How WeRise Wines is Changing the Wine Industry w/ Diversity & Inclusion (Part 1)

Ep 106

What does it take to break barriers and amplify underrepresented voices in the wine industry?

It takes someone to notice that there is someone missing and then work to bring those underrepresented people to the table. That someone is Jamila Conley.

On today’s episode, Jamila Conley, discusses the challenges and opportunities for allyship in the wine industry which has long struggled with representation. She touches on what true allyship looks like both behind the scenes and as everyday consumers. 

Jamila dives into how WeRise Wines came to be and why her focus is not just on diversity but is also committed to making wine approachable and accessible to everyone.

Jamila Conley is the founder of WeRise Wines, a new concept in wine and a movement dedicated to amplifying the voices of underrepresented winemakers and reshaping perceptions of the wine industry. With a rich career spanning over 25 years in executive roles across technology, business transformation, and strategic leadership, Jamila has now channeled her passion for wine, social justice, and impactful leadership into creating a unique space that celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and success for all.

So, if you are ready to discover how the wine world is being reshaped by passionate changmakers like Jamila Conley and want to learn how you can be part of building a more inclusive, welcoming wine community then this episode is for you!

This is part 1 of my conversation with Jamila so make sure you don’t miss part 2!

Connect with Jamila

WeRise Wines - https://www.werisewines.com/wine-bar

Instagram - @werisewines

Facebook - @werisewine

Episode Highlights:

• Jamila Conley’s career transition story

• Comparisons between tech and wine industries

• Practical ways to advance diversity and inclusion in wine

• Founding WeRise wines

• Challenges for small and diverse wineries

• Navigating wine industry logistics

• Opening and operating WeRise wine bar

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Transcript

0:09

Interested in learning about wine, but not sure where to start? You're in the right place. Welcome to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. I'm your host, Haley Bullman, and I'm so glad you're here. I'm a wine enthusiast turned wine educator and founder of the Seattle based wine tasting business, Cork and Fizz. It is my goal to build your confidence in wine by making it approachable and lots of fun. You can expect to learn everything from how to describe your favorite wine to what to pair with dinner tonight and so much more. Whether you're a casual wine sipper or a total cork dork like myself, this podcast is for you. So grab yourself a glass and let's dive in. Hello and welcome back to the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. If I sound a little different, it is because I'm coming off of a cold, so if it's a little, a little congested, that is why. But I have a really fun interview to share with you today, which is why we're recording right now even if I sound a little funny. I am excited to introduce you to Jamila Conley. She is the founder of We Rise Wines, a new concept in wine and a movement dedicated to amplifying the voices of underrepresented winemakers and reshaping perceptions of the wine industry, which, like, that's what I started this podcast for is to highlight these kind of people. So Jamila is such a perfect fit for this podcast. And what is actually really cool is Jamila, before getting into wine, had a career spanning over twenty five years in executive roles across technology, business transformation, and strategic leadership. She has now channeled her passion for wine, social justice, and impactful leadership into creating a unique space that celebrates diversity, inclusivity, and success for all. She has so much to share and such a great interest in this space and such an interesting take on it. I think you're gonna love it. In this episode, you'll discover what made Jamila leave her executive job in the tech industry and join the wine world. You'll hear the comparisons between the tech world and the wine world when it comes to diversity and inclusion, what you can do as a consumer to advance diversity and inclusion, and how Jamila came up with the idea for We Rise Wines and turned it into the incredible wine bar that it is today. So without further ado, let's get into the interview. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and kinda give us your story on how you got into wine? Okay. So I'm Jamila Conley, founder and owner of We Rise Wines. We are a mission based wine company that just opened our wine bar in December, and, we're focused on highlighting diversity in wine and very intentional of how we're bringing that to the people. So, we're right Downtown Seattle because we want to have a lot of eyeballs on underrepresentation in the wine industry. And my story of getting into wine, I actually am a recovering tech executive that's now focused on wine, but it really is having a foundation of how can I help drive impact for underrepresentation? So whether doing that through a tech lens or through a wine lens, to me, at the end of the day, it's all about, driving generational wealth and how to help underrepresentation get the representation that it needs. And I've always loved wine, and I was ready for a change from corporate America. And I thought, why not wine? And using a lot of my corporate skills to make that happen. Yeah. I think that's so cool. And I was reading your story. It's funny. So I Googled you, you know, to learn a little bit more and figure out what questions. And one of the things that came up was, like, just about, like, it was you giving advice in the tech world. And I was like, wait a second. Hold on. Is this the right Jamila? Like, should I look up the right person? But I think that's so cool. My my corporate job outside of this is in the tech world as well, so it's kind of fun to have that comparison. But I'm curious. So, yeah, you spent twenty five years in executive roles in, in tech and business transformation, strategic leadership. Was there, like, a single moment where you were like, I'm going into the wine world, or was it kind of like a lot of smaller things that added up that made you make that pivot into the wine world? So I'm gonna say yes to both. And because what what happened was, like, there was a point, and I think it was the that I blame the pandemic that I just got tired of sitting on Zoom meetings for ten to twelve hours a day and just feeling like I could be doing more. And that happened for me in 2021, and I didn't know what next looked like. And to be quite honest, I thought, well, maybe I'm just burned out in my job and, you know, it's time to because I was with f five. I was with the same company for twelve years. I thought, well, maybe I just needed something new. But as I was starting to just softly look and think about, okay, what does next look like? There was nothing that was resonating with me, but I had a series of friends that were just like, you love wine. Why don't you do something in the wine industry? But, again, I didn't know what that looked like, but a lot of people kept saying it to me. So that that that was kind of the little things that were in the back of my mind. And actually, I had another friend that she quit her job at T Mobile after being at T Mobile for twelve years, moved to Walla Walla, and was like, I don't know what I wanna do in wine, but I know I want to do something. I'm gonna move to Walla Walla and just immerse myself in the wine industry. And I knew it was like, well, I can't I don't wanna do that. But what happened was in 2023, I was at a wine dinner that was focused on black women and wine, and that's when the everything kind of culminated in itself because I met all these black women winemakers that I didn't know it existed. And as someone who loves wine, passionate about diversity, my thought in that moment was how did I not know this many black women were in wine? And this dinner had about nine women winemakers there. So I was just like, Well, how many more are there? And that just got me curious to think about, well, is there something here where I can drive impact, expose more people to the diversity in wine? And, again, kinda think about that corporate thing because I I've done a lot of panels and keynotes and talks about how important it is to see someone who looks like you to help you navigate and think about what you could do in tech. And, you know, and I was that person for a lot of people of, wow. I see a, you know, a black female executive. You know, maybe I I didn't know this was something I could do, and I've had so many people tell me that. And I was having that experience in the wine world that it was well, I wonder if I could do you know, help people see. Like, there's people that look like you making wine and making good wine. So that's where the thought came from. Yeah. No. I I love that. I think that's such a great thing to pull out, and I I talk about that all the time too. Like, in the tech world as well of, like, it's nice to see women in places of power. And then as you're talking about too, for women of color to see, you know, that that we can do this. Like, that is possible. You see someone up there, and you also feel more comfortable talking to that person or asking that person questions or seeing that person as a mentor. And I think that's so, so powerful. And like you said, it also equates to the wine world, which you kind of already answered my next question, but I'm gonna ask it directly to see if there's anything else I can get off the top of your mind here. Just a quick reminder. If you are not on my mailing list yet, what are you waiting for? I would love for you to join. When you do, you'll get a free shopping guide that has 15 of my favorite wines under$15. Head to corkandfizz.com, scroll down to the bottom, and there'll be a little section where you can join the mailing list. I send out a weekly newsletter filled with wine tips, recommendations, special offers, and so much more. Now let's get back to the show. So you talked about in tech. You were really passionate about, you know, advancing diversity and inclusion, and now that's a focus in the wine world. Now thinking of these two sectors and, like, you already talked about, you made one comparison between the two just seeing somebody who looks like you. Are there other comparisons you can make when it comes to diversity inclusion between tech and the wine world? Oh, absolutely. You know, like I said, when when I think about my years in tech and how important it is to be an ally, and I would say before I even had words for allyship or building diverse teams, it was just something I did naturally. And it wasn't until years later that as there was more of a focus on diversity inclusion and talking about allyship that I could look back and think about the number of people that I just naturally wanted to make sure that, hey, their voice needs to be heard. Sitting in rooms where you're talking about who should get promoted and especially being you know, a lot of times being the only woman in the room, the only person of color in the room, and being an advocate for people when you would hear, oh, we should promote this guy. And it's just like and, honestly, the reasons they want to promote him was, oh, you know, he's such a great guy. Like, I could have a beer with him. And then when you know, I would bring up, well, what about this person over here? It's like, oh, does she even talk? Like, I never hear I was like, she runs circles around the person that you're talking about promoting. And for me, it was just more of, like, what was right. You know? Mhmm. The equity in it and the, well, if you don't see the value she brings, let me bring her to the right meetings. Let me, you know, show you her work product. And realizing that, oh, that's what true allyship looks like is how do you bring someone to the table so that people the perceptions they have in their head, you're able to combat those with the facts. And I feel like in the wine world, I'm doing that as well where the number of times, especially starting this mission where someone would say, like, oh, are there even that many diverse wine producers? Like, it must be really hard to find. And being able to, again, combat that with the facts of, oh, look what we've opened. And so so people come in, and it's just like, I won't even get into some of the, ridiculous, comments that I get that are well meaning that is just like, oh, why did you say that? But they'll look, and it's like, wow. You have a lot of wines that had no idea all this existed, and, oh, these wines are really good. And the shock sometimes people get of like, wow. This is really good that just starting to break down that barrier that, you know, if you just look a little bit, you are missing out on some great quality. So and, you know, whether it was some you know, a team member when I was in tech or a winemaker, and now what I'm doing with We Rise, you know, there's a very strong parallel there. Yeah. Oh, I I love that. And I think you called out. I wanted to highlight the allyship because one of the things, like, for the folks listening to this, right, and the folks who are either in the wine world or they're a consumer of the wine world, what are some things that you think they can be doing to kind of represent or be an ally in this area or, you know, help with the amplifying the diversity and inclusion? Honestly, just like it I love we're having this conversation about tech versus, versus mine. It's just like a piece of advice that I always given people when I was in the tech world around, you know, being an ally is as simple as if you're sitting in a meeting and there's someone trying to talk and especially and as a woman in tech, I'm sure you've gotten this a lot where you're sitting in a meeting, you're trying to give your thought and either your thought gets passed over or someone takes that and amplifies your thought but takes all the credit that you just said something is not acknowledged. Someone else says it and it's like, oh, Bob, that's a great thing to do. And it's like the thing I always tell people, how you can be an ally in that moment is to interject and say, oh, that was a great thought, Bob, that you just amplified that Haley just said a few minutes ago. I feel as same in the wine world is when you go to restaurants or you go to a wine shop or you're, you know, at a wine store or Total Wine or whatever, grocery store, of asking them, hey. What diverse producers do you have? Which women winemakers do you have? I'm trying to be intentional of, like, are there is there any diversity on the list? It helps build that awareness that people aren't thinking about that, or they're not thinking about it the way that they should. And we can all help be a part of the change, and it's not about, you know, being on a strong platform and screaming, but it's just asking those little questions when you're in restaurants and helping them start to think about, oh, you know, I don't know. Or we don't have any, but maybe that needs to change because the people that are coming in those stores that are shopping, we should be reflecting that community. And I think it's as simple as that as being an ally that anyone, any consumer can do. Yes. No. I I totally agree. It's like the idea of, like, it's what is it, like, you vote with your dollar or something like that? Like, if you start asking for these things and I think a lot of people I think that's, like, one thing that the wine world is changing a little bit and, like, wanting to know the people behind the bottle and, like you said, have intention behind it of, like, you know, I want to seek out women winemakers because I want to help them grow. Right? Like, it's not that, like, I there are plenty of wines made by white men that I love very much, and I'm gonna continue to drink them. Right? But it's also easier for them because that the world was made you know, the wine world was made for them, and it makes it easier. And so it's like, let's give a little hand to those that, like, don't have, you know, the easy stepping stones to get there, and ask for that stuff and ask. Because then like you said, yes. Exactly. Like, I could see if multiple people walk into Total Wine asking for women made wine or asking for wine made by people of color. Next thing you know, they're gonna have a stand made up of, like, here are a bunch of wines made by women. Here are a bunch of wines made by people of color because they're gonna do what people ask for. Right. Exactly. Exactly. And and like I said, it's a simple thing, but it's just not thought about. And I find that even with working with distributors, and I would say that about 85 to 90% of my businesses, I'm working direct with the wineries, but about 10% of my business is with distributors. And I'm even intentional in distributors that I work with is, you know, they'll come to me of, like, hey. We'd love to work with you. And my first question is, what's your diversity in wine? And some of them are like, oh, we don't think we have any. Others will come as like, well, here's all the women winemakers we work with. And then I double click on that, and it's like, okay. Well, beyond just women, what do you have in producers of color, queer producers? You know, I wanna know what's interesting. And some of them, you know, give me a deer in headlights look, and then others are like, well, actually, we do have some diverse producers. And so to me, that helps continue to narrow down how invested the distributor is in my mission versus just pushing me wine and trying to get me quality producers. So, you know, it's like I'm being intentional. It really helps feed, and then I see you know, it's like I probably have two to three producers that really feed into the mission, and they're just like, we found something new. And it's just like and that's fun to me because I feel like, okay. You're truly invested in trying to make the wine industry more diverse. Yes. Yeah. So, like, you're not the only one looking for those things. Now those distributors are looking for those qualities as well in the wine they represent. I love it. Okay. I'm gonna take us back just a little bit. We got really into that conversation. I wanted to kinda deep dive into that. So I'm gonna take us a step back, and you talked about even in your time in tech, you had a love for wine. And I always love to find out what is your wine story? Like, how did you discover that love of wine, and and why was it a passion for you? It's, you know, it's funny because, one, and sorry. I'm gonna divert a little bit. Okay. I love seeing young people really get into wine now because I remember hating wine of, like especially red wine because it's like, why would you drink something that's room temperature? It doesn't taste good. And then when I was in my graduate studies, I took a international business class that was just outside of Paris in Angers, France. And as a part of the program, they had, like, everything laid out, all the activities. So they we went to wine tasting in the Loire Valley. They took us to different castles, and it was always around wine. So I just got, like, almost a master's experience and, like, how to taste wine, the differences in wine and everything, and it was just like so I came back home at 20 I think I was 25 or 26 at the time with this, like, new appreciation for wine. I still didn't know a lot, but at least I knew kind of the differences. So that's what really got me connected to wine. And then I moved to Seattle when I was 27 and then started to get into Washington Wines. I made a friend. Actually, my friend that I was saying moved to Walla Walla. I think I met her in my mid thirties, and and we became, like, close wine friends. Me, her, and another friend every quarter would go out to Woodinville and go wine tasting. We joined a bunch of wine clubs together. So my palate just started to naturally grow as I just learned more and learned more about just, like, Washington wines and getting into wine that way. And it's like so I became kind of that wine snob. Like like, some of my other friends have, like, oh, hand you me a little wine list. You know? She's gonna pick a good wine, but without really having that true education behind it. But I just kinda grew into it, and I enjoyed it. And I enjoyed the community that is built around wine. And then I started getting, you know, more serious, especially as my career continued to blossom and I can afford better wines. Fair. So yeah. So that that's how I I I got into wine. Nice. I love it. Did you end up going into any form of education or formal education on wine? Yeah. So then as I was getting more serious about starting We Rise, I wanted to get more formal experience. So I have my w set one. I'm actually going through my w set two right now. So instead of, like, going back to school, I decided to get a certification because I I wanted to make sure I understood and I know the basics and I know more of the background in history and wine. So I'm currently, you know, pursuing it in that way. Yeah. No. I think that makes total sense. I there's so much in the wine world that, like, I mean, you can learn in so many different ways. I always point people to I mean, it's like it's like the whole idea nowadays of, like, what do they what do people call it? Like, university YouTube or whatnot that, like, you don't have to go back to school to, like, learn things. You can learn in different ways. So I love it. Alright. So we've done a lot of background. I'm gonna pull us now to We Rise Wines. Can you tell us more about it, and how did it go from just a concept to a reality? Hey, wine lover. Interested in trying new wines, but not sure where to start? Or maybe you've been thinking, I'd love to taste wine live with Haley. I mean, who isn't thinking that? Well, say hello to the court crew, my virtual tasting club where wine meets fun, learning, and the best happy hour you've ever had, all from the comfort of your couch. Every month, we explore a new wine theme together. You'll get expert tips, delicious food pairings, and stories that bring each bottle to life. You can order the feature wines from my partner shop, grab something similar locally, or just sip whatever you've already got. No pressure and no wine purchase required in this club. In 2025, I've made this club even better. You get to choose between two tasting dates each month and everything is recorded so you can catch up any time. We've also just launched our exclusive court crew app where you'll find all of your event info, wine recommendations, community connection, all in one place. It is accessible via your phone or your computer. As a member, you'll also get six free guest passes so you can invite friends, quarterly wine trivia nights, winemaker Q and A's, a private online community, discounts on private tastings, and so much more. And when I say everyone is welcome, I mean everyone. Whether you're brand new to wine or a total cork dork like me, you'll fit right in. Loud or quiet, wine curious, or wine obsessed, this space is for you. Join today and get your first two months for just $8 a month. I mean, heck, that's like a drink at Starbucks. Use code wine special, no spaces, or you can save $80 on the yearly membership. When you sign up for the annual subscription, use code wine special dash year. Head to the courtcrew.com, that's the courtcrew.com, to sign up, and I'll see you at our next tasting. Cheers. So one of the things you should know about me is I am all about facts and data. And so and I'm a process geek type of person. So when I was at that wine dinner and, like, the thought hit me up, like, oh, I wonder if there's something here. And I didn't know it was gonna be a business or anything. I just I got curious. So then I wanted to understand more of the processes and understanding operationally just like supply chain logistics. How does, you know, how does the wine world work? So I started reaching out to people I knew in the wine business. I was a member of for instance. And I was actually sitting at Shay's table that night, and I remember saying to Shay, like, hey. I have this thought. Like and this is how seriously, like, the thought planted in my head that night because I was like, Shay, can we get some time? Can I, like, call you, like, in the next week? I have some questions just around the wine industry issues. Like, sure. I had some friends that left f five to start wineries. And, again, like I said, it's just like I hadn't thought about diversity in wine. And then when I started thinking about it, I'm like, hey. I know two women that left. So, Fortunity Sellers, Emily Ferguson, she left tech to start her winery. Joe Bader, she and her husband, Mark, they started Spruce Hill Winery. So I reached out to both of them, and it's just like, hey. How come I don't see you in Seattle more? Like, I I don't I can't find your wines anywhere. And I just started asking questions and started to understand how hard it is for smaller wineries to get into distribution, how expensive it can be for them. So there's really no real pathway to get into the cities and also just learning more around kind of liquor laws of, you know, what wineries can and can do to be able to market themselves. So as I learned that, I started taking that information and trying to figure out, like, well, is there something here I could do to help them? And as I started thinking about, I wonder if I have a business idea here. Well, what could it be? I started thinking about, well, first and foremost, I would need to build a brand. And I should start this by saying, what I knew I didn't wanna do is start a winery. I'm way too lazy for that. But I was just like, so what are my skills? I have a great network. I've worked in, you know, Downtown Seattle, you know, for a very long time, and I wonder if there's a way I could tap into this and make this something. And as I thought about it, is there a way I could help revitalize Downtown Seattle? So all those things started coming together for me. And and then I started talking to people about it. And, again, it wasn't it was just like this blob of an idea. And as I talk to people and thinking people are gonna be like, oh, that's dumb. Instead, people are like, nothing like this exists. You should think about, like, doing this. What it what would it look like? What could it look like? And then finally, I landed well, there's not a lot of wine bars, and people love a good wine bar and could be a great way to build the brand no matter where I wanna take the company. And so then I started focused on, well, if I started this wine bar, made it intentional, and it only focused on diversity, would people think I'm crazy? And, again, as I talked to people, it just became it snowballed. It's just like I really leaned into my network, and my network just kept delivering up. You should talk to this person. You should and what started to open up for me is like, wow. There's a lot of people in the wine industry doing a lot of interesting things because you think about it as a consumer of, I go to Total Wine, buy a bottle of wine, take it to a party, I'm done, that you don't think about it as a full industry of people who put their focus there. And so the concept started building itself, and one of my same friend in Walla Walla, I went to Walla Walla just to go wine tasting. I told her about the idea, and she was like, we're going to women winemakers and women owned wineries while you're here. And it was really her who kind of pushed me up, like, tell them about your idea. And I was like, but it's it's just an idea. And I so I started talking to the the wineries while I was there, and it became, oh, do you have a business card? Like, is there a way we could sign up? And I'm like, I don't have any of that. So it was like that night, I went and started, like, how do I set up an LLC? So it really kinda blossomed on its own of how I got started. Wow. That's so cool. I was like, so many things that you said. I'm like, oh my gosh. I wanna highlight that. I wanna highlight that. One, I love that you talk about, like, Shay Frisette. Like, again, it shows that, like, connection of, like, having another woman of color in the wine world that you could sit down with, talk to, and be like, hey. Tell me about this. You know? Like, teach me what I don't know. And, like, the fact that you are also willing to be like, I know the corporate side of things. Wine I like, but I don't really know if I know all of this about it. Let me figure it out. Let me ask questions. And I have to ask since you've done a lot of the research in this space and as you're opening up the wine bar, I know and I'm sure a lot of listeners know that it is hard for small wineries to get out there and distribute. Can you share a little bit about why that is? Like, why is it hard for a small winery to get their wine, let's say, in total wine or to be able to ship to multiple states and reach more people? So two things. One, a lot of the smaller wineries, obviously, that wine that you're buying is paying for everything. Right? So from the production of the wine to their mortgages and their life. So all of that is in that price of the wine. And for distributors, generally, they're looking at price points that are gonna be much lower because then on top of that, they have to pay salespeople and give discounts to restaurants. So there's a mismatch in what they'd be able to sell that wine for or the discount that they would want that winery to take to be able to sell their wine, and the winery can't necessarily always make it make sense. So a lot of what I found is that, you know, distributors are will look at the price point of wines because I've I've tried to help some of the wineries get into distribution, and I I've had wineries. They won't even taste the wine. So it doesn't even matter how great the wine is. It's like they'll just look and say, oh, at that price point, there's no way we'd ever be able to push that. But for this one, yes, we we'd have a conversation. And I was a bit floored by that, but it was a learning. And one of the things I would also say specific to We Rise is that I'm also trying to break glass in the way that the wine industry works. There's a lot of best practices. So for the model that I'm doing, just like with distribution, there is a way people do things. And then as a retailer, there are standards, if you will, status quo of, oh, well, if I buy a bottle of wine at this price, I should be able to do a back glass four at this price. And one of the things I have to do going in was that's not always gonna hold true for us, and I'm absolutely okay with that because you have to make a decision as a retailer of and, again, me being mission based, I had to make a decision, so I'll just speak for myself of, am I in it for what the industry says I need to do to make money, or am I in it to help promote my mission? And I'm in it to help promote my mission, so that means, hey. I'm gonna have to break this standard a bit of how you make money or what they say you have to do to make money to be able to get these wineries out there and out front. Because then if I can help them drive more volume, guess what? They'll be able to lower the prices. So it becomes this kind of catch 22 of I have to price it at this point to be able to for this winery to exist. You know? It's like if they're always direct to consumer and they can't get into distribution, so it's hard to actually get into restaurants, etcetera. Like, how do you break that cycle? And so I'm trying to be one of those people to help break that cycle. Yeah. Yeah. And for those that are listening, because the wine world is, like, ridiculously not, like, confuse well, confusing, but also annoying and, like, how you have to, like, get wine to people. Like, generally, the way that it works is that you it's like a multi tier system. And so first, if the wine isn't in The US, you have to import it into The US. You have the importer. Right? And that comes you have the winemaker who made the wine outside of The US, then you imported it. Now if it's in The US, great. It's already in The US. We can start from the winemaker. Then, typically, it goes to a distributor, and the distributor is the one that then will sell the wine to either a wine shop or to a restaurant or to a wine bar, for example. And so with each tier there, by the time it makes it to you, it's past, like, two to three people, and they've each had to add their own, you know, little increase on the wine. And And so it sounds like when we talk about direct to consumer, that's where the winery can sell directly to you. Or in this case, it sounds like, Jamila, you work with wineries directly, so they sell directly to the wine bar. Is that correct? Correct. Correct. Okay. So just just for those that are listening, that took me so long to kinda, like, wrap my head around and still sometimes confuses me on, like, how it has to work. Yeah. I I just got back from a trip to South Africa. I've met some wonderful winemakers, black winemakers over there that are up and coming. Fantastic wine. And about half of the ones I met with were already in The United States, and then the other half, they weren't, but they really want to be. So I've been trying to talk to and porters and learning that whole thing, and my head is like, okay. This is really difficult. So Right. It's like it should just be as easy as, like, we want this wine in The US. They wanna put their wine in The US. Let's get it here, and let's drink it. It's like, it's it's not that easy. Okay. Before we talk about I definitely wanna talk about winemakers. But before we get into that, We Rise Wines is a wine bar. You open it up in December. I'm curious what has been you know, how has it been received both by the public and by the wine community in general? And maybe tell me a little bit about I know you guys do a lot of events there as well. So that was probably, like, three questions in one, but go for it. So it's been received extremely well. The community has been so welcoming and loving the space. And, you know, one of our values and tenants is that we want to have a welcoming and inclusive space and meet people where they are in their wine journey, and people love that. And the staff loves it because most people a lot of people come in and they're just like, what do you recommend? You tell me what to drink. And, you know, and it gives the staff a chance to really talk about the wineries, the winemakers, and the wine, and it gives a true experience to people where they don't have to feel like, oh, I, you know, smell blackcurrant in this wine that you know, people can come in and say, hey. I like wine. I, you know, I generally drink red, but they don't know anything else. So it we're we're able to really indulge people and give them that place where they can ask any question or ask no questions. And and that's really what we're about is more on the storytelling about the wineries and the winemakers and how it resonates with people versus feeling like you have to know everything about the science behind the line, if you will. So people love that. We do a lot of events. We have a private event space, so it allows us to really engage with the corporate community. And so that's been well received. We've done a ton of events already. So that's from a private event side. And then the other side of it is that we use the space as a platform to do pop ups with a lot of our winemakers, and that has been really well received. People just love it. They love to learn about new wines. And for me, it was important, again, as a way to bring more access and awareness. And I think for a lot of people that wine the wine industry feels so taboo or, the number of people I have to tell you before we open this, like, oh, you're opening a wine bar. I love wine, but please don't ask me anything about it. I picked my wine based on how pretty the label is. To break down that stigma of feeling like, please don't give me a pop quiz online because I'm not gonna be able to answer. To break that down for people where they can feel like, oh, I can come in and be myself. Oh, and I get to meet the winemaker. They're not this wizard behind the curtain, but they're just, like, regular people, fun people, and it's been it's been great to do those types of events with the community, and we try to do one once a week. And then from a wine industry perspective, as I was saying before, when I set this business model up, I thought I would only be working direct with wineries. I was shocked when distributors started reaching out to me. And so it's been great to see that, you know, we have distributors that come to us. They want to work with us and, you know, and engage with us and helping me, like, actually broaden the wines that I'm able to bring in the bar. So that's been so that in itself has been amazing, and it's been really well received. And I think the other thing that I'm able to help kind of change is that it has been hard when I first got started to find that diversity in wine because it's really not captured anywhere. And so now what we're starting to put together and we'll be going live on our website soon is a list of all of our winery partners and the region that they're in and their diversity and links to their website as a resource for, you know, you know, so that people can start finding out more about diversity in wine. So I think I answered all of your questions. I think you did. Great job. You can tell you're in corporate because you're like, yep. I got or, like, you've been in corporate. You're like, I can remember all your questions and answer all of them easily for you. Okay. There's so many fun things. First, I love your connection to, like, people thinking that they're going to have like a pop quiz when you bring up why. And like, I think that's such a great way to put it. I'm like, I'll start talking why and be like, oh, I like why, but please don't ask me. And I'm like, why would you think I'm going to ask you like, like quiz you on the concepts of why? That'd be like, hey, wanna go to the basketball game? I'm now gonna quiz you on everything about, like, I really hope nobody ever does that when they invite me to a game because I don't know why I can watch it, but that's all I can do. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Cork and Fizz Guide to Wine podcast. If you're in the Seattle area, be sure to go visit We Rise Wine Bar in Downtown Seattle. And if you're not, be sure to add it to your list of must visit whenever you come to Seattle. If you're outside the area, check out werisewines.com to shop their online bottle shop or join one of their incredible wine clubs. I'll throw the link in the description as well. And be sure to follow at werise wines on Instagram to follow their journey and discover amazing diverse winemakers. Now if you love this episode as much as I did, you know what to do. I would love it if you take a quick second, rate it, leave a review, and if you know a wine lover in your life that would enjoy it, please share it with them. In next week's episode, you'll hear part two of my interview with Jamila, where we talk about how she chooses the wines and winemakers that she represents at We Rise Wines. She will highlight four incredible winemakers that are making delicious wines both in Washington and South Africa. She'll share what's next for We Rise Wines as the business and brand continues to grow and so much more. Thanks again for listening. And if you wanna learn more about wine, come follow me at Cork and Fizz on Instagram. And if you're interested in exploring new wines and joining an incredible community of wine lovers, be sure to sign up for my virtual tasting club, The Court Crew. Head to thecourtcrew.com to learn more and use code wine special, no space, wine special, to get your first two months for just $8 a month. Cheers.