Over the course of his 30-year career, TJ Douglas has worked on all sides of the hospitalityindustry - including restaurant management, distribution, and beverage retail. TJ uses hisdecades of experience to lead several groundbreaking wine industry businesses, all of which arededicated to creating community through beverage.Along with his wife, Hadley, TJ is the founder of The Urban Grape, a ground-breaking wine storein the South End neighborhood of Boston, in 2010. The store concept is simple, but revolutionary– Drink Progressively. The store's proprietary Progressive Scale system organizes wine by itsbody, instead of by varietal or region. The Urban Grape has become one of the most successfulindependently-owned wine stores in the country as a result, and was named the United StatesSmall Business of the Year in 2021. The Urban Grape is also a 4-time Top 100 Wine Retail Storein America winner, a 2-time Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Nominee, a 4-time ICIC Inner City 100winner, and a 6-time Best of Boston winner. The store has been nationally profiled in Food &Wine, The New York Times, NPR, Wine Spectator, and Wine Enthusiast, among others. TJ andHadley were named EY Entrepreneurs of the Year in 2021. In 2023, TJ was a Wine Enthusiast Future 40 winner.In 2022, TJ and Hadley founded Progressive Wine Company, a new wine brand dedicated tocreating access to the wine industry for BIPOC consumers, as well as others who havepreviously felt like the wine industry was intimidating and not approachable. In 2023, TJ foundedthe Drink Progressively Group, a Boston-based management company that oversees the work ofthe Douglas’ business ventures. TJ is also a founder of The Urban Grape Wine Studies Award forStudents of Color, and the co-author of Drink Progressively: A Bold New Way to Pair Wine andFood.TJ is a frequent panelist and keynote speaker at wine industry conferences and other industryevents. He is a nationally recognized wine educator who travels around the country to lead winetastings for corporations and other organizations. His specialized wine tasting, “My LifeThrough the Lens of a Wine Glass,” has been heralded as an impactful way for corporations tolearn about the importance of DEI work.TJ is an active member of his community, serving on the Steering Committee for the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, the Board of Trustees of The Fessenden School and Summer Search Boston, the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Metropolitan College at Boston University, and VP and Founding Member of the Boston Black Golf Association.