Ep. 656 Maria Calvert | Voices

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For more information on how to get in touch, go to Italian wine podcast dot com. Now back to the show. Welcome to the Italian wine podcast. This is the voices series with me at Rebecca Lawrence. This week, I'm joined by the co founder of Hispanics and wine Maria Calvert. Welcome to the podcast Maria. Thank you for having me so excited to be here today. I'm really excited to talk to you about Hispanic and wine. But I do wanna be good for to our listeners and give them maybe a little bit of broader background. So as I understand it, you were born in Ecuador. Grew up in Queens. So how does a Latino New Yorker find her way into wine? It's quite a story. So, yes, I was born in an Ecuador and grew up in the heart of Queens, since I was, like, four or five years old. Growing up with my parents, they they they don't drink wine. So for me, wine wasn't a thing until I was eighteen years old. My first experience was during college. Actually, I studied abroad in Spain, and that's where I was introduced to the world of food and wine, Spanish culture. I didn't realize drinking wine every day for dinner or maybe even lunch was a thing. And so for me, that experience really opened my eyes to something new. And so once I graduated college, I professionally, I I actually started to work in finance. So I worked in finance for eight years and I was actually vice president of global communications at a currency broker in Wall Street and through my experience, professionally as well, through my friends and colleagues. I was introduced to the wine world here in the US and you know, having gone to restaurants speaking with Salm liars, I just realized there's this whole world behind this one little bottle of wine that I'm ordering for dinner and just knowing about how that wine was cultivated, the the handsets touched that bottle for me was just such a captivating story. And so because of my college experience and my professional experience, after eight years in Wall Street, I decided to pivot my career and follow my palette and decided to work at a renowned PR agency in New York City in the wine industry. And that's the start for me in wine. And I I've been so thankful to work with so many wine brands, institutions, and consortiums, and doing their PR and marketing campaigns. And as of twenty nineteen, I decided to move to Washington, DC to try a new adventure and become a PR consultant. And, you know, I had this experience already in the wine industry professionally, and I happened to step upon this store called, Grancatta, and who specializes in Latin American wines and spirit and food, and I saw the amount of diversity of Latin wine producers that I've never seen before and just hearing the stories of all these produce from South America, even from, like, the DR or Puerto Rico and other places that I was unfamiliar with that produced wine was eye opening for me. And so that's where I noticed a lack of, representation of Hispanic and Latinx people in the industry, and that's kind of my journey in the wine industry from college to finance, working in wine, to now Hispanic and wine. Wow. That's quite a journey, but building all the skills you need. To give the industry what it needs now. Yes. And that's the beauty of the industry. Exactly. The and that's something that we're we're gonna touch on a little bit later, actually. But before we get to that, wanted to talk about the fact that before you were even in wine, before you had even thought about being the co founder of Hispanic and wine, you were actually already involved in initiatives to give back to local communities. Yeah. So is is that just something that's always been with you? A hundred percent. You know, culturally, you know, being from South America, and growing up in Queens, we are community driven. The success of my neighbor is my success. The success of a family member is all of our successes. And so for me, that's always been cultivated growing up where I need to make sure that, you know, I take care of myself, I take care of my family, but more importantly also help others. Even if I may not know you in any way. And so when I worked in finance, you know, I was always trying to create these projects on weekends or, you know, during the summer to do, like, team building projects and something revolving around volunteering. And so because of that passion that I had, we we spearheaded and created a CSR, so a corporate social responsibility committee, and I was the co chairman And we spearheaded volunteer opportunities with local nonprofit organizations to give back to the community. And that was a way for the company to also utilize their resources and platform to give back to those that you know, may not have that opportunity or even provide mentorship for job opportunities later on for college students in in certain, public high schools in York City. So for me, that was always important. And so when I transitioned to wine industry, you know, I always found a way, okay, what can I do now here in this industry? How can we give back to our communities? So how did you officially decide to start Hispanic and wine? Because obviously you had this background of already lifting people up in your community, and you've talked about finding this store where it kind of really opened your eyes to what was around in the Hispanic Atlantic community. So what how did you get from those little realizations to suddenly having Hispanics in wine? Of course. So I transitioned into the wine industry in twenty eighteen. And so when I started working. And as a PR professional, you tap into all the different sectors, the trade, the press, the consumer, the wine brands. And at first, I realized the lack of representation when it came to BIPOC, language, barriers. You know, I speak Spanish, and I saw a lot of language barriers. And so with those small little thoughts and realizations over the past now three years, it always kinda was in the back of my head of It's interesting. You know, I'm at an event, and I don't see anyone else speaking Spanish that I know of, maybe one or two other colleagues of mine. And so that was sort of a conversation that started in twenty nineteen. But with twenty twenty, with COVID disproportionately impacting the hospitality industry and minority communities, especially, you know, coming from Queens, New York City was the epicenter of COVID. And we saw the pandemic really hit our local community really hard across the board. And so for us, that was such a huge impact seeing that plus, Black Lives Matter protests, and everyone really just voicing their opinions So that's when my colleague, Lydia or Richardson and I decided, you know, there's we don't see anything for the Hispanic community in the wine industry. Let's just roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves and create an organization that we're building a network for our community and providing these opportunities. And that is how Hispanic and wine started in September of twenty twenty. I love that you you saw the gap and didn't look for someone else to fill it. You were just like, right. Let's just do this. Absolutely. And I think that's important because, you know, I came to the industry from another complete other industry, and I was new as a PR professional in wine. And I've always, again, seeking for that community where can I, you know, help someone else, or maybe I have questions for someone? And I couldn't find that. And I struggled my first year trying to find that sense of community who, would understand, you know, coming from Queens, my background Spanish language, and I it was a little hard at first. And, you know, you always adjust and you adapt and you just make it work. But, you know, again, the pandemic just really shed light to the cracks of the industry as well as the necessity to help the Hispanic and Latinx community because, you know, we we are in every place of the industry, whether it's through Vineyards to, again, PR professionals, to producing our own wines, there has to be a way to amplify our talent and our community in the industry. Yeah. It's really interesting that you you say, you know, you find a way to make it work, which is kind of such a terrible phrase for someone to have to say. You know, because it shouldn't have to function like that. So it's exciting to see initiatives like Hispanic and wine coming through to make sure that people in the future maybe don't have to use that phrase. Maybe don't have to find a way to make it work. Because it's going to be working in a different way. Tell us more about how Hispanics and Hawaiian actually work. So it's described as a social space to showcase people in the Hispanic and Latinx community. So what exactly does this mean? What are you doing? So Hispanic and Wine, we launched a website in March of twenty twenty one, and we are creating this digital centralized space for our community. So what that means is that we are providing English and Spanish content on our website for everyone who, again, who may not fully understand English or new to the industry coming from another country, and they need a centralized space where I can find job opportunities that are being offered in the industry to scholarships and education resources. And so with Hispanic and wine, what we do is we are creating this sort of like database for individuals who need to look for these resources, but also find mentorship. And so what we started to create was, called Hispanic and wine spotlight series, where our team interviews different individuals of the industry highlighting their their journey in the wine industry, their background, their advice to the next generation as well as advice to the changes they wanna see in the industry, and they also offer, mentorship. And we wanna highlight their stories so that we can help other individuals in the industry learn from them, but also create the sense of community that we culturally live on also in the wine industry. And and I think it's so important for us, that we launch this initiative because, again, it highlights our talent that taps into Sommelierge, wine producers, marketing experts, retail owners, social influencers as well. And we speak about also educational opportunity. So with that, what we're doing is also working with other, organizations in the industry to highlight what they're doing as well. For example, the roots fund isn't is one of them. I Evoy, for example, an Oregon who support and amplify vineyard stewards. And so we work with them to be able to tell everyone in our industry, hey, if you're in the Oregon County or in the state and you're trying to get into wine or you're a vineyard steward, go to that organ local organization, support them, connect with them. They can help you. So our sense is also becoming a community within our organizations in the US. Because again, working together makes us more powerful than working individually as an organization. And and I think with Hispanic and wine, you know, there's a thing where, you know, when I was new, for example, again, I wouldn't be able to connect with another Hispanic professional who lived, say, in Texas or in the state of Missouri, for example. And so being digitally also allows us to connect our network within the different states of the US that you probably may have not been able to connect before. Because sometimes events are just in certain key markets and also connecting internationally. We've connected with these great individuals, from France, from Argentina, as well as Ecuador. And being able again to create this global network has been amazing because we also connect them with if they're trying to work with a restaurant, a Hispanic restaurant in New York City, we're making these connections and again helping them with their network and amplifying their work. It feels to me like you're building a series of communities within a bigger community, like these little hubs of networks that could be useful at any stage of the way. And one of the things I really found interesting in your meet the community section on the website, and you've already touched on this a little bit, is that you are showcasing not only sommelierge or winemakers, not only, you know, speakers or people who are already well known for what they're doing in the industry, but people at all levels and all in all aspects. So and I assume this was very deliberate to make sure that you are showing people in every possible iteration of the industry at every level? Yes. A hundred percent. I think it's important to showcase the talent diversity of Hispanics and Latin acts And and it's not just also sharing their stories, but ultimately, we want to increase pressure on companies to hire Hispanics and Latinx professionals for the leadership roles, drawing from a deep ball of unique backgrounds and experiences because you need diversity in your corporate teams as well. And I think that's so important for for brands and professionals to understand that in the wine industry that, you know, when we speak of a Hispanic worker. It's not the vineyard Stewart. It's not someone behind, you know, at a restaurant. You know, they could be the soundlier. They could be that corporate executive making decision role decisions because again, can help those brands and those companies target the ever growing consumer market in the US. And that's such an untapped market, not reaching the Hispanic consumer. Because if if you have someone from that background in your team, you're able to understand our language. Our different cultures, South America is so diverse in terms of not just Spanish, but language, local languages, culturally, food and wine, and and if you were able to target that, there's such a it's such a deep pot of gold. Yeah. Absolutely. It's it's just smart business. Exactly. So another thing I noticed on the website is you have a whole section dedicated to music. Yes. So links to specific playlists on Spotify. What motivated you to include this? Because this is something very different to what other people are doing. We are very excited to have a music action, on the website because culturally, we we love, you know, we love wine. We love parties. We love our family. Oh, that's part of our roots. And along with that is our food and music. And You know, we come from such a vibrant family traditions and culturally and so music with wine just makes perfect sense and it's almost like we wanna showcase that just like wine is so diverse, so is music and also our food. So you have food and wine pairings. For example, that is something we speak on a bit of non traditional food and wine pairing. So my favorite meal from Ecuador some, you know, traditional way of making pork with this beautiful red wine, the same goes with music. I wanna play my favorite salsa or very hypey Spanish music with this lovely birdo wine. And it makes perfect sense for us. And and I think that's something that we wanna again emphasize our cultures and traditions outside of just the wine to wine professionals and just inviting them to our communities and how we work and how we think and culturally how we are. As someone who is immersed in the Italian wine scene where you cannot take the experience of wine away from the experience of food I completely understand how you can't take that communal experience of wine away from a culture that is full of music, that's full of food culture, and those two completely go hand in hand. So I was incredibly excited to see that this is front and center on your website. It is completely taking the entire culture. It makes complete sense to me. Yes. And and we're so excited, one day to have a in person, event, or gathering, and being able to have people experience that. And I think the day that we're able to finally do this will be so exciting just again to just share the experience of our cultures. And again, that are so different, but with the music and the food and just being in that environment, I think, will be eye opening to people to really understand because you can read so much about something. You can listen to it a lot, but when you experience it or when you travel and, like, I did in Spain, and that was my eye opening to the wine industry, you have a sense of appreciation and understanding of that other person's, shoes. Yeah. It gives you a whole new level of of understanding and an enjoyment of of the culture. Exactly. So what has the response to Hispanic and wine been in the industry? It's been overwhelming in such an amazing and incredible way. You know, we we are a team of four. I'm the co founder, the other co founder is Lydia Richards, and on our team is also Yvonne Nell, who's a trade expert and Amelia Alvaris, who's a coordinator. And, you know, this is a passion project that's become something more than just you know, we'll we'll just help here and there. And the industry has been so grateful with us and really, coming to us for, you know, if you need anything, we're happy to help. Also connecting us with other organizations, connecting us with other individuals who are starting the industry for the first time and saying, hey, I heard about Hispanic and wine. I wanna connect you to this person or a good friend of mine, is transitioning into the industry. Could you help them? And for us being able to get that kind of feedback and being able to help people is just so amazing and rewarding and also a lot of we've received a lot of opportunities, you know, as PR professionals, we've had a lot of journalists come to us and say, we're writing a story about, you know, Mexican winemakers or the Hispanic community and wine, can you connect us with the right individuals that we can speak on? So being able to utilize our PR skills and having those journalists come to us and making these connections and amplifying these stores through the press. And again, which helps highlight the talent that we offer has been so rewarding for us. And, yeah, I, I, you know, I I just can't wait to see what more we're able to accomplish and just the outpouring of help we receive. That was actually gonna lead perfectly into my next question because, obviously, it must have been a slightly strange year. Yes. To kind of start your first year in the middle of a pandemic. And I know obviously that you've got in person events in mind, and I personally want a ticket, when you're doing some of those. But what is next? So apart from being able to bring this kind of online social networking community in person, what else have you got your eyes on for the future? So in the near future, we're going to announce this big initiative, which can't say just yet, but keep an eye out in the month of August. Besides the physical events, and continuing our digital presence, with the spotlight series, we are going to start offering, hopefully in the near future is proprietary scholarships, and education. We wanna provide, you know, education is so important to us as well and our team And so one thing we wanna do is provide education in Spanish and in English where for those who do not have access to, you know, wine education, if you're, you know, trying to become a sommelier, or even wine education for brands who are targeting, Spanish consumers, you know, how to properly target labels to the Hispanic and consumer audience in the US, as well as work with brands. Another thing we wanna do is work with brands and whether it's doing conducting DI initiatives, speaking to the executives and teams on, you know, what is the Hispanic and Latinx community? What is Hispanics and wine? How can we be more inclusive and provide more equity, in this space and also targeting the consumers? I think it's important for us again to continue this education in all fronts because you know, we're we're still working on this. You know, we're still in a pandemic. I think we're still seeing the ripple effects of how the pandemic affected our communities, and we're still working toward how can we help with this before we move on to post quote, unquote, pandemic, and everything's okay. You know? I think that's absolutely vital. I really like that you've touched on specifically how the pandemic is affecting your communities. Like you're saying, there are particular communities, not just hospitality, but communities within hospitality that have been adversely affected by COVID for various reasons. And like you're saying, that work isn't done yet. Like, things might be opening up, but the ripple effect, the the repercussions of that still need to be dealt with. We can't just go, okay, it's over. Let's continue. We still have a lot of work to do. Yes. And, yeah, things are reopening, and it may feel like like you mentioned, right? It may feel like things are back to normal, but, you know, we have these conversations daily with different professionals or individuals in the wine industry, and it feel it still feels like twenty twenty for us. And so our mindsets we definitely wanna accomplish a lot, but we can't accomplish or do new initiatives without tackling the ripple effects of the pandemic and how it's impacted the industry for us. I feel, unfortunately, like, you have a lot of work ahead of you. Yes. So Hopefully, we can help with that. Maria, thank you so much for joining me on the Italian Warren podcast. Tell our listeners where they can find you, where they can learn more about you because I've just been here in Verona with a community of new ambassadors, And there are several, Hispanic members of that community now coming back to the states looking for more information. I imagine they are not the only ones who listen. So where can we direct people? Absolutely. If you wanna catch our spotlight series, learn more about Hispanics and wine, you can definitely visit our website, which is w w w, Hispanic and wines dot com. Or our Instagram, Hispanics, and wine. We are widely available. We do respond to direct messages very quickly because we're always excited for anyone who reaches out has any questions. And also, we do, have a by monthly a newsletter that we sent. So sign up to the newsletter to get more information and learn more about hispanics and wine in our communities. Guys, we'll be tagging all of this in our social media. Please go and check out the amazing work that Maria and the team at Hispanic and Wine are doing. Maria, thank you so much for our conversation today. Thank you so much for Becca and the team for having me today and talking about Hispanics and wine. Thank you to everyone for listening. 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