I founded Culture Wine Co. to increase the representation and value of South African wine in the US, focusing entirely on organic and minimal intervention wines that are clean, consistent, and versatile. My goal is to reshape how South African wines are marketed, perceived, and enjoyed by highlighting the resilience of winemakers in the country.Since launching, our wines have been embraced by Michelin-starred restaurants, top-tier bottle shops, and influential wine bars alike, showcasing South Africa’s progress and potential. We build strong partnerships with producers, wholesale directly to the California trade, and retail across the US via e-commerce, cutting out middlemen and maximizing value for South Africa's independent producers.

Students consisted of seasoned wine professionals seeking to expand knowledge and gain competitive edge in wine industry. Often acted as mentor for students seeking additional guidance.Taught all units of the WSET Diploma in Wine & Spirits:• Wine Production• Wine Business• Wines of the World (with tasting component)• Sparkling Wine (with tasting component)• Fortified Wine (with tasting component)

Volunteer board member dedicated to assisting underserved and minority communities with scholarships to further their professional wine education with the goal of raising their earning power and increasing diversity in the wine industry.

Core ResponsibilitiesDirectly responsible for sourcing, logistics, sales, client services, and warehouse departments with five direct and forty-five indirect reports. Built senior management team. Emphasized improvement of company culture to reach 5% annual employee turnover rate. Developed and implemented power-based selling, lean operational strategies, and strict maintenance of departmental budgets. Responsible for the first profitable years in company history, reaching nearly $50mm in revenue with consistent YoY EBITDA growth. Co-led merger with Fine + Rare.SourcingSaw depletion rate grow 5X under my purview. Managed a portfolio of luxury wine worth $15mm, with over 5,000 labels, sourced from over 250 vendors worldwide with a 4X annual turnover rate. Created and maintained quality assurance (QA) standards for supplier partners domestic and abroad. Work daily with top Bordeaux negociants, several European/UK merchants, LivEx, stateside distributors, importers, and producer-direct.OperationsDirectly responsible for $300mm worth of wine stored across client and VF-owned inventory. Created processes to streamline inbound and outbound operations with SOP implementation and efficient use of tech. Wrote onboarding and training guides for all departments to ensure white glove service standards were always met.Sales Doubled team size. Implemented new KPI structure that consistently surpassed AOV over $3,000 and AUR over $300. Grew revenue every year with company.Client ServicesDoubled team size. Audited department and successfully converted previously struggling team into one with customer satisfaction ratings over 95% every month since January, 2020. Implemented Zendesk platform, writing unique workflows to ensure all tickets are handled efficiently.LogisticsEnsured thousands of purchases orders made annually were delivered OTIF. Developed internal processes to enhance efficiency and transparency of post-order timeline, drastically reducing tracking time

Lecture semester-long course, Global Wine Business Management as part of Master’s Degree in Wine Management. The course presents the foundation for students to understand key concepts within global market structures as well as production and consumption figures. Also covered are business issues and legalities in the US market with the semester culminating in discussions of current and future global issues, preparing students to become future industry leaders.The course focused on the following key elements of the global wine environment: • Global wine market structures• Global production and consumption trends• Analysis of ongoing premiumization trend• The importance of global value and supply chains• Sales models for wineries, distributors, importers and retail tier• Three-tier system of alcohol distribution in America and the effect consolidation• Define and cover important legal structures in the US alcoholic beverage industry regarding licensing, production, distribution, and sales• Development of business plan with clear marketing and go to market strategies • Current and future trends among global and domestic wine industry

Worked closely with proprietor to grow breadth and depth of wine program, increase marketing endeavors and significantly raise brand awareness; all with intention to grow business into a prominent nationwide e-commerce retailer. Core Responsibilities:• Worked closely with over 100 distributors, importers, suppliers, brokers, and wineries to curate 1,300 SKU wine selection.• Lowered cost of goods more than 5% for operation.• Created e-commerce sales strategies that expanded market reach to grow new and active user base 10X and inventory turnover 8X.•Developed craft spirits retail program with more than 300% revenue growth in each of first three years• Grew retail sales 6% annually in mature business with very limited marketing spend. Personally accounted for $1 million in sales annually.• Rebuilt and managed e-commerce website• Managed all UI and UX design on BigCommerce platform.• Managed all SEO and SEM advertising to grow e-commerce traffic over 100% and conversions 75% YoY

Hired with only a blueprint, I developed the vision, mission, extended plan and budget for Grapes & Grains. The shop quickly achieved one of its major goals of becoming Rhode Island's elite bottle shop, and each of the first two years, received the coveted award of "Best Wine Store East Bay, RI." Core Responsibilities:• Managed build, opening, staffing, and operations for 2,200 sq. ft. retail operation.• Acted as sole buyer for 3,000 SKU wine, craft spirits and craft beer program.• Drove year-over-year business growth while leading operations, strategic vision, and long-range planning to grow revenue to more than $1mm by second year of operation.• Established sales goals, weekly ordering budget, inventory management system and training protocols for ten-person staff with low personnel turnover.• Built e-commerce website for business and developed all marketing strategies-including email campaigns and platform.• Won ‘Best Wine Shop East Bay Rhode Island' during first two years of operation.

• Taught senior-level course, The Business of Alcohol Distribution, Retail and Sales to 35 students• Curriculum included an in-depth look at the three-tier system of alcohol distribution in America, licensing, franchising and brand management

• Worked as partner with meeting & events manager in annual conference to pour dozens of wines per seminar, five times per day, over the course of three days to hundreds of attendees. • Attended the most pertinent seminars for my needs and networked with the top educators in the industry.

• Hand harvested 8.5 hectares of organic Barbera and Nebbiolo grapes with multi-national team.• Performed all phases of production including crush, daily punch-downs, racking and topping barrels.• Travelled throughout Europe to translate Italian to English at trade and consumer tastings as needed.

• Worked every station to implement entire menu of antipasti, primi, secondi and dolci.• One star MICHELIN restaurant• Focused on the cuisine of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Piemonte• Made all fresh pasta, broke down all fish and meats• Helped write menu, which changed weekly• Learned Italian language while on the job and translated Italian to English whenever needed