Ep. 2307 Marvina Robinson | Voices with Cynthia Chaplin

What was the reaction when you said, I'm giving up finance, and I'm going to go forward with, you know, a champagne brand of Maya. When I told my family first, they thought I was crazy. And my stepfather passed away, he said, So you have all this great education. You sat here. You built this great career and you wanna go do what? You wanna sell wine. What are you gonna go door to door, knock on people doors? But basically a lot of people thought I was crazy. You know, I was starting over as a forty plus zero woman. I didn't know that I was building a champagne. I just knew I wanted to do something with the champagne. Did I know it was gonna grow into what it is today? Absolutely not. Did I have the structure together? Absolutely not. What I did know is I knew myself, like, I'll always bet on me because I know that I come through. 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, work in the field of wine. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and rate our show wherever you get your pods. Hello. This is Cynthia Chaplin, and today on voices, I am so excited to have Marvina Robinson Marvina is the founder and the CEO of Beast Davison Champagne. It's the very first Champagne brand created by a black American woman. In two thousand and eighteen, she transitioned from a two decade career in finance on Wall Street, to life as a small business owner, and the aim was to create an inclusive and welcoming community that fosters connections, celebrates diversity, champions empowerment, and introduces people to the amazing world of bubbly delights. So completely up my street. I'm very happy about this. Marvina has also evolved her business to include a two thousand square foot tasting room in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. And before we started talking, She was mentioning that she's got some new things coming up. So we will get to that as well. First of all, I know you're a busy woman, so thank you so much for giving us your time today, Marvina. It's great to meet you. Oh, thank you very much. I'm excited to be here. Yeah. Me too. Well, I reached out to you in light of the action, being taken by the new US administration, to put an end to DEAI initiatives. It's hard for us in Europe to understand exactly what's going on. So I'm really glad we connected because your story is so enormously inspiring, and I know you'll have some things to say about DEA and wine in America. But first of all, let's get some backstory because I love your backstory. So you've got degrees from Norfolk State University and a master's degree in statistics from Columbia, and you've worked for Morgan Stanley and Sitco and JP Morgan, So what was it like being a young black woman in this notoriously white world of Wall Street? That is a very interesting question. So I would say the good, the bad, and ugly. Wall Street was an incredible learning experience, but it was it was very far from easy. Right? As a young black woman in that space, I constantly had to prove myself. You're not just through my work, but in how I carried myself, how I navigated rooms, and how I built relationships. The finance industry was long dominated by, you know, white men and breaking into that world meant being twice as prepared, twice as resilient, and often twice as patient. Right? I remember getting passed over for promotions or not being heard and just feeling uncomfortable and, you know, working on a trading floor, I will be one sprinkle of a black woman sitting on the desk not in the administrative world. But I also must credit my time on Wall Street, you know, because it's sharpening my my business skills, you know, taught me how to negotiate. It ultimately gave me the confidence and reassurance to stepping into the world of entrepreneurship. So I suspect that I start with the good, the bad, and ugly. And if I could go back and change anything, I wouldn't change not one thing. You know, when I was an undergrad, I studied biology, did not go into biology in graduate school. Well, let me take another step back. So when I was in, graduated from undergrad. I started working at Morgan Stanley as a temp. I wanted to go to, Cancun, with my friends and my mother said, there's no money for that nonsense. So she said, go get to find your job and you pay for it. So realizing I said, let me just find me a quick temp job because I was always going with computers, programming, like, Quadropro dating my age. And I went to end up end up on the treasury desk at Morgan Stanley. And I never really knew what finance was. I was like, whoa, this is something interesting. It's like these big double doors opened up, and there was this whole world of the trading floor. And I was on this treasury desk, and I was just in amazement. And I worked under, the head of this, Steve Dantonio, and would just have casual conversations. Nothing too serious, but I would poke questions and just ask about little things unintentionally not to be too primed because I didn't know where I was. And I I'm a person I observe before I speak. I don't come in, making all this noise. I wanna know what's going on. Started looking at the players of the floor, like, who's who? What department is what? Why is this rally? This is like equity. This is fixed. I'm seeing those seeing how it's moving. And I was mesmerized. And then I realized, you know, like, I wanted to be in the finance industry. So one good thing about Morgan Stanley, they owe it as in most large firms, they always have like a visual directory. So I I would look up different people because I would know who to play to the floor, who were the leaders, players, I'm meeting leaders of the floor, MDs, and I would look up their, their career. Right? It's posted, like, what schools they went to. So a lot of people I will start with even analysts or associates, I try to see, like, how did they break into all this? And I would see what schools they went to. So from there, I targeted to make sure when I went to graduate school to go to a Ivy League school so that I can get recruited out to be in this role coming in at associate level. And that was, you know, Moxton was great. That's when I started out. I ended up transferring to be financial products coordinated because, again, I didn't know these products. And as a financial products coordinator, I came in as an analyst, and I took every single class. One, it was free. And I educated myself. And then I began to meet people within the firm, and I would just ask questions. And I knew that's what I wanted to do. So I made sure I was competitive. My application was competitive. I fun fact is I did not wanna go to Columbia University wanted to go to Carnegie Mellon in the computational finance program. I got rejected. I cried outside my firm for like about an hour. And my boyfriend at the time says, listen, ain't no time for no tears. We'll get you some visine, drop in your eyes, and get back on the floor. And that's what I did, and I just found alternative schools in Columbia, which is probably a a great choice because I've made great friends, great relationships in there, and it continues to evolve. I love that Columbia was your second choice. That makes me so happy. That's why I ended up there. Well, it's great because it's it's so interesting how women, women are listeners, women do tend to sort of, you know, take the time to to feel out what's going on around them before they start trying to, you know, bust everything up. So I love that that was your, you know, you had a strategy and it worked. You know, it worked, and you were hugely successful. So, you know, what what I need to ask, you know, before we go any farther is here you are in the world of finance. The double doors are open. You, you know, you're doing your thing. What got you interested in wine? I mean, we we all love wine, but you know, you've said it was a hobby initially for you. So how did the hobby start? You know, what what drew you to champagne? So there's like a two a two part answer, and then they both merge together. So being young, a young woman with my friends, my girlfriends, we used to. Two of us went to set I was the only one that went to a separate undergrad. So we will call ourselves open for the fly girls at the neighborhood. And when we came home, we wanted to really amend, you know, kind of reproduce what was in the video. So you know back then a lot of the videos will pop in champagne. So we would all chip in and buy a bottle champagne, and we would sit on our stews, and we would drink, like, out of plastic cups. We're pulling our money to, like, really, like, think, okay. We, you know, thinking we're doing something major. And we would sit on a stoop and we were drinking just catch up. Again, the other side is in my industry, you know, working in finance. You do entertain. You go out a lot. Me and liquor were not the we're not best friends. So I went through my cosmo phase, sex in the city, but those cosmos will sneak up on you real fast. So I had to find something. Right. I had to find something that I felt balanced, but also I felt professional always grabbing grabbing a drink and something that I love. And then at the same time, I started drinking like sparkling wines or white wine spritzer. And know, just really following my palette, not knowing that's what it was called back then. Just following my palette. And then, you know, you go to, like, prosecco, then you, like, go to, like, one night, I think I had champagne. I'm, like, so this is and I realized this is what I like. This is about drinking my friends, and understanding, like, what's the the value? Like, I remember going into a store. I went to create an hour right on Broadway and ask the place, and I went to buy some some new, today I found out one day we got out bonuses or something like that. I was very happy. So I went to buy some new new glasses from Cretenborough. I had my first apartment in Brooklyn. And I went to buy some new glasses, and I said, oh, you know, I'm gonna get me some new bubbly. So you go into the store and And I'm like, thinking of looking at these prices, obviously showed them a hat and it's significantly more than shopping in Brooklyn. So, you know, it was shell shocked. So I was just wanting to look in. I said, I can get two bottles if I buy this, but I'm like, but this isn't champagne, this is this. That's how I started digging between the two. So then I started talking to my friends and, we we were gonna celebrate my, my, my, one promotion, my bonus numbers. So what we did is I said, well, I'll get one bottle of bubbly the more expensive one and two bottles of, of the cheaper stuff, respecting the cheaper stuff, whatever it was, it was. And when we were opening it, we opened the first two bottles of the same, and they went to the last bottle, and there was, like, aha moment. I was like, oh, whoa. I taste the difference. This is what I like. And then they just kinda merged together, and it just started really with a genuine love of champagne. I started exploring, not just just drinking it, but really understanding it, the craftsmanship, the his the artistry behind each bottle knowing that champagne is the most labor intense wine. Right? You know, a single bottle takes minimally fifteen months, to to to reproduce, but it's significantly much longer once you add on like the aging to get the different tasting profiles. It's there's a whole lot that goes to produce one bottle. And I wasn't just drawn to wine broadly, you know, it was like champagne specifically is what captivated me. So it's like, oh, you don't know the difference. I'm like, yes, I do know the difference. And basically over the years, the passion evolved into something more intentional. I started traveling to Champaign going back and forth. And I would just wanna meet different producers or going on different tours and just taste in different Kuveys. But one thing about me, I call myself like Dorora Explorer. I don't follow the norm. Right? Like everybody will, like, go to the big houses, the well known. Yes. They're nice, but I like to go to the more off beef pattern and it's fine thing. So even to this day, when I wanna find like a new, a new house to visit. I go to this these I go to wine shops or these little wine bars. And specifically ones that carry like, that carry like, smaller bread. I'm like going for a blank roller champagne. I I look for those and then I go to their house and I taste them. So one thing you probably don't know is that I also own the importing side, the important side of the business. And I also import over champagne that's not imported here. So I find smaller growers champagne, and then I import them over. I hate I help customers build their champagne collection. I'm beginning to host like private champagne dinners where this gives the growers a seat at the table where people can appreciate it in smaller forms, not just throwing them on shelves, but giving them full appreciation. So in understanding the tasting, the story behind the label, that people really understand what really goes on into this bottle. So those are that's still my hobby. I can tell the passion is there. Like, well, and it's storytelling is really what makes wine come alive in a way that other products don't. So, you know, having that ability, you know, and, I can see it on your face and hear it in your voice of that, you know, real passion where you really want to lift up the producer, make sure the drinker is enjoying it and gets the whole experience, that is what makes, you know, things go from just a drink on your table to something that's, like, really transformative in your life. So, you know, you decided to make the move from what you called your good career. In twenty nineteen, you were you were forty two, you know, young, but still, that's like a risky time to, you know, drop your good career. What did your friends and your family say when you told them you were gonna set off and start the first black American woman owned champagne brand. You know, you'd already been doing all this crazy amount of traveling. I know you were flying out to Champagne on Friday nights and flying back on Monday morning. They, you know, they couldn't have been too surprised about this, but you know, what was the reaction when you said I'm giving up finance, and I'm going to go forward with, you know, a champagne brand of my own? First of all, when I told my family first, they thought I was crazy, and my stepfather passed away. He said, so you have all this great education. You sat here. You built this this great career that you've billowed for, and you're making your own good money, and you wanna go do what? You wanna sell wine? What are you gonna go door to door, knock on people, Doris? And my feelings was very hurt. And then my mother was, you know, I and I was at my parent's house, and I was like, okay. Time for me to go. That's why I'm so glad I have my own apartment. So And I walked up. My mother filed, she was like, don't worry about him. You'll be fine. You'll be fine. But basically a lot of people thought that was crazy. You know, again, you know, starting a career over as a woman after the age of forty, That's hard because as you're getting older as the norm wants us to think, and it is a good way to think because I also I'll come back to that part. Anyway, I was starting over as a forty plus zero woman, and I really didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know that I was building the champagne. I just knew I wanted to do something with the champagne. I know I wanted to open up like a small champagne bar. I have my private label. I want it to be the private label of the bar. Did I know it was gonna grow into what it is today? Absolutely not. Did I have the structure together. Absolutely not. What I did know is I knew myself, like, I'll always bet on me because I know that I come through. And I just said I'm gonna take that risk. And at the end of the day, let's just say I I failed on failing I do have a great education background. I do have a good career, though it might shift a little bit as far as about when packing through my resume on the markets right now because I've been out of the industry for a little bit, but I have a whole new different skill set that I can bring to a table. Right? It's like you're thinking of thinking of you're bringing a thought process to life. Not a lot of people can do that. And it does take a special amount of skill set, understanding this highs and lows because it hasn't always been high. There's probably more lows than highs but I always tell myself. I don't always tell myself, but I have to remind myself when you're in the lows is the time to get more creative, you know, because that's that's where it comes in at. Exactly. And you you absolutely did that because, you know, as I said, this was sort of twenty nineteen when you were making this transition, and the original goal was to start this champagne bar, but COVID hit. You know, I think every story right now has this one line that says, and then COVID. So, you know, you started up and then COVID hit. So What happened at that point? You know, you'd only been in it sort of for a year or so. You know, how did you pivot? What did you do next? So and I just wanna clarify one thing. Though I launched these divers in twenty nineteen, it was privately. I didn't really only announce it to friends and family. Publicly launched it in twenty twenty right at the beginning of COVID. And that was just a that was a curve ball I never really saw coming. Right? Right. The champagne bar was my original dream because I wanted it to bring people together to really appreciate champagne. And I didn't want no a massive bar. I only wanted to hold no more than twenty people and really enjoy, you know, these beautiful wines that I was gonna bring in to. Right? I just basically had to reassess what was going on, you know, figure out how do I come about? What's my new plan now? And somebody had asked me for my inventory. And at first, I had, you know, politely declined But then I was like, if you want it, sure. And in my head, I said, what you're gonna do? Like, if you're gonna sell, he's gonna give me back the bottles anyway or I could just take them back, not knowing all the legal things around there. And you know what? The brand actually took off my first short that I actually, store, excuse me, that I actually retailed out was a happy quirk in Brooklyn. And, we're still still there five years later. And, basically, I was walking to because I didn't live too far. So I was like, oh, I'm just gonna walk. So I walked over to the opening. And I can't remember what day it was, but I was thinking, oh, I'm gonna watch law and order when I get home, I make some food. No. I'm just thinking of all the things that I'm doing when I get home, not thinking, nothing. Then I come around this corner. I'm like, what is this line for? I'm looking like, I'm not waiting on no line. Here's my New York personality. I'm not waiting on no line. I'm like, I'm going straight to the front. And as soon as I got there, you know, I'm like, oh, I just need to go and start real quick. And everybody was cheering for me. I'm like, turning around looking like, what they cheering for? And then people would there come out with support and it was such a great experience that I didn't even really know how to truly and take it, you know, and I look back and it's just I don't took my own horn because I feel like I'm always behind. I'm trying to, you know, keep make sure the brand stays afloat. You know, this is a business that I don't have any investors. There's no loans. So it's basically we ream I reinvest into the company. And now we wanna, you know, February twelfth, oh, six days, actually, is our five year anniversary. Congratulations. That's amazing. Good timing to talk to you. Thank you. So it's like, you know, most businesses fail within the first two years, you know. We've been hit with some hard times. We've been in a wreck before. But, I'm happy that this business that I thought in my head, this concept came to life. I originally had a shared warehouse which was really small, really dirty that I worked so hard to clean so that I felt like this was my space. I put I even cleaned the other person inside so that I felt like, you know, we gotta keep this up, you know, like, because not we because they didn't care. I care. You know, as a woman, I'm like, I'm thinking of all the little things when I walk in, I wanna be comfort I don't want nothing flying around. And then came, you know, COVID have to empty out the space and my apartment became my my workspace, you know, the the the kitchen was the the conference room, the back yard who was the, you know, the workspace and the storage space. It was a champagne everywhere. It's just a bad thing in the middle of COVID, to be fair. It's not a bad thing, but it was, we had a strict schedule. So we were moving in and out getting try you know, at that time, it was terrible to be shipping anywhere. And I'm happy where we came end up coming into a space in Brooklyn and Bedford Stevenson, a storefront, which we stayed there for about two years, which is a great space, but I kinda wanted to envision more And then we ended up moving to the Brooklyn Navy yard, which is our home for a little while. It was gonna be home for a little while where we were in one building and then we actually moved to a different building so that it gives us more space. It opens up and it's better fit for our consumers and which is what we're working on now, trying to finalize construction. And we have a big grand opening reveal in April. Though we're opening now, like the big everything will be completed by April. So It's a work in progress? Well, let's let's get to the name because the name is super important. So on the label, it's Be stuyvesant, which, you know, I used to live in Brooklyn to you, so we know it's Bedford Stive since bed stuy. And I just wanna talk you know, about this a little bit, because I know it's an homage to the neighborhood where you grew up in Brooklyn. So tell me what it feels like every time you pick up that bottle and you see Beast Diverson on the label. You know what? I look and see, like, this is something I fought hard for because the name was rejected by the Champaign Committee. So I had to come up with different reiterations. A lawyer at the time that was working with me or on on on he wasn't on my pay side, but he was just giving some general advice. He was like, oh, you shouldn't name it Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant. You know, it's, you know, it's a it's a huge slave trade holder name and blah blah blah blah blah. And I was like, you know what? It's good and bad at everything. And I am choosing to reflect the good side. You know, naming my champagne, be stuyvesant was away carrying my roots with me into a industry where people like me really have a seat at the table. Right? When you're picking up that bottle wherever you're at, you have a little bit of Brooklyn with you, and you can say, you know, right? There it is. Exactly. Yeah. I love it. I just I love that. I think it's so great. And it's so meaningful. I think not only to you, but also to the people who are drinking feast, I was on in Brooklyn. You know, that's that is as a gift that you've given back to, you know, the neighborhood that nurtured you when you were young. And it I think that is you know, really invaluable and emotional and interesting. It it's funny because you've said that what truly distinguishes Beast divergent is your unwavering commitment to inclusivity and diversity. And as a woman owned business, you're bringing a unique perspective to the champagne industry, and your brand represents the celebration of empowerment and authenticity and inclusivity, and the belief that champagne should be accessible to everyone regardless of their background or their status. So let's talk about this. Let's just, you know, talk about everything that's happening, DEAI in America right now. What's going on in real time on the ground in New York? What are you seeing? How do you think the anti deI policies of the new administration are going to affect the wine industry? DDI is actually more than a corporate b buzzword buzzword. Right? It's about real access, real representation, and real opportunities. In New York, you know, we're seeing businesses and organizations still pushing for diversity despite political headwinds. Right? But there's no doubt But there's no doubt that rolling back GI initiatives at a national level made things a whole lot harder. The wine and champagne industry is although tough for minorities to break it to whether it's producers, importers, or business owners without DNI initiatives, it makes it a lot more harder to for funding, partnerships, and visibility with even more challenging. That's why, like, smaller brands, independent brands like mine and myself, we're we're proving that in school, inclusivity just isn't a trend. It's necess necessity for real growth. In addition, right? I have had business on DEA initiatives. Right? I always say I don't wanna be targeted as, like, just come to me for black business. Right? Come to me because my product is excellent quality. Right? Though I accept the business, but understand that I'm I'll introduce you to something you don't know of. Right? There's amazing, be stuyvesant. I've gotten extra questions in fact, oh, is this real champagne? What I really want to say, well, what is fake champagne? You know, but then you have to take a level to educate people and really introduce and it's gonna be a lot tougher. And I feel like it's a time for when you have to dig deep to find more creativity, find different marketing strategies, find a new partners. I feel like we have a great customer strength, so we definitely have support there. And I just look at it as it's a time to we are in an ab back in an abnormal and just have to push forward. People look at these divers and even when I talk to distributors, oh, why should we buy this brand? Oh, you're not, Don P. You're not this. You're not that. I'm like, I don't strive to be that. I strive to introduce you to this grow champagne that has has a full hands on from the beginning to the end. Everything is grown harvested bottle. In Chevron and French in Eprinade, and I only partner with one vineyard. And we discussed this together. The tasting notes, you know, our bottling experience, our packaging is all unique. The labels on the bottles, I designed them in PowerPoint. All I did was take how my Wall Street days from doing decks a lot. All I did was put a little triangle or a little rectangle and I put our name on it, had somebody do the CM Wake, see them white cake coloring, for them to print, and that's really it. There goes my whole graphic team. Stroop. I'll do it. Right. So that's all I did, and that's another thing where I didn't have to hire marketing for that. But then it's also a way how you become more creative to save money. Like, my carbon footprint is all over this this business, you know, all over the bottle, everything. I visit friends on a regular basis. I'm just not here based in in New York. It's very rarely catch me in in the States. So my friends always say, oh, where are you at now? I'm like, oh, I'm home. Let's catch up. Because I like to be I'm a hands on person. So that's how I work with my brand and also how I meet other growers or people in the industry. Yeah. Well, it's it I think it's so important, especially with, you know, what's really an artisan you know, product like that where you're dealing with only one vineyard. I love the fact that you protect the vineyard. You don't disclose who it is. You're working with them yourself, your boots on the ground there. You know, you're tasting your barrel sampling, doing all those things, and you you protect that unique character that's your wine, you know, you're deciding what that wine is gonna be like when it gets to my glass. And that's something that, you know, again, it's part of the storytelling of what you're creating and what you're bringing, you know, back to bed style and what you're, you know, what you're sort of manifesting with this champagne brand. You said at one point that your mission is to inspire others to pursue their dreams regardless of the challenges they face. So, you know, how are you modeling this mission? Do you think there's enough mentorship and allyship available for young black women in the wine industry? You know, this is something I deal with a lot I'm a wine educator. I work with a lot of people trying to find scholarships for students and things like that. You know, what would you like to see happen to strengthen inclusivity and diversity in our wine sector? Because it's not easy. And this new policy is gonna make it all hell of a lot harder. I would say this I model this by doing the work. Right? By showing that it's possible to carve out a space in this industry, even when the odds are against you, you know, that's part one of one because people can't believe it. They can't see somebody else doing it. Right? That's the that's the sad part of it. Right? I also make a point to share my journey openly being, you know, showing people what I do. Like, coming here to talk about it. And representation matters. Right? People who see me that look like me as in this rare industry, whether champagne or even any type of other veritable of wine, it's rare to see a black person male or woman, but just significantly women is less. So to see sit in that seat, that's why I'm here. When young black women see someone like me owning a shampoo brand, it sing it signals to them that they too can build something extraordinary. Right? We don't always have to follow, though they're great careers and professions, right, whether you're being a doctor, lawyer, educator, you know, very important to be within the political industry, but you can find these off being parents. When I was younger, No. I needed to be where the money was at. I need to know how many was zeros behind my my sal in my salary. I wouldn't have thought to be an entrepreneur. And I remember somebody asking me, oh, let's invest in this. I'm like, uh-uh, I did not go to school to be an entrepreneur. I am not struggling and, look at where I'm at now. So it's important and it's important. And I always tell people follow your follow your dreams smartly. If you have a dream that you can't fully finance right now, keep working. And then also begin to build it on the side. And at one point, maybe it'll get to a point where you wanna leave leave a job. I did it, absolutely, where I was just so frustrated and I was becoming a mean person. I just left. Right? And I just was slowly I just said, this is what I'm doing now. So I would say people find what works for you and then also make your dreams work at the same time? Well, I'm gonna ask you an out of the box question now. So you know, I know you've got this unwavering belief in the potential for innovation and diversity in the champagne industry. You know, we know the champagne industry in France is not exactly overflowing with diversity. You spend a lot of time there. I've spent time there as well. It's fair to say that women have always played a pretty important role there since the eighteen hundreds with the likes of, you know, Vovclico, and other women who were very instrumental in building the profile of champagne. But, you know, do you think the region has become more welcoming to, you know, people of color, to women to LGBTQI, you know, plus and other unrepresented communities that we want to open the door and make people feel welcome. You know, what's what's sort of your take on this? Because we're looking at things now where, you know, celebrities have, champagne brands and wine brands and spirit brands and tequila brands and things like this. Do you think that's helpful? You know, is that changing the story? And champagne's a very old historic wine region? Is is this have you seen change over the years when you've been traveling back and forth And do you think these celebrity brands are helpful? Alright. So the Champaign region is steeped in tradition, and while change is happening, it's beyond slow. So I have a story to add there. Right? There's definitely more diversity amongst consumers. That's a hundred percent. Right? But when it comes to actual producers, ownership, those numbers are still very small. You think about a champagne those the vineyards are passed out are generational. Right? So you can't just slide in and get there. Right? However, I do believe disability is increasing with that. Now I will say when I travel to Champagne, And I I kinda go to a lot of the same spots. So some people may know my face because there's not a lot of people like me popping it in and out. You still get that look. Right? You still get that question. Or you get that when it asks, oh, what are you doing out here? I went to this very largely champagne event in New York, and it's very publicized. I won't need to name it. And it was this past December or no. I think it's October or November. I can't remember. And we were sitting at a table. It's about like six hundred people in the room. And I will say, out of six hundred people who were not serving, it was no more than ten to fifteen black people in their male and female. Right? So intimidation number one. Right? And I'm not easily intimidated, but when I'm walking the first time I've ever been to this event, so I didn't really know what to expect. So I'm walking and, when you come, you can bring bottles of champagne. So, of course, I said, oh, you know what? I'll bring some v stiversets. Some I have two releases that haven't been released. And I had some other ones I'm just not thinking. People have some amazing beauties about those fintages for, like, twenty. It was amazing. And at at my table, the table, probably about thirty people, fifteen, fifteen to each side. And, everybody's just performing champagne people or sipping people talking. So here I come trying to be outside my shell. This is the same person my mother told me to go out of school. Make friends, Marvina. Be nice. I said, okay. I'm gonna make friends and I'm gonna be nice. Right? So because I don't know anybody. Well, I know a couple people, but they weren't sitting at my table. People are pouring. So I opened a bottle and I pour to share, two gentlemen were sitting next to me. We were already sipping. We were, you know, they was telling me, I was telling about these stars and they was asking about it. Gave me some good tips. And then I offered to pour this couple. They were actually from Champagne, so they had their own production. And I, you know, just offering sharing because that's literally what everybody in the room is doing. There's no question to ask. And she said, good. She, like, set her whole body back. Oh, I don't know this brand. And I looked at her, and I was like, I felt like so small at that moment. The way she did it with her hands, her whole body shifted, like, I was giving her the plague or some rare disease that she would never get over. Her face was all screwed up. And in that minute for, like, forty five seconds, my feelings was hurt. And I sat there, and I was, like, okay. I had profanity flying through my head down back on line. And then I sat down and I, you know, I turned my head just to, like, pretend I was, like, having a good time. I was in my feelings. I never felt so hurt. Like, I had tears in my eyes and I had to suck it up. And I had text my friend to tell her about, and they was like, man, get over that. You know, and they had the same they'll bump that. Like, look, come on. Get straight out of it. But my fellow heard, like, I had, like, tears, like, waltering up and I had to, like, wipe them real quick. And she had me for forty five seconds. And I just said, oh, well, you know, moving right along. And I kinda just embrace who was embracing me. And that's a good thing. I like I told people, if somebody don't embrace you, it is what it is. That's what numb. They they lose out on your your amazingness. So then I try to, like, you know, get conversation again because now I'm intrigued because now I kinda wanna know your name because I wanna look you up. So I'm like, oh, you're in, you know, asking them where they ask her because I'm there all the time. And She was like, it was just one word. It was just so cold and so, like, like, get away from me. And I was just like, you'll never had that problem again. And I just stopped communication. I just end up communicating with other people, and I learned two things right there. People can be small minded. Right? It you're in an environment where it's it's all about sharing and forcing for you to shun me and you had no reason to shun me. So you made your own conclusions and the only reason you can clues is maybe by the way I look, or you're not being open minded to try something you don't know. But the night is about opening your minds to all these amazing champions. So I say that to say that people will be who they will be. As far as celebrity brands, you know, I think they serve a purpose. You have amazing celebrities who are doing the work, who are vested two hundred percent. They bring attention to the category. You know, specifically, like, let's just say for JayZ with, champagne, it helps elevate the interest in champagne overall. But there's a difference between a celebrity, just slapping a name on a bottle and someone who's generally crafted. That's where I don't have a problem with it. I just have a no comment for it. The key is to authenticity. Right? People can tell when a brand is just marketed more versus when it's built for real passion. And then you have some money like me, I'm not I'm a celebrity in my world because I'm, I just think that highly of myself. But what I also say is that, you know, for celebrities, it's easier for them to move a product because they're they've already built the work to build a name for themselves. It's easier for them to branch out into these other industries. For someone like myself or other entrepreneurs, we gotta we have to really hit the ground running, and we are always met with with who are you? What are you doing? Why should we buy your this? I don't even know who this is. Like, what is this? You know? So it's a lot harder. And sometimes when you get passed over for a celebrity brand where you know somebody's not putting in the work, it's just like, okay. Just gotta keep doing what I'm doing, you know. And I'm not knocking anybody in the industry. If you slapping a label on your bottle, slap the best looking label on it. If you're doing the work, do the work. If everybody knows, like, you figure things out, you have your own perception. So Like, I always say there's the good, the bad, and the ugly to every every topic. That's what we're gonna call this episode of the podcast, the good, the bad, the ugly, with Marvina Robinson. Listen. Let's go. It's so true, though. I I am one hundred percent in agreement with you about that. You know, celebrity celebrity brands can raise awareness of, you know, certain products, and that can be really useful to getting people curious about wines and, you know, feeling more comfortable trying things out, but it it is a little soul destroying where, you know, people are actually working hard and somebody just goes and slaps their name on a product. They've never been to the vineyard. They probably couldn't find it on a map. So they're we're looking at two different levels of of things. I totally agree with you. But the the awareness is is something that's positive, and I think I think you're right on the money with that. So you know, last thing I wanna ask you before I let you go, I know you've said you're committed to continuing to innovate and celebrate diversity and push the boundaries of what champagne can be. And and your whole story has been exactly that pushing the boundaries of what people think champagne is versus what it could actually be. So tell me about the exciting plans that are on the table for beasts dive sent for the for the near future. I know you're moving. Yeah. I know you're in DC. What's going on? So, you know, there's a lot in store. People that know me know that I always I always look to do things as different. Right? I followed on knowing for certain things, but I look to find ways of creating new space It's in everything in my opinion should be an experience. When you walk through the doors of my tasting room, it's an experience. So one, yes, reopening our tasting room, you know, where it's it's gonna be a lot more luxurious than it was before. There's also going to be an opportunity for, like, a champagne membership where people have the opportunity. It'll be inclusive of these thermostat, but for myself, I'm also launching my personal website And what I'm doing is giving access to these other campaigns that I import into the United States. So that'll be a component where joining a membership. You get access to these other bubbles where we'll do dinners. We'll have like private tastings. Another good thing that I'm really excited about for this summer is we're rolling out our first champagne truck. I am super excited about it. I was trying to roll it out last year, but I wasn't gonna make it a time for summer. I'm like, I'm not rolling out anything in the fall of the winter. So that should be here by April or May. The first one. So hang on. When you say it's gonna be here, tell me where here is because I need to go to this champagne. Oh, so it's gonna be the United States, it's gonna be in New York. Right? But we have the capabilities to put it on a trailer, and we're gonna hit different markets. As long as I'm not driving, somebody else could drive it, because it's more like a trailer extension, you know, we're gonna move around. When we get it, we're gonna put like a calendar together, and we're gonna just hit these states at. It's gonna say where is the Beast diversing truck pulling up this weekend, and we're gonna hit all the different states. So it's gonna be a really exciting, exciting summer. What else am I doing? Do have a project I'm working on with technology. I can't fully give into details, but I'm trying to bring in a space where champagne and AR is together. So working on that And then most importantly, you know, we have some new releases coming out. April is imminent. We have our limited edition returning also in April. And more importantly, we're just getting ready to, I hate to say it because we're in February getting ready for our holiday season already is crazy because we have like a really good, gift guide where we wanna make sure we get it out early so people know about it so we can fly off the shelves and put some more awareness around it. And that's it for now. You know, we're also I've also toured with bringing on investors. I started it last year, but then I just really got busy. So I had to take close the deck off because I just didn't have time anymore. So probably might reopen that again. And then just, you know, growing and creating these experiences for, the bubbly world. Well, I I I want to live in the bubbly world permanently. And I love how you said, well, that's really that's really it. Not too much going on. It's about six different projects there. So Literally, that's what it is. In my happy life. Absolutely. Well, it it has been absolutely fantastic talking to you. I'm so grateful for your insight and your honesty, you know, it's it's this is not a good moment, for a lot of things. And I think your positive spin on what you're doing is you know, hugely inspiring. It it's going to take a lot more people like you who just say, I don't really care what's happening. I know what I'm doing. I trust me and and I'm gonna move forward with my plans. And your plans are epic So I can't wait to see where Beast Davidson is in another couple of years. We're gonna stay in touch. Yes, please. Thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it. Oh, thank you for the invitation. I'm I'm glad to be able to sit here and swap my views and my responses to your amazing questions and give more visibility to myself, my thought process, and to be stiversome. Thank you for listening, and remember to tune in next Wednesday when I'll be chatting with another fascinating guest. 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