Just When You Thought No One Was Listening
Cathy Huyghe
Co-Founder at Enolytics. Columnist at Forbes. Leadership Atlanta Class of 2023. Most Inspiring Person (Wine Industry Network). Innovator of the Year Nominee (Wine Enthusiast).
Not gonna lie. Sometimes it feels very much that I write these Enolytics 101 posts in a vacuum.
As in, are they making a difference? Are they reaching the audience we intend them to reach? Are they helpful? Will anyone take action as a result of what they read? Will the conversation around wine + data get a boost, ultimately, because of what we do here each Friday?
Not gonna lie. Some weeks it’s hard to tell.
It’s a challenge – call it an apathy challenge – and I’m afraid that I’m not alone in feeling this way in the wine industry right now.
But then.
But then what we do – doggedly, and seemingly in a vacuum at least some of the time – receives an unexpected boost, from an unexpected source.
Last week it was an email from out of the blue by a former MBA student at the University of Bologna, who’s now working at one of the largest sparkling wine producers in the world, asking for a demonstration of how our tools can help their team.
This week it was speaking to an entirely different group of students, this time in a Wine Marketing course at Cornell, who emailed almost immediately afterward to ask how our work could inform their Master’s thesis and others who asked how we could help select inventory at their family’s local bottle shop.
Just yesterday it was a word-of-mouth recommendation from a repeat client, who spoke in an unsolicited way about how our work helped him reach his quarterly and annual goals.
Here’s the point: it’s no secret that starting a new company in the wine industry is an uphill battle especially when, at least on the surface, the industry is wrestling with an apathy problem about new ideas or even doing things just a little bit differently than how it’s always been done.
I hear that. I do.
But then. Then!
The seeds we planted long ago start to germinate, finally.
The tracks we’ve been laying start to gain traction, at long last.
The see-saw of doubt versus affirmation starts to tip in our favor, ultimately landing on the upswing.
No one said this was going to be easy, and no one promised continual endorsement.
Instead, it’s about the effort to keep trying, and to keep the focus on the people who don’t fall prey to apathy, who know that there’s there there, and are willing to dig in to find it.
If you’re one of those people, Thank You. You’re why we’re here.
In gratitude,
Cathy
Wine Merchant/ Brand Owner/ Author @ Regalo Press / Brand Consultant/ Mentor/ Speaker / Director of Program - MBA Wine & Spirits, INSEEC / Omnes.
5 年Being an entrepreneur is definitely challenging, more so in the wine industry. There are many who discourage you and tell you upfront that you won't succeed, there are those, the silent spectators, who wait and watch, to see if with time you'd succumb to the pressures. Meanwhile you're sitting on top the roller coaster trying to make sense of it all.?It's uphill no doubt, but success surely?is a result of perseverance. The most important lesson I've learnt through all this time is that 'strong women never quit'.... we just don't! And there you go... it was all worth it. ?
Founder | Multiplex Program Development | Strategic Initiatives | Business Transformation | Leadership | Process Optimization | Corporate & Non-Profit Excellence | US Marine | An agent of scalable positive change!
5 年I have no doubt that you will be successful, and that your work will make a difference!
CEO at Ticinum Aerospace s.r.l
5 年Thanks Cathy! It is gonna take time, but won't be forever...