Joey Wölffer on the Secret to Creating a Unique Brand

Joey Wölffer didn’t ever think she’d take over her family’s business, the Wölffer Estate winery. But over a decade after surprising herself and becoming the co-owner and chief brand officer of the beloved vineyard, Joey has transformed the brand and the business. You’ve probably seen their famous Summer in a Bottle rose or their sparkling ciders on shelves near you. And Joey’s done all of that while building her own fashion business, Joey Wölffer. On today’s episode, Joey shares her secrets to creating a unique and relevant brand.

In this episode, shares: 

• How losing her father unexpectedly changed her mindset about her career

• Why she wasn’t a fit for corporate America

• Her experience building two businesses at once

• What it’s like to work with her brother and her husband 

• How she calls out a lack of gender representation in the alcohol industry

On Calling Out a Lack of Representation in the Alcohol Industry

Danielle: What does it look like when you call someone out?

Joey: It's almost like somebody is taking over me, but there's no way I can stop myself, especially with that stuff. And I do it in a playful way. Like my husband's like, "You have such an art at doing that." But I refuse to not do it. How can you sell a brand, like if you have sales people who are only men and they're selling a rosé, like how can you sell a brand that's so targeted towards females? You need to have a female view in there, you know, you need to celebrate the woman. I always say like use me as that, you know, I am one of the few women in wine. Use me towards that.

On Building Two Businesses at Once

Joey: I always throw myself into chaos and I thrive in chaos, which is crazy … every time I'm in the chaos, I do this moment of shutting down and like, "No, it's going to be fine. It's going to be fine. It's going to be fine." And I always figure it out. And I think I was so in it, and I was so obsessed with making it work. Probably a little bit ego, like to prove that I could do it and all these people telling me I couldn't do it. I mean, I had two male CEOs, which I won't say their names, although I would love to, tell me I would never be successful, and honestly, if you think about what Coco Gauff just said … those kind of people are the people that push you to do it.

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