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Protea Conversations – Rachel Martin

Protea Conversations – Rachel Martin

by | Apr 22, 2021 | Business, Wine Industry

Protea Financial was founded in 2014 to provide high quality out-sourced accounting at an affordable price.  Given Protea’s flexible work environment, the Company especially appealed to accountants who wanted to re-enter the work force after taking time off to start a family. This allowed Protea to attract extremely talented individuals who were overlooked.  Over 80% of both Protea’s leadership and accounting teams are women.

We selected the name Protea because is the national flower of South Africa and is a symbol of our connection. The Protea flower has become an ornamental flower because of this striking beauty and is included in arrangements and bouquets as a symbol of courage or daring to be better or a sign of positive transformation.

Protea Conversations focuses on successful woman in business and their achievements.  The hope is that these conversations will create a forum to discuss the experiences, opportunities, and challenges women face, and how we can build a more diverse, inclusive, and successful environment for everyone.

In April 2021 we spend time with Rachel Martin. A unique combination of education and experience brought Rachel Martin to launch Oceano Wines with husband and co-proprietor, Kurt Deutsch in 2016. A Virginia native, Martin was present at the inception of what is now considered one of that state’s premier wine producers, Boxwood Estate Winery, in 2005. As Executive Vice President of Winery Operations, Martin’s job was to oversee all facets of production, sales and marketing of Boxwood’s award-winning whites, rosés and Bordeaux-style red blends.

Appreciating the distinctiveness of Middleburg’s terroir, Rachel spearheaded the move toward securing a coveted American Viticultural Area designation from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the federal agency charged with evaluating the merits of all such applications. The petition she authored on behalf of the region was approved in 2012, making Middleburg Virginia the state’s seventh AVA.

Rachel’s forward thinking led directly to Middleburg having its own wine identity separate from the more generic Virginia designation, making her well suited to again start from scratch with Oceano Wines. None other than the esteemed author Jancis Robinson noted Rachel’s marketing savvy in her book “American Wine.”

Rachel is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier International New York and Washington, D.C chapters and was the first woman to be inducted into the District of Columbia chapter of the International Wine & Food Society. Rachel was a founding board member of the Middleburg Film Festival where she was closely involved with the beverage/culinary. 

How did you get into the wine industry and why did you decide to start Oceano Wines?

My path to the wine industry began in 2002. It was my step-father’s awesome and somewhat crazy idea to plant a world class vineyard and build a state of the art winery in Middleburg, Virginia- Boxwood Estate Winery. My position would be Executive VP in charge of all operations, so in advance I attended the Diploma program at the University of Bordeaux’s School in Enology in Bordeaux, France and studied Enology and Viticulture at Napa Valley College in Napa, California.

In 2016, while still a Boxwood, I visited Spanish Springs Vineyard just east of Pismo Beach on the extreme coast of San Luis Obispo County, California. I was so intensely struck by the vineyard terroir to produce unforgettable Burgundian varieties, I immediately contracted for 6 tons of Chardonnay. We hired industry veteran winemaker Marbue Marke to craft our first vintage in 2016. That was the first step in establishing Oceano Wines with my husband and business partner, Kurt Deutsch. And in 2018 we added Pinot Noir to our offerings. Our wines are made by Marbue in Napa.

 

What has been the biggest challenge you have experienced in reaching your current success (personally and professionally)?

Since I feel like I have had two lives professionally in wine, I can speak to both challenges in each life. At Boxwood Winery, my biggest challenge, personally was working for my step-father. He is very old-school when it comes to business, and it could be soul crushing at times. That said, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity that he gave to me as Executive VP of his promising winery. That was the start of my life in wine. Professionally, I was challenged at every level. I had been responsible for logistics and creative projects in the past, but nothing of this magnitude. I had to learn all facets of the business by the seat of my pants. The only industry mentor that I had was our viticultural consultant, Lucie Morton. That was amazing, but I was responsible for much more than that. I had to grow in every direction to meet the requirements to run winery operations, sales and marketing. It was a huge job, but very satisfying!

With Oceano Wines, there are not any personal challenges. It is like breathing, because I am literally living my best life. I am at my happiest when I am creating. We are sourcing from an incredible vineyard site, Spanish Springs, which is owned by our family friend Henry Warshaw. I am privileged to work with our winemaker, Marbue Marke. He is highly experienced, down to earth, professional and most importantly, expertly skilled as a winemaker and a viticulturist.

Professionally, since we are sourcing fruit from the extreme coast of San Luis Obispo County, making our wines in Napa as a client and I am based in New York City, we have not yet been able to establish a tasting room. This is the greatest challenge. We are looking into options on the east coast. Hopefully we will find the right opportunity in 2021. Right now, our wines can be purchased from our website and at restaurants and retailers in California, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and Florida.

 

What are your short term goals of your career/business and yourself?

Short term goals for business is getting our tasting room situation figured out and open in 2021. For myself, my goal is to continue my role as a leader and mentor in the alcohol beverage industry, by bring valuable content and support to my member associations: Women of the Vines & Spirits and Les Dames d’Escoffier.

 

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received that has helped you in your success?

Not everyone is going to like you, and that is okay.

 

What is the piece of advice that you wished you had gotten when you were starting out?

Approach people by what you can do for them, not what they can do for you.

 

What advice you give to others to help them be better leaders?

Cultivate and nourish your employees, they are your greatest asset.

 

As a thank you to our interview and Protea’s commitment to more diverse and inclusive leaders, Protea will make a donation to Vital Voices (https://www.vitalvoices.org/). Vital Voices Global Partnership is a global movement that invests in women leaders who are solving the world’s greatest challenges. They are “venture catalysts,” identifying those with a daring vision for change and partnering with them to make that vision a reality. They scale and accelerate impact through long term investments to expand skills, connections, capacity, and visibility. Over the last 22 years, we have built a network of 18,000 change-makers across 182 countries who are collectively daring to reimagine a more equitable world for all.

Protea Conversations: April Gargiulo

Protea Conversations: April Gargiulo

by | Apr 9, 2021 | Protea Conversations, Uncategorized

Protea Financial was founded in 2014 to provide high-quality outsourced accounting at an affordable price.  Given Protea’s flexible work environment, the Company especially appealed to accountants who wanted to re-enter the workforce after taking time off to start a family. This allowed Protea to attract extremely talented individuals who were overlooked.  Over 80% of both Protea’s leadership and accounting teams are women.

We selected the name Protea because is the national flower of South Africa and is a symbol of our connection. The Protea flower has become an ornamental flower because of this striking beauty and is included in arrangements and bouquets as a symbol of courage or daring to be better or a sign of positive transformation.

Protea Conversations focuses on successful woman in business and their achievements.  The hope is that these conversations will create a forum to discuss the experiences, opportunities, and challenges women face, and how we can build a more diverse, inclusive, and successful environment for everyone.

In April 2021 we spend time with April Gargiulo the Founder and CEO of Vintner’s Daughter, a luxury skincare company committed to performance-driven quality-focused, non-toxic skincare. She launched her first product, Active Botanical Serum in February 2012 bucking industry standards by using whole organic plants and methodical formulation methods versus low-quality fillers and formulation short cuts. Vintner’s Daughter quickly became a benchmark for quality and performance in the beauty world and is coveted by top beauty connoisseurs and industry professionals around the world. Before starting Vintner’s Daughter, April spent 8 years at the helm of her family’s Napa Valley winery, Gargiulo Vineyards. There, she helped build the winery’s reputation for terroir-driven, “first growth” Cabernet Sauvignon. Before Napa, April spent 6 years in Manhattan where she worked for design leader Vitra. Through Vintner’s Daughter, April commits 2% of every bottle sold to charities benefiting women, children and the environment. She is married to a fellow entrepreneur, Mitch Lowe (also her Executive Chairman) and has two young daughters. 

It is a story that has been told many times, but please share with us how Vintner’s Daughter came to be?

I was someone who had struggled with my skin for my entire life. I had acne, discoloration and all the fun things that come along with getting older. I was using what I thought were the very best “luxury” products. They were the most expensive and were written about often in glossy magazines. One day I started looking at the ingredients. I was shocked to realize that they were .01% active ingredients, the rest was low quality filler that was also in many cases toxic. Coming from where I was coming from, none of that sat right with me. I come from Napa Valley, a community dedicated to making the finest wines in the world through attention to detail and craftsmanship. Short cuts are not allowed and practically every grain of dirt is considered for its quality. That to me is the true definition of luxury; beginning with the finest raw materials and honoring them through the most thoughtful formulation practices to achieve something even greater than the parts. These products I was using were anything but. 

This was the genesis of Vintner’s Daughter. I wanted to build a true luxury skincare company that made products from the finest ingredients in the world, using time-honored techniques in order to bring about profound and lasting balance and health in the skin. It sounds lofty, but I wanted to build a skincare company on the very same philosophical foundations and principles as fine winemaking. There have been many bumps along the way from labs shutting their doors in my face when they find out about our weeks-long formulation process, or retailers who didn’t want to work with me because I had too few products. Overcoming these challenges has made me believe in our purpose to create fewer, higher-quality products fueled by whole plant nutrition even more. 

What has been the biggest challenge you have experienced in reaching your current success (personally and professionally)?

We are a brand that is going against the grain of traditional beauty in so many ways from our whole plant sourcing, to our unheard of formulation timelines to our snails-pace product introduction schedules. This has proven to be a challenge when finding manufacturing partners, retail partners and even garnering press who need “new” to sell their stories. Instead we have taken a slow approach in our weeks-long whole plant formulations that go against the 6 hour industry average formulation time and we have only introduced 2 products in 7 years versus the standard every 4-month product introduction schedule. We do this not to be contrarians, but because we believe that fewer, but better made products not only improve your skin, but improve your life and our planet. It is a kind of quiet activism that we pursue joyfully. 

 

What are your short-term goals of your career/business and yourself?

My short term and long term goals for the company are the same, to create skincare that has a dramatically positive effect on our customers’ skin and lives. 

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received that has helped you in your success?

Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. Find your north star and follow it relentlessly. 

What is the piece of advice that you wished you had gotten when you were starting out?

I’m not sure I would have taken it, but I certainly wish I would have more fully understood the classic line “team eats strategy for breakfast.” No matter how great your plan is, if you don’t have a highly functioning team of A or aspiring A players, it’s going to be nearly impossible to achieve. 

What advice you give to others to help them be better leaders?

Don’t rush yourself. Gain experience and knowledge with every step. It might not feel like a straight line and that is okay.  In the end, you have to decide what makes the most sense for you and follow that journey truthfully, with a full heart and a lot of hustle.

As a thank you to our interview and Protea’s commitment to more diverse and inclusive leaders, Protea will make a donation to Vital Voices. Vital Voices Global Partnership is a global movement that invests in women leaders who are solving the world’s greatest challenges. They are “venture catalysts,” identifying those with a daring vision for change and partnering with them to make that vision a reality. They scale and accelerate impact through long-term investments to expand skills, connections, capacity, and visibility. Over the last 22 years, we have built a network of 18,000 change-makers across 182 countries who are collectively daring to reimagine a more equitable world for all.