Honoring Women in the Wine & Spirits Industry

by | Sep 19, 2017 | Wine & Spirits

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Wine and spirits wholesalers in the U.S. account for 74,000 jobs and $6.5 billion in wages. While it is a male-dominated industry, women are increasingly making their mark.

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To promote and connect women in the industry, the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers Association (WSWA) created the Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) last year. This year, Dimensional Insight was proud to sponsor the group’s conference in Washington, DC. I attended on behalf of the company. Here are a few observations from the event.

Importance of mentorship

Several speakers addressed the importance of women both finding mentors and serving as mentors to other women. During a panel on “Women of Capitol Hill,” Barrett Karr, chief of staff for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), talked about how mentoring (or rather, a lack thereof) is a significant barrier facing women. She said men tend to better integrate mentoring into their everyday lives. Barrett also said it is vital to teach young women skills such as public speaking and how to run a good meeting.

Lee Dunn, the head of White House strategy and outreach at Google, encouraged women to diversify their mentors. She said women risk putting themselves in a bubble if they only have other women as mentors. Claire Shipman, author of “Cracking the Confidence Code,” also spoke about the importance of men mentoring women. One of the few men in the room asked Claire how men can encourage the women they work with. She said that male bosses may need to nudge women to embrace opportunities and take risks to build confidence in themselves as leaders.

Advice from these three speakers is salient for women in the wine and spirits industry, especially the wholesaler tier. Many wholesalers are family-owned businesses that traditionally have been handed down from father to son. So it is imperative for women to both seek out other women in the industry and learn from men who have moved up the ranks and have valuable advice and skills to share.

Confidence and risk-taking

Building confidence and learning to take risks were other themes that ran through many of the sessions. “Confidence is what turns thoughts into action,” Claire Shipman said during her presentation. She noted that women often do not feel confident until they know that they have met 100% of the requirements for a project or promotion. However, Claire encouraged women to get more comfortable taking risks and to “fail fast,” learning to embrace failure as part of the pathway to success.

Heather Greene, author of “Whisk(e)y Distilled,” also talked about confidence as she led a whiskey tasting. She noted that women have better olfactory senses than men and can feel secure in their ability to evaluate the spirit’s different aromas and flavors.  Heather said a comfortable knowledge of whiskey is a confidence-builder for women, another tool in their tool box.

Whiskey tasting

Heather’s whiskey tasting absolutely was the most fun part of the conference! I learned a lot – including that I prefer Jameson and Glengoyne Scotch to other whiskeys. Some of the more pertinent facts I learned:

  • The whiskey market is experiencing tremendous growth – in 2016, the U.S. whiskey market increased 6.8% by volume over the previous year.
  • There are more than 400 aromas present in whiskey.
  • Morning is the best time to taste whiskey.
  • There are 4 steps to a good whiskey tasting: 1) nosing; 2) tasting; 3) the “kick” (hitting your trigeminal nerve); and 4) the finish.

I definitely will be reading Heather’s book in the next few weeks, likely with a Jameson by my side.

Parting thoughts

Overall, this was a fantastic event to educate and inspire women in the wine and spirits industry. Dimensional Insight sponsored the event’s luncheon and I had the honor of delivering a few remarks. I noted that Dimensional Insight decided to sponsor this event because 1) we are a longtime supporter of WSWA; and 2) the mission of the event closely matched our company’s philosophy. At our core, we believe in investing in people – both our employees and our customers – as we believe that success begets success.

In addition, I noted that I am mom to three young girls, always striving to help them become confident and supportive young women. Organizations such as the WLC – in which women encourage and learn from one another – lift me up and help me be a confident, collaborative role model for my children.

So thank you to everyone who attended the WSWA Women’s Leadership Council Conference! Dimensional Insight is proud to support you and we look forward to being a long-time sponsor of this event.

Kathy Sucich
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