Ep. 1290 Alex Schrecengost | Voices With Cynthia Chaplin

By now, you've all heard of Italian wine Unplugged two point o. The latest book published by Mamma jumbo shrimp. It's more than just another wine book. Fully updated second edition was inspired by students of the Vin Italy International Academy and painstakingly reviewed and revised by an expert panel of certified Italian wine ambassadors from across the globe. The book also includes an addition by professor Atilio Shenza. Italy's leading vine geneticist. The benchmark producers feature is a particularly important aspect of this revised edition. The selection makes it easier for our readers to get their hands on a bottle of wine that truly represents a particular grape or region to pick up a copy, just head to Amazon dot com, or visit us at mama jumbo shrimp dot com. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. I'm Cynthia Chaplin and this is voices. Every Wednesday, I will be sharing conversations with international wine industry professionals discussing issues in diversity, equity, and inclusion through their personal experiences working in the field of wine. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and rate our show wherever you get your pods. Hello, and welcome to voices. This is me, Cynthia Chaplin. And today, I am thrilled to welcome Alexander Shrekengoss to voices. Alex is a wine enthusiast forty under forty pacemaker. Based in New Jersey. She spent two decades working in wine, spirits, hospitality, luxury goods, and PR with iconic brands such as Romani County, and Beyondi Sandy at Wilson Daniels. The pandemic created a huge opportunity for Alex to start mission driven businesses. To help workers in hospitality and consumers. Alex founded two black owned businesses. The first was virtual with us, focused on providing remote tastings, cooking, and baking classes, mixology sessions, Trevia things that helped people bond over food and wine. And the second was culture with us, which gives a fresh take on corporate gifting, with wine and beverage recommendations, as well as bespoke luxury retreats to support interpersonal relationships and socialization and health and wellness. So thank you for coming on the show today, Alex. It's a pleasure to have you. Oh, thank you so much for having me on today. I'm excited to be here. Well, this is gonna be an interesting conversation because the pandemic definitely changed a lot of things in the wine sector with online classes and e commerce being among the biggest changes. I know I had to go to online tastings, giving them, taking them, all of that to to keep your hand in the game. What gave you the idea for virtual with us and culture with us? So, you know, as as we started to go into the pandemic and and lockdown, it was such a scary time for so many, you know, basically for everyone. It was something that we were dealing with globally, and I saw a lot of my friends that were in the industry being furloughed, and it's trying to determine how can you work from home if you're always expected to work on the floor. And then separately, just seeing my husband's struggle with maintaining his professional contacts He works at a tech company, and really struggling to get some meetings, and work through sales. And so I decided, why not marry those two issues and figure out a solution that would help everyone and really help to uplift professionals and provide some way to socialize, during the lockdown period. And that's really where the brainchild came from, my living room couch, actually, where I thought why not put together an opportunity where we can entertain folks virtually while we're going through this together and find ways of solace and and entertainment and really have, you know, some ways that we're used to lighting up a room and working the floor and providing all the recommendations and chatting with their patrons on an ongoing basis, bringing them virtually and allowing them to do that on the computer. And it really, really presented an opportunity to be able to do this for global organization Well, it's a great idea. And and I'm just wondering, sir, what's the mission that's driving you, behind both of these organizations? Well, when I started it, I knew I wanted an inclusion, diversity, and equity driven business. The mission really is as simple as allowing folks to feel like they always have a seat at the table. You know, the biggest thing, and I think that we saw in the wine industry a huge shift is that inclusivity piece and having diversity, and you want different types of thinkers. You don't want, the same folks that are the yes folks. You want people to come in and really showcase who they are and bring in a different perspective. And I wanted honesty. I wanted compassion. I wanted kindness. And and above all, I wanted it to be unpretentious and to allow for folks to be able to have a safe space and feel like they were included and and in a way that has social impact. So a lot of our programming truly focuses on underrepresented communities, so women owned, person of color, LGBTQ QIA plus, and as a way to really support these global organizations you know, we're fulfilling in seventy seven countries at this time. So, you know, I see a lack of representation across the board, and this also allowed an opportunity to create some innovations and to really truly create community around DEAI initiatives. It's all of those are such good points. You know, unpretentious, is sort of one of my watch words and and inclusivity of making sure that people feel safe. They can say what they want to say. We don't have to stick to traditional, very rigid language. So I think, you know, there was certainly that moment appeared where we were able to, sort of demonstrate actively, you know, be more inclusive than we had been in the past in the wine industry, and and you've certainly accomplished that. So, I'm I'm just wondering, kind of, along these same lines, you yourself have a WSET diploma. I'm a WSET educator. How important do you consider wine education in our industry? What about, you know, education for people who don't work in wine? They're just wine lovers or, you know, how are we going to get people who are disadvantaged can't afford it? We know wine education is expensive. How do you feel about one education at the moment? Well, I I think it's it's definitely making some shifts in the right direction. For me, it was important as a communications professional, to have that background, to be able to understand the language, as I was speaking with a lot of trade, not only in school, but also on a professional level when I was, you know, hosting events and trips to regions and introducing wineries, I really wanted to understand the intricacies that go beyond the bottle, so to speak. And it was important to me that I didn't just go in and pitch something. I didn't know or understand. And I really wanted to really dive into what is it about the wine industry and what it goes into, and just really be transformative in that manner. And while I do stand behind my program and I loved the education that I received, especially at the International Wine Center in New York. I don't know that everybody needs it. It's something that, you know, it's an it's a really, really wonderful, beautiful accolade to have It's definitely a lot of work. I I can attest to the diploma, lots of studying, hours of studying, and Absolutely. Flash cards. But on the other side of it, I feel like what's coming out now is much more approachable for people that do not have access, for people that do not have the resources and the funds between scholarships between the mentoring programs. I see a lot of, the master sommeliers and masters of wine and diploma candidates, as well as recipients, And even beyond that, people have gotten a variety of certifications who are now standing by their their friends and folks that are just entering into the industry and just really being a mentor and introducing what what wine really is, And that's truly having everyone have a seat at the table. Right? Because it just allows for this inclusivity that we just had not seen before. And the educational piece is definitely a wonderful component. You wanna be able to articulate what and how, with regard to wine, and you wanna be able to understand, what goes into making it. But That can also be found by spending a lot of time with winemakers by spending a lot of time with mentors who have been in the industry for many years. And I, you know, I'm honored to have a lot of those people in my back pocket as friends as family, who guide me through this and, who've taught me a lot of what I know today in addition to that schooling. And I think that is an opportunity in itself to really open up doors for curiosity. And that's what we're seeing with the consumers too who are wine enthusiasts. You know, they're they're showing that curiosity and they're diving into all of the books and all of the digital content that's available. And the opportunity to go visit wineries, especially now that tourism is is back and exciting and refreshed, and there just is so many different ways to learn about wine. And that that ties into the hospitality piece too, where everyone's like, yes. You know, come on come on into my home. And it's inspirational almost to see that hospitality piece and what drives, having all of those people teach you what goes into making wine. So I love I love the educational piece. I love the organization, the WSTT program, and and everything that they stand behind, but also in seeing that people don't always have the resources and the funds to do that. There's just so many opportunities now to be able to learn. I completely agree. That's that's such a great point. And also the idea of being transformative, I think, is something really important these days. Kind of kicking over the more traditional traces, and there's more than one path to to why knowledge. But you you said something interesting that your your background is in communication strategies and brand initiatives, you know, much more the business end of things. In your opinion, same sort of along the same kind of lines, you know, how has wine communication changed in recent years, as as education did, so did communication? Absolutely. You know, I think the the biggest thing too is the social impact piece, which has been really important to a lot of winemakers and hospitality brands, is really understanding that holistic larger piece of, the people, the why, the resources. And It's more authentic and genuine now. I think before it was just, like, kinda throw and see what sticks, and, you know, we should only target the trade. And I think there's an opportunity here where you can do business development around trade strategy and how to be more informative to help support the Sommeliers, the beverage staff, the e the servers, the chefs as they're developing a menu to really make it more informative about these brands, and that they stand behind that they serve in a way going back to my word earlier being unpretentious and being more resourceful and and strategic around how you communicate your message and and really make it impactful so that you have all of these advocates And then on the other side of it is by providing that education and having a little bit more openness and more of an intentional culture, if you will, it allows for consumers to also want to educate them themselves. So when they're sitting down, they can have a more fluid conversation, and they can stand behind a brand in a in a very genuine manner. You see a lot more not only the brand identities shifting towards that, but you see the consumers more attached to a brand and committed to that brand because of that authenticity. And I'm seeing that a lot across the board within the industry. That's a really good point. I I like what you said, but consumers, you know, need to have a desire for that education. And if we can communicate, you know, I talk a lot about storytelling and wine, getting that information out in a way that's meaningful and relevant, is is really important. Those sorts of strategies are so important, especially now when we have so much information coming at us in so many different ways. So just kind of heading back to the the whole pandemic and and when you were starting your business, I know you've talked about how the pandemic exaggerated frustrations that women had experienced in their careers for years. Now you said you realized you were an overworked black mother with male colleagues who took every opportunity to make you feel less than, which just makes me wanna cry, but I think we've all been there. How did those experiences affect your perspective? And how did the pandemic make take a whole new look at your career? I think first, it got me to a place of of stronger mental health. You know? It was, you know, I have identical twin boys. They're eight years old, and they saw their mother. Yes. They're they're very energetic but they saw their mother would come home and frustrated and sad and just moments of angst, and I was really truly on a mission and continue to be on a way that is really truly around inclusivity and being respectful and understanding people's boundaries and having a balance and and being able to support people to build stronger culture no matter where it is, you know, everyone has so many different backgrounds, and you have to be respectful of those people and and who they are and be open to that that diverse thing that I was talking about, you know, having an open mind where it's like, okay, I don't fully understand it. I don't get you but I'm open to understanding you. And that's something that the wine industry itself was struggling with for a very long time. And then on the the side of being a female and and a woman of color, the the diversity there in itself, there was just very little people that looked like me in a room. And, you know, I would almost sometimes walk into the wine events and go, oh, I'm I'm alone here. Let me look around and I had, thankfully, my friends, my supporters, my advocates that I could go to. But when you feel like you're alone on an island, it's not good for anyone, and it can't it definitely doesn't provide success, and it's definitely not inclusive. Or providing equitability. And I think as a collective, we need to embrace all of the cultures with a deliberate movement and really be steady with it so that it allows for long term growth and and long term thinking, you know, it's it's it's something I reinforce on an ongoing basis, and it's something I truly believe in. And I would not be here today, and this business would not be the way that it is today if we didn't have that thinking in itself. So it was it was important to me that we are mission oriented and that we're intentional and respectful across the board. Are you enjoying this podcast? Don't forget to visit our YouTube channel, mama jumbo shrimp. For fascinating videos covering Stevie Kim and her travels across Italy and beyond, meeting winemakers, eating local foods, and taking in the scenery. Now back to the show. I I love that. Being intentional is not something that that everyone, you know, does every day. And I think it's, you know, it's something that you really have to practice, you know, a muscle that you have to build up. You know, Yes. For sure. You know, we know women in the wine sector have faced lack of support, missed opportunities for promotions, you know, even kind of the really ugly casual discrimination. You're a strategy person. You know, what's what's your view of how to change this? What's the strategy to to change this and to be more intentional, have that long term thinking that you're talking about being more respectful. What are some strategies we can give, individuals and and employers and companies to change this pattern, that is so unsupportive of women and people of color in our industry. There just needs to be an openness, and I know that's hard because we as human beings too tend to think the way that we think and not have moments of being open, but it can make a huge impact if you're just listening at the very least to folks. And really being, you know, that is how you stay relevant. You have to be mission oriented, you have to be aware, you have to care personally, and challenge professionally, and, understanding where people are coming from, being open to their perspective, and not thinking, okay. You have to think in my way. And I I I truly believe, you know, how the wine industry was. It was, you know, very linear. It was stay in your lane, which someone had once told me, and I thought, but why? Why can't we collaborate? Why can't we develop brand positioning together and bring in different perspectives? And that's the biggest thing is, like, don't there's a lane, of course, for professionalism and your expertise, but be open, be flexible, you know, challenge people, but in a good way, not in a way that is insulting, not in a way that is going to drag them down, but rather in a way that'll be thought provoking and help in a collaborative manner to improve how brands are thought about and how you're going to speak or or provide narrative from a marketing perspective to the outside world because in thinking that way, you're not only gonna have incredible talent coming into your organization that'll help drive the needle for sales, but also, just brand awareness. But it'll also create an opportunity for you to have different kinds of employees. And that is really what ties in that culture piece is you have true culture when you have that openness. And it's something that was hugely lacking, and I I hope it's shifting. I, you know, I have I've been in my own company for for three years now, but this is a friendly solution that will make a huge, huge impact. So true. It is so true. The the impact, I think that's being felt in the States is bigger than it is, in Italy so far, which is still very patriarchal, but, but the the waves of it and the the drive of people like yourself who are really about, you know, making this happen. As you said, caring personally and challenging professionally, the the little shock waves are coming across the ocean. We're starting to feel it here. So I think we're we're all indebted to to people like you who are sort of breaking the ground, if you will, on these issues. So And people like you too. Well, thank you. Thank you. I'd like to hope so. Well, you know, we've kind of lost a little bit of our impetus. The the pandemic is over. So, you know, we're not we don't get to do the the sofa things and sort of have brain waves because we're back to our full time jobs and things. So how are your two new businesses going now? How are you continuing to support the hospitality workforce through, culture with us and virtual with us? So we continue to support small businesses around the world. So wine retailers, spirit retailers, breweries, distilleries. My biggest thing is is we are an inclusive forward events concierge. So by definition, I work with businesses owned by underrepresented communities in over seventy countries. Additionally, our incredible and renowned hospitality network that hosts these events. Now we do them in hybrid format. This allows one for us to be able to reach more people because we can do in person. And then the folks that are geographically dispersed can still join and not feel left out. We work with a lot of global corporations like Amazon and Johnson and Johnson, where this has allowed for them to kind of maintain and and spotlight, people within their workplace, And the, the summaries and the chefs, mixologists, the sister owns, all of the incredible contributors that we have to host these events, have this flexibility to work with us and work at their restaurant establishment, or, or at their stylary or at their winery. We have flexible scheduling, and it's something that, you know, as we continue to work with these larger organizations, they have their favorites, they have their hosts that they love, so we have advanced booking, and We work around their schedules. You know, I I know that they love working on the floor, and that was the intention was never to take that away. It was something as a solution during the pandemic, and now it's a compliment to the work that they're doing. And it's been fun because we're, you know, also recommending a lot of the restaurants that we work with, a lot of the wineries, for the in person components too. So it helps to drive and support the local economies and it allows us to further expand our offerings in a way that is cohesive and and makes sense and is seamless. So it's it's implementing profitable innovations that also provide a diverse range for these global corporations. We're still staying b to b. I while I would love to go into the consumer space, we can compete with Airbnb and and what they're doing. And I don't really want to. I think that the mission that we have and and what we're focused on for these global corporations is that educational component on beverages and food, both nonalcoholic and alcoholic, and providing initiatives and creative ideas that'll help one build a strong company culture for them while introducing them to some incredible folks within the hospitality space. And then on the other side, helping revenue driven organizations like Salesforce and Oracle to drive revenue, to work with their sales teams, that have executive leaderships, in different locations that have decision makers that are buying from them, traveling often where they can't always get in front of them. And it allows them to be in a room with folks from Michelin Star Restaurants. And so when they're in that local city, they go to that restaurant afterwards. So it's been a nice compliment on both sides of things. We'll see how everything evolves in terms of this hybrid workspace, and if folks are heading back into the cities a little bit more aggressively in the next year or not, and then we'll kind of shift gears depending on that. But so far, it's been a really, really beautiful delicate at balance, that is working out really well and allows us to support local vendors, restaurants, purveyors, all within the global hospitality industry. Well, it's just fantastic, considering that you've only been at it for a couple of years, it's amazing how fast it's grown and and how, you know, the big outreach across seventy countries already. So, you know, the the amount of help and inspiration you can be giving is enormous. And I know that, you know, as you said, supporting BIPOC professionals and, and businesses is a real passion for you and for your whole team. How are you specifically using your companies to do that? So what we do is we buy from them. You know, that's kind of our deliberate movement. We're committed to a lot of these vendors all over the world. And the biggest thing for me is as we're working with a lot of professionals, I realized something in terms of that having the seat at the table. And when you have a team in Chicago, San Francisco, Dubai, London, you can't fly those people across the country or across the world every month to sit and strategize, but you sometimes have teams that are legitimately never together, and they weren't even prior to the pandemic because those companies had a presence in those countries and they needed a a leadership or a manager within within that region. And so this really, really has, long term growth while we focus on supporting those businesses from underrepresented communities. And our commitment to us is the equitability. So we go to them transparently with forecasting and say, this is this is what we're working on, and this is how many people will be in your country, and how can we collaborate to bring, you know, beautiful curated wine boxes to our friends in India or our friends in the UK or our friends in Italy, while also allowing for that entertainment aspect and that camaraderie that was always a struggle because they had people all over the world. Yeah. That's that's very true. And I think, you know, one of the things we learned during the pandemic is you don't actually have to go anymore. You know, things like Zoom and and other stuff have made us much more aware of the fact that a lot of our business can be done without physically having to move your employees or yourself around the world all day long. So I think you've really hit on a on a model that is gonna continue to to be useful as we go forward, and develop how we're going to strategize and keep a low carbon footprint and, you know, travel, of course, but not not in the same way that we used you in the past moving wholesale sources for for meetings. So, it's it's very interesting the model that you've come up with. And I just one last question before I let you go. I wanna ask you, because you're clearly at at the top of your game at the moment. What advice would you give to young black women who wanna get into the wine and hospitality industries right now? I think the biggest thing is is understand what you want, and, you bring so much value. Don't be shy to ask and really just be open. The biggest thing is is understanding your values, your mission, how you wanna be perceived and and going after that in such a manner that they can't say no, you know, there's make it approachable and ask a lot of questions and find advocates because if you have friends, that's the biggest thing, you know, you have your search to build a community, and really just thinking through what how you want to approach the industry, you know, you wanna have some social impact, especially being someone of color or if you're a woman, you wanna be able to go in and say, I made a difference. I helped you hopefully shift some thinking so that the next woman that comes in, the next person of color. The next LGBTQ QIA plus person that comes into this industry is going to be that much more comfortable in who they are and how, they approach the industry and and how they communicate their message because they have people behind them that did it. And I know that's a lot to hold on your shoulders, but in a way, we've always and you, as a woman, know this, we've always held this on our shoulders. And this is a much more thought provoking way to do it, where you can truly make an impact for that next person and for yourself as you do it. I love that. I I don't think that most of us think about what we're doing today is gonna make, you know, make it easier or more difficult for the person who follows in our footsteps. And I think that's probably a very forward way to think, and we should all practice that again. Another thing that we need to work on. I can't thank you enough for this conversation was incredibly thought provoking and very inspiring with what you've managed to grow in such a short period of time and how effective it's being, and the way that your outlook and your perception of our industry and how to make it better. I think are really good, shining examples that people should be paying attention to. So thank you, Alex. I really enjoyed speaking to you today. Thank you so much. It was such a pleasure. Thank you for having me on, and I'm excited to continue our conversation, hopefully in Italy one day over a glass of wine. That would be great. You take care. Take care. Thank you for listening. And remember to tune in next Wednesday, I'll be chatting with another fascinating guest. Italian wine podcast is among the leading wine podcasts in the world, and the only one with a daily show. Tune in every day and discover all our different shows. You can find us at Italian wine podcast dot com, SoundCloud, Spotify, Himalaya or wherever you get your pot.