December 15, 2025 • 60 mins
In this powerful conversation, Lisane Basquiat sits down with Ingrid Best—founder of IBest Wines, global brand builder, mother, grandmother, and a woman who has carved her path with courage, culture, and authenticity. Ingrid shares how her journey began as a young mother navigating adulthood and responsibility at the same time, and how an early message from her own mother—that she was “a star”—became the internal compass that guided her through uncertainty, setbacks, and reinvention.
Ingrid opens up about her unexpected entry into the wine and spirits industry, from street promotions in Oakland to becoming a global marketing leader at some of the world’s largest luxury portfolios. She explains how the lessons that came from being overlooked, under-titled, and underestimated ultimately shaped her vision for building something of her own. This episode explores how her travels across the African continent, particularly South Africa, unlocked a new sense of identity and purpose that inspired her to create IBest Wines.
The conversation expands into themes of authenticity, community, and self-forgiveness, as both women reflect on their experiences as teenage mothers and the unique resilience that grows from raising a child while still growing up yourself. Ingrid’s transparency creates space for anyone questioning their path—at 18 or at 48—to see that greatness can still unfold in unexpected ways.
Finally, Ingrid shares how IBest Wines became not just a brand, but a love letter—to South Africa, to the women who invested in her, to the communities she serves, and to her younger self. She discusses where the company is headed next and how listeners can support her mission of building a global brand rooted in culture, representation, and creative freedom.
Ingrid opens up about her unexpected entry into the wine and spirits industry, from street promotions in Oakland to becoming a global marketing leader at some of the world’s largest luxury portfolios. She explains how the lessons that came from being overlooked, under-titled, and underestimated ultimately shaped her vision for building something of her own. This episode explores how her travels across the African continent, particularly South Africa, unlocked a new sense of identity and purpose that inspired her to create IBest Wines.
The conversation expands into themes of authenticity, community, and self-forgiveness, as both women reflect on their experiences as teenage mothers and the unique resilience that grows from raising a child while still growing up yourself. Ingrid’s transparency creates space for anyone questioning their path—at 18 or at 48—to see that greatness can still unfold in unexpected ways.
Finally, Ingrid shares how IBest Wines became not just a brand, but a love letter—to South Africa, to the women who invested in her, to the communities she serves, and to her younger self. She discusses where the company is headed next and how listeners can support her mission of building a global brand rooted in culture, representation, and creative freedom.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
My career was it was just a universe answering me
over and over and over again, and me being bold
and bullish enough to extract everything that I needed to
from every one of those situations.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
If there's a path that you know has been laid
out for you, start to walk that path. Yes, you
just have to walk it, because the road is going
to be built under your feet. The universe is going
to provide the stepping stones for it.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Your dreams will make room for you always.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Welcome to the Shaping Freedom podcast, where we dive into
conversations that inspire personal growth, transformation and clarity and challenging times.
I'm your host, Lisan Bosquiato. I'm feeling really giddy this morning,
very very excited. Today I'm sitting down with someone who
has built a career and now a company by trusting
(00:59):
her voice and honoring her roots. Ingrid Best is the
founder of I Best Wines, a brand shaped by culture, creativity,
and the belief that representation belongs everywhere, including in the
wine industry. Before stepping into entrepreneurship, Ingrid spent two decades
leading some of the biggest names in wines and spirits,
(01:22):
but there came a point where she knew it was
time to create something that reflected her story, her values,
and her vision for what this industry could be, and
she did exactly that. In this conversation, we're going to
talk about the leap from corporate success to building a
global brand from scratch. We talk about identity, purpose, and
the courage it takes to walk away from what's familiar,
(01:45):
and we'll also explore how she uses wine as a
medium to elevate culture, community, and legacy. This is a
conversation about trusting your calling, even when it doesn't come
with guarantees. It's about building with intention and leading from
who you are, not who others expect you to be.
(02:10):
I've had the pleasure of starting to build a friendship
with Ingrid Best and I'm so excited that you said, yes,
thank you, just sitting down to have this conversation with me.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Margaret, thank you. It's good to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
And it's funny because from the first time I met you,
I felt like I was meeting one of my cousins
that I hadn't met before. And you know that feeling
you get, You're just like this is family.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I do, And I felt the same way, and That's
why I that's why I say like building a friendship right,
like taking the leap into Yeah, we're building a friendship.
And every time we see each other, we're like, oh
my god, I how are you? And someone would think
that we have known each other and that we've key keyed,
you know, over years, and there's just this beautiful energy
(03:03):
that you radiate, Ingrid, that is so generous and so
authentic and purposeful that one can't help, you know, but
smile when they see you, you know, before we get
into the conversation a little deeper. I also want to say,
(03:24):
for those of you who are watching on YouTube, there is,
by the way, the Shaping Freedom podcast YouTube channel. Please
take a look at it. But Ingrid bought me a
beautiful gift today and I had a different shirt on
and I was like, I'm wearing this. I'm rocking this
one today. It matches and even if it didn't, I
wouldn't care, So thank you so much for this gift.
(03:45):
It's a beautiful sweatshirt. Where can people get this?
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Actually they are all sold out, but our new merch
is coming. If you go to ibestwines dot com you'll
see what we used to have just what the hoodie
that you have on. I saved a few first folks,
and I wanted to make sure you had one.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
But new merch is coming, New merch is coming.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Okay, where I'm wearing this. I'm wearing this bad behind
hoodie right and it's been chilly. It's been raining in
LA in southern California for days. It's really sunny today,
but I feel nice and cozy in this. So I
took off what I had and put this on instead,
And thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I want to talk first of all, I want to
help people to understand who you are, right and where
you've come from. Uh, and from there we'll kind of
walk into I Best Wines, which is a wine that
people see everywhere. You are everywhere with your wine. If
someone were to meet you for the first time today,
(04:49):
how would you describe who you are before you describe
what you do or what you've created.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yeah, I would start with I'm a mother, and I'm
a grandmother, and I'm a daughter, and I'm a sister,
and I'm a really good friend. I would start there,
and then naturally I would share that I'm a great
leader and I'm a brand builder. But I think first
(05:19):
and foremost when I think about who I am, I
think about the fact that I became a mom when
I was eighteen years old, and so I've been a
mom for a long time, and it is the one
title and the one job that I'm most proud of.
You know that for me gives me my biggest sense
(05:41):
of purpose. And even with you know, all the things
that I've done, it's always been so that I can
be an example to my son and so that he
can look back at the teenage mom that he knew,
right because we grew up together and be really proud
of who I've become and who I'm coming. And so
(06:01):
that's how I would describe who Ingrid is. She's a mom,
She's now a grandmother. Yes, I'm a grandmother.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
How old is your grandchild?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
He's too, he's two years old. And I'll tell you
when I tell people I'm a grandmother, Like, how are
you a grandmother? You know, I guess I don't look
like a grandmother.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I no, Like what is that about?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Though?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Right? Like?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Grandmothers come in all all all vibration.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You are a grandma who is pioneering the way.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Yeah, you know. Yeah, And I'm excited for when my
grandson can really digest what it is that I do.
Put the wine to the side because he's too young
for that. But someone who is shaping culture is shaping freedom,
you know, I'm excited for him to be able to digest.
(07:00):
You know, my grandmother is cool.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
It's going to feel good, I promise you. So what
you don't know about me, or may not know about me,
is that I had my son Joseph when I was eighteen.
I had my son Joseph three weeks after my eighteenth birthday,
And the experience of raising a son and kind of
raising myself up alongside raising a son is a very
(07:28):
unique is experience. And I have a grandson, Xavier, who's
now eighteen years old. Wow, right, that I didn't know, Yeah,
who's now eighteen years old. And I love that for you.
I love that for you because what your grandson gets
(07:49):
to see is how his grandmother is showing up in
the world.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, you know. Yeah, I'll tell you. The journey of
being a young parent is deep and only if you've
experienced it, do you know. And a big part of
my life is giving my son some other things to
experience with me, because when you are a young parent,
(08:15):
that child is experiencing everything with you, every experiment, every
immature moment, they are right there. And so it's always
nice to talk to someone that understands what I'm talking
about without even having to go into detail. You know.
But when I thought about having more kids, for instance,
(08:36):
down the road, it was always, oh, it would be
nice to be an adult and have a child, because
I was so young. Even when I look at pictures
of myself with my son, I'm like, I'm like, baby,
I mean, there are pictures of me where with this baby,
and I'm like, oh my god, that girl like I
was twelve years old. Yeah, you know, like that he
(08:58):
was obviously my brother. But that's who I would say.
I am a mother and I'm a grandmother, and you
know what.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Brought you into Wow, now I have all kinds and
I'm like, which direction do we go? Tell me a
little bit about your tell us a little bit about
how you made the transition from something as profound as
having a child at that age. Right, So that is
(09:26):
a very different trajectory in terms of career, in terms
of what you chose to do and how did you
wind up working in wine and spirits and what was
if you don't mind, And I'm asking because there was
so many there were other women like you, like myself
who could be at that same place and who decide
(09:50):
or who believe that, Oh, I've had this child at
this sage and this means that my life is over
or what am I going to do now? Where this
this is now going to be the thing that defines
the rest of my life in a negative way. So,
if you had the opportunity, or this is the opportunity
to speak to someone else who may be in that
(10:12):
place today, how did you? Can you tell us a
little bit about your path from that perspective and speaking
to that person.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, So for me, I remember my mom telling me
this story once that she had a reading and that
the woman told her your daughter is a star. And
she told me that story pretty I was pretty young.
That didn't register to me until it was time for
(10:43):
me to figure out what I was going to do
as a teenage mom. And I remember the moment hearing
being reminded of that conversation like you're a star, and
I took that and I was like, Okay, there's not
anything I can do. So just go figure it out,
Go do it because you're a star. That's right, you know.
(11:07):
And so the first thing I want to say to
any young person, whatever the thing that you're navigating, whether
it's being a parent really young, not having your parents
really young, whatever your thing is, remember that you're put
on this earth to be great.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And if no one's ever told you that. For me,
what my mom said to me was you're here to
be great. That's how I heard it. But I'm saying
to the person that may be listening today, you're here
to be great. So first start with that, knowing that
you've been put on this earth to do something, and
that's something. That path is not going to be easy.
(11:49):
It wasn't easy for me. I had my son at eighteen.
I always wanted to go to a black college. All
my friends went away to a black college. I didn't.
I stayed home, was nursing my son while in classes.
It was too hard. I dropped out of college. I
was so hard on myself about that because I was like,
(12:11):
I always wanted to be the girl that had the
college experience and I literally just figured out how to
make money and how I did that was street promotions.
So years ago there were a lot of where did
you grow up? I grew up in the Bay Area. Okay,
So my parents are New Yorkers. I was born in
(12:32):
New York. My mother's Puerto Rican, so I'm half Rica.
I feel like we're cousins.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
We are.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And when my mother moved from New York, we moved
to San Francisco and so and then I moved to Oakland.
So at this by this point, coming out of high school,
I was living in Oakland, and I always like to
say I got my muscle from Oakland.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
I got mine from Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
So I get I got my muscle from Oaklan, and
I had to figure out what I was going to do.
I love music. I'd always been connected to kind of
the scene and culture and this and that, and from
a bi coastal lens, because when you have parents that
are from New York and you're going back and forth,
it's pretty dynamic.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
It is.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I had a pulse on what was happening in the
West Coast. I also had It's such a gift, and
my best friend and I started a street promotions company
years ago. There were lots of record labels, incredible music.
This is when hip hop was just amazing and we
knew all the DJs. We started a record pool like
(13:39):
we were the it girls. We were promoting all you
know the artist and that's how I made money. I
interned for Sway. I learned so much from him, and
then we started our own company. And I remember always
telling myself, like, you're here to be great. If you're
(14:00):
gonna be a street promoter, be a great streets promoter.
And I was. And then things started to shift and change,
labels started to consolidate. The money was really drying up
for street promoters. And I had a friend say to me,
you would be really good in the wine in spirits industry.
(14:22):
And I had no idea what that nowhere out of
nowhere because I was trying to figure it out, like
I gotta make some money. I was never doing street
promotions to be cool. I was doing it to feed
my son, yes you know. And he said you would
be great wine and spirits, and literally, in my mind,
I'm thinking spirits like tarot cards, Like what are you
talking about? I had no idea what he was talking about.
(14:45):
And he goes, well, you know all these brands, these
liquor brands that are in the nightclubs, which I was
very familiar with nightclubs because of what I did. He's like,
there are teams that are building those stories and marketing
you know, those brands, and you would be really good
at that. And I went on Craigslist. I told y'all,
I'm my grandmother. I went on Craigslist and there was
(15:07):
an ad to launch a brand and everything that had
said the person needed to be. I was like, highly connected,
you know, big thinker, access to you know, the bar
and lounge scene. I'm like, I know I could do
all those things right. And I landed an ambassador role
(15:32):
launching a booutique high end rum for Diagio, one of
the largest liquor companies in the world. As an ambassador,
but this specific project allowed me to touch so many
different components of the industry that I almost it was
(15:52):
like a crash course and everything you would ever need
to know. And I was so inquisitive because to me,
every experience was like, this is my opportunity to get
what I would have gotten if I would have finished college.
That's how I thought about everything, you know, like, Okay,
I'm in school, learn it. And I was really good
at it, and a lot of it is storytelling, right,
(16:16):
You're telling the story of these brands, You're connecting with consumers.
And from there, that is how I entered the wine
and spirits industry. I entered as an ambassador, and I
worked my way up and I, you know, from manager
managerial roles, which you know, one thing black and brown
people experience is that they'll keep us in a manager
(16:37):
role forever. And so what I did while I spent
so many years as a manager and you know in
the industry, was I learned at the highest level.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
You used that as an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I used it and I would just learn and learn
and get obsessed with like I need to learn everything
there is to know about this business. And even though
they're going to keep me at this manager level, I'm
already an executive.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
That's how I approach the star, because I'm a star,
you know. And I remember, I would always remember that
conversation from my mom. So I got into this business,
I would say, from the intuition of a friend and
then me being curious, and I believe it was my destiny,
you know, to answer an ad on Craigslist. And then
(17:24):
eventually now I'm the founder of my own global brand.
There is some destiny in that. But to take it
back to what I would say to someone, you are
put on this earth to be great, and the path
to greatness is a long one.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Thank you for sharing that. And it's also you know,
I mentioned about an eighteen year old or a young
person who's entering into the role of parenting, but I
think that's also true of anyone who's entering into the
role of parent right. We were talking to someone a
few minutes ago who's a very grown adult who's like,
(18:06):
I'm scared. I'm terrified in this new role, right. And
so I think that the fact that you were able
to say yes, the fact that you were able to
hear and receive someone saying you're a star, you're great,
and the fact that you were able to use that
as a seed to plant the way that you chose
to move forward, I think is another way of saying
(18:31):
yes to opportunity, because that's also an opportunity. It's an
opportunity to walk the path of life with that as
you're kind of guiding guiding light.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, And I think also what it helped me do
was there were a lot of things that were signaling
that I wasn't a star. Like I didn't I didn't
go to the black college that I wanted to go to.
I didn't have the same experience that my peers had.
They were all calling me girl homecoming, and I'm like,
this baby is dropped, the baby and this baby home yea.
(19:07):
And but all those things can can tear away at
whether or not you believe you are still having a
great experience in life, because we've been told there are
some things that equal great experiences in life, right, And
so I think it's also understanding that your path is
your path, it's uniquely yours, and if you can just
(19:30):
remember that that, like you're blessed to be living whatever
the path may be, and to remove the judgment. There
there were times where I could never actually say, like
I dropped out of college, I didn't get a degree,
because the assumption was, you know, I had worked all
these organizations that required a degree, right, but it was
(19:51):
my destiny to get those jobs, and it was it
wasn't easy to always just say I didn't do it
this way. I did it this way. And I think
people have to also give their cell themselves grace, right,
you have to give yourself grace and whatever and whatever
your path and your story is, because it is uniquely yours.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
And I think it's important to own it. Yeah, you
guys seem to have done. And I think what's interesting
is and we have a lot we have to sit
down and might have some I best wine, chit chat
about some of this. We don't have time for it today,
but I will say this, I felt a lot of
the same kind of wow. I stepped off the path
(20:35):
that was laid out for me. You know, I'm the
daughter of a Haitian father Puerto Rican mother, and there
was a plan for me to, you know, graduate from
my school, go to college. And because I had Joseph,
that didn't happen in quite that way, right, And I
actually went back much later to and went to school
as a night student while I was working a full
(20:56):
time job in corporate And at the time, every on
the measure for success and achievement was about the climb
through someone else's ladder, right, put yourself on that path
and make your way through the organization through manager to
leader and all that. And in the beginning it was
(21:18):
hard for me to admit when people would ask because
especially in New York. That's the first question, what are
you doing? Where'd you go to school?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Or where'd you go to school?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Where'd you go to school? What are you doing? And
it's like, well, you know, I'm doing this now and
I'm kind of finding my way. But I think when
I think about it, I would not have been happy
going down that path. That was not the right path
for me at all. So you've built and our building
(21:59):
this global brand, and you've done incredible things. And I'm
going to take a step back in a minute to
kind of like talk about how we got there. But
what do you think your life would have been like?
Or how different would your life have been had you
taken those steps and gone to that college that you
wanted to go to and attended that homecoming.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Yeah, it's funny because I realize a few years ago
that life wound up giving me pretty much everything that
I've always wanted. A good big part of my network
and peer group are black college graduates. See people assume
(22:46):
all the time, like what black college did you go to?
We're doing this HPC program, we want you to involved
in it. You know all the things right, And so
I've been able to have a lot. I think of
the experiences that I wish I would have had that
because that's just how the universe operates. The universe hears
you and your desires. I believe one day I will
(23:11):
get an honorary degree from Howard University because that's where
I really wanted to go. Yeah, I say it all
the time now, but I do think that I don't
think about it a lot. This is a great question.
But what I realize about that path is that if
you take advantage of the network, the people, the tribe
(23:36):
that comes with those experiences, oftentimes it unlocks quite a bit.
And so I do believe that it could have potentially
unlocked some things for me sooner. Right, That's one way
I look at it. But I did something a couple
of years ago, I think twenty twenty two. I gave
myself this gift because I'd always thought about, like, well,
(24:00):
would ingrid be like on a college campus? Like I
just I didn't have that experience. So I went to
the Ben's Program at Harvard Business School. It's a four
day program, okay, And I did that to give the
gift to my younger self of the just the experience
(24:20):
of a university and to close the chapter and close
I think the thoughts around can I do this? Could
I have been able to do the college thing and
that four day program which is amazing. It is an
amazing program. It's focused on entertainment, sports and media, and
(24:41):
I mean, my classmates were I mean, it's just amazing.
The alum from the bem's program is amazing. And I
love the experience. I've stayed connected to the classmates and
to the professor and I did great. Yeah, And I
gave that gift to myself because I do think that
(25:03):
there was a part of me that had always wondered
like what would I have been had I done that?
And you you really got to like, you gotta close
that chapter. You gotta let that go. But that was
my way of bringing it to completion. And it was
a great experience. But I do think, just to answer bluntly,
I think it could have accelerated some things because I
(25:26):
do think that there is an unlock there when I
see even in mentoring young people, you know though young
people that are coming through the college system, and you
know their peer group and who they have to lean on.
It's really beautiful. I got it in a different way,
but I have no regrets. It wasn't my path. I
(25:50):
was never really a school person, but I have a
great personality, so the teachers love me. So I knew
how to navigate school, but I wasn't necessarily the kid
that was up steadying all the time. And you know,
and so I'm also very realistic with like it might
have not just been the experience for me as well.
(26:11):
But I do think that there is an unlock when
you go that path, and for the people that are
really going that path, I'm happy for them, right, And
so I guess that would be my answer.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Yeah, I love that you did something to bring a
part of the younger Ingrid's life to completion.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
I think that's so important because there is an acknowledgment
there that there is that part of you that maybe
kind of just needed you to close the door, not
shut it, but just kind of bring it full circle
for yourself.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
I did. How did that feel? It felt amazing. I'll
tell you the days leading up and I don't have
imposter syndrome, but the days leading up to, you know,
flying out to Boston and checking in for the program
at Harvard, I was so nervous and there was a
part of me that was like, maybe I'll do it
next year, Like I all of that that I think
(27:13):
insecurity from my younger self showed itself because that's just
not hot.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
That's which is beautiful.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
It was great I needed to do.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
She needed to kind of come up to the surface
surface so that you could.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I needed to face build Ingrid or nineteen year old
Ingrid who did what she could at San Francisco State
and then just couldn't do it anymore. Yeah, and then
the twenty five year old who was like go back,
go back, year old Ingrid who was hustling and building
and making money. I had to face her. I had
(27:46):
to face the Ingrid in her thirties that would avoid
the question when people would say what school did you
go to? And I'd say, oh, I went to San
Francisco State, and I'd come up with this romanticizing of
this thing that you're like, you don't have to do that,
your path is and it is okay. And so it was.
(28:08):
It was intense the days leading up and the moment
I walked into that classroom, I had so much joy.
I was so happy when I saw my name amongst
all of those students. When you know, I sat in
my group and we were reading the case studies. When
I raised my hand the first time and the professor
called on me, it was like, girl, you were present.
(28:32):
I was so present, and I could feel this younger
self just being like thank you. Wow, yeah, thank you
for giving yourself this moment at this Keep in mind,
this is Harvard Business School, you know, at this at
the highest level. And I'm so glad I did it.
(28:53):
And there have been other little things that I've done.
I injured myself on a bike and I didn't ride
a bike for years, and in the pandemic, I got
back on a bike. And so I'm real clear. But
I think those things that traumatize you a bit, you
got to face them.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
When you leave a bunch of scraggly pieces, yeah, behind,
they just get longer and longer, they get longer, and
they continue to stay with you. Yeah right, And you
can't always necessarily it's not every single thing, but the
things that matter, yeah, and the things that are part
of your present, even if you're not paying attention to them.
It's so important to resolve those things.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
It is. And again, I think if you're a person
that believes in living your authentic self. Then there's no
other way to do it. That's right, because the truth
is you are still the younger person that might have
that thing. It doesn't go away, right, And I really
believe in living exactly as I am.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
We appreciate you for that. Thank you. You're such a courageous.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Human.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Thank you, Ingrid, such a courageous woman and filled with integrity.
And by integrity, I mean that integrity to yourself, you know,
to your path, to what you heard and know and
what was programmed into you about yourself, and to the
(30:20):
roles that you have you know, during on your paths
as a mother, as a grandmother, as a you know,
as as a leader, and as a brand builder. I said,
we'd go back a little bit. Let's go okay, So
now you're on this path, you're an ambassador, you're working
for some of the biggest names, uh in the wine
(30:41):
and spirits industry. So tell them, tell us a bit
about how you like a little bit more whatever you
want to continue to share about that journey. And then
when was the moment that you decided, wait a minute,
I'm gonna do this for myself.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Yeah, so my path was a tremendous one. I again
got exposed to the wine and spears industry at the
highest level because that is what I wanted the experience
to be, right, And so hindsight, I think back to
a lot of times where I was like, I can't
believe I didn't get promoted, Like I would go for
(31:19):
the job and I wouldn't get promoted, and I was like,
all right, that's okay. These are my goals for this
year to learn, you know, these sets of things. And
so it wasn't until my last role that really I
think I was titled correctly, compensated correctly. And it took years,
(31:40):
it took many years, but all the while, I think
the universe heard that I wanted to do something great
in this industry, and so it was giving me all
the things that I needed. And so, you know, I
went from Diagio to LVMH the moment Hennessy portfolio. I
(32:02):
then went to Bacardi and ran a large joint venture
that allowed me to do global expansion work for a brand.
And that was where I landed in South Africa. And
I always like to say, you know, I had traveled
the world, I had had multiple passports, I had never
(32:25):
been to Africa like many of us either I've not
been Oh bro, we're going.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I would love to.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
It's so interesting is that this is the third person
that I've had this conversation with this year.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
I was literally on the phone.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
And I really mean it.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Yeah, so you let me know I'm serious, Okay, And
this is this is it's the universe. I was on
the phone with the City of Atlanta last night. You know,
there is a direct flight from from Atlanta to South Africa.
That is how I built this brand. We'll talk about
that a bit. But I was talking to a dear
(33:06):
friend that works at Mayor's office and she was saying,
you know, I was so ashamed to admit that. You know,
that last trip that I took was my first time
my continent. I said, don't be ashamed to admit that.
We need to tell the story that, as you know,
Black Americans, oftentimes we will travel the entire world and
(33:27):
that is huge. Let me tell you that South Africa
unlocked my superpower.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
This is what I have heard.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
This it allowed my superpower.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
I've heard and I want to go and get some
of my superpower unlocked in South Africa.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
So we we're gonna talk about that, Okay, yes, But
it was through you know, running this joint venture that
I landed on the continent, and in true ingrid fashion,
I was like, I'm going to learn everything there is
to know about global marketing, what brands are doing here,
(34:04):
what the real landscape is, how do I get here
the fastest and as often as I can possibly get here?
And through that experience, I traveled to South Africa, I
traveled to Nigeria, and I traveled to Ghana. So you
go from never going to the continent, so now you've
(34:25):
been to these yeah, right, And I was so moved
by it, and so my very last job I knew,
I was like, I'm going to launch my own brand.
Originally I love wine. I thought it would be from
California because I'm from California. But when I discovered the
South African wine region and just how beautiful the region
(34:50):
is the wine, how connected I felt, and how much
I knew I would inspire people by that choice. There
was no question that the wines, you know, the first
wines coming out as I best wines, would be from
South Africa. And so I say all that to say
that like this my career was. It was it was
(35:11):
just a universe answering me over and over and over again,
and me being bold and bullish enough to extract everything
that I needed to from every one of those situations.
And I think the one thing I really want to
say is that oftentimes black and brown folks are experience
(35:32):
in corporate America isn't always great. There were moments that
it wasn't great for me, but I took those as opportunities.
And so even in how I built this brand and
what I've done is from the experiences, the early experiences
and experiences that I had in Wine and Spears that
that weren't great. I never owned anything that I built,
(35:56):
and never got points on any of the joint ventures
that I managed, and I mean and I work these
businesses like they were my own, and it really helped
me identify exactly what I wanted to do and how
I wanted to do it. And so for any young
person that's listening, my message is in those tough moments
(36:18):
and in those challenges, there is typically an opportunity. It's
an opportunity to see things differently, to rewrite how you
want to see things. And that's what I've been able
to do with Ibest wines.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
It's a creative endeavor.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
It's a creative endeavor.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
And even though I started this with you know, young people,
I think that the lessons that you're sharing are true
for people at any any age, and especially for those
of you who are listening who may be allowing your
mind to tell you that you've missed your opportunity or
that you know, let the younger people do it. If
(36:57):
you have something, if there's a half that you know
has been let laid out for you, start to walk
that path. Yes, you just have to walk it because
the road is going to be built under your feet.
The universe is going to provide the stepping stones for it,
So start walking it. Your dreams will make room for
you always, you know, always. And I think because we
(37:19):
just don't hear that enough. We're taught that we shouldn't
believe what we you know, what we hear all the time.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
We're believing the wrong people or believing the wrong people. Yeah,
but your dream I think for me, it was I realized.
I was like, my dreams are going to make room
for me, you know. And my path in this industry
was one of a long I was a manager for years.
I could not get promoted. I could, you know, all
(37:48):
the and it wasn't because I shouldn't have been promoted.
It's oftentimes just just the way it works. System is right.
But take that do something with it, and do do
something with it. Yeah, and I haven't. I think you're
probably the first person that I've gotten this in depth
with around the fact that I mean, I was a
manager for like twelve years.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
I was in corporate for a long time, very hard worker,
and it was there was like some secret unlocking thing
that had to happen.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yeah, that you're like, what do I have to do?
Speaker 2 (38:20):
What's going on here? And eventually it started to turn
the corner. And I think, because I'm thinking about that
while we're talking, that in some way, although I wasn't
as conscious of it, it was like I had to
prove to myself that I could get to where I
wanted to be before I was able to release myself
from it to move on to the next thing.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
I one percent.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Yeah, And it took a long time, and it was
and it was frustrating, very frustrating. But I think that
when you know that there's a path, when you know
what you're here to do, it makes it a little
more a little easier, yeah, even though it's still challenging.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
And you just got to give yourself some grace, you know,
And you have to quiet your ego. You know, I
work in an industry that there's a lot of egos,
and I learned years ago there is no place for ego.
If your goal is really to be great in anything,
(39:25):
in anything, in anything, your ego is not your friend.
And and you know, posture and and and not being
authentic is never going to lead you to the thing
that equals some level of happiness. And for me, success
(39:46):
is happiness. If I'm not happy, I'm not filled with
joy and what I'm doing, then I'm in my mind
not successful. I don't know if I don't care what
money is tied to it, or you know, notoriety or whatever. Ultimately,
the measure of success for me is happiness and freedom.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yes, there are some things that your story illustrates. One
is incredible courage, really strong work, ethic, personal integrity, a plan, vision,
(40:32):
a sense of adventure, and the ability to kind of
take a step back and look at things from a
more holistic perspective. Some of that has to have already
been in you as it is for many people, right
What has cultivated those aspects of your personality or those
(40:54):
aspects of your being?
Speaker 1 (40:56):
Yeah, you know, I more now than ever I realize
how much having a Puerto Rican mother from the Bronx
who packed up with little to no education, illiterate for
a part of her life, packed up, my sister and
(41:18):
I got on a Greyhound bus came to travel to
San Francisco from New York. The courage that that takes,
So I think courage has been a theme for my
family for a long time, and you don't know that
that's courage at the time. I also think the blessing
(41:42):
and the beauty of literally growing up by coastal so
being in San Francisco, And for anyone who has spent
time in San Francisco I knows anything about San Francisco,
it is it was a very, very, very diverse place,
a really dynamic place. And traveling back and forth from
(42:03):
San Francisco to New York to visit my grandmother and
my family, my exposure to culture. I wish people could
be exposed to culture the way I've been exposed culture,
which is why that's such a big part of my
personal thesis, right, So I would say courage and culture
(42:27):
have always been really deeply rooted just in my life
and my life experience community because when you move from
one place to another, you know, your your friends and
your chosen family become everything for you. And so community
was always at the center of my experience, the people
(42:52):
and the women and friends and that my mom you know,
met along her journey and San Francisco community has always
been something that's been profoundly a part of what I
know helps us live a happy life, you know. So courage, culture, community,
(43:13):
I mean they were just at the center of my life.
And then I think authenticity because there was a period
of time as a young person where you know, I
would say I'm Puerto Rican and San Francisco. They're like,
what are you talking about. You're a black girl. Oh yeah,
and you're forced to have to like try to explain,
you know, why you have Latanos and awagata in your lunch.
(43:37):
And and so once you get comfortable enough in life
to just say, I'm going to be my authentic height,
this is I'm gonna help you understand it. Authenticity for
me has always been where freedom exists because you just
you're just yourself, you know, And so I think those themes,
(43:58):
those early things was really shaped who I am today.
And I didn't always know this. I couldn't always answer
this question like this, but it's very clear to me
that my early childhood and my experience, whether they be
good or bad, really really really molded who I am
(44:19):
today and how I approach every part of my life
and especially my business.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Yeah, let's talk about my best wine. Let's talk about
because let me tell you. You were a wine sponsor during
the King Pleasure Exhibition. I see your wine everywhere. You
recently started a subscription. Yes, I signed up. Y okay,
y'all sign up for the subscription.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
Please please please.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
I lived down in San Diego. I haven't been able
to find it. Yeah, but I'm hoping you can do
something about it soon. Yes. I was surprised when I
asked you how long you had been how long I
Best Wines it's been around? And how long has it been?
Speaker 1 (45:04):
Two years? Girl?
Speaker 2 (45:06):
I know, my goodness, what you have done in two
years with this brand. And this is also going back
to the story that you've been taking us through, which
is you planted all these seeds, you did all of
this so that over the course of two years, your
brand could blow up into what it is right now. Yeah,
(45:29):
so let's talk about let's talk about I Best Thank
you Whine.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Yeah. So, I Best Wines is my namesake and you know,
my early I remember the early part of my career,
you know, researching these brands that I was working on,
and a lot of them were family names. And my
last name happens to be Best and my first initial
(45:53):
is I. So I always say to people I'm the
Eye and I Best. Well, that's right, and it is
a brand that had been in my head, in my
heart for many many years. Again, I didn't really realize
how special it was going to be until I landed
in South Africa and discovered the South African wine region.
(46:20):
And my Best Wines is really a gift to myself.
It is a rewriting of my experience in this wine
and spirits industry because, as I mentioned, you know, for
many many years I sat as a manager this and
that I didn't you know, So as the founder and
(46:42):
CEO of this brand, you know, I have commanded the
highest title for myself in an industry that I love
and in a brand that I now own. I built
the brand alongside five other women, some of whom were
my mentees, women who I was admirers of that I
went out and said, hey, do you want to have
(47:04):
this idea? Do you want to be a part of it?
And they all said yes. And one of the biggest
things that I wanted to do was make sure that
these women had equity in the brand, because that was
something that I never didn't get. I didn't get and
I should have at some instances, but I didn't. And
so the brand is built with an equity model. They
have equity in the business. The first five investors were
(47:28):
all black women, which I'm very proud of that they
believe in me and they believe in the dream. And
the brand is rooted in courage and culture and authenticity
and in all the things that I really love. And
you know, I'm a fairly new art collector, fairly new
to art community, but I will tell you that that
(47:51):
experience has been so therapeutic for me. Yeah, And so
my desire to really support the art community way of
having the brand present and having myself present and supporting
emerging artists is therapy for me. Yeah, you know, And
even on the journey to build Ibs Wines. I spent
(48:12):
a lot of time at artists studios just watching the journey,
watching them go through you know what it takes to
actually get what's inside of them out. And so it
really is a love letter to South Africa, a love
letter to myself, and a love letter to community. You
(48:32):
know that, like we can have brands and experiences with
brands that are truly authentic to us. It doesn't have
to be a marketing ploy. It doesn't have to be
that they're trying to get into our community, but it
can be for us, by us in like a real
in a real way.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
And a lot of people don't realize the reason why
we're everywhere is, like I mentioned earlier, I was a
street promoter.
Speaker 2 (48:58):
Because you are the hardest working women in the wine
and spirits business. You are everywhere doing all the things.
Speaker 1 (49:07):
Yeah, I was a street promoter. So the way that
I've approached this is that, you know, the brand should
be seen in all the places that we want to be, right,
and we are everywhere, but we're actually not everywhere. We
are only where we want to be, and we're really
deliberate with that. And I'm really happy that my community
(49:32):
says to me, you're everywhere, because I'm like, that means
that I'm exactly where where I want to be, right
And I think there's something to that, right because I
think brands that really are just everywhere and doing anything,
they don't really have a real identity, you know. And
so we've been really fortunate that we have a strong community,
a lot of support. This is a very difficult business.
(49:57):
You need a lot of capital to be in the
wine and spirits business to compete, you know. I invested
my own money to build the brand and then welcomed
in some investors and we're still raising and it's a
very difficult climate to raise, but our momentum is fantastic.
The launch of subscription puts US in every state except
(50:20):
for Utah, which is a huge, huge, huge milestone for us.
And we have folks welcoming us that I dreamed of,
right Like being a part of your exhibit was a
dream come true. You know, being a part of you know,
the artists opening night at Studio Museum is a dream
(50:40):
come true. You know, being poured at you know, small
intimate art dinners and conversations is really for me a
dream come true. And so this this thing is really
being powered by a dream come true.
Speaker 2 (50:58):
And we feel you feel that what what's next? What's
the next evolution of this brand?
Speaker 1 (51:07):
Honestly, what's next is? I think for most founders we
would say we just need the stamina to keep going.
And I always answer this question that way because this
is not easy. You know, being an entrepreneur is hard.
It's ruling and through.
Speaker 2 (51:26):
Sixty five, it's it's it's having a child. But you
have to.
Speaker 1 (51:30):
I'm so glad she said that because another reason why
I best wines is what it is is because it
is my second baby. So I had one son and
I always wanted more kids, but I didn't do it.
And this is like here child, Yeah, here she is.
There's actually a twins. Those are the sisters twins.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
There she is, you know, And.
Speaker 1 (51:51):
So yeah, I think what's next is make sure making
sure that I'm taking care of myself so I had
the stamina to continue you to go. We do have
some additional variants that we're launching right now. We have
the White Blend and the Red Blend. They're both award winning.
We're really proud of them. They're tasty, they are they're tasty,
(52:16):
but we have more coming, and then I want to
venture into food products because I love to cook, and
so I've already got my eyes set on something that
would be the extension of kind of food and in
your kitchen even more, you know, I really want to
curate art shows. It's something that's in my heart. I
(52:38):
want to launch a philanthropic arm of IBS Wines once
we've hit the revenue milestones, to support in that kind
of a way that really supports the art community in
a meaningful way. So I'd love to talk to you
about that more because I'm being really intentional with it.
I don't want to just do anything. I want to
do something that makes sense and that really serves a need.
(53:04):
But the philanthropic part of this business is it's probably
where I will retire, is in service, because that's really
ultimately what this is. It's what it's about.
Speaker 2 (53:17):
It's wine, but it's also in service to the community community,
it's in service to culture, it's in service to everyone. Yeah,
who has a dream and decides that they're going to
put the I was going to say pedal to the metal,
but you know what I mean, that they're going to
actually make the thing happen.
Speaker 1 (53:34):
Yeah, you know, it's funny. I always tell people my
mother was a nurse, my sister was a teacher, and
I'm in the wine and spears business, and so I
had always wanted to find a way to do work
in service of because the women in my life they
observed community at the highest level. My sister's an amazing teacher,
my mother was an amazing nurse caregiver. And so for me,
(53:58):
I'm like, you know, yeah, you can be in an
industry that quote unquote isn't necessarily of service and be
of service, and so that is like hugely important for me.
And so I would say, that's what's next. But I'm
trying to be really present. I'm trying to enjoy the moment,
because I think so much of us just don't give
(54:19):
ourselves the opportunity to enjoy the moment. I still get
really giddy when I walk in the room and I
see the wine. I get so many texts all day.
I wake up in the morning there's texts coming in
from overnight. I'm at this, look at the wine at
you know, and I'm so grateful to people and how
much they've rallied behind me and this brand and so
(54:43):
what's next is like just really celebrating that and hopefully
sustaining you know, what it is that we're setting out
to do, and ultimately I'm building this brand for acquisition.
You know, I recognize what building billion do companies does
for our community and the wealth gap. And I'm very
(55:05):
clear that I want to help in any shape or
form future entrepreneurs that have dreams that need investment and
need support, especially because I know how hard it's been
for me.
Speaker 2 (55:16):
Yeah, Ingrid, how can we support you?
Speaker 1 (55:22):
I would say, first thing is pray for me, you know,
pray for my mind and my heart, because entrepreneurship is
really about the person is building themselves. Yeah, there's this
brand we're building, but you're really this is such a
journey in developing who you are at the highest level.
(55:43):
So I would say sending me good energy is the
first thing. The second thing ibstwines dot com. Read our story,
get to know about us. We also have a section
on the website called Global Creatives. It's dedicated to people
discovering wonderful creative people in the world. Buy the wine
if you're a wine drinker or if you want a gift.
(56:04):
It's perfect for gifting, sign up for subscription, so it's
delivered one less thing. So yes, it's the art of
wine delivered to your door. And then I would I
would say, when you're out and about and you're at
restaurants and you're at we were having this conversation, you're like,
tell me what I need to do, you know, ask
for us. A lot of the brands that you've seen
(56:27):
have success in a lot of industries is because their
community just made sure that the industry knew that it
was desired.
Speaker 2 (56:35):
Right.
Speaker 1 (56:35):
So if you're at your local wine shop, if you're
at a restaurant, if you're ordering a bottle of wine,
you know, ask hey, do you have I best wines?
You should know about this brand, and that goes a
long long way aingrid.
Speaker 2 (56:49):
I think part two is going to be us. We
need a part two getting on a plane heading to
South Africa and having the rest of this conversation there.
Thank you so much, Thank you so much. As I
mentioned in the beginning, I always have like a list
of questions just in case, but I love the way
(57:11):
that this conversation kind of laid it out itself. You
know that, And thank you for sharing what you shared.
Because I know that your story and your willingness to
be candid about some of your journey will help someone
who's listening, you know, someone who's at a different part
(57:34):
of this journey. So thank you so much for being
willing to do that. I would encourage all of you too.
You know, we often talk about how challenging things are
and how we don't always get the representation or the
support that we want to have. But something so small
(57:56):
and as just asking for the just mention the wine
by name, ask for it, get the name of this
brand I Best Wines out there into the ethers. Such
a wonderful way that a person can support that a
lot of people can support this brand and support what
(58:18):
you're doing, so that you can get yourself and get
I Best Wines your second child, so the next level
of its evolution ingrid. I appreciate you so very much.
Thank you for the sweatshirt because cozy.
Speaker 1 (58:34):
And you just gave me an as styling idea, because
I'm going to put it with some leopard.
Speaker 2 (58:40):
I used to be very much like I gotta wear
this with this, and I was like, you know what, listen, no,
it looks good. It does I'm loving this I'm loving this,
so thank you so much for this conversation, and to
you all who were listening, I hope that you were
taking notes. You know, sometimes we're in a situation where
we don't we're not completely clear about the why or
(59:03):
the how. We wind up in places where we look
forward and we know that there's a huge challenge in
front of us, whether it be related to your career,
and you know, maybe you're a manager at a company
or you're someone who's stepping into parenthood without clarity around
how you're actually going to do it. I think that
(59:23):
what ingrid story tells us and shares with us is
that you just have to walk, and you have to
believe in yourself. And if you've not had someone to
pour beautiful words like you are great, you're a star
into your spirit, I'm telling you you can do that
for yourself. Decide, decide how you want to see yourself
(59:49):
as you're walking your journey, and it gives you the
ability and the roadmap and the north star to be
able to actually fulfill that. So for those of you
who listen, thank you, thank you so much. Tell someone share,
let us know when you see us on the internets,
which you thought. If you had of any additional questions,
(01:00:10):
put them up in there. I'm sure Inger will get
to them eventually.
Speaker 1 (01:00:12):
I will. Yeah, and Ingrid.
Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
Thank you so so very much for taking so sid Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:00:19):
Really beautiful dream come true.
Speaker 2 (01:00:21):
Yes, Ingrid Best CEO and founder of I Best Wines
buy it and thank you so much for listening. Love
and peace,
My career was it was just a universe answering me
over and over and over again, and me being bold
and bullish enough to extract everything that I needed to
from every one of those situations.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
If there's a path that you know has been laid
out for you, start to walk that path. Yes, you
just have to walk it, because the road is going
to be built under your feet. The universe is going
to provide the stepping stones for it.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Your dreams will make room for you always.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Welcome to the Shaping Freedom podcast, where we dive into
conversations that inspire personal growth, transformation and clarity and challenging times.
I'm your host, Lisan Bosquiato. I'm feeling really giddy this morning,
very very excited. Today I'm sitting down with someone who
has built a career and now a company by trusting
(00:59):
her voice and honoring her roots. Ingrid Best is the
founder of I Best Wines, a brand shaped by culture, creativity,
and the belief that representation belongs everywhere, including in the
wine industry. Before stepping into entrepreneurship, Ingrid spent two decades
leading some of the biggest names in wines and spirits,
(01:22):
but there came a point where she knew it was
time to create something that reflected her story, her values,
and her vision for what this industry could be, and
she did exactly that. In this conversation, we're going to
talk about the leap from corporate success to building a
global brand from scratch. We talk about identity, purpose, and
the courage it takes to walk away from what's familiar,
(01:45):
and we'll also explore how she uses wine as a
medium to elevate culture, community, and legacy. This is a
conversation about trusting your calling, even when it doesn't come
with guarantees. It's about building with intention and leading from
who you are, not who others expect you to be.
(02:10):
I've had the pleasure of starting to build a friendship
with Ingrid Best and I'm so excited that you said, yes,
thank you, just sitting down to have this conversation with me.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Margaret, thank you. It's good to be here.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
And it's funny because from the first time I met you,
I felt like I was meeting one of my cousins
that I hadn't met before. And you know that feeling
you get, You're just like this is family.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I do, And I felt the same way, and That's
why I that's why I say like building a friendship right,
like taking the leap into Yeah, we're building a friendship.
And every time we see each other, we're like, oh
my god, I how are you? And someone would think
that we have known each other and that we've key keyed,
you know, over years, and there's just this beautiful energy
(03:03):
that you radiate, Ingrid, that is so generous and so
authentic and purposeful that one can't help, you know, but
smile when they see you, you know, before we get
into the conversation a little deeper. I also want to say,
(03:24):
for those of you who are watching on YouTube, there is,
by the way, the Shaping Freedom podcast YouTube channel. Please
take a look at it. But Ingrid bought me a
beautiful gift today and I had a different shirt on
and I was like, I'm wearing this. I'm rocking this
one today. It matches and even if it didn't, I
wouldn't care, So thank you so much for this gift.
(03:45):
It's a beautiful sweatshirt. Where can people get this?
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Actually they are all sold out, but our new merch
is coming. If you go to ibestwines dot com you'll
see what we used to have just what the hoodie
that you have on. I saved a few first folks,
and I wanted to make sure you had one.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
But new merch is coming, New merch is coming.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Okay, where I'm wearing this. I'm wearing this bad behind
hoodie right and it's been chilly. It's been raining in
LA in southern California for days. It's really sunny today,
but I feel nice and cozy in this. So I
took off what I had and put this on instead,
And thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I want to talk first of all, I want to
help people to understand who you are, right and where
you've come from. Uh, and from there we'll kind of
walk into I Best Wines, which is a wine that
people see everywhere. You are everywhere with your wine. If
someone were to meet you for the first time today,
(04:49):
how would you describe who you are before you describe
what you do or what you've created.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yeah, I would start with I'm a mother, and I'm
a grandmother, and I'm a daughter, and I'm a sister,
and I'm a really good friend. I would start there,
and then naturally I would share that I'm a great
leader and I'm a brand builder. But I think first
(05:19):
and foremost when I think about who I am, I
think about the fact that I became a mom when
I was eighteen years old, and so I've been a
mom for a long time, and it is the one
title and the one job that I'm most proud of.
You know that for me gives me my biggest sense
(05:41):
of purpose. And even with you know, all the things
that I've done, it's always been so that I can
be an example to my son and so that he
can look back at the teenage mom that he knew,
right because we grew up together and be really proud
of who I've become and who I'm coming. And so
(06:01):
that's how I would describe who Ingrid is. She's a mom,
She's now a grandmother. Yes, I'm a grandmother.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
How old is your grandchild?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
He's too, he's two years old. And I'll tell you
when I tell people I'm a grandmother, Like, how are
you a grandmother? You know, I guess I don't look
like a grandmother.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I no, Like what is that about?
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Though?
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Right? Like?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Grandmothers come in all all all vibration.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You are a grandma who is pioneering the way.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Yeah, you know. Yeah, And I'm excited for when my
grandson can really digest what it is that I do.
Put the wine to the side because he's too young
for that. But someone who is shaping culture is shaping freedom,
you know, I'm excited for him to be able to digest.
(07:00):
You know, my grandmother is cool.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
It's going to feel good, I promise you. So what
you don't know about me, or may not know about me,
is that I had my son Joseph when I was eighteen.
I had my son Joseph three weeks after my eighteenth birthday,
And the experience of raising a son and kind of
raising myself up alongside raising a son is a very
(07:28):
unique is experience. And I have a grandson, Xavier, who's
now eighteen years old. Wow, right, that I didn't know, Yeah,
who's now eighteen years old. And I love that for you.
I love that for you because what your grandson gets
(07:49):
to see is how his grandmother is showing up in
the world.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, you know. Yeah, I'll tell you. The journey of
being a young parent is deep and only if you've
experienced it, do you know. And a big part of
my life is giving my son some other things to
experience with me, because when you are a young parent,
(08:15):
that child is experiencing everything with you, every experiment, every
immature moment, they are right there. And so it's always
nice to talk to someone that understands what I'm talking
about without even having to go into detail. You know.
But when I thought about having more kids, for instance,
(08:36):
down the road, it was always, oh, it would be
nice to be an adult and have a child, because
I was so young. Even when I look at pictures
of myself with my son, I'm like, I'm like, baby,
I mean, there are pictures of me where with this baby,
and I'm like, oh my god, that girl like I
was twelve years old. Yeah, you know, like that he
(08:58):
was obviously my brother. But that's who I would say.
I am a mother and I'm a grandmother, and you
know what.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Brought you into Wow, now I have all kinds and
I'm like, which direction do we go? Tell me a
little bit about your tell us a little bit about
how you made the transition from something as profound as
having a child at that age. Right, So that is
(09:26):
a very different trajectory in terms of career, in terms
of what you chose to do and how did you
wind up working in wine and spirits and what was
if you don't mind, And I'm asking because there was
so many there were other women like you, like myself
who could be at that same place and who decide
(09:50):
or who believe that, Oh, I've had this child at
this sage and this means that my life is over
or what am I going to do now? Where this
this is now going to be the thing that defines
the rest of my life in a negative way. So,
if you had the opportunity, or this is the opportunity
to speak to someone else who may be in that
(10:12):
place today, how did you? Can you tell us a
little bit about your path from that perspective and speaking
to that person.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Yeah, So for me, I remember my mom telling me
this story once that she had a reading and that
the woman told her your daughter is a star. And
she told me that story pretty I was pretty young.
That didn't register to me until it was time for
(10:43):
me to figure out what I was going to do
as a teenage mom. And I remember the moment hearing
being reminded of that conversation like you're a star, and
I took that and I was like, Okay, there's not
anything I can do. So just go figure it out,
Go do it because you're a star. That's right, you know.
(11:07):
And so the first thing I want to say to
any young person, whatever the thing that you're navigating, whether
it's being a parent really young, not having your parents
really young, whatever your thing is, remember that you're put
on this earth to be great.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And if no one's ever told you that. For me,
what my mom said to me was you're here to
be great. That's how I heard it. But I'm saying
to the person that may be listening today, you're here
to be great. So first start with that, knowing that
you've been put on this earth to do something, and
that's something. That path is not going to be easy.
(11:49):
It wasn't easy for me. I had my son at eighteen.
I always wanted to go to a black college. All
my friends went away to a black college. I didn't.
I stayed home, was nursing my son while in classes.
It was too hard. I dropped out of college. I
was so hard on myself about that because I was like,
(12:11):
I always wanted to be the girl that had the
college experience and I literally just figured out how to
make money and how I did that was street promotions.
So years ago there were a lot of where did
you grow up? I grew up in the Bay Area. Okay,
So my parents are New Yorkers. I was born in
(12:32):
New York. My mother's Puerto Rican, so I'm half Rica.
I feel like we're cousins.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
We are.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And when my mother moved from New York, we moved
to San Francisco and so and then I moved to Oakland.
So at this by this point, coming out of high school,
I was living in Oakland, and I always like to
say I got my muscle from Oakland.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
I got mine from Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
So I get I got my muscle from Oaklan, and
I had to figure out what I was going to do.
I love music. I'd always been connected to kind of
the scene and culture and this and that, and from
a bi coastal lens, because when you have parents that
are from New York and you're going back and forth,
it's pretty dynamic.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
It is.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I had a pulse on what was happening in the
West Coast. I also had It's such a gift, and
my best friend and I started a street promotions company
years ago. There were lots of record labels, incredible music.
This is when hip hop was just amazing and we
knew all the DJs. We started a record pool like
(13:39):
we were the it girls. We were promoting all you
know the artist and that's how I made money. I
interned for Sway. I learned so much from him, and
then we started our own company. And I remember always
telling myself, like, you're here to be great. If you're
(14:00):
gonna be a street promoter, be a great streets promoter.
And I was. And then things started to shift and change,
labels started to consolidate. The money was really drying up
for street promoters. And I had a friend say to me,
you would be really good in the wine in spirits industry.
(14:22):
And I had no idea what that nowhere out of
nowhere because I was trying to figure it out, like
I gotta make some money. I was never doing street
promotions to be cool. I was doing it to feed
my son, yes you know. And he said you would
be great wine and spirits, and literally, in my mind,
I'm thinking spirits like tarot cards, Like what are you
talking about? I had no idea what he was talking about.
(14:45):
And he goes, well, you know all these brands, these
liquor brands that are in the nightclubs, which I was
very familiar with nightclubs because of what I did. He's like,
there are teams that are building those stories and marketing
you know, those brands, and you would be really good
at that. And I went on Craigslist. I told y'all,
I'm my grandmother. I went on Craigslist and there was
(15:07):
an ad to launch a brand and everything that had
said the person needed to be. I was like, highly connected,
you know, big thinker, access to you know, the bar
and lounge scene. I'm like, I know I could do
all those things right. And I landed an ambassador role
(15:32):
launching a booutique high end rum for Diagio, one of
the largest liquor companies in the world. As an ambassador,
but this specific project allowed me to touch so many
different components of the industry that I almost it was
(15:52):
like a crash course and everything you would ever need
to know. And I was so inquisitive because to me,
every experience was like, this is my opportunity to get
what I would have gotten if I would have finished college.
That's how I thought about everything, you know, like, Okay,
I'm in school, learn it. And I was really good
at it, and a lot of it is storytelling, right,
(16:16):
You're telling the story of these brands, You're connecting with consumers.
And from there, that is how I entered the wine
and spirits industry. I entered as an ambassador, and I
worked my way up and I, you know, from manager
managerial roles, which you know, one thing black and brown
people experience is that they'll keep us in a manager
(16:37):
role forever. And so what I did while I spent
so many years as a manager and you know in
the industry, was I learned at the highest level.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
You used that as an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I used it and I would just learn and learn
and get obsessed with like I need to learn everything
there is to know about this business. And even though
they're going to keep me at this manager level, I'm
already an executive.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
You know.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
That's how I approach the star, because I'm a star,
you know. And I remember, I would always remember that
conversation from my mom. So I got into this business,
I would say, from the intuition of a friend and
then me being curious, and I believe it was my destiny,
you know, to answer an ad on Craigslist. And then
(17:24):
eventually now I'm the founder of my own global brand.
There is some destiny in that. But to take it
back to what I would say to someone, you are
put on this earth to be great, and the path
to greatness is a long one.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Thank you for sharing that. And it's also you know,
I mentioned about an eighteen year old or a young
person who's entering into the role of parenting, but I
think that's also true of anyone who's entering into the
role of parent right. We were talking to someone a
few minutes ago who's a very grown adult who's like,
(18:06):
I'm scared. I'm terrified in this new role, right. And
so I think that the fact that you were able
to say yes, the fact that you were able to
hear and receive someone saying you're a star, you're great,
and the fact that you were able to use that
as a seed to plant the way that you chose
to move forward, I think is another way of saying
(18:31):
yes to opportunity, because that's also an opportunity. It's an
opportunity to walk the path of life with that as
you're kind of guiding guiding light.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, And I think also what it helped me do
was there were a lot of things that were signaling
that I wasn't a star. Like I didn't I didn't
go to the black college that I wanted to go to.
I didn't have the same experience that my peers had.
They were all calling me girl homecoming, and I'm like,
this baby is dropped, the baby and this baby home yea.
(19:07):
And but all those things can can tear away at
whether or not you believe you are still having a
great experience in life, because we've been told there are
some things that equal great experiences in life, right, And
so I think it's also understanding that your path is
your path, it's uniquely yours, and if you can just
(19:30):
remember that that, like you're blessed to be living whatever
the path may be, and to remove the judgment. There
there were times where I could never actually say, like
I dropped out of college, I didn't get a degree,
because the assumption was, you know, I had worked all
these organizations that required a degree, right, but it was
(19:51):
my destiny to get those jobs, and it was it
wasn't easy to always just say I didn't do it
this way. I did it this way. And I think
people have to also give their cell themselves grace, right,
you have to give yourself grace and whatever and whatever
your path and your story is, because it is uniquely yours.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
And I think it's important to own it. Yeah, you
guys seem to have done. And I think what's interesting
is and we have a lot we have to sit
down and might have some I best wine, chit chat
about some of this. We don't have time for it today,
but I will say this, I felt a lot of
the same kind of wow. I stepped off the path
(20:35):
that was laid out for me. You know, I'm the
daughter of a Haitian father Puerto Rican mother, and there
was a plan for me to, you know, graduate from
my school, go to college. And because I had Joseph,
that didn't happen in quite that way, right, And I
actually went back much later to and went to school
as a night student while I was working a full
(20:56):
time job in corporate And at the time, every on
the measure for success and achievement was about the climb
through someone else's ladder, right, put yourself on that path
and make your way through the organization through manager to
leader and all that. And in the beginning it was
(21:18):
hard for me to admit when people would ask because
especially in New York. That's the first question, what are
you doing? Where'd you go to school?
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Or where'd you go to school?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Where'd you go to school? What are you doing? And
it's like, well, you know, I'm doing this now and
I'm kind of finding my way. But I think when
I think about it, I would not have been happy
going down that path. That was not the right path
for me at all. So you've built and our building
(21:59):
this global brand, and you've done incredible things. And I'm
going to take a step back in a minute to
kind of like talk about how we got there. But
what do you think your life would have been like?
Or how different would your life have been had you
taken those steps and gone to that college that you
wanted to go to and attended that homecoming.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Yeah, it's funny because I realize a few years ago
that life wound up giving me pretty much everything that
I've always wanted. A good big part of my network
and peer group are black college graduates. See people assume
(22:46):
all the time, like what black college did you go to?
We're doing this HPC program, we want you to involved
in it. You know all the things right, And so
I've been able to have a lot. I think of
the experiences that I wish I would have had that
because that's just how the universe operates. The universe hears
you and your desires. I believe one day I will
(23:11):
get an honorary degree from Howard University because that's where
I really wanted to go. Yeah, I say it all
the time now, but I do think that I don't
think about it a lot. This is a great question.
But what I realize about that path is that if
you take advantage of the network, the people, the tribe
(23:36):
that comes with those experiences, oftentimes it unlocks quite a bit.
And so I do believe that it could have potentially
unlocked some things for me sooner. Right, That's one way
I look at it. But I did something a couple
of years ago, I think twenty twenty two. I gave
myself this gift because I'd always thought about, like, well,
(24:00):
would ingrid be like on a college campus? Like I
just I didn't have that experience. So I went to
the Ben's Program at Harvard Business School. It's a four
day program, okay, And I did that to give the
gift to my younger self of the just the experience
(24:20):
of a university and to close the chapter and close
I think the thoughts around can I do this? Could
I have been able to do the college thing and
that four day program which is amazing. It is an
amazing program. It's focused on entertainment, sports and media, and
(24:41):
I mean, my classmates were I mean, it's just amazing.
The alum from the bem's program is amazing. And I
love the experience. I've stayed connected to the classmates and
to the professor and I did great. Yeah, And I
gave that gift to myself because I do think that
(25:03):
there was a part of me that had always wondered
like what would I have been had I done that?
And you you really got to like, you gotta close
that chapter. You gotta let that go. But that was
my way of bringing it to completion. And it was
a great experience. But I do think, just to answer bluntly,
I think it could have accelerated some things because I
(25:26):
do think that there is an unlock there when I
see even in mentoring young people, you know though young
people that are coming through the college system, and you
know their peer group and who they have to lean on.
It's really beautiful. I got it in a different way,
but I have no regrets. It wasn't my path. I
(25:50):
was never really a school person, but I have a
great personality, so the teachers love me. So I knew
how to navigate school, but I wasn't necessarily the kid
that was up steadying all the time. And you know,
and so I'm also very realistic with like it might
have not just been the experience for me as well.
(26:11):
But I do think that there is an unlock when
you go that path, and for the people that are
really going that path, I'm happy for them, right, And
so I guess that would be my answer.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Yeah, I love that you did something to bring a
part of the younger Ingrid's life to completion.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
I think that's so important because there is an acknowledgment
there that there is that part of you that maybe
kind of just needed you to close the door, not
shut it, but just kind of bring it full circle
for yourself.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
I did. How did that feel? It felt amazing. I'll
tell you the days leading up and I don't have
imposter syndrome, but the days leading up to, you know,
flying out to Boston and checking in for the program
at Harvard, I was so nervous and there was a
part of me that was like, maybe I'll do it
next year, Like I all of that that I think
(27:13):
insecurity from my younger self showed itself because that's just
not hot.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
That's which is beautiful.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
It was great I needed to do.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
She needed to kind of come up to the surface
surface so that you could.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
I needed to face build Ingrid or nineteen year old
Ingrid who did what she could at San Francisco State
and then just couldn't do it anymore. Yeah, and then
the twenty five year old who was like go back,
go back, year old Ingrid who was hustling and building
and making money. I had to face her. I had
(27:46):
to face the Ingrid in her thirties that would avoid
the question when people would say what school did you
go to? And I'd say, oh, I went to San
Francisco State, and I'd come up with this romanticizing of
this thing that you're like, you don't have to do that,
your path is and it is okay. And so it was.
(28:08):
It was intense the days leading up and the moment
I walked into that classroom, I had so much joy.
I was so happy when I saw my name amongst
all of those students. When you know, I sat in
my group and we were reading the case studies. When
I raised my hand the first time and the professor
called on me, it was like, girl, you were present.
(28:32):
I was so present, and I could feel this younger
self just being like thank you. Wow, yeah, thank you
for giving yourself this moment at this Keep in mind,
this is Harvard Business School, you know, at this at
the highest level. And I'm so glad I did it.
(28:53):
And there have been other little things that I've done.
I injured myself on a bike and I didn't ride
a bike for years, and in the pandemic, I got
back on a bike. And so I'm real clear. But
I think those things that traumatize you a bit, you
got to face them.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
When you leave a bunch of scraggly pieces, yeah, behind,
they just get longer and longer, they get longer, and
they continue to stay with you. Yeah right, And you
can't always necessarily it's not every single thing, but the
things that matter, yeah, and the things that are part
of your present, even if you're not paying attention to them.
It's so important to resolve those things.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
It is. And again, I think if you're a person
that believes in living your authentic self. Then there's no
other way to do it. That's right, because the truth
is you are still the younger person that might have
that thing. It doesn't go away, right, And I really
believe in living exactly as I am.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
We appreciate you for that. Thank you. You're such a courageous.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Human.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Thank you, Ingrid, such a courageous woman and filled with integrity.
And by integrity, I mean that integrity to yourself, you know,
to your path, to what you heard and know and
what was programmed into you about yourself, and to the
(30:20):
roles that you have you know, during on your paths
as a mother, as a grandmother, as a you know,
as as a leader, and as a brand builder. I said,
we'd go back a little bit. Let's go okay, So
now you're on this path, you're an ambassador, you're working
for some of the biggest names, uh in the wine
(30:41):
and spirits industry. So tell them, tell us a bit
about how you like a little bit more whatever you
want to continue to share about that journey. And then
when was the moment that you decided, wait a minute,
I'm gonna do this for myself.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
Yeah, so my path was a tremendous one. I again
got exposed to the wine and spears industry at the
highest level because that is what I wanted the experience
to be, right, And so hindsight, I think back to
a lot of times where I was like, I can't
believe I didn't get promoted, Like I would go for
(31:19):
the job and I wouldn't get promoted, and I was like,
all right, that's okay. These are my goals for this
year to learn, you know, these sets of things. And
so it wasn't until my last role that really I
think I was titled correctly, compensated correctly. And it took years,
(31:40):
it took many years, but all the while, I think
the universe heard that I wanted to do something great
in this industry, and so it was giving me all
the things that I needed. And so, you know, I
went from Diagio to LVMH the moment Hennessy portfolio. I
(32:02):
then went to Bacardi and ran a large joint venture
that allowed me to do global expansion work for a brand.
And that was where I landed in South Africa. And
I always like to say, you know, I had traveled
the world, I had had multiple passports, I had never
(32:25):
been to Africa like many of us either I've not
been Oh bro, we're going.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
I would love to.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
It's so interesting is that this is the third person
that I've had this conversation with this year.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
I was literally on the phone.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
And I really mean it.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
Yeah, so you let me know I'm serious, Okay, And
this is this is it's the universe. I was on
the phone with the City of Atlanta last night. You know,
there is a direct flight from from Atlanta to South Africa.
That is how I built this brand. We'll talk about
that a bit. But I was talking to a dear
(33:06):
friend that works at Mayor's office and she was saying,
you know, I was so ashamed to admit that. You know,
that last trip that I took was my first time
my continent. I said, don't be ashamed to admit that.
We need to tell the story that, as you know,
Black Americans, oftentimes we will travel the entire world and
(33:27):
that is huge. Let me tell you that South Africa
unlocked my superpower.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
This is what I have heard.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
This it allowed my superpower.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
I've heard and I want to go and get some
of my superpower unlocked in South Africa.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
So we we're gonna talk about that, Okay, yes, But
it was through you know, running this joint venture that
I landed on the continent, and in true ingrid fashion,
I was like, I'm going to learn everything there is
to know about global marketing, what brands are doing here,
(34:04):
what the real landscape is, how do I get here
the fastest and as often as I can possibly get here?
And through that experience, I traveled to South Africa, I
traveled to Nigeria, and I traveled to Ghana. So you
go from never going to the continent, so now you've
(34:25):
been to these yeah, right, And I was so moved
by it, and so my very last job I knew,
I was like, I'm going to launch my own brand.
Originally I love wine. I thought it would be from
California because I'm from California. But when I discovered the
South African wine region and just how beautiful the region
(34:50):
is the wine, how connected I felt, and how much
I knew I would inspire people by that choice. There
was no question that the wines, you know, the first
wines coming out as I best wines, would be from
South Africa. And so I say all that to say
that like this my career was. It was it was
(35:11):
just a universe answering me over and over and over again,
and me being bold and bullish enough to extract everything
that I needed to from every one of those situations.
And I think the one thing I really want to
say is that oftentimes black and brown folks are experience
(35:32):
in corporate America isn't always great. There were moments that
it wasn't great for me, but I took those as opportunities.
And so even in how I built this brand and
what I've done is from the experiences, the early experiences
and experiences that I had in Wine and Spears that
that weren't great. I never owned anything that I built,
(35:56):
and never got points on any of the joint ventures
that I managed, and I mean and I work these
businesses like they were my own, and it really helped
me identify exactly what I wanted to do and how
I wanted to do it. And so for any young
person that's listening, my message is in those tough moments
(36:18):
and in those challenges, there is typically an opportunity. It's
an opportunity to see things differently, to rewrite how you
want to see things. And that's what I've been able
to do with Ibest wines.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
It's a creative endeavor.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
It's a creative endeavor.
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
And even though I started this with you know, young people,
I think that the lessons that you're sharing are true
for people at any any age, and especially for those
of you who are listening who may be allowing your
mind to tell you that you've missed your opportunity or
that you know, let the younger people do it. If
(36:57):
you have something, if there's a half that you know
has been let laid out for you, start to walk
that path. Yes, you just have to walk it because
the road is going to be built under your feet.
The universe is going to provide the stepping stones for it,
So start walking it. Your dreams will make room for
you always, you know, always. And I think because we
(37:19):
just don't hear that enough. We're taught that we shouldn't
believe what we you know, what we hear all the time.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
We're believing the wrong people or believing the wrong people. Yeah,
but your dream I think for me, it was I realized.
I was like, my dreams are going to make room
for me, you know. And my path in this industry
was one of a long I was a manager for years.
I could not get promoted. I could, you know, all
(37:48):
the and it wasn't because I shouldn't have been promoted.
It's oftentimes just just the way it works. System is right.
But take that do something with it, and do do
something with it. Yeah, and I haven't. I think you're
probably the first person that I've gotten this in depth
with around the fact that I mean, I was a
manager for like twelve years.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
I was in corporate for a long time, very hard worker,
and it was there was like some secret unlocking thing
that had to happen.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yeah, that you're like, what do I have to do?
Speaker 2 (38:20):
What's going on here? And eventually it started to turn
the corner. And I think, because I'm thinking about that
while we're talking, that in some way, although I wasn't
as conscious of it, it was like I had to
prove to myself that I could get to where I
wanted to be before I was able to release myself
from it to move on to the next thing.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
I one percent.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Yeah, And it took a long time, and it was
and it was frustrating, very frustrating. But I think that
when you know that there's a path, when you know
what you're here to do, it makes it a little
more a little easier, yeah, even though it's still challenging.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
And you just got to give yourself some grace, you know,
And you have to quiet your ego. You know, I
work in an industry that there's a lot of egos,
and I learned years ago there is no place for ego.
If your goal is really to be great in anything,
(39:25):
in anything, in anything, your ego is not your friend.
And and you know, posture and and and not being
authentic is never going to lead you to the thing
that equals some level of happiness. And for me, success
(39:46):
is happiness. If I'm not happy, I'm not filled with
joy and what I'm doing, then I'm in my mind
not successful. I don't know if I don't care what
money is tied to it, or you know, notoriety or whatever. Ultimately,
the measure of success for me is happiness and freedom.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yes, there are some things that your story illustrates. One
is incredible courage, really strong work, ethic, personal integrity, a plan, vision,
(40:32):
a sense of adventure, and the ability to kind of
take a step back and look at things from a
more holistic perspective. Some of that has to have already
been in you as it is for many people, right
What has cultivated those aspects of your personality or those
(40:54):
aspects of your being?
Speaker 1 (40:56):
Yeah, you know, I more now than ever I realize
how much having a Puerto Rican mother from the Bronx
who packed up with little to no education, illiterate for
a part of her life, packed up, my sister and
(41:18):
I got on a Greyhound bus came to travel to
San Francisco from New York. The courage that that takes,
So I think courage has been a theme for my
family for a long time, and you don't know that
that's courage at the time. I also think the blessing
(41:42):
and the beauty of literally growing up by coastal so
being in San Francisco, And for anyone who has spent
time in San Francisco I knows anything about San Francisco,
it is it was a very, very, very diverse place,
a really dynamic place. And traveling back and forth from
(42:03):
San Francisco to New York to visit my grandmother and
my family, my exposure to culture. I wish people could
be exposed to culture the way I've been exposed culture,
which is why that's such a big part of my
personal thesis, right, So I would say courage and culture
(42:27):
have always been really deeply rooted just in my life
and my life experience community because when you move from
one place to another, you know, your your friends and
your chosen family become everything for you. And so community
was always at the center of my experience, the people
(42:52):
and the women and friends and that my mom you know,
met along her journey and San Francisco community has always
been something that's been profoundly a part of what I
know helps us live a happy life, you know. So courage, culture, community,
(43:13):
I mean they were just at the center of my life.
And then I think authenticity because there was a period
of time as a young person where you know, I
would say I'm Puerto Rican and San Francisco. They're like,
what are you talking about. You're a black girl. Oh yeah,
and you're forced to have to like try to explain,
you know, why you have Latanos and awagata in your lunch.
(43:37):
And and so once you get comfortable enough in life
to just say, I'm going to be my authentic height,
this is I'm gonna help you understand it. Authenticity for
me has always been where freedom exists because you just
you're just yourself, you know, And so I think those themes,
(43:58):
those early things was really shaped who I am today.
And I didn't always know this. I couldn't always answer
this question like this, but it's very clear to me
that my early childhood and my experience, whether they be
good or bad, really really really molded who I am
(44:19):
today and how I approach every part of my life
and especially my business.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Yeah, let's talk about my best wine. Let's talk about
because let me tell you. You were a wine sponsor during
the King Pleasure Exhibition. I see your wine everywhere. You
recently started a subscription. Yes, I signed up. Y okay,
y'all sign up for the subscription.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
Please please please.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
I lived down in San Diego. I haven't been able
to find it. Yeah, but I'm hoping you can do
something about it soon. Yes. I was surprised when I
asked you how long you had been how long I
Best Wines it's been around? And how long has it been?
Speaker 1 (45:04):
Two years? Girl?
Speaker 2 (45:06):
I know, my goodness, what you have done in two
years with this brand. And this is also going back
to the story that you've been taking us through, which
is you planted all these seeds, you did all of
this so that over the course of two years, your
brand could blow up into what it is right now. Yeah,
(45:29):
so let's talk about let's talk about I Best Thank
you Whine.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
Yeah. So, I Best Wines is my namesake and you know,
my early I remember the early part of my career,
you know, researching these brands that I was working on,
and a lot of them were family names. And my
last name happens to be Best and my first initial
(45:53):
is I. So I always say to people I'm the
Eye and I Best. Well, that's right, and it is
a brand that had been in my head, in my
heart for many many years. Again, I didn't really realize
how special it was going to be until I landed
in South Africa and discovered the South African wine region.
(46:20):
And my Best Wines is really a gift to myself.
It is a rewriting of my experience in this wine
and spirits industry because, as I mentioned, you know, for
many many years I sat as a manager this and
that I didn't you know, So as the founder and
(46:42):
CEO of this brand, you know, I have commanded the
highest title for myself in an industry that I love
and in a brand that I now own. I built
the brand alongside five other women, some of whom were
my mentees, women who I was admirers of that I
went out and said, hey, do you want to have
(47:04):
this idea? Do you want to be a part of it?
And they all said yes. And one of the biggest
things that I wanted to do was make sure that
these women had equity in the brand, because that was
something that I never didn't get. I didn't get and
I should have at some instances, but I didn't. And
so the brand is built with an equity model. They
have equity in the business. The first five investors were
(47:28):
all black women, which I'm very proud of that they
believe in me and they believe in the dream. And
the brand is rooted in courage and culture and authenticity
and in all the things that I really love. And
you know, I'm a fairly new art collector, fairly new
to art community, but I will tell you that that
(47:51):
experience has been so therapeutic for me. Yeah, And so
my desire to really support the art community way of
having the brand present and having myself present and supporting
emerging artists is therapy for me. Yeah, you know, And
even on the journey to build Ibs Wines. I spent
(48:12):
a lot of time at artists studios just watching the journey,
watching them go through you know what it takes to
actually get what's inside of them out. And so it
really is a love letter to South Africa, a love
letter to myself, and a love letter to community. You
(48:32):
know that, like we can have brands and experiences with
brands that are truly authentic to us. It doesn't have
to be a marketing ploy. It doesn't have to be
that they're trying to get into our community, but it
can be for us, by us in like a real
in a real way.
Speaker 2 (48:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (48:50):
And a lot of people don't realize the reason why
we're everywhere is, like I mentioned earlier, I was a
street promoter.
Speaker 2 (48:58):
Because you are the hardest working women in the wine
and spirits business. You are everywhere doing all the things.
Speaker 1 (49:07):
Yeah, I was a street promoter. So the way that
I've approached this is that, you know, the brand should
be seen in all the places that we want to be, right,
and we are everywhere, but we're actually not everywhere. We
are only where we want to be, and we're really
deliberate with that. And I'm really happy that my community
(49:32):
says to me, you're everywhere, because I'm like, that means
that I'm exactly where where I want to be, right
And I think there's something to that, right because I
think brands that really are just everywhere and doing anything,
they don't really have a real identity, you know. And
so we've been really fortunate that we have a strong community,
a lot of support. This is a very difficult business.
(49:57):
You need a lot of capital to be in the
wine and spirits business to compete, you know. I invested
my own money to build the brand and then welcomed
in some investors and we're still raising and it's a
very difficult climate to raise, but our momentum is fantastic.
The launch of subscription puts US in every state except
(50:20):
for Utah, which is a huge, huge, huge milestone for us.
And we have folks welcoming us that I dreamed of,
right Like being a part of your exhibit was a
dream come true. You know, being a part of you know,
the artists opening night at Studio Museum is a dream
(50:40):
come true. You know, being poured at you know, small
intimate art dinners and conversations is really for me a
dream come true. And so this this thing is really
being powered by a dream come true.
Speaker 2 (50:58):
And we feel you feel that what what's next? What's
the next evolution of this brand?
Speaker 1 (51:07):
Honestly, what's next is? I think for most founders we
would say we just need the stamina to keep going.
And I always answer this question that way because this
is not easy. You know, being an entrepreneur is hard.
It's ruling and through.
Speaker 2 (51:26):
Sixty five, it's it's it's having a child. But you
have to.
Speaker 1 (51:30):
I'm so glad she said that because another reason why
I best wines is what it is is because it
is my second baby. So I had one son and
I always wanted more kids, but I didn't do it.
And this is like here child, Yeah, here she is.
There's actually a twins. Those are the sisters twins.
Speaker 2 (51:50):
There she is, you know, And.
Speaker 1 (51:51):
So yeah, I think what's next is make sure making
sure that I'm taking care of myself so I had
the stamina to continue you to go. We do have
some additional variants that we're launching right now. We have
the White Blend and the Red Blend. They're both award winning.
We're really proud of them. They're tasty, they are they're tasty,
(52:16):
but we have more coming, and then I want to
venture into food products because I love to cook, and
so I've already got my eyes set on something that
would be the extension of kind of food and in
your kitchen even more, you know, I really want to
curate art shows. It's something that's in my heart. I
(52:38):
want to launch a philanthropic arm of IBS Wines once
we've hit the revenue milestones, to support in that kind
of a way that really supports the art community in
a meaningful way. So I'd love to talk to you
about that more because I'm being really intentional with it.
I don't want to just do anything. I want to
do something that makes sense and that really serves a need.
(53:04):
But the philanthropic part of this business is it's probably
where I will retire, is in service, because that's really
ultimately what this is. It's what it's about.
Speaker 2 (53:17):
It's wine, but it's also in service to the community community,
it's in service to culture, it's in service to everyone. Yeah,
who has a dream and decides that they're going to
put the I was going to say pedal to the metal,
but you know what I mean, that they're going to
actually make the thing happen.
Speaker 1 (53:34):
Yeah, you know, it's funny. I always tell people my
mother was a nurse, my sister was a teacher, and
I'm in the wine and spears business, and so I
had always wanted to find a way to do work
in service of because the women in my life they
observed community at the highest level. My sister's an amazing teacher,
my mother was an amazing nurse caregiver. And so for me,
(53:58):
I'm like, you know, yeah, you can be in an
industry that quote unquote isn't necessarily of service and be
of service, and so that is like hugely important for me.
And so I would say, that's what's next. But I'm
trying to be really present. I'm trying to enjoy the moment,
because I think so much of us just don't give
(54:19):
ourselves the opportunity to enjoy the moment. I still get
really giddy when I walk in the room and I
see the wine. I get so many texts all day.
I wake up in the morning there's texts coming in
from overnight. I'm at this, look at the wine at
you know, and I'm so grateful to people and how
much they've rallied behind me and this brand and so
(54:43):
what's next is like just really celebrating that and hopefully
sustaining you know, what it is that we're setting out
to do, and ultimately I'm building this brand for acquisition.
You know, I recognize what building billion do companies does
for our community and the wealth gap. And I'm very
(55:05):
clear that I want to help in any shape or
form future entrepreneurs that have dreams that need investment and
need support, especially because I know how hard it's been
for me.
Speaker 2 (55:16):
Yeah, Ingrid, how can we support you?
Speaker 1 (55:22):
I would say, first thing is pray for me, you know,
pray for my mind and my heart, because entrepreneurship is
really about the person is building themselves. Yeah, there's this
brand we're building, but you're really this is such a
journey in developing who you are at the highest level.
(55:43):
So I would say sending me good energy is the
first thing. The second thing ibstwines dot com. Read our story,
get to know about us. We also have a section
on the website called Global Creatives. It's dedicated to people
discovering wonderful creative people in the world. Buy the wine
if you're a wine drinker or if you want a gift.
(56:04):
It's perfect for gifting, sign up for subscription, so it's
delivered one less thing. So yes, it's the art of
wine delivered to your door. And then I would I
would say, when you're out and about and you're at
restaurants and you're at we were having this conversation, you're like,
tell me what I need to do, you know, ask
for us. A lot of the brands that you've seen
(56:27):
have success in a lot of industries is because their
community just made sure that the industry knew that it
was desired.
Speaker 2 (56:35):
Right.
Speaker 1 (56:35):
So if you're at your local wine shop, if you're
at a restaurant, if you're ordering a bottle of wine,
you know, ask hey, do you have I best wines?
You should know about this brand, and that goes a
long long way aingrid.
Speaker 2 (56:49):
I think part two is going to be us. We
need a part two getting on a plane heading to
South Africa and having the rest of this conversation there.
Thank you so much, Thank you so much. As I
mentioned in the beginning, I always have like a list
of questions just in case, but I love the way
(57:11):
that this conversation kind of laid it out itself. You
know that, And thank you for sharing what you shared.
Because I know that your story and your willingness to
be candid about some of your journey will help someone
who's listening, you know, someone who's at a different part
(57:34):
of this journey. So thank you so much for being
willing to do that. I would encourage all of you too.
You know, we often talk about how challenging things are
and how we don't always get the representation or the
support that we want to have. But something so small
(57:56):
and as just asking for the just mention the wine
by name, ask for it, get the name of this
brand I Best Wines out there into the ethers. Such
a wonderful way that a person can support that a
lot of people can support this brand and support what
(58:18):
you're doing, so that you can get yourself and get
I Best Wines your second child, so the next level
of its evolution ingrid. I appreciate you so very much.
Thank you for the sweatshirt because cozy.
Speaker 1 (58:34):
And you just gave me an as styling idea, because
I'm going to put it with some leopard.
Speaker 2 (58:40):
I used to be very much like I gotta wear
this with this, and I was like, you know what, listen, no,
it looks good. It does I'm loving this I'm loving this,
so thank you so much for this conversation, and to
you all who were listening, I hope that you were
taking notes. You know, sometimes we're in a situation where
we don't we're not completely clear about the why or
(59:03):
the how. We wind up in places where we look
forward and we know that there's a huge challenge in
front of us, whether it be related to your career,
and you know, maybe you're a manager at a company
or you're someone who's stepping into parenthood without clarity around
how you're actually going to do it. I think that
(59:23):
what ingrid story tells us and shares with us is
that you just have to walk, and you have to
believe in yourself. And if you've not had someone to
pour beautiful words like you are great, you're a star
into your spirit, I'm telling you you can do that
for yourself. Decide, decide how you want to see yourself
(59:49):
as you're walking your journey, and it gives you the
ability and the roadmap and the north star to be
able to actually fulfill that. So for those of you
who listen, thank you, thank you so much. Tell someone share,
let us know when you see us on the internets,
which you thought. If you had of any additional questions,
(01:00:10):
put them up in there. I'm sure Inger will get
to them eventually.
Speaker 1 (01:00:12):
I will. Yeah, and Ingrid.
Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
Thank you so so very much for taking so sid Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:00:19):
Really beautiful dream come true.
Speaker 2 (01:00:21):
Yes, Ingrid Best CEO and founder of I Best Wines
buy it and thank you so much for listening. Love
and peace,
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