
I needed a little bit of timeto warm up to the idea, so to
speak.
So the timing somehow was right.
It'll be four years in May andwe were evacuated from a
wildfire.
At the time we were in a hoteland made a decision at that
(02:37):
moment to sell our things, saygoodbye to California and move
to Wisconsin and start a wineryand slowly buy the family
homestead from John's folks.
So that's sort of like theshort version of it.
And so this is year four.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Okay, this is year four, but when did the winery
open?
June of last year.
And give us an idea.
How is it going?
What is it?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
like it is so much fun and it is so much work.
And you know it's funny becausewe aren't the type of people
that typically open wineries.
We just were hardworking folkswho you know we both still have
day jobs right.
We're just kind of building ourdreams slowly and surely, in
ways that make sense for us.
It took us about three years torenovate the barn and some of
(03:25):
the sheds that were on theproperty into a production space
for the winery and the barn asa venue both for the tasting
room and for other types ofevents like weddings and
corporate events.
So it took us those years,while working other jobs, to get
it to a place where it neededto be, while working other jobs,
(03:45):
to get it to a place where itneeded to be.
And in that time we were alsointerfacing with the township,
the county, the state and thefederal government because you
know anything with producingalcohol, everybody's hands are
in the pots, right.
So there was a lot of back endwork that we needed to do our
insurance, meet the lawyer, dropcontracts.
So it just, you know it takes awhile.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
And so you mentioned day jobs.
Do you still currently have aday job?
Yes, we both do.
How are you doing this?
So how are you getting a wineryand an event space started
while still working?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I have to have a great sense of humor about my
day-to-day life because it doesfeel like a lot of juggling all
the time.
But the big picture for me iswhat holds it together is that
knowing that for us it's morethan a business, it's a
lifestyle and it's a legacy,truly, because we didn't just
(04:42):
open a winery, we also planted900 native trees on the property
.
We also organized volunteers tocome and help us plant those
trees, plant a bunch ofdifferent pollinators and help
the birds and really createhabitat in our community.
So it's a bigger picture ofland stewardship that we're
(05:03):
trying to bring into our area.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Okay, so I've never been to Wisconsin before and I
don't know where your area is.
I couldn't pinpoint it on a map.
Is there enough of a populationthere in order to support a
winery and an event space Likewhere are you tapping into your
clientele?
Where are you tapping into yourclientele?
That's a great question.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
So we are really nicely located between Lake
Michigan in like NortheastWisconsin, between Lake Michigan
and Lake Winnebago.
So we're sort of centrallylocated between those two lakes
and we are surrounded by I wouldsay like mid-sized to large
cities.
So we're about 40 minutes fromGreen Bay, 30 minutes from
Appleton, 30 minutes from Fonddu Lac, sheboygan and Manitowoc.
(05:50):
All of these areas are a littlebit bigger in population and
have a lot more going on thanour specific town where we live.
So we pull a lot from thoseareas.
You know we have quite a fewpeople that have been to the
tasting room, surprisingly fromas far away as Chicago.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
So between locals and tourists, what sort of a
division are you looking atthere?
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Oh, that is a great question.
I am not currently trackingthat very well.
To be honest with you, I feellike the word of mouth has taken
off in the community and we'vegotten so much wonderful support
from our local chamber ofcommerce, both in New Holstein
and Chilton, and so I feel likewe get a fair amount of locals
and then on the weekendsSaturdays primarily we're
(06:35):
getting a lot of out of townpeople that are heading up to go
camping in one of our beautifulparks here or, you know,
passing through up to theirsummer cabins up north.
Our main two income streams arevenue rentals and wine sales.
So we started venue rentalslast year and we're booking
weddings for this year.
(06:56):
So we had a few weddings on thebooks this year.
Actually, we had a few weddingslast year as well, because some
brave couples walked aroundwhile we were doing construction
and we weren't even open yetand they said we want to get
married here.
So kudos to them for havingfaith in us and they went really
beautifully.
(07:16):
We've had a few employee partiesalready.
This was really sweet.
We even had a memorial servicein the barn for a veterinarian
who had worked in our barn andhis family thought that it would
be a really sweet way to sendhim out.
So it's been really wonderful.
The wine sale started in Juneand we've paired that with
having music in the barn, whichhas been a huge hit.
(07:38):
So we have barn concerts everySaturday this summer afternoon,
concerts all ages and lots ofdifferent types of music.
So that usually brings a crowdout for wine tasting and hanging
out with family and friends.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And when the crowd comes out beyond wine tasting,
are they able to order otherdrinks or food or give us an
idea of what it's like to stepfoot into a barn concert?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Here in Wisconsin, which is unique we have a
manufacturing license to producethe wine and therefore, with
that license, we're able to sellall the things.
So we can sell beer, cider,seltzer, we sell non-alcoholic
mixed drinks, non-alcoholic beer.
We're working on non-alcoholicwine.
It's in process right now.
(08:21):
We also have bar snacks.
So we live in Wisconsin.
Cheese is major, major in thisstate, so we've partnered with a
local business for them to helpus get a selection of cheeses,
crackers, nuts, chocolates,chocolate covered cherries, all
sorts of things.
We don't yet have a commercialkitchen license, so we think
(08:43):
that might be something that canunfold in the future Our
partner with a chef or someonethat can hold that end of it so
that we can focus on wine andevents.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You've still got your day job.
Yeah, you're now throwingevents, both community barn
concerts, also renting out forweddings, and now the winery.
When will you make the leap andlet go of your day job?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
You know it's tough, like we made the decision to
self-finance our business, whichI know has people have like all
the feelings about that, butthat has to do with our
long-term goals and purchasingthe farm and not having you know
if anything were to go southwith, you know, the business or
something happened to one orboth of us.
We would just want to make surethat the farm is protected and
(09:31):
that it's something that we cancontinue to enjoy and share with
not only family.
But part of us opening thisbusiness was to really share it
with the public, you know, withthe community, because I think
land like that should be shared,should be open, should be
something that everybody canwalk around and see how much
land are we talking?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
So you mentioned the beauty of the land.
You mentioned over 900 treesbeing planted Right.
Describe the property to us.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Well, it's funny because John would probably want
me to talk about the grapes,but I feel like it's both Right.
So there's total 180 acres andon it it's arable land, so
productive land.
There's also wetlands, forest,and two creeks converge on the
land and there's a pond and twocreeks converge on the land and
(10:18):
there's a pond.
So there's quite a lot ofdifferent ecosystems.
And we've been working with ourlocal NRCS, which is like a
conservation organization thathelps us understand what's going
on in our woods and how we canmake it better and what trees
that we should be planting forregeneration of the land, so
(10:39):
things like that.
We've also partnered with afriend of ours who's become a
friend of ours, actually a sheepfarmer who is pasturing ewes on
our back 40 this spring, sowe'll get them as soon as right
after lambing they'll come.
So it's total 180, to answeryour question.
But we only own 40 acres rightnow.
So that's what we're tending toand cultivating right now.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
So, with that diverse landscape, would you ever
consider creating a glampingtype situation where multiple
people could stay at once?
Or if somebody decided thatthey wanted to have a wedding
weekend and invite their closest80 friends, would there be the
potential that they could stayat the property in tents?
I?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
love this question so much because, if it was up to
me, it would already behappening, but alas, this is
probably phase 10, because mydear husband, john, is really
good at pumping the brakes, butthat is something that we're
hoping for in the future.
There's a little bit moreliability involved in overnights
with a pond and open water, sothere would just be a lot more
(11:47):
things we'd need to have inplace licensing and insurance
wise to even, you know, considerthat.
But yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
It sounds like there's a lot of potential for
all of the directions you couldgo with this.
It sounds like there's a lot ofpotential for all of the
directions.
You could go with this.
So, okay, you're open for yearone of business.
What kind of growth are youexpecting from last season?
And we haven't even discussedthe seasonality of your business
.
But when are you operating andwhat do you expect last year to
look like in comparison to thisyear?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
I'm not really comparing yet, you know, last
year to this year because Istill feel like I'm just really
in it.
You know, I feel like I'm likeday to day, week to week, and
right now, for example, I'mplanning all of the summer music
.
In fact, our lineup is done.
I just need to create the flyerfor it or the poster.
So I haven't had that likeperspective, that bird's eye
view, yet.
You know, last year versus thisyear, what I will say is that
we were really happy with ourwine sales.
I guess we've booked doublethis year than we did last year,
(12:45):
so that's great.
And then we've been givingtours for next year, weddings
and such.
So it's all moving along.
One of the things that I put out, I guess, in the universe was
that I want to call in moreartists and makers, crafts,
folks that would like to comeand teach and skillshare in the
barn, because I feel likethere's a great opportunity to
(13:09):
share.
For example, I have a friend,Natalie, who's a fiber artist.
She's going to be using thewool from the sheep that are on
our farm to create wool productsand I was like, why don't you
just come and do that here andlike, show, like, open that up
to the public and she just wassuper excited about it.
So we're dreaming up all thethings and I know that I should
probably be getting a littlemore practical about, like you
(13:32):
know, sales and numbers, but Istill feel like we're in a space
of of dreaming in a way.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Well, and you had mentioned that this is a
lifestyle business, so youreally get to pick and choose
what fills you up.
So a maker series.
It sounds like these communityevents.
Potentially glamping isobviously there's the winery and
the wine which is an anchorthere.
What else are you thinking up?
Speaker 2 (13:53):
I am thinking of variety shows, theater like
community theater, children'sprogramming, variety shows
theater like community theater.
Children's programming likenature-based I mean once an
early childhood educator, alwaysan early childhood educator.
So I'm thinking of schoolprogramming for like.
So once all of our perennialgardens are mature and our
diverse food forest is mature toinvite the public you know,
(14:17):
school to kids to come and beable to see like, oh, this is
what a honeyberry looks like, orthis is what a goji berry looks
like, you know.
So yeah, I have that in me aswell.
So having that long term visionof being able to not only have
a place to drink wine, but alsojust like to spend the day and
maybe learn one thing or two,you know, while you're at it.
We're both curious.
(14:38):
We both love music and the artsin general.
John also has a fine artsdegree, so that's what we end up
doing, for fun is being aroundartists, musicians, makers, so
that's what inspires us, and ifwe're going to build a business,
then we need to be doing thingsthat inspire us.
One of the things that's reallyfun and that we just did was a
blind tasting in order to figureout how we want our new petite
(15:02):
pearl that's in barrel right now, the oak profile on it, how we
want it.
Basically to pull out what'sgood, what's wonderful about
this varietal which a lot ofpeople don't know about, and to
soften the edges and to make itsomething that is just a really
delicious Wisconsin wine.
And for me that's like science,but it's also art, you know,
it's also sensory, and so I feellike if we can get the artists,
(15:25):
the chefs, you know, the othermakers in the room, it would
just be so fun to be doing thatall the time.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
And when you're doing these summer series concerts or
you're inviting artists in todo a workshop, how many people
realistically can come andattend one of these?
Speaker 2 (15:42):
So our capacity is 175 max.
That's how much room we have inthe barn, and we always sort of
try to keep our events limitedto that amount, because it's not
like we can, you know, in badweather.
All we have is the barn, soit's important for us to keep it
at that number.
So a lot of our most of ourevents are ticketed events.
(16:03):
Some of them are free, but youstill have to reserve a ticket
just so that we can keep itcapacity and then how do you
handle the staffing, going fromnot necessarily needing anybody
there?
Speaker 1 (16:13):
if you're closed, I assume you're closed for some of
the weekdays.
Actually, I don, I don't knowwhat you're, what are your hours
?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
So the venue operates seasonally, since the barn is
not climate controlled.
So we open May, end of May andthen through October like
mid-October is our kind ofseason and then the winter we
kind of shift gears and we moveto our production space in the
winter for wine tasting andthose hours are Thursday, friday
and Saturdays from 1 to 5.30.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Right now, so then, from May to mid-October, when
you have these occasional summerseries and you, let's say, you
pack the house and you get 175people there, how are you
staffing this?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Well, john and I can handle that number.
Like for weddings, we do that.
We've learned ways over time tobe able to manage crowds.
We have our bar packagesarranged in a way that make it
doable for two people, and ourparking is like you don't need a
parking attendant, people canself park.
We have good signage, sotypically we can handle it Just
(17:15):
the two of us.
We do have family members aswell, always willing to help.
So that's, that's nice.
But I hope to be able to starthiring folks in the community.
So we'll just see what thenumbers are and what the ticket
sales look like and however itunfolds in the next year, I'm
hoping to be able to get a fewmore people on board to help
(17:36):
with some of those events andalso that will help us to extend
our hour, our open hours.
Right now we're pretty limitedin our hours but hopefully, you
know, we can start to branch outa little bit.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
Well, yeah, with day jobs and then running at lean
this way with you two runningthe show, you must be busy.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yes, and we have two kids, so it's a lot yes, and we
have two kids, so it's a lotOkay.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
So I know that that's got to be one of the hardest
parts is just juggling havingall of these things going on at
the same time between being amom or parents, I should say and
running this business, but thenalso having your day jobs
beyond that, specifically whenit comes to the starting and
getting ready and running ofyour business, what are the most
challenging parts?
Speaker 2 (18:21):
To get started in our industry, it was all of the
like, licensing and permittingthat we had to do.
There was a lot involved withthat, not only for like
construction and inspections,but also production spaces are
different than other types oflicensing, so there was just a
lot of kind of logistical stuffthat we had to figure out.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
And did you do this yourselves or did you hire
somebody to help you with this?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
No, we did it ourselves, which that's probably
why it took so long.
But you know, we know we're infor the long haul, so we were
willing to put in the work, andI think we also are people that
it's really difficult for us tolet go of something when we can
learn a new skill, and we'reboth like that.
So I think it's a good way tobe in the world in general.
(19:06):
But when you're both kind ofstarting a business, sometimes I
feel like we should just belike no, we should just contract
that out or, you know, findsomebody else and get it done
quicker.
So we need to balance that.
That's hard.
And then I would say the otherpieces.
Now what's hard is I feel likethere's this running list of to
do's it's a punch list, rightand we use a giant dry erase
(19:27):
board.
We were using like things on acomputer, but what we found was
like it just wasn't big enoughand we couldn't use it in the
way that we needed to.
We were visual, so like it'shard to find the time to go over
what I call scope of work,right.
So there's like the farm andthe homestead stuff, so that
includes like chicken chores andyou know, cats go into the vet,
(19:48):
like all the kind of stuff.
Then there's planting andvineyard maintenance and orchard
maintenance and perennialgarden and you know all that
kind of stuff, and then there'slike winery production, and then
there's venue, and then there'slike winery production and then
there's venue, and then there'sall the administrative stuff.
So, staying organized, I guess,and making sure that the big
picture there's things thatwe're returning to and, you know
(20:10):
, checking off in a way that itmakes sense.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
So this giant punch list on a whiteboard is like
those categories that you werementioning, are like the headers
, yeah, and then underneathyou've divided it up into the
sort of micro tasks underneath.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Yeah, and then we'll put our name on it Like he'll do
this or I'll do that, likewhoever's job, and then we'll
put a date if there's like youknow, all this needs to be done
by this date or this date.
Sometimes we've chosen to takethings off that feel like, oh,
we're just not going to do that,but so far it's not shrinking.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
I don't think it's going to shrink for a while.
But what do you do about thedecision making process?
So what motivates yourdecisions?
It sounds like it's notentirely income.
You'd mentioned lifestyle, thecommunity.
So what drives your decisions?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I think our vision and our values and our vision
really have to do with a lifethat we love and want to show up
for, and cultivating like doingthe things that we want to be
doing on our terms.
So you're right, like, whilemoney is, you know, something
that drives decision-making,it's not the number one for us.
(21:23):
You know, we want to have alifestyle that we both can feel
like spaciousness about, be ableto go on vacation every once in
a while, and also just like bewith our kids.
I mean, one of the reasons whywe don't work on Sundays is
because that that's.
We call it kids day and theyget to decide what we do and
we're not allowed to work.
So so a lot of times, you know,we'll do whatever they want to
(21:46):
do.
They like rock climbing, orwe'll go to the woods and make
fires in the woods, or Rogerreally wants me to play video
games, which you know, sometimeswe have to do things that they
want to do.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
You said video games and I was like oh, she's
probably not that into that.
No, but we all do hard things,so how realistically, how
successful does this businessneed to be?
Like, how driven are you?
How ambitious are you?
Do you have a target number inmind that you're like, once we
(22:19):
get that, it's all lifestyle?
From that point forward, likeall the decisions are about
lifestyle?
Or are you like, oh, if we canget this to, you know 200,000,
and then 500,000, like we'regonna go for a million.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
like I think I need to hire you to be a coach,
because I, you know, I reallyhaven't thought about that.
I feel like we're yeah, I meanthat that isn't something we
even talk about other than mygoal was to book 10 weddings and
we're not there yet, like in aseason, in one season, and we're
not there yet.
But now, because we didn't book10 weddings this year, I
(22:53):
pivoted, because that's what youdo when you're a driven person
you pivot and you decide, okay,if that's not going to be what
we're doing, then we're going todo other things.
We're going to bring in music,we're going to bring in artists,
we're going to have other typesof events, and so I think that,
just like keeping that openmind and moving forward, has
been really great.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
I remember being in year one of business and you're
just kind of operating,sometimes without a whole lot of
time to necessarily likeevaluate all the steps, because
it's you're in it.
So how are you going to growthis thing Like?
What are the strategies thatyou're going to use to pull more
people there, whether it is forthe barn concerts or your
(23:32):
science series and your kidsseries and your art series?
Yeah, how are you going to getthe word out?
Speaker 2 (23:37):
So John and I were not on social media before we
started our business.
Can we just pause for a minute?
That is pretty crazy this dayand age.
You know, john's never been onsocial media.
He just opted out and I was onand off a little bit.
I've been burned, we'll say itthat way.
So I was taking a break, kindof a long break, and then we
(23:58):
were like you know what we can.
So I was taking a break, kindof a long break, and then we
were like you know what we have,like we can't not be on social
media, right?
We knew we needed a beautifulwebsite.
So there was a huge learningcurve there for me to be able to
start posting and you know kindof figure out my way around,
how to get the message out andit's a whole thing, the whole
marketing piece.
So, to answer your question,we're still figuring that out in
(24:19):
real time and making mistakesand we're going forward anyway.
One of my strategies is to dosome direct advertising to some
of the colleges around us.
So that'll be like in the nextthree months, because that's
going to be kind of more for thevenue side of things so posting
about our barn concerts butalso for, like, weddings,
(24:40):
because that's sort of thetarget market, that age group.
We did some market analysis here.
What we found was who's buyingwine, who's coming to wineries
in our area are predominantlywomen, older women, middle-aged,
older women.
So we were on Facebook.
We're doing lots of posts aboutyou know events.
We're buying ads when we feellike we should.
(25:01):
We just paid someone to do ourwebsite like a proper website
because, guess what, we did ourown website.
I don't recommend it.
You know.
We did our best and there was alot we didn't know.
So I'm open, I'm totally opento any kind of advice about,
like, how to get the word out,because that's new for me.
(25:21):
I was never in those types ofpositions in my life, having to
sell things.
I've always been like you know,if somebody wants something,
they will go and get it, whichis so bad as a business owner
your business is one that I'venever really run before.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
I think you're doing the right thing with the
community events because thatgoing to draw people there,
hopefully repeatedly and I amthe wrong person to ask when it
comes to social media, because Iam like you, I think, where I
might post like once a month, Iknow it's an effective strategy.
But I do think there's otherthings that you can do in real
life, especially if you are nearthose university type campuses
(25:59):
and you're offering a funactivity for a weekend.
You know Mark's friend.
He he owned bars in New Zealandand they used to find the
connectors on the campuses andthey would give those connectors
T-shirts to give out to otherpeople for free that were
branding for the bar itself orwhatever it was that was trying
(26:21):
to draw people in.
And if you had one of theset-shirts you got free admission.
And so it became kind of thisfun little way to organically
spread the word about hey,there's this new venue that got
a cool band coming in, let's allgo, and it's free to get in
because you've got a t-shirt.
So I don't know if that's agood idea or not, but just
(26:41):
thought I'd throw that out there.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
I love that idea.
I love it so much, it's kind offun.
Yeah, it is.
That's great idea.
Actually, Mabel um my, she was10 at the time designed our
first t-shirt for wolf and fox,so it's her illustration of a
wolf and a fox they're facingeach other, and so that's like
we just have like one run ofthem.
So I can even do that.
(27:03):
I can put that in practice.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Yeah, it's like that.
I mean you could do a hat,anything to kind of like get the
branding out there and peopletalking about it.
Ok.
So what have you learned inthis process?
That you think if somebody islistening and you could help
shortcut it for them.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
It has more to do with like deciding that you're
not going to be good ateverything right away and like
being okay with that, likeleaning into that because
there's so much, I mean, unlessyou come from a background with
entrepreneurs around you thatcan give you advice like great,
but we weren't those people.
So, starting out, if you'resomeone like me who is like I
(27:38):
have a dream, I want to makethis work.
I'm a hard worker, I'm willingto do what it takes, it also
takes.
I'm willing to make mistakesand learn from them.
I'm willing to ask for help.
I'm willing to reach out topeople, mentors, like people
that are doing what you want todo and just learn what you need
to learn.
Just learn what you need tolearn.
That's the main part, is justlike having a dream is easy.
(27:59):
It's like putting yourself outthere and being vulnerable is
harder, and I think that that issomething that we're
continually doing.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
This has the potential to turn into as big of
a business as you want it toturn into, which was the other
reason why I was asking you like, what are you visualizing?
Like, so, let's say next year,okay, what does this look like
to you in a year?
And then say five years.
What does it look like to youin five years?
What is your ideal?
Speaker 2 (28:26):
I think that it would be so great if I was in a
position to be able to focus100% on this and let go of my
day job.
So for me, that would be my oneyear, my goal.
I don't know what that lookslike yet and then like two,
three, four or five years it's.
It's about making great wine,great connections in the
(28:48):
community, being a hub.
You know, I really want peopleto associate our name, our brand
, as not just a winery, like afantastic winery, but also just
like a place they want to go andrelax and hang out and like
learn and find their people andfeel like there's a lot of
positive things happening.
You know, because there's a lotof things in the world that are
chaotic and hard and I justwant our place to be a place
(29:09):
that people feel like, no, Iwant to go there, I want to
spend time there, I want to campthere, go to a music festival
there or whatever.
It is to be a hub and to be alight for folks Ooh, you just
said music festival.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
I did that sounds bigger than a barn concert.
So what is this, do you?
Speaker 2 (29:27):
want to have a festival there.
I do, Actually, we talked with.
The very first band that we hadover.
Last year was June 1st, ouropening day, the very first day
we sold wine, we had a band, andthat day I talked to the lead
singer of the band theWicksnippers is her name and we
were dreaming up.
After the set I was like youknow, it'd be so great to have a
day long music festival here.
(29:48):
We have all these bathrooms,great parking.
We could do multiple stagesLike it's.
It could be amazing, and sothat was.
I planted the seed and at somepoint I'll water it.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
I might know a couple of people who could help you
bring that vision to reality.
I'm all ears.
I'm all ears.
Yeah, well, we'll talk.
It could be a rev sharesituation, but you know, they
bring in their expertise andexperience with running music
festivals and then, yeah, you doa rev share.
You provide the land and thefacility.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Yes, that would be, and the facility, yes, that
would be perfect.
Honestly, that would be amazing.
And you know we're talkingsmall scale, right, because we
have a dead-end road in themiddle of a very rural area.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
So sounds exciting, though I know a surprising
number of people who areactually in this industry, but
not out there.
Out here on the west coast Ithink I know three or four
people and it can be verylucrative for a weekend.
But is it really?
Speaker 2 (30:41):
but is it like fun and relaxing for the organizers?
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Well, I think that that is you bring people in,
right, you're going to bring inthe team that is used to
producing that scale of an eventand then you learn from them
while they're there.
But okay, just as a finalquestion here, if you could go
back and talk with yourself whenyou were in your early 20s,
what life wisdom would you giveyourself?
Speaker 2 (31:20):
surround yourself with people that are smarter
than you, that you can learnfrom people that are doing
things that you admire.
I feel like that's the advice Iwould give, but then I would
also say like girl, you got this, like you, so so got this.
Like, keep going, and there'sgoing to be hard times, but keep
going, you got this.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Carrie, it was so great to catch up with you.
I can't wait to keep onfollowing along and checking in
and seeing how your business isgrowing.
And thanks for coming on theshow and sharing where you are
today and what got you there.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Thank you so much, and it was my absolute pleasure
to be here.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Today's key takeaways be open to your timing and
listen when life nudges youtowards something new.
And listen when life nudges youtowards something new.
Don't wait for perfect, becauseprogress beats perfection every
time.
You don't need to be an expertto start.
You also don't need to quityour job to start your dream.
(32:12):
Carrie and her husband builttheir winery while still working
day jobs.
Start small and build steadilyalongside your current
commitments.
Choosing to self-fund may slowyou down, but it can also
protect your long-term values,minimize risk and help you
(32:36):
maintain full ownership overyour project.
Be willing to make mistakes,ask for help and stay open to
learning as your businessevolves.
Asking for help is a sign ofwisdom, not weakness, whether
it's a giant whiteboard or adigital tool, create a system
that works for your brain tokeep all your tasks and roles in
check.
If you're interested in seeingCarrie's organizational
(32:57):
whiteboard, I'll post a link onmy Instagram page at
annemcgintyhost.
Set boundaries that serve yourwell-being.
For Carrie and her family,sunday is kids day, when no work
is allowed.
Designing a business aroundfamily rhythms creates balance
and ensures your kids seefirsthand what purposeful work
(33:20):
looks like.
Define what success means to you, not just by following
society's metrics.
How do your decisions supportthe life you want to live?
From volunteers planting treesto local bands playing barn
concerts, building communityaround your business can create
(33:41):
momentum, loyalty and long-termsupport.
Carrie has partnered with localcheesemakers, fiber artists and
conservationists.
Look around your own communityfor natural collaborators
instead of trying to doeverything alone.
Being near larger cities candrive traffic, so get clear on
(34:01):
your radius and tap into nearbyhubs and tourist patterns.
Having a long-term vision helpsyou stay inspired and focused.
Don't be afraid to imagine thefuture out loud.
Remember the what-if game fromlast week's guest, duncan Wardle
.
He was the former head ofinnovation and creativity at
Disney and he has so manyinsightful ways to expand your
(34:26):
creativity and innovate.
Lastly, be brave, do hardthings and surround yourself
with people who inspire you.
That's it for today.
I release episodes once a week,so come back and check it out.
Have a great day.
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