Waynesmiley Consulting
6/2020-Present Consultant/Principal
Assist businesses with no wine division break into the regulated space.
- Arranged imports of wine bottles for domestic sales.
- Wrote tasting notes and copy for several D2C wine companies.
- Assist production facilities with sales of wine and products.
- Help sell wines to consumers and manage accounts for clients.
Usual Wines, San Francisco/Sonoma, CA
7/2018-1/2023 VP of Wine and Beverage
Grew wine brand from ~$1m to over $10m in domestic wine production and sales.
- Oversee all things wine related including dry goods, liquid inventory, production scheduling, copy writing, marketing, sales, retail store management and D2C strategy.
- Oversaw compliance and TTB COLA work
- Innovate new products for sale including fresh fruit wine spritzes and the launch of a sparkling wine that went on to be 60% of our sales.
- Manage winemaker and oversee domestic production.
- Maintained relationships with vendors and production facilities.
- Problem-solved when others thought the situation dire.
VINEBOX Inc, San Francisco, CA
1/2015-7/2020 Wine Director
Leveraged Sommelier experience into the D2C and Import space
- Imported over 350 individual wines unique to the United States.
- Managed production facilities in Europe.
- Oversaw management of wine dry goods and packaging.
- Developed the first wine advent calendar, “12 Nights of Wine”
- Public tastings and blog posts
