Provocativo Bubbles: From Family Vineyard to Global Wine Brand w/ Briana DiTommaso

Picture a young girl planting grapevines at age ten, later rushing to shower and change so she could conduct wine tastings, occasionally interrupted by phone calls about escaped goats reaching the local Walgreens. This storybook childhood, filled with family meatball subs, gardening, and winemaking, formed the foundation for her multifaceted career.

Unexpected connections are a recurring theme throughout her life which led her through restaurant ownership, culinary achievements, and eventually to a devastating period during COVID when she lost her 18-year restaurant business through divorce.

The turning point? A chance conversation with a stranger on an airplane that connected her to Provocativo, where she now serves as executive winemaker, partnering with pop star Bebe Rexha to create organic sparkling wines that rival champagne at half the price. 

Her story serves as a powerful reminder that resilience, openness to unexpected opportunities, and the courage to embrace multiple passions can transform even our hardest moments into stepping stones toward fulfilling work.

Ready to taste what Brianna has created? Use code GATHER20 for 20% off at provocativobubbles.com and experience the magic for yourself.

This Episode is Sponsored by: 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi, I'm Katie, a hospitality educator and the
host of Making Room by Gatherpodcast.
I am set to see our communitiesget back to the table through
hospitality, but it wasn'talways this way.
My husband and I moved toThailand and through it I
experienced some loneliness andwith it I was given a choice to
sit back and accept it or to dosomething about it.

(00:27):
And for me that meant twothings that I needed the healing
to learn how to accept aninvitation, and the confidence
to know how to extend one.
Through this process, Ideveloped some of the richest
and deepest relationships of mylife.
Through Making Room by Gather,you will hear conversations from
myself and experts in the areasof food, design and

(00:49):
relationships.
You see there are countlessthings trying to keep us from
the table, but can I tell yousomething?
Take a seat because you areready, you are capable, you are
a good host.
Hello, darn it with these roundcircles.
Hold on.

(01:09):
This happened in anotherepisode.
Okay, there we go.
I don't like being round.
Round's not my shape.
Do you design with roundAnything round?

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Not really.
No, no, I feel like I'm alittle bit sharper than that
yeah, me too yeah, yeah, I don'tlike the round well, cheers.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
I don't know what you're drinking.
Are you drinking anything?

Speaker 2 (01:36):
just water right now.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Okay, I know I.
I was thinking I should havepoured some wine that you guys
sent over.
We should should have, weshould be drinking together.
Let's text our guys Can youbring us some wine?
Right?
We could do that.
Weed bubbles S-O-S.
This is not paid or a plug, butNixie, the seltzer brand.

(02:01):
They just came out with soda.
They just sent me some.
It is so good.
This is the Coke and it's likereally, really hot right now and
it's just like it's hitting thespot.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
It's super good.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
But what's good about it?
It's very refreshing.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Is it sugary?
It just tastes like the realthing.
And well, no, it's stevia based, okay, no artificial colors, I
know, but we're here to talkabout you.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
We don't have to talk yeah, do you have a nugget ice
maker?

Speaker 2 (02:32):
No.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Do you have a nugget ice maker?
Oh, okay.
Yeah, yeah, do you we'll talkall about the wine and stuff.
But do you put ice in your wine?
Probably not wrong yes, I do.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Sometimes it really.
It really depends because youknow, it's always been a thing.
It it's an italian thing, Ithink, where you know people in
my family when it's super hotoutside and humid, that's.
We decide to make it different.
And then we got adventuroussome time ago when it was like

(03:09):
you know what we're going to gooutside, it's like July in
Chicago and the humidity isthrough the roof and it's like
almost 100 degrees or it mightbe 100.
Pour our white wine over iceand just put like a squeeze of
grapefruit in there or a sliceof lemon and just make it super
refreshing.
And that was like ouradventurous.

(03:29):
Now it's like I'm makinganything with bubbles, you know,
like anything becomesprovocativo and I'll mix
whatever, like I'm.
I'm game to try anything.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
So good.
Yeah, I got so much flack and Iknow that this is probably not
the best, but I put ice in myred wine.
On Instagram, people went nuts.
They were like you're not areal foodie.
I know I shouldn't.
That's where there's yeah.
That's kind of no, no no, Icould.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
I, as as a winemaker, I'm going to question these
people.
I'm going to throw it out thereto all you ice haters what kind
of red wine are you drinking?
Are you drinking red wine fromthe United States that has been
ameliorated?
And do you know whatamelioration is?
Amelioration is when thewinemaker adds water to their
wine, and I can tell you that Idon't do that, so it's legal in

(04:22):
the United States.
So they might be alreadydrinking wine that water has
been added to it.
So they shouldn't be knockingyour ice cubes because it's
refreshing, I know it'srefreshing for me.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
It's not that I think the wine has to be chilled,
it's just like I don't know.
I'm a red wine year round girl.
I like red.
I like red a lot.
But anyways, ice the ice chips.
You got to get one of thosemakers.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
I love that.
I want to get one.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
I know they're the best Prime Day actually is
coming up.
We got ours last year on PrimeDay and it was like next to
nothing.
It was really, really cheap.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Send me the link.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
I will.
I will Use it all summer long.
Well, I don't think we're usingthis full video.
If we use any clips, I don'tknow guys, I'm melting over here
in Connecticut.
The heat wave is like here.
So, anyways, okay, let's talk.
Let's talk about your childhood, and the reason that I want to
focus on this is because itsounds like one that so many of

(05:23):
us dream up.
I'm picturing you like runningthrough, like literally I was
reading your bio, learning moreabout you, and I'm picturing you
like running through vineyardseating cheese and bread.
Is that what it was like?
Talk to us about it.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
That's, that's that's pretty close.
Um, you know, as a really smallchild, I think I would like to
say that, thanks to my parents,my life was pretty darn magical
and my grandparents, you know,and it's not that like you know,
I had the coolest Schwinn bikeon the block.
It was that we always were.

(05:55):
We were raised different, youknow, on, we never went to like
McDonald's and you know, webarely went out to eat.
My mom and dad, both were likephenomenal cooks.
Everybody in my family.
They would always gather aroundthe table and, like, the whole
mantra of life was first we eat,then we do everything else.
Right, I was so fortunate wehad this like magical garden,

(06:21):
like at our house.
We always had like ducks andchickens and all these exotic
animals, you know.
And then one day my dad decidedI think I was 10 or 11 years old
, my dad decided that instead ofbuilding, you know, one to $2
million homes, he was going totake this big, beautiful piece

(06:44):
of property and turn it into avineyard.
So it started out as just doingit for consumption, for
ourselves, you know, and I wasalready having a little half a
glass of wine.
It was traditional for us.
This wasn't, like you knowsomething like inappropriate.
This was something that wasappropriate and it taught us how

(07:08):
to respect alcohol and I thinkthat actually helped me from
high school on, because Irespected it and I didn't abuse
it.
So then, all of a sudden it waslike, okay, 10, 11 years old, I
was like my dad's shadow.
I would go to you know what nowis the vineyard, and I started

(07:30):
planting grapevines and hestarted digging out the wetlands
and he had the local fishhatchery, you know, stock it
with fish and all this wildlifewas like just around us.
Wildlife was like just aroundus and I was just, I was so in
awe because it was like it, itfelt like I wasn't there.

(07:56):
I it felt like I was in Italytransported me somewhere, you
know.
Um, then my dad built thebeautiful uh estate that is on
the vineyard, the vineyard,beautiful estate that is on the
vineyard, the vineyard.
Now that's our family's homeand that's when, like, really,

(08:16):
all the magic started.
My dad did initially, you know,in an apprenticeship, you know,
with Dr Enders, you know, whois a doctor of viticulture and
venology.
But he was also raised fromlike nine years old on making
wine with his grandparents.
It was just tradition, you know.
So something that he alwayswanted to share with myself and
my siblings, being that I wasactually, you know, I was lucky

(08:42):
enough to be there througheverything, the build of it.
You know, like I said, I waslike 10 years old started
planting grapevines and then I,then I started to really just
fall in love with it because I Isaw, you know what we planted,
something that looked like atwig, you know.
And then, after years of takingcare of these, these vines, and
all of a sudden they startedproducing and producing more and

(09:06):
more.
And you know, then we had ourfamilies home there and then it
was like game over, because thencame the goats and the sheep
and the chickens and the catsand the dogs and I'm giving
birth to how many animals.
And you know, pruninggrapevines, and you know,

(09:27):
helping customers out in atasting room, and you know, I
knew more about wine and Iwasn't even, it wasn't even
legal for me, to buy alcohol.
So it was, it was, it was likethat magical life where I would
be out on a tractor and my momwould run outside, you know,
with a meatball sandwich, youknow, or I would see her

(09:49):
roasting peppers outside, or,you know canning tomatoes,
making homemade jaranar, youknow beautiful gardens and
animals everywhere.
So it was, it was like out of astorybook and it was.
It was super magical.
And then to be working with myfather, I mean, that was, that

(10:10):
was, that was priceless and tosee what the people that would
come and it would attract allthese phenomenal people, people
that really just appreciated thefact that he just put a 20 acre
boutique vineyard in one of thebest suburbs of Chicago, you
know, like something unheard of.

(10:31):
It's like somebody just ploppedit right in the suburbs.
You know, um, but it would, itwould, it would do the same
thing to even our guests.
They would constantly say thatit transports them back in time
to their family member, or ittransports them to Europe, italy
, whatever, and people just kindof like got sucked into it.
You know, I almost felt likethey got sucked into it just as

(10:53):
much as I did, but Is it stillactive now?
It is.
I'm there every week.
I'm.
I actually just went throughand I pruned the whole vineyard
by hand.
I did 90% of it myself.
My daughter came and helped me,my 15-year-old Giada, she came
and helped me, and then themaster, my father, was out there

(11:14):
with us a little bit.
So, yes, it's still producing.
I would love to have you.
You have to come.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Are you kidding?
Nope, we were just talking.
I have the travel bug.

Speaker 2 (11:32):
Cause I'm like can I come tomorrow?
No, what's the name?

Speaker 1 (11:33):
of it or can you share it?
Sure, it's Valentino vineyards.
Okay For all the people, and Iknow we've had a lot of guests
in like Chicagoland area.
How?

Speaker 2 (11:39):
close is that?
So you know we're just.
We're just North of the city.
How close is that?
So you know we're just north ofthe city.
If there's traffic, it's about,I would say, 45 minutes to an
hour.
If there's no traffic, it's alittle under.
So it's just northwest of thecity.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
That's good for a getaway, though.
I think that's healthy.
You know, escape the city.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
It is.
It is so you got to come seethe city and come see the
vineyard.
You'll love it, it's like.
I feel like something that youwould appreciate.
You know it's.
I would be out in the vineyard,you know, working in the
vineyard, working with the vines, and then I would rush home and
shower, or sometimes shower atthe vineyard, and change and

(12:25):
look super nice, so to greetguests and give them wine
tastings or tours, you knowwhatnot.
And one day I was just like, oh, it was a hot day like today
and I'm wearing all white.
I looked beautiful, like allwhite summer.
I'm like this is this is great.
You know, I got to, I got to doall white and the phone rings
and I'm like hi, valentinoVineyards.

(12:46):
And they're like we're callingValentino Vineyards.
I said yes, and who are wespeaking to?
I'm like this is Brianna, thisis so-and-so from Walgreens.
I think your goat is here.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
Oh my gosh, how far is Walgreens?
How far?

Speaker 2 (13:09):
Like two minutes down the road driving, but it made
it.
It made it all the way toWalgreens and I will tell you, I
went in my heels and all whiteoutfit and I don't know if
you've ever seen a goat jumpbefore, but they jump really

(13:33):
high and she wasn't reallyreceptive to like getting in my
car.
Awesome it was.
It was like, honestly, I don'tthink anyone's experienced life.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
I've had the the most unique life.
I think I love those kinds oflives, though, because you just
have a more full picture of whatpeople experience.
I love picturing that gorgeouswhite outfit, wine, meatball sub
, the whole thing.
I love that.
It's a really great mood boardfor the life that I want.
It's a very hearty mood board.

(14:06):
I love it.
I'm like, okay, I need, I wantto come visit, but would your
mom like bring me a meatball sub?
That's like my first question.
Absolutely.
I'm like could she?

Speaker 2 (14:16):
you know what it's like in an Italian household.
They're not happy.
There's no telling her no.
It's like are you hungry, can Iget you something?
And you're like no, I'm okay,no, no, no, what can I get you?
And I'm like just say something.
She's not going to shut upuntil you eat something.
You know, because you know theywant to like Italians, they

(14:36):
want to love you, they want tohug you.
You're in their house, you'repart of their family and like
they're just like come, come on,eat something, drink something
with me, tell me something, giveme a story.
And we want to laugh together.
Let's play some music, you know.
Let's dance.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
I don't know for you Like.
So your parents are stillliving.
My grandparents have passedaway, like my grandpa's brothers
, and like kind of like thepatriarchs of the Italian family
.
And so now for little Wesley.
I'm like man.
He's really going to miss thatculture, unless I like
intentionally surround him withit.

Speaker 2 (15:10):
You need to, it's so beautiful.

Speaker 1 (15:12):
You need to, you need to it's you know, Hopefully I
instill some of that in him.
You know just by nature of whatthey taught me.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
Look at your charcuterie board which let's
keep it real it's an antipastoplatter.
Of course that's how it started.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
That's how it started .

Speaker 2 (15:32):
For all the American people that cook charcuterie.
It's an antipasto, all right,it's an antipasto platter till
the day I die, but yourantipasto platter is so
beautiful, so like to me, thatjust that screams like hello,
I'm Italian, yeah.
You know, that's, that's us,that's like welcoming, that's
like the first thing people seeat the house.

(15:53):
It's like you put thisbeautiful board out and you're
like come eat, let's go.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
You know I love that.
It's so funny.
I'm working on a top secretproject right now.
On a top secret project rightnow, and that includes a lot of
words.
I'll leave it up to theimagination for people, but
someone I don't know if I'mallowed to talk about it yet,
but I interchange the.
I use the words charcuterie,like cheese board and antipas,

(16:18):
and they're like whoa, whoa,whoa.
Pick one Like you can't use.
I know they're all.
I can identify with all three,right, they're all very
different, right, yeah?
We'll see, Maybe I'll put myfoot down.
Well, I love picturing that andI'm sure I'm going to end up

(16:38):
there, but I feel okay.
So from childhood I think youtalked up to like age 16 in that
story, maybe older, when arecent goat with a goat with the
goat.
Yeah, how old were you with agoat?

Speaker 2 (16:53):
Oh darn, I probably was still in my teens 17, 18, 19
, something like that 20.
I was somewhere in that, inthat range.
But yeah, I mean, it's it kindof almost just feels like it was
yesterday, because you know,I'm I'm still there.

(17:13):
It's my parents live there,it's our family's home.
It's always felt like home tome.
It, no matter what it's like, Ifeel like I belong there.
You know, and it's you.
Do you forget about everything?
My, my 15 year old, who, youknow, like 15 year olds today.
They're like, and I'm like Itake her to work with me and she

(17:38):
left her phone in the housebecause she had no charge.
So we're out there and we'repruning together and so I set
her on, you know, the South sideand I'm on the North side, so
we're facing each other andwe're pruning and then we, we
move on to the next vine andwe're pruning, and so we're just
talking, we're talking.
It's, there's beautiful sun andthe breeze and you hear all the

(18:01):
birds and nature's with you,and then you hear the bees.
At points she looks at me andshe goes, mom, and I go.
What she goes?
Oh my God, she's like.
This is so peaceful and I said,isn't it?

Speaker 1 (18:20):
nice.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
She goes mom, I'm so relaxed here and I said, well,
yes, it's nature, it does it toyou and there's so many elements
.
You're working with your hands.
You don't have the phone hyperstimulating your eyes or your
brain.
You know, you're just yourvitamin, you're soaking your
vitamin D in and you're justamongst the vines.

(18:45):
So she got it right away and Iwas happy she did, because I
feel like life everyone'slacking, that we're always in
the grind.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
But when you could go to work and you could feel that
sense of peace.
How special is that?
I was my entrepreneur brain.
I'm like do you guys offerretreats there?
Like everyone listening isprobably like sign me up.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
So you know we actually we did our first yoga
retreat last summer.
Um, yoga retreat last summerOkay, it was a Provocativo
sponsored, it was.
So we had um Provocativobubbles, we had Valentino

(19:40):
vineyard wine, we had I actuallyhad a doctor, a couple doctors
there as well Um wonderful,amazing women from core power
yoga teaching a strength class.
I actually cooked for everybody.
So, it was, it was, it wasquite beautiful, it was
something.
So now we're in the works rightnow of doing a couple different
retreats and events.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Very interesting.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah, cause it is we have to share.
You know, like I feel like GodGod gives us a tools to create
and make these things and likewhat is it if we don't share it
with others?
Right, so good.
I want to invite everybody tomy table all the time, yeah.
No I wish I lived therehonestly, like my parents.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
How far are you?

Speaker 2 (20:30):
Five minutes.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
Quick accent, but I get it.
I get it.
It's different to be able towake up and unwind on that
property.
That's sweet.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
Yeah, we have what I call the semi-trailer, which
everybody nowadays.
They're building houses, youknow, out of these, like you
know, containers are called acontainer right?
Container homes.
I always joke around with mydad that one day he's going to
find everything that's in there,like all the tractors.
It's just like out in the grassand like I'm going to live in
there Crazy.

(21:05):
I'm like no, no, no, you don'tunderstand.
I'm just going to get agenerator, some water and I'm
going to live there.

Speaker 1 (21:09):
You know it's a great plan.
I support it.
It's very Vogue right nowactually.
Yes, I just saw an ad.
Actually it's probably going tocome up for everyone.
After this conversation, hiltonstarted like you could rent um,
as they're like hiltonairstreams really and you could
just like rent it in like thewoods somewhere.
You know like they just likehave them set up but they're

(21:31):
like luxurious.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
So look at you, you and hilton, I'm turning
containers into, into beautifulspaces, beautiful space I mean
isn't, isn't that like, like anartist, you're an artist, you
know, I, I, I see you, you're anartist.
So, like when you're an artist,it's like you want to.
That's your goal is to turnsomething into something

(21:55):
beautiful, right?
So I mean, I love it.
I love that when people dothings that are outside of the
box.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
I'm like I'll come with you and refurbish that
container.
Surprise, believe it on me,okay.
Well, I just want to fill in afew gaps, because we've said
provocativo a few times.
Listeners might not know whatit is.
So, real quick, give us therundown from growing up in the

(22:23):
vineyard to where you are now.
What did career steps look likeLike?
Did you go to college?
Did you go to certificateprograms?
What did jobs look like?
Just tell us, I guess, what youwant us to know.
So it's actually a very I'mvery fortunate.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
You know, I owe everything to the vineyard.
I owe everything to my parents,because I wouldn't be who I am
or where I am today without themand I kind of just went with it
.
I went with the universebecause the universe kind of
just guided me Right.
So it was a labor of love atthe vineyard.
And you know, I was sitting inthe tasting room alone one day.

(23:04):
My dad was out in the vineyarddoing something and I look
outside and I see this ginormousmotorcycle gang pull into the
vineyard and I was like huh, whoare they?
So they all come in the doorand I said welcome to Valentino

(23:28):
Vineyards, how may I help you?
And they said my name, Brianna,and I was like, yes, You're
kind of scaring me.
And I'm like, yes, and theykidnapped me and sent me to
Russia.
No, no, I'm like clenching thearms of my teeth.
She was on a container toRussia wasn't she.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
That's the container.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
No, all jokes aside, I know.
And no human trafficking.
No, they.
I thought they were there tosee my father and they were
actually there to see me.
And who was it?
It was Jean Bonchet, the JeanBonchet which is, you know, one
of the most world renowned chefsever.

(24:13):
You know, if the listenersrecognize his name, one of the
most prestigious awards you canwin as a chef is the Jean
Bonchet award.
Um and uh, patrick Chabert, andum, uh, pierre Paulin, and like
a bunch of other chefs I don'tremember who else, and like just

(24:35):
a bunch of other bikers, youknow.
So they all rolled in on theirHarleys and they sat down, they
started doing wine tasting andthis is where my luck can I call
this part luck, my luck of theuniverse happened.
They asked me if I would liketo apprentice under them.
So they heard that this like18-year-old kid was making wine,

(24:59):
working in a vineyard andcooking and inviting people to
her family's you know boutiquevineyard and for wine tasting,
pairing dinners, and they werelike who is this kid, you know?
So they just found it superintriguing.
I then apprenticed under JeanBanchet, patrick Chabert and

(25:20):
Michel Cotier, now Patrick.
He was the understudy of JeanBochet, but Patrick, before he
worked under Jean, was one ofthe I'm sorry, he was the
youngest chef to receive aMichelin star.

(25:41):
He had a Michelin star by theage of 21 when he was in France
20 is so young, if people don'tknow yeah, so young.
And he's this like wholefabulous story too, about you
know what he, where he went andhow cooking made him travel the
world.
And then Michelle is like oneof the most amazing pastry chefs

(26:05):
I've ever seen in my life.
So they asked me to apprenticeunder these three wonderful men
at what was called the Frenchculinary experience.
At the time we did dinners andevents and we worked for decor.
You know, decor I don'tactually Kitchen equipment,

(26:26):
beautiful, it's like it used torival Wolf and Viking.
Okay, so we used to do like wewere influencers before an
influencer was invented, becausewhat would happen is everybody
would come to the school and wewould cook on this decor
equipment and then we would sellit to them.
You know, so it's like we weredoing all these demonstrations,

(26:47):
or like one of the companies Iremember off the top of my head,
patis France.
Patis France would hire us touse their dessert products in
making fine desserts.
So then we would, people wouldcome and they would sit and we
would do these beautifuldemonstrations.
You know we would supply toother restaurants and then, you

(27:10):
know, I was always cooking moreand more for the vineyard and
people would come in for mypairings and you know just it
was.
It was the life, honestly, likeI was really lucky.
I had like the most rock starworld renowned chefs, like to
the point where I actuallycooked for Paul Bocou.

(27:33):
And tell me, give context,funny enough, I made him
eggplant.
Okay, yeah, because you knowthey they always.
You know, being an Italianworking with French men, you
know they could not even.

(27:54):
They were mind blown with howmany ways of eggplant.
You know, like, what I could dowith eggplant.
So you know, when Paul wascoming and they asked me to cook
, I said okay, the first thingwas well, what do you want me to
make?
And they said eggplant.
And I looked at them and I waslike really, they were like we
would like you to make youreggplant towers and I was like

(28:16):
no problem Cause they werebeautiful and they just tasted
even better.
So it was, it was such anexperience.
Unfortunately, there were noiPhones at that time, so no, no
no, no, no no, no, no no no no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

(28:37):
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
right, no, they really weren't.
And like I had a flip phone, Ihad a silver star tech that I
had pictures of my goat Apolloand pictures of me and Paul Boku
, and ask me where that is now.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
And man, it is kind of crazy.
What's that?
There's that whole trend rightnow, like the butterfly effect.
You know, people are like man.
If this didn't happen Iwouldn't be like here, like
wherever here is.

Speaker 2 (29:08):
It's it, it really it ?
Honestly, I wouldn't be me, youknow it.
It shaped me.
The vineyard shaped me.
Um, you know I, I had a jobsince I was 12 years old, I
started working at a farm and Istarted working in a kitchen in
a farm, you know, that's downthe road from our vineyard.

(29:28):
And um then, at like 14, Idecided to like, create a fake
birth certificate and lie andsay I was 17 to start working in
the restaurant industry.
Um, I was a dishwasher, youknow, I did any job you could
think of in a restaurant foodrunner, dishwasher, bus girl,

(29:50):
waitress, hostess, anything youcould think of I did, you know,
just not delivery driver, though.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
I get it.
You know, as you're saying, allthat I'm like man.
Some people look at likesuccess or certain
collaborations or whatever thatwe're going to start talking
about and think like, oh my gosh, like that seems like it
happened overnight or whatever.
They forget like all the years,like you're talking, since this
has been like a lifelongpursuit like it is a slow

(30:21):
buildup Right.

Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah, yeah.
And so that that transitionedme to want to open restaurants,
right.
So, like 23 years ago I thinkit was, is when I said, ok, like
now is time I need a restaurant, right, because I was driving
my dad nuts in the vineyardbecause I wanted to, like, do a

(30:44):
full-blown restaurant and he wasnot having it.
So, um, I said you know what Igot to do both now I got to open
a restaurant, because if Idon't ever do it, I don't I'm
thinking to be mad at myself,right?
Um, so 20 some odd years, 22,23 years ago, whatever it was, I

(31:06):
opened a restaurant with apartner and worked my butt off,
was very successful, ended upexpanding five times, no joke.
I owned and operated it for 18years, 18 years.

(31:29):
And then my, my old businesspartner I was married to, went
through a nasty divorce becauseof COVID.
Um, basically just walked awayfrom everything in life and I
was like I don't know if I'm up,I'm down, I'm sideways, I don't
know what I am anymore.
Um, and it was very hard, veryhard Cause I it was 18 years of
my life that I was in my people.
You know, my sous chef was withme for the whole 18 years.

(31:51):
Um, it was a hard.
It was a hard thing because,being a female in both these
industries and and you know, thefood and the alcohol space,
it's hard.
And I didn't walk in my kitchenwith respect, even though it
was my restaurant.
I walked in my kitchen and Iactually wrote an article about

(32:13):
this.
I'll share it with you.
The first thing that was saidto me and everybody's head was
down everyone who was working inthe kitchen Um, and someone
yelled out no ladies in thekitchen.
And I was like okay, I said Iget it, this is how it's going
to be.
I'm like all right.
And I just, I just didn't sayanything, I didn't cry, just

(32:35):
went along with my day and I waslike you know what I'm going to
have to over perform?
I'm going to have to show themwho I am, not by words, not by
screaming, not by talking tothem.
I'm going to have to show themwho I am, not by words, not by
screaming, not by talking tothem.
I'm going to have to show themphysically who I am and what I
can do, how I can help them andwhat I could teach them.
And my food will say everything.

(32:55):
I don't need words, right, andyears later, one of the managers
who, who was actually a male,walked in the kitchen and he
went to go touch food.
And they were.
They got so annoyed because, Imean, anybody knows, you know
like you're not walking into achef's kitchen and you're not

(33:16):
touching anything.
So my sous chef, who was likemy best friend, who would to
this day, just kill for me, heliterally looked at him.
He goes, hey, no ladies in thekitchen.
And I looked at him, I was like, and he's like, yeah, and I was
like, okay, so now I know, andhe, he admitted to me, he's like
that was me, you know, um, andthe funny thing is is the

(33:41):
manager looked back at him andgoes wait, and he pointed at me
and he's like well, if there'sno ladies in the kitchen,
brianna's right there.
No, no, patrona is not a lady,she's a chef, you know.
So it's funny because you know,that whole attitude changes

(34:01):
Right.
So it was that, and then it wasme being lost.
I decided to help a friend sellcaviar, which is probably like
one of the hardest things I'veever done in my life, because
caviar is not easy to sell.
But I did it as a favor,because I was bored and it was
in the food industry and I and Iknew how to do it and I was

(34:25):
talking to other chefs.
So therefore it made me happybecause I landed back in
kitchens, right, and I'm sittingin an airplane flying to
southeast Florida and some manis sitting next to me and next
thing, you know, I tell him I'ma chef and a winemaker and he's
like wow, he's like we got totalk, I have the perfect

(34:48):
position for you, and that's howI got connected with
Provocativo.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
Are you?

Speaker 2 (34:53):
serious, dead serious .
And you know, the funny thingis is there was no, they weren't
looking for an executivewinemaker.
So he like weaseled my way inthere, you know, like he had
this, he had this like mindsetto where you know, I told him at

(35:15):
the time that I was about tosign a contract for a manager in
New York because I neededsomebody to manage my career.
I just didn't know how to honeinto, how am I going to move on
without opening a new restaurant, because three kids opening a

(35:36):
new restaurant as a singlemother, yeah, yeah, that just
wasn't about to happen.
So, um, I told this man that andhe's like, well, he's like, I
think I should be your managerand I think I have a great job
for you and I also have a, ashow for you to go on.
I have a cooking show and youknow, let's connect, and you

(35:58):
know, um.
So I ended up signing twogentlemen as my manager Um, one
I would prefer to not name, theother one was Chris Nassif,
which was the creator of BotchedUm, dr Paul Nassif's brother,
um, and he had a show that hehad created with another
producer that they wanted me togo on, but then unfortunately,

(36:24):
and he was a wonderful man.
Chris passed away.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (36:31):
Yeah.
So the other gentleman, beforeChris passed away to the other
gentleman, said hey, while we'rewaiting to do the show, I have
a place for you.
He's like there's this winebrand and they're looking for a
face to their brand like afemale, you know who's ethnic,
and they wanted somebody to belike a real life influencer.

(36:53):
And I looked at him and I waslike influencer, I'm not an
influencer.
And he's like well, what do youmean?
He's like you're influential inthe food and beverage industry.
And I was like yeah, but I'mnot an influencer.
And he's like no, he's likeBrianna, just trust me.
So the first job I had atProvocativa was an influencer.

(37:16):
I was hired on as an influencerand I was doing work for them
for about, I would say, threemonths and my manager just spoke
to directly to the CEO, HansChristian Holtz, and he said hey
, just, you know, checking inwith you, you know how do you
like Brianna?

(37:36):
And he's like oh, she'sfabulous, she's perfect.
And he goes I just wanted tolet you know something.
And he was like what's that?
He like she's a chef and awinemaker.
And it was just like and then,Hans, he zoomed me all the way

(37:57):
from Norway and then, next thing, you know I'm on with the, the
whole board.
And then, um, a couple of theboard members and also Hans,
flew to Chicago.
They wanted to taste my wine,they wanted to meet my parents
myself, they wanted me to cookfor them and they wanted me to
tour them of Chicago.
And that was it.

(38:19):
Really.
That was the day that it was.
You know what do you want?
The position of executivewinemaker.
And I said I absolutely do.
I said, but, but here's whatI'm going to tell you.
I said I will not accept thatposition as it is.
And he was like what?

(38:40):
And um, I said what is in thebottle right now is good, but
that's not me and I can't standbehind it.
I said I want to change it.
So at the time we hadProvocativo, was magnums only,
and it was a blend of threeSpanish varietals.

(39:01):
And the first thing I said tomyself was varietals.
And the first thing I said tomyself was okay, it's a kava, so
we're regulated by the kavaregulatory board, right, so we
have to have whatever typevarietal grape is grown in the
kava region.
So what do most people know inthe US or actually around the

(39:25):
world?
What?
What white grape.
Does everyone know Chardonnay?
So I said I want to useChardonnay and everyone knows,
Chardonnay is like a big, boldvariety, Right.
And then I'm like then now Iwant a Spanish grape and I want
it to be the dancer, I want itto be the artist, the delicate

(39:46):
piece, right, that's where theMacabeo comes in.
So, completely restructured theblend to and they trusted you.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
They went with it, totally went with it.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
Like my Hans is.
He didn't like like evenstutter, he didn't even think
about it.
He was like, yes, you know, tothe point where, when he said it
so confident and just so quick,I thought about it and I didn't

(40:19):
say it out loud at the moment,but I was like I want to become
an investor in this company.
I said, because this is goingto be something magnificent.
I said and when you have apartnership like that and your
partner's just like, yes, theybelieve in you and you believe
in yourself, you're like okay,I'm going to put my own money
into this, because it's easywhen somebody else just hires
you and you get paid to do a job, but when you're an investor

(40:42):
and you're vested, that's adifferent story.
You know that, I'm sure.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
Take a quick note of that thought Cause I don't want
you to like forget where we werein the story.
But I want to ask you aquestion how close were you to
just quitting COVID divorceclosing restaurant, like?
How close were you to beinglike?
You know what?
I've dreamed big dreams, butmaybe I'll just take a step back
.
Oh man, and the reason I askthat is because I think about

(41:14):
that plane conversation.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
And I mean my listeners know this, follow me
on Instagram up past season,like we are definitely in a
pivot season where it's kind oflike the you praying for
opportunity, kind of like whatright?
Like wondering what the heck isgoing to happen next, tempted
to quit, and I just want peopleto be reminded that those
opportunities happen because,like you, like you knew Okay.

(41:39):
So I guess first ask, answerthe question, like were you
close to quitting?

Speaker 2 (41:43):
Absolutely.
I was extremely close to givingup everything because, yeah, I,
you know, we grow up in a world, in, in an ethnicity, in a
spiritual world of going tochurch and, you know, know,

(42:04):
believing like once you getmarried you can't get divorced,
right.
So it's like I'm a super loyalperson.
So I always had that thought inmy brain, even though something
was always telling me like thisisn't right.
And although COVID was reallyhard, I want to thank COVID for

(42:26):
what I went through.
I was, I was, I was about togive up on everything and I
honestly thought about my kidsand I said to myself what a
disappointment I'm going to beto them.
You know, I've worked reallyhard thus far and when COVID

(42:52):
struck, katie, I was opening aunit on my restaurant, expanding
it.
That was going to be mydemonstration kitchen where I
was going to have cookingclasses and I was going to be
filming for social media, givingdemonstrations, doing private
events, like kind of mirroringwhat I did at the French

(43:14):
Culinary Experience.
So you know, I gave up all mymoney, I walked away from
everything.
I left with no car, you know,and I just threw my hands up in
the air and I said I have myhealth.
I love my children, I've doneit already and I'm going to do

(43:35):
it again, and it's like at somepoint I just, I guess I had to
tell myself there's no room forcrying, there's no room for
feeling sorry for myself, I justhave to work.
But it did take a minute, youknow, more than a minute to find

(43:58):
out what work looked like, andand I mean I even kind of heard
you say that to me before whenwe've talked a little bit like
what, what does that look like?
We don't even know ourselves,and it's almost like you may
think one thing and you may haveto pivot, right?
So I think the the best thingto say to anyone out there, your

(44:20):
viewers, anyone in the world,is be resilient, do not give up,
do not, absolutely do not letanybody tell you what to do or
how you're doing it.
You know, just keep going, keepgoing.
Know that you may have tochange something or pivot a
little bit.
Make a move.
Um, don't be too hard onyourself.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
We had another guest who is a very successful
children's book author now andshe had never written a book
before, had this like pipe dreamwas at her daughter's whatever.
It was like ice skating matchor I don't know was on the phone
talking to a girlfriend orsomething.
Was like you know, I reallywant to write this book.
A book agent was sitting rightbehind her and was like I'll

(45:03):
sign the book and I'm just likelike these types of stories have
to be told, because if you'rejust like locked into TikTok all
day and it's a great platformin a lot of ways, but like you
can start to believe in like acertain narrative, like only
this type of person issuccessful, or only when you
have like this much money, orit's only up, there's no downs,

(45:23):
like there has to be a differentstory, but, but, but it's so
crazy too, because sometimes youdon't even want to measure
success with money.
Yeah, cause, there are twodifferent things, you know.

Speaker 2 (45:37):
Um, and I and I think people, yeah, I think I think
social media makes people superhard on themselves and, like we
all have to remember, at the endof the day, people are only
allowing you to see what theywant you to see.
You don't really know what'sgoing on behind closed doors.
You don't know what it's liketo live a day in their shoes.

(46:01):
Um, you know and I have to giveit to people on social media
like it is hard work.
Yeah, it's hard work.
You know editing and planningand calendars and this and that,
and you know contracts and it'snot easy.
I mean, god bless, there's a lotof influencers and people that

(46:22):
are very successful on socialmedia platforms and other types
of platforms that do a flawlessjob.
You know, but it's it's noteasy.
You know, like I try a lot toyou know, like, post and do
everything and I'm not inclinedwith editing videos or even

(46:44):
planning videos, you know,because I have so much going on.
But you know, I find my own wayto inspire people by showing
them that I make bread.
Or, you know, posting just evena picture of mussels or my
dinner table, you know.
Or if I'm flying to some weirdcountry to go sell Provoctivo.

Speaker 1 (47:01):
So cool.
Two really good reminders there.
That I love is like when youknow your calling, or like what
you were made for, or the thingsthat light you up.
Like you know it, like you know, like, don't, don't let go of
that.
Like even when life is like,let me throw you this one, like
yeah, I'm sure you could havenever like you said, never
imagined that that would havebeen a reality of your life.

(47:22):
You know, and there you were.
And then here came this guy onthe plane.
Um, so don't let go of that.
And um, and oh, yeah, thatsocial media.
You don't have to be on socialmedia to be successful.
Like, right, it's such a lie.
It's a good tool, it's a cherryon top, but it's not the end.
All be all, yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:41):
And sometimes you just like I almost feel like
sometimes you want to be privateas much as you want to share
with people Sometimes.
Sometimes you just you justwant to be private or you know?
Um, I think people forget thatsocial media is like more of a
tool, you know, and I got tostop comparing, stop comparing

(48:02):
yourself to other people andjust go out there and do
something for yourself and Ithink I'm still like chewing
through your story because Ithink I had to hear it too
Honestly, like it was like maybemore for me than anyone
listening.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
But it's, it's all about like the next right step
right, like sometimes saying thenext yes, you're like I don't
know, like I don't know if thisis it, or I don't know if I want
to do this it.
Yes, you're like I don't know,like I don't know if this is it,
or I don't know if I want to dothis.

Speaker 2 (48:31):
It's just like it's one yes after another, and you
were on your way to like sellcaviar, right, like I was on my
way to sell caviar and I wasgoing to do a catering at fifth
street boxing gym in South beach, like, honestly and like and
then I'm sitting next to a manand we're both like wearing
masks on the plane and I'm likein a mask and in a hat.
So all I could see like is thisI looked like a terrorist.
I can I know we can't use thatin like you know we can't use

(48:53):
that word in an airport, but Imean, and it just happened and I
just went with it, you know,and it was, it was crazy, it was
I don't know, I would just.
And then I saw the bottle.
I saw the bottle of Provocativoand I was like what the heck is

(49:18):
this?
I see this gorgeous label witha Venetian mask on it.
So it's a Spanish wine with aVenetian mask.
So I was like, oh my God, I, Icollect Venetian mask.
I have like at least 15 of themin my office right now, and so

(49:39):
that was not a coincidence to me.
So, like to mess with the CEO,the first zoom to me.

Speaker 1 (49:48):
So like to mess with the CEO.
The first zoom he popped on thezoom and I was wearing a mask.

Speaker 2 (49:51):
I had to, I had to, I had to like, just be different
you know Um but yeah, it reallywas speaking to me.
Um, you know the wordprovocativo could mean so many
things and the name was speakingto me.
And you know, listening to Hansand his story and his

(50:14):
background, that really spoke tome.
And you know, believing in yourCEO and the founder of the
company and then being allowedto CEO and the founder of the
company and then being allowedto, you know, join as executive
winemaker and become a partnerand then transition into, you
know, being one of the foundersof this groundbreaking thing.

(50:37):
And you know it was, it was somuch fun because we've we have
worn, we've worn so manydifferent hats.
It's not just about you know thewine and making the wine.
It's about you know who are weselling to and how are we
selling it and how are wegetting there and going on tour
with Bibi, finding the specialcelebrity who's going to match

(51:00):
well with us, because it's notlike, oh, wow.
You know, like you just put acelebrity on your brand and you
know it's going to.
It's going to, you know, makemillions.
That doesn't happen, you know,and like, clooney did something
years ago with a Limoncello.

(51:20):
A Limoncello was horrible andGeorge Clooney is George Clooney
, so you can only do so muchwith who you are, because
obviously George Clooney isamazing, but the product sucked,
so just, I think the companywent bankrupt or something, or
nobody knows about it.
If it's, I don't think it'sstill around, but you know it's.
The product had to be perfectfirst, so we did it the right

(51:46):
way.
We built it around the product,so it was the labeling, the
branding, what was inside thebottle, you know.
And then we started what Hanscalls is we dated.
We dated with Bebe and I wenton tour with her.
Then I felt like a celebritymyself, you know, amazing.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
How did how did that selection happen, if you're
allowed to share this part ofthe process, like was she just
kind of always on a list ofyours or how?

Speaker 2 (52:17):
does that.
She was perfectly selected.
She was, she was one of there,was we had a list, okay, she was
, she was one of there, was wehad a list, okay, and there was
somebody that was extremelypopular that we were also
talking to.
I will not name names, it'sfine, yep, they, they could not

(52:42):
stay on a Zoom, like noattention span, vaping all the
time, and I, I was like thisisn't jiving with me.
You know, um, and I don't knowshe, just she just seemed right
because, yeah, she's a NewYorker.
New Yorkers are just like youget who you get, you know, like

(53:02):
like they're real people, and Iloved that.
I loved that she was Albanian,because I felt like that, like,
like European, like you know,substance about her.
Right, I loved that she isextremely talented.
You know, she's not justbeautiful voice, a beautiful
face, she writes and she singsopera.

(53:25):
You know, she does things thatothers can't do.
She's an amazing DJ, you know.
So, um, we went on tour with her.
You know we were in I don'teven know how many cities and it
was.
It was almost like we knew eachother already.
Wow, you know we were.

(53:46):
We were behind her bus, likesitting there, like drinking out
of plastic cups and she waslike doing a photo shoot of me
and I'm like she's like wait, no, no, no, wait, just just wait,
move your shades a little bit.
And she's like wait, like dothis.
And literally like with heriPhone, just like like photo

(54:07):
shooting me, you know, and shejust a really real person, you
know, and humble, and what do Ihave to do to make this a
million dollar or a billiondollar company?
You know type of attitude and Imean I admire her for that, I
admire her for the person she isand, um, it's just sweet and

(54:30):
her family was always there.
So, like that kind of like liketouched my heart too, because,
you know, you see somebody withthese like really strong family
values and you're like, wow,that's, that's a good person.
So, yeah, I mean there was alist, it was just we all just
really liked Bebe, you know.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
And in case anyone's either living under a rock or
not putting the pieces togetherBebe Rexha, that's who we're
talking about.
Who's what I mean?
She's pop genre right.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
I mean she kind of fits in like everywhere, because
she has some country, she hassome country, she, you know
she's.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
It's a smart business to be able to fit into multiple
genres.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
She does, and you know she's done a lot of
collaborations with David Guettaand a lot of other DJs around
the world and she DJs herself,you know.
So she kind of fits ineverywhere, which is amazing.
You know she's written songsfor other artists that have, you
know, gone.

(55:35):
I don't even know award winninglevels she has so many Grammys,
it's, it's unbelievable, she'sjust impressive, Wow, Impressive
for so many reasons, and alovely person.
She's just real, you know it.

Speaker 1 (55:50):
That doesn't feel like awkward you know that's so
consistent with who you are andwhat you value too, and so it's
so cool to just see you comingon with this brand.
It's just making so many partsof your like childhood story
make sense.

Speaker 2 (56:05):
You know what I mean.
Yes, I know exactly what youmean and it's, it's, it's helped
a lot, you know, cause it'slike one day I'm on tour with BB
and then the next week I'm atCostco and I'm, like, you know,
talking to, you know everybodyat Costco and you know that

(56:25):
brand is like a really humblebrand, you know.
And then the next week I'm onVirgin Voyages, you know,
talking to them.
Or you know, I mean I I'm onpodcast photo shoots, you know,
having to be interviewed, andthen I'm, my hands are in the

(56:50):
dirt and I'm doing things at thevineyard and I don't know about
you, but to me that sounds likethe perfect ebb and flow of
life.

Speaker 1 (56:59):
Does it feel that way ?

Speaker 2 (57:02):
Yeah, yeah, no, it does.

Speaker 1 (57:05):
It does I mean I mean not perfect, but you know what
I mean.
Like for me, it's perfect forme.
Yes, if we were talking aboutthat mood board earlier and I
was kind of joking, but it feelslike that it's like you get a
taste of all the things thatmake you come alive.

Speaker 2 (57:20):
I'm not um, I can only take so much sitting still,
and, like I do, I have to likework at the desk all the time.
Lots of emails, lots of Zooms.
You know partners all aroundthe world.
You know and doing sales part.
You know you're wearing yoursales hat for a second right,

(57:41):
yeah.
And then I get the fun stuffwith the events and creating
wine tasting events and I'mworking with other chefs and
doing like you know, the winetasting events.
Or you know pairings andcooking with them, or cooking
with the wine, making differenttypes of drinks and going to

(58:04):
different types ofnot-for-profit events or
whatever.
And then next day I'll be onwith Bebe or at a concert or
something.
I mean, it's, it is, it's, it's, it's a lot of different hats,
right, man?
And it's fun.

Speaker 1 (58:24):
It's definitely not boring.
Multipassionate, and that's howI would like describe you,
describe myself.
That's the best.
It's the best.
And yeah, I think, when youlike, stay true to the things
about yourself, that you know,like we fear the unknown and
security is easy and it makes usfeel better.

Speaker 2 (58:58):
But if we don't open ourselves up, we don't allow
opportunity in to flow.
You know, and again, I wouldn'tbe here if I didn't allow it.
You know, just to come and itwasn't comfortable by any means.
You know I was giving upeverything.
I knew.
You know I was giving up.

(59:18):
I had my routines on, you know,when I was writing my specials,
you know who was working underme, like I didn't have to
communicate with words to mysous chef, like he knew exactly,
like what I needed, withouteven words before I even like I
turned to be like oh, that'sexactly what I need, you know?

(59:39):
Um, but yeah, I mean, you justgotta believe in yourself, it's
good.
And think, think outside thebox, and like let stuff come to
you.
And never I, I feel likeeverybody kind of, and never I.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
I feel like everybody , kind of Everyone puts a cap on
themselves?

Speaker 2 (59:58):
Yeah, and I was lucky because my dad is, I would say,
a Renaissance man, an extremegenius, and he never put himself
in one box, right.
So he was always an artist inmany different forms and he
always told me do what you loveand love what you do.

(01:00:19):
And I always saw that he coulddo so much you know, and so I
always admired that you know asa child.
So I was like, okay, nobody'sgoing to tell me I can't do
something, you know.
And my mom, for some reason,always thought I should be
president.
I don't know why.
She was like I think you couldbe president and I was like what

(01:00:42):
you know?
Yeah, but it was that idea thatI think she was trying to give
me, that like I could doanything if I put my mind to it.
Right, and I think that's good.
I think we should like inspiremore yeah Of the younger
generation Then and tell themyou can do anything you put your

(01:01:02):
mind to.
Yeah, not make everybody like Ifeel like society forces people
into certain, certain boxes.
Yeah, you know, and I havelimits.

Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
I've told the story a few times.
I always knew that I wanted tobe a part of like I know it
sounds like kind of weird, butlike helping communities heal
and help like cultivatecommunity.
And for me I was like, oh, Iguess that means social work, if
I have to fit it in a box.
Then I wanted to minor inbusiness and they were like, oh
well, that doesn't make sense,and so I dropped it.

(01:01:35):
I dropped the business minorand then I graduated with a
social work degree and I'm like,man, I don't want to apply to
any of the jobs that are outthere and I kind of love PR and
I kind of love media, and soit's just, you can't ignore all
that stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:01:50):
You don't fit into a box, no, and I think that's
pretty amazing about you and Ithink that's why we really we
really jive.
You know, um, and I love thatyou put that out there for you
know, all of your, yourlisteners, like it's it's pretty
amazing.
You know, and I think everybodyhas this you know wrong idea,

(01:02:11):
too, of being a mother.
I think everybody has this.

(01:02:35):
You know wrong idea, too, ofbeing a mother.
You know, and like who you canbe if you're a mother.
You know, and it's like I feellike people are becoming more
and more accepting in theworkplace of mothers and you
know, not shoving moms in a box,like just because we're a mom,
we can.
We could still be crazy.
You know amazing business womanand we can still be sexy and
you know, whatever we want to be, you know, but we can also be a
mom and we can influence ourkids at the same time.
Yeah, you know awesomeinfluence yeah, that's good.

Speaker 1 (01:02:51):
Well, I want to hear I'm looking at the same time.
Yeah, you know awesomeinfluence yeah, that's good.
Well, I want to hear I'mlooking at the time and I'm I'm
one for long podcasts, but incase anyone's like, okay, could
we just get a summary?
No, okay, um, I'm going tothere's like it's doing huh, I
said they're.

Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
They're looking at us like what are you crazy girls
doing?

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
We're having fun.
You can get a glass of wine ifyou want.
I'm kidding Everyone listening.
No, there's one question that Iwant to ask specifically about
Provocativo, and then we'll dothe three questions that I ask
all the guests.
So we've hinted to a few things, but I want you to tell us just
like outright what the productis.
So if people are like oh, Ilove wine, I love pretty bottles
, I love all this stuff, likewhat can they expect with
Provocativa?

Speaker 2 (01:03:33):
So they can definitely expect the most
beautiful bottle.
But I think part of my callingis to make the world, especially
here in America, understandwhat kava is Like.
No one understands yet kavaright understands yet kava right

(01:03:59):
.
And kava is extremelyinteresting because we make our
bubbles exactly the same way.
Champagne is made in theChampagne region of France.
We have this amazing regulatoryboard for the kava region that
has so many rules that we haveto stand by, and also our
product is made with organicgrapes in an organic vineyard.

(01:04:20):
It is certified organic in alot of different countries.
So here in the United States wecan add on the label that it is
made with organic grapes.
There is a compound that we doadd, that's that is a natural
byproduct of making wine.
That right now the UnitedStates won't recognize as

(01:04:43):
certified organic, but they'remaking a lot of noise in
California.
We're trying to change that, soI'm sure it will.
And then in in the EU we arecertified organic.

Speaker 1 (01:04:55):
Um, and I can tell you this to me, so I love
knowing that it's, it's superimportant.

Speaker 2 (01:05:00):
I mean, like, with the way of the world today, you
need to know what you're puttingin your body, right.
We need to know that we're notpoisoning ourselves.
Who wants to wake up the nextday Like, like feeling like
their joints hurt or they have aheadache or they're dizzy
because they drank wine thenight before?
That's not supposed to happen.
You know, um, I've always madewine, um, organically.

(01:05:25):
You know, we just happen not tobe certified organic either at
my dad's boutique vineyard, um,and that's that's important to
know.
About provocativo, yeah, youknow, that's that's really
important.
The the thing about it is isthat you're going to get an
organic product for roughlyaround $30 a bottle.

(01:05:49):
You know, depends where, whatstate you're in, depends where
you're buying it from, um, andthis wine compares to champagne.
That's 80 and up, right, soyou're getting a massive deal.
And you know it's when you'relooking at calories.

(01:06:09):
I mean, I know, here we'rewomen, right, we always want to
appreciate it yeah.
Calorie conscious, right, you'relooking at calories, you know,
and you're looking also at thecomponent, that there's no
additives and preservatives andwhatnot that are not considered
organic or a byproduct, right so?

(01:06:40):
And then you're getting it for30 a bottle.
What not better to do, you know.
So it's healthy.
You know.
There's studies out there thatare talking about, you know, um,
bubbles, champagne, kava,whatnot they're, they're good
against fighting heart attacksand heart disease, you know and
it's.
You find literature everywhere.
You know about it.
So I want to say, like you know, provocativo is.

Speaker 1 (01:07:02):
It's so good, it's, it's a brute, it's I was
thinking I was saying at thebeginning of the conversation
I'm my friends know I'm like ared red wine girl through and
through, but like, honestly,that's because no one's ever
like introduced me to white LikeI don't, like.
I just don't know what to likedo with it.
You know what I mean, and so Iam going to go try a glass.

Speaker 2 (01:07:23):
I'm so glad you are.
You know it's, it's funnybecause you're saying you're a
red girl.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:07:29):
But I like to identify wine drinkers as they
either prefer dry or sweet.
Okay, so I'm going to go.
I'm going to put you in the drycategory, yeah, okay, and
you're burning hot today.

Speaker 1 (01:07:43):
I am burning.

Speaker 2 (01:07:51):
Nothing is going to make you feel better than
drinking a glass of bubbles.
It's refreshing, the bubblesare persistent and they're
delicate.
You feel amazing.
It's like the floral aromas,the subtle vanilla in there.
It's a very clean aftertaste.
You don't get that a lot ofwine.

(01:08:12):
You get a weird aftertaste inyour mouth and that's because
there's clarifying agents andpreservatives and red number
whatever in it and you knowyou're not going to get any of
that.
And then, on top of it, theprice point is so amazing that
you can do something fun.
You can make an Aperol spritz.
You can throw a splash ofLimoncello in there and throw it

(01:08:35):
over ice.
You know, I mean, it's thatversatile.
You can have it with caviar,which is like the perfect
pairing, or you can have it witha hamburger or hot dog, it
doesn't matter.
You can have it all by itselfwith your charcuterie board.

Speaker 1 (01:08:53):
There we go, look at that tie-in.
It doesn't matter, you can haveit all by itself with your
charcuterie board.
Hey, there we go, look at thattie in, it's celebratory.

Speaker 2 (01:08:58):
It's it's, you know, you just, you feel fun.
You feel fun when you drink it.
It's that's why everybody loves, you know, popping a bottle of
bubbles, because it's thatcelebratory moment and what
makes us feel good is, you know,celebrating right.

Speaker 1 (01:09:13):
So good.
I was just pulling up becauseyou're like you're selling it so
good, like I'm like I want togo get my bottle right now.
I'm sure everyone wants to gettheir hands on a bottle.
You guys are offering listeners20% off direct purchases
through your website, and so thecode this is all going to be in
the show notes, but it'sgather20, like no spaces
G-A-T-H-E-R, the number's twozero, and can you tell us the

(01:09:36):
website?

Speaker 2 (01:09:37):
Sure, it's provocativobubblescom.

Speaker 1 (01:09:40):
Ooh love that.
Yeah, I like the addition ofthe bubbles.

Speaker 2 (01:09:45):
Yeah, I mean, and it depends like I would just go
directly to the website and it'seasy, comes quick to the door,
Like I'm constantly.
I know this, not that I don'thave like a thousand cases to
myself, but, you know, ratherthan me going to UPS and
shipping it, I literally go onthe website and I ship it to

(01:10:05):
people.
I'm shipping it to Texas,Seattle, New York, you know
whatever, and just takes acouple of days, you know so.

Speaker 1 (01:10:12):
Mouthful of ice.
Hold on Beth Ice.
We were talking about thisbefore, but I think it's called
like the E-cozy on Amazon.
It's like $75 on prime day.
It's the best.
I'm just like addicted to it,my glasses of it all summer long
.
Um, no one.
Uh, when your team was sendingme the bottles, I got an email

(01:10:35):
and I felt like it was here likean hour later, Like it came so
fast.
I think it was overnight, butso fast.

Speaker 2 (01:10:42):
Yeah, and honestly, that's how fast it is.
It's like one or two days andit's there, you know, so it's
super easy.
I mean, everybody can follow uson Instagram, I mean, or go on
my instagram to message us there, or you know, whatever I mean,
I'm sure they can message youtoo yeah, I'm gonna tag all of
the accounts in the show notes.

Speaker 1 (01:11:03):
Yeah, um, and I wanted to.
Where'd those go?
Um, sorry, my computer wasscreaming at me.
It's like you're almost out ofstorage.
I've never like I'm just, I'mnot.
This is like off the script,but it was like you need to
delete stuff or else theconversation is going to end.
Oh no, I know.
No, I think we're good, thoughwe're like at the last three

(01:11:24):
questions, but I was like, howdo I solve that problem?
Call the IT department.
I know, yeah, full name, myhusband, that's who the IT?
Okay, Well, we end each of ourconversation.
I feel like we could just keepgoing.

Speaker 2 (01:11:39):
This is like I know it's too much fun.
We're going to have to like doit another day.

Speaker 1 (01:11:44):
I know, I know we really will.
I don't say stuff like thatlightly, but for the listener
that's wanting to run for aglass of wine.
Here's the three questions thatwe ask each of our guests, and
I want to hear your answers aswell.
The first is something you'veeaten recently and loved.

Speaker 2 (01:12:00):
Oh my gosh, that's like a really hard question, I
know.
I mean, yesterday I had musselsand clams and I just I don't
know, I'm such a nerd, but Ilove mussels and clams.
I had them over pasta and Ijust you know, I had a little.

(01:12:23):
You could throw provocativo inthere when you're making your
clams and your mussels, and it'sfabulous.

Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
Can I admit something to you I've never had either.

Speaker 2 (01:12:36):
You just hurt my feelings and it's, it's fabulous
.

Speaker 1 (01:12:38):
Can I admit something to you I've never had either?
You just hurt my feelings, youjust hurt.

Speaker 2 (01:12:41):
Okay, Now you're coming.
You're coming to the vineyardand we're going to make mussels
and clams on an open fire.

Speaker 1 (01:12:47):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:12:47):
Okay, yep, and I'm going to teach you, okay, how to
make mussels and clams, becausethat's like a sin, you being
Italian and not having that.
We have to fix that.
I don't know, but it's so hardfor me to answer.
What have I eaten?

Speaker 1 (01:13:05):
I mean Everything, probably, everything, you
probably just surround yourselfwith good food.

Speaker 2 (01:13:08):
Yeah, I eat like four or five times a day.
I know Same girl and yeah, andI'm, I'm constantly cooking.
You see me on social media.
I'm constantly like I'm makingbread and I'm doing weird things
and you know, um, I amconstantly eating.
And when I do go out which Idon't love to go out often, Um,

(01:13:32):
but I do love restaurants,especially here in Chicago,
because I feel like we have someof the world's best restaurants
here.
Right, I love it.
But you know what?
I have something?
Yeah, what is it?
I was in Medellin, Colombia,about a year ago and I went to a

(01:13:55):
Michelin star restaurant, Iwant to say it was called El
Cielo and it was so fabulous.
One of the courses we werebrought out was like a hand
scrub, was like a hand scrub.
It was weird, but it was sogood because they made this.

(01:14:18):
We didn't know, you know, likethey'd like put, they popped a
bowl in front of us and theywere like you know, break what
was inside the bowl and itlooked kind of like a truffle.
And then they were like like,oh, exfoliate your hands.
And I was like what?
So this exfoliant was coffeeand chocolate.

Speaker 1 (01:14:44):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:14:45):
And they literally told us to lick our hands.
I was like that's so fun.
It was fun, so like that's.
I guess that's why I kind oflike really remember it right
now, cause it was delicious.

Speaker 1 (01:15:02):
Oh my gosh, that sounds good.
I like those flavors, yeah, andI'm all.
I'm all for like anexperiential eating, whatever,
anything like that.

Speaker 2 (01:15:11):
Bravo food right.

Speaker 1 (01:15:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:15:14):
Good food good food.

Speaker 1 (01:15:15):
Yeah, bravo to them.
That's great.
Um a gathering you attendedthat made you feel a strong
sense of belonging and, if youcould pinpoint it, what it was
that made you feel that way yousaid earlier just being on your
parents property.
I picked up on that, but Idon't know if that's your answer
.

Speaker 2 (01:15:32):
I mean, I mean that would be really, you know, kind
of that like go-to answer.
It's always, you know, like afamily gathering.
That's where I really feel likeI belong.

(01:15:55):
Amongst the vines, we're alleating, you know, with family.
You know, um, we just had somelifelong family friends come
over to the vineyard.
They were in from London and,um, you know, that always gives
me that, like you know, sense ofbelonging.
But I would have to say myother answer to you.

(01:16:18):
I'm going to give you two partanswers for everything.
I think this is like the Geminiin me.
I was lucky enough to be in aworldwide beauty pageant a
couple years ago ago and it wascalled universal woman and it
really was amazing being in aroom and gathered together with

(01:16:43):
all these just drop deadgorgeous from like the inside
out women all gathered togetherand everybody you know like
gives back to the world andthere's just so many beautiful
souls and even though you don'tknow each other, we were all put
on a cruise ship together forlike two weeks, you know.

(01:17:03):
So, yeah, I mean like we reallylike you know, we really honed
in and like they became likefamily.
So, um, I'm to give you mytwo-part answer and tell you
it's either you know, in thevineyard or doing something with
people that are like-minded,you know, like the Universal
Woman pageant, just because it'slike you know, I think why you

(01:17:30):
and I feel like we've known eachother for a hundred years is
because you know we're we'restrong and passionate women.
So I would say too and thatgoes back same thing with BB
strong, passionate women youknow, that's what's, that's,
that's what makes you feel likealive is women.
Women supporting women.

Speaker 1 (01:17:50):
It's true.

Speaker 2 (01:17:51):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:17:52):
Really good Thinking so many thoughts about that.
I think we're in a time rightnow where it's like almost
discouraged to be around peoplethat think like you, because you
know we say, like echo chamber,you don't want to get yourself
stuck in that.
And I think that where thedanger comes is when you're only
around people that think justlike you or share the same
values.
But I think having the balanceof both in life right, that's

(01:18:15):
what magic is.

Speaker 2 (01:18:17):
It's always good to have that person that puts you
in check, though I know, yeah,it's going to tell you like the
raw truth.

Speaker 1 (01:18:24):
We don't like them, but we love them.

Speaker 2 (01:18:25):
Yeah, yeah, sometimes we don't like them, but we love
them.

Speaker 1 (01:18:28):
We love them.
Okay, my favorite one lately.
Last but not least, somethingyou have discovered recently
that you think everyone shouldknow about a Netflix show Amazon
purchase anything like that oh,that's a hard one.
Did you watch sirens?

(01:18:50):
No.

Speaker 2 (01:18:51):
Is it good?

Speaker 1 (01:18:53):
On Netflix.
Do I have to watch it?
Okay, so I don't know your likeTV.
I don't know what you like towatch.
I've never watched anythinglike this show in my life.
Like I think it changed my life, like it's like a.

(01:19:14):
It's a, but it's not like grossor weird.
Watch it on a weekend where youhave nothing going on, cause
you will not be able to stop.

Speaker 2 (01:19:18):
I'm such like I'm.
I'm a weirdo period.
It's like I don't.
The only time I watch TV islike when I'm at the end of the
night.

Speaker 1 (01:19:26):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (01:19:27):
When I'm winding down every night, I have a Greek
yogurt and a and a piece oftoast with my homemade bread and
honey and butter all the time,Right.
So, in order to get my mind offof whatever is, you know,
happening with you know, mymultiple jobs and you know like

(01:19:48):
whatever's happening in thehouse and like kind of like I
have to do, do this like get mymind out of whatever's going on
to settle down in order to havethat solid sleep, right, sure,
um?

Speaker 1 (01:20:01):
so this show might do that, it might not.

Speaker 2 (01:20:05):
I have to say I'm like I'm recently really
obsessing with well, I wasobsessing with well, I was
obsessing with suits, believe itor not.

Speaker 1 (01:20:17):
My, my.
I think it's my favorite show,yeah, so.

Speaker 2 (01:20:21):
I just finished that.
And the other thing I'mobsessing with I don't know if
you've seen the podcast PBD.

Speaker 1 (01:20:28):
No.

Speaker 2 (01:20:29):
Obsessing Really.
Yeah, obsessing Really.
Yeah, there's um, I mean, Ithink it's really a podcast for
men, but I'm, but I'm obsessingwith watching these men and
hearing how they think Um.

Speaker 1 (01:20:43):
I know what's so funny.
My mom has for sure sent methese clips.
She I think my mom watches.
That's so cool Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:20:55):
I'll watch and I'm obsessing, like because I, I
like to get in.
You know the mindset and thehead of businessmen.
You know, because we're aroundthem all day and I have to deal
with businessmen all the time,it's a male dominated industry
that that I'm in, you know.
So You're smart, I think I, I,I, I like that I and they.

(01:21:15):
They talk about business a lot.
You know, they have really good, you know, like amazing guests
on the show and there's so manydifferent.
There's wait.
There's four guys generally onthe show and they all have a
very different opinion on things.
Great, you know.
So I like watching that podcastand you know my current one was

(01:21:36):
suits.
I was, and I can't wait for umhouse of dragons to come.

Speaker 1 (01:21:42):
I know, I know, oh my gosh.
So okay, we for sure like thesame TV.
So the main character in sirensis the one of the girls on
House of Dragons.
No, and she's very different.
She's like a Nantucket preppygirl.

Speaker 2 (01:22:00):
Okay, I'm going to have to watch it now.
I'm going to report back.

Speaker 1 (01:22:04):
It's a mini series.
It's only six episodes and forthe first few you're like I
don't know if I love this orhate it, but I can't stop.
And it's unbelievable and it'sso funny to hear you say that
you watch this podcast.
We're a big podcast family.

(01:22:25):
My husband and I watch them allthe time.
But in college I always knew Iwanted to be an interviewer.
I just didn't know in whatcapacity and I would sit and
just watch Dr Phil and myroommate.
You are such a weirdo.

Speaker 2 (01:22:36):
What's wrong with you ?
Well, I'm going to beat you onthat.
I used to watch Jerry Springer.

Speaker 1 (01:22:43):
So funny, but I just I don't know.
People have their thoughtsabout Dr Phil, now whatever I
mean, I know, but I get it LikeI just wanted to watch the box,
though he was really outside thehe.

Speaker 2 (01:22:57):
He was no one.
No one on TV at that time wasdoing what he was doing, you
know.
So he was different and youknow he did promote a lot of
good.

Speaker 1 (01:23:14):
Yes, yes.
So, yes, a lot of yeah Wow,very cool, my friend Well, a lot
of commonalities, I love that.
Dr Phil.
I know I don't currently watchDr Phil in the afternoon, my
free time, but if anyone's like,do you still do that?
I want to know.
Um, no, but it's, it's really.

(01:23:37):
Uh.
I like that answer because it'sa good call to action for us to
kind of surround ourselves with.
Oh chess, you play chess.
I'm addicted.
Are you really like on yourphone?
Or?

Speaker 2 (01:23:50):
in person.
No, no, no, no, no With Louisin person.
And yes, and we're supercompetitive.
So it's like a knockdown, dragout, fight, sometimes, like the
pieces are like moving eachother out, you know like it's so
fun.

Speaker 1 (01:24:07):
I feel like we have enough in common that I could
trust that recommendation.
I've never properly played.
But, I'm a big game person,okay, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:24:17):
Catan.

Speaker 1 (01:24:18):
I've never.

Speaker 2 (01:24:19):
Oh my God, we started playing.
That too, we have our wholeweekend planned.

Speaker 1 (01:24:23):
I feel like we do.
It's like chess muscles andCatan.
Wait, you forgot aboutProvocativo bubbles.
Oh sorry, sorry, yeah, yeah, ofcourse, I mean, that was just a
given.

Speaker 2 (01:24:36):
Yeah, we are going to drink Provocativo, eat mussels
and clams and play chess andCatan Surrounded by vines.

Speaker 1 (01:24:43):
While watching sirens .
Oh, my girlfriend, I know mybirthday is July 13th.
Are we doing this?
I'm kidding.
There we go.
I loved this.
Well, thank you so much.
Anything else, I guess that youfeel like we missed that.
You wanted to be sure to get onrecord.

Speaker 2 (01:25:03):
I don't think so.
We covered a lot we did, but itjust, it just felt like two
girls having a good time.
So that's the way I like it.
Yeah, I had a fun time.
Thanks for having me, of course.
And we need to uh, let's make acocktail.
Oh, let's do that, let's, let's, let's do a provocative

(01:25:24):
cocktail together.

Speaker 1 (01:25:25):
Oh my gosh, that'd be great.
I'm like we do it right now,but my baby needs a cocktail.
But baby's waiting for mamawhat my baby needs.
Mama needs a cocktail, butbaby's waiting for mama.

Speaker 2 (01:25:33):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:25:36):
Oh man.
Well, I'm going to attacheverything in the show notes,
direct links to everything, likethe Instagram websites, the
coupon code.
So if you guys are listeningand looking for that, you can
find it there and we will seeyou next week.
See you then.