What I Learned In One Year
I made myself a promise on January 1, 2025.
There were a few promises, or “calls to actions” if you will, but one big one; YOU HAVE A SMALL AMOUNT OF TIME TO PROVE YOU ARE WORTH IT.
It has been two and a half years in a challenging category, selling the same two wineries, and not much movement. Even though my company believes in me and my skills and supports the portfolios I represent, how much longer can I expect them to hang on? As I look back now at numbers - numbers are black and white and DO NOT LIE (make this the pillow you lie your head on) - it is not as bad as I thought it was. It is obvious that I am showing up, and it is clear there is a vision for South America wines in a few good accounts. The problem is, everyone has good wine. Not great wine, but good wine. It used to be that everyone had crappy stuff, and a handful of people could be counted on for the specialty items. Oh man, and I was your girl. I had the goods. I still do, but now I have the goods that your consumer isn’t buying. We BOTH agree they are good, but if they don’t sell, and you aren’t making money with what I sell YOU, I might as well be selling sand in the desert.
My wineries feel it, and like me, they are showing up. EVERYONE from South America is showing up and trying to be the pretty girl at the prom. I do need to tell you, though, when I walk into a tasting, I hold my head high. I see the looks I get - I am one of the pioneers in this corner of the world. And don’t be surprised; that is what my company is known for, and that is our legacy. When I pull a wine out of the bag, it is a statement of quality, perseverance, style, and yes, a damn good end game. However, if I am not rating high on your return on investment, how long can we perform this dance? How many more sips are worth my salary?
This time, it really isn’t you, it’s me.
This is where the promise came into play. I have never, and will never, sulk or be a result of poor performance OR depression. I was tired of hearing I had such a “hard job”, followed by a pout and squeeze of the shoulder. I haven’t spent all this time studying and working in the trenches to have a co-worker side-eye my wine presentations. I felt it. I also want to say I understood it, but I hell no I didn’t. I also didn’t accept it. The idea of “team” ran very quickly out the door when my wines were not going to push someone else’s bonus needle. Have you ever seen the corporate picture of the man pushing the stone up a very large hill? What they forget to point out is that he is alone. That stone gets heavy.
Remember why I am here and in this blog space; please look at my actions and work them into your own. So, what is there to do now?
With the idea of proving I am worth it came a few, well, harsh ideas.
Take no prisoners; I’m not here to make friends, so if I have to push my way through some pain, so be it. The wine world is one snobby, stuck-up, conservative zone. You will get more dark shadows than smiles if you have an alternate version of the way you want to be perceived. I saw this as an opportunity rather than a negative. I wanted to be cool, and I still was, but I also wanted to create a vibe. Was I told I was “wrong” or maybe even embarrassing myself? Sure. The smoke and mirrors of this is that I showed everyone I didn’t care what they thought, when in reality, I did. On top of that, I started to doubt whether what I was doing was “accurate”. What I realized - there are no “wine police”, and everyone is waiting for someone else to pave the way. Why can’t that be me?
Work like it is my last day on earth: I saw everyone, anyone, and all souls with a heartbeat. I drove my car into the ground, stood in the dirtiest and dingiest wine shops doing in-store tastings, and worked with wine representatives who were (I’m sorry) a waste of time. All in the hopes of one more bottle and/or one more case sold. There were times that I was ready to stop this insane rat race, but it became like a drug. The ‘waste of time” reps became ambassadors, and those dirty stores set up displays. We got somewhere. Was it in areas that would probably cause the French Specialist to break out in a rash - well, maybe.
Follow up and stalk; I became a pain in the ass. I never went away. If you said no, I showed up in a few weeks with hopes you may say yes. If I sold you one bottle, in my mind, you wanted five more. I emailed, emailed, then emailed again. I had lists that I gave funny titles to just to brighten my day; “This Guy Hates You” or “Not A Chance” or “Do They Even Sell Malbec”. I threatened the luxury specialist into giving me a list of buyers from Michelin Star restaurants, and I invited them ALL to a luncheon that I knew none of them wanted to come to. I didn’t care. The point to all of this was that I knew SOMEONE may turn around and have an interest. Of course, that happened. Humans are funny - they may give you the cold shoulder, but turn around the next day and welcome you with open arms. You just need to wait for it, and be very very VERY patient.
Out of everything I did, I took one big step. There was a position open in my company that I would have had to relocate for. The position would be in Massachusetts, a bucket list of places to live, in my outline of the future for Susan. So, was it out of the question? - absolutely not. Part of the interview process was that I would be presenting a PowerPoint, on my history of wine industry experience to my boss’s boss. I have heard a lot about this man, but I personally didn’t have much face time with him. I was told I would only get through half of the Power Point; what this man doesn’t have a lot of is time. Not expecting, but pleasantly surprised, was that he listened to 12 pages of me going on about my past, present, and visions of how I see selling. He asked questions, was direct, and gave me no indication of what he was thinking. Great poker player.
I didn’t get the position.
What I did get was a place in his head. Now he knows my education, how I think, and what I am capable of. He saw some potential for more of what I can give our company. More importantly, he saw how he could better use my talents. How can I become more resourceful for his team?
A few weeks ago, I received a call from my boss; we will have a virtual meeting, and the BIG GUY and Human Resources will be on it. Great. Will you be wiping my computer now, or should I drop it off?
January 1, 2026 will be a new promise and a new job in the same company. New wineries, new focus, new platforms. Did the “work like an idiot year” prove successful? I hate to tell you, it did. However, I have a new coat of armor and maybe some new boundaries - stronger and extremely unpenetrable. If I could sell my way through the past, and find some success in it, what else can I do?
