Thank you, Kestrel Wines
At the BizJam evening soireé last year, Lara and I had the privilege of handing out half a dozen bottles of wine to members of the Biznik community who made extraordinary contributions during the previous year. All the the bottles were provided to us by Kestrel Wine, one of the very first companies to sponsor BizJam. We’re delighted to have Kestrel back as a sponsor at this year’s event, where Kestrel wines will be poured at a reduced price to all conference attendees.
Kestrel, which is a Washington winery, is doing some interesting things not only with how they make wine, but also in how they market it. I interviewed Kestrel’s Kelly Koon (who is also a Biznik member) recently, to find out more about both.
Q: Tell me a the short story behind Kestrel Wine.
We basically have two categories of wines: our Collector series “Lady” bottle wines, and our Ultra Premium/Winemaker Select wines. I specifically work to promote our “Lady” wines-the “Lady in Red” and “Pure Platinum” wines and I have recently (last September) created a women’s wine club called “The Vinevixens” to promote these “hard working ladies.”
The “Vinevixens” were started to build relationships with our customers as bringing Kestrel to the forefront as a leader in giving back to the community with great wines! We bring sign up sheets to all of the events we pour at and collect contact information for women interested in learning more about wine, supporting charity and having fun.
ALL events need great wine to, as I say, as the “libatious lubrication” for the audience and enhance the event/auction and make a great experience for all involved. We offer a huge discount for 501c3 charities to bring our wine into their events and help raise funds for these causes. We also can come and pour our wines at events to help the charity and sell the wine to raise funds for the charity. There are pictures on the website of the events we have done in the last year.
Our wines - in particular our Lady in Red - red blend collector series wines, and Pure Platinum-white blend collector series wines are fantastic everyday wines and once you’ve experienced them at a great event that perhaps is even raising money for a cause close to your heart, you will connect with Kestrel and bring the ladies home with you when you encounter them out on your trips to the market!
Q: What is special about Kestrel wines relative to other wines produced in Washington?
There are many Washington wineries striving to do what Kestrel is doing! We are a work in progress and have come a long way!
Below is our mission and vision statements.. basically, we are a small group of people passionately dedicated to creating outstanding uncompromising wines that create a special moment in your everyday and enhance your special occasion…
Our Vision-
Kestrel innovatively crafts wines of the highest caliber, showcasing the unique terroir of the Pacific Northwest. Through passion, knowledge and stewardship, we give our customers, community, and the world a little piece of the good life.
Our Mission-
We delight our customers with the Kestrel experience. One taste reveals masterfully tended vineyards, innovative winemaking techniques and unrieveled hospitality.
Q: What was the last book you read?
“The True Power of Water” by Masaru Emoto
I am curious about the energy we put into wine ultimately affecting the energy that will come out of it… and about the power of water in general.
I was just at Deception Falls yesterday.. WOW, check it –POWER!
Q: Is there anything that you’ve learned by making amazing wine that applies to small business in general, that you can share with our readers?
Wine can be something to look forward to - a special retreat in a glass… Our goal is to create a relationship with our customers so that they know we made that special wine for them and they can count on us to ‘be there for them’, after a ‘day you want to drink after’ 
or for their special event! It seems that small business realizes and respects the POWER of the “customer relationship” over the big huge conglomerates that rule the world now a days. The webs and nets of relationships that support small business’ are strong!
Q: Who are your role models or mentors and why?
My father, who started a printing business in the basement of our house the year I was born. He was also a home winemaker, his business took off through his connections and the way he did business more than the advertising he paid for, his wine- well, not so much, but he worked hard and was always open to ways his business could help others. He grew his business BY helping others to have better lives, I believe that is a powerful way to do business and live life!
Q: How does Kestrel Wines define success?
Happy, satisfied returning customers who clammer to have more of our fantastic wines and the freedom our winemaker has to creatively and innovative-ly make very wonderful high quality wines.
Q: Why is Kestrel sponsoring BizJam?
Biznik seems to attract successful people who have found a middle groung between the old saying “Live to work or work to live.” I’ve always thought of myself as someone who “works to live” but when you are an entrepreneur and your life is your work, there has to be a way to marry the two harmoniously and the people I’ve met through Biznik seem to have the “greater good” tied into their business plan - for themselves personally as well as for a special supportive community that is being formed through Biznik.
Kestrel wants to be the wine that flows for these unique successful individuals as we at Kestrel are excited about creating new and innovative winemaking and marketing techniques and building a special relationship with our customers.
1 Comment Being Media sponsors BizJam business conference
We’re grateful to Being Media, which is a major sponsor of BizJam this year. Thanks to Being Media, we’ll have web video of each workshop at the conference. Being Media is a video production & new media company, which produces corporate, non-profit, narrative and documentary projects in Seattle and internationally. I spoke with Being Media’s Basil Shadid, who is a supporting member of Biznik, to find out more.
Q: Briefly describe your company and what you do.
In a nutshell, being MEdia is a video production and new media company. I’m the Digital Media Director.
The longer answer is this: We make documentaries for non-profits and for festival or theatrical release. We also focus a lot of energy on creating online videos for businesses, individuals and non-profits. We do special event and corporate videography which includes things like weddings, commitment ceremonies, speeches and presentations. We also edit video, create DVDs, and help with online and off line distribution strategies.
When I say that we are a new media company, I mean that we help deliver content on new media platforms like mobile phones, the web and other electronic hand-held devices. We do some web application development, internet encoding and media- related web design projects.
Finally, we provide freelance crews for video & film projects. Through this, we’ve had the chance to work on some really amazing stuff. For example, I was part of the post- production team for the Academy-Award nominated documentary Iraq In Fragments.
Q: Have you always wanted to run your own business?
Absolutely. In fact, when I was 15, I started a record company to showcase local bands. Throughout the years, I’ve always had a small endeavor that has kept me busy and excited.
Q: How and when did the idea of your company come about?
Previous to being MEdia, I was working in various social service positions. I have a MA in Mental Health Counseling. While finishing my degree, I realized that this wasn’t what I wanted to do. I enjoyed learning ways to truly communicate with people, how to think critically, how to connect with my inner process and how to listen to others. Outside of that skill set, I couldn’t find a place within the social service industry that felt good for the long term. in Mental Health Counseling.
While assessing my own skills and interests, I kept coming back to two things: I wanted to tell people’s stories; and I loved media. It felt exciting to bridge the two.
Then, billie and I moved to Dripping Springs, Texas for a brief time. Things weren’t working out for us financially, and we needed an income generating source. That need pushed us to take the risk and start our own business.
We started in 2004 as a company that did VHS to DVD transfers. Since then, we expanded our abilities, expanded our services and reformulated our company as a values-driven, full service video production and new media company.
Through the last four years, being MEdia has grown tremendously.
Q: How many hours do you work a day on average?
It depends. Some days we work 4 to 6 hours a day. Other days it’s 8 to 10. Then, there are the long days, occasional all nighters and such that seem to define the small business owner.
Q: What was the last book you read?
Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh.
Q: Who are your role models / mentors and why?
My mentors include story teller Utah Phillips, poet June Jordan, Thich Nhat Hanh and other people who have contributed something unique to our world. Also, my business/ life partner billie is a definite role model. She is a grounding force in keeping our business aligned with the values we’ve set forth.
Q: If you could give blog readers one piece of advice what would it be?
Hmmm. I guess it would be: Laugh often.
Q: Do you have any future expansion plans?
We’re definitely growing as a business. We are producing some original video content this year, including the pilot of a TV series. Everything else is business as usual.
0 CommentsLeif Hansen invites you to BizJam…
Leif Hanson of Spark Social Media, who will be one of the speakers at BizJam 08 on July 9th, created this invitation to BizJam for Seesmic.com users…
Seattle Business Monthly features Biznik story
Check out the July issue of Seattle Business Monthly: it’s got a great article about Biznik. This is the first magazine article ever written about Biznik, and we’re thrilled with the piece, which is titled Minding Your Own Biznik. Check it out!
Seattle Business Monthly writer Lilium Pierson interviewed Lara and I earlier this Spring for the article, which tells the story of how Biznik got started and is a growing community today. Members Joe Shirley and Bruce Henry both have great quotes included in the article - thanks guys!
And thank you to everyone in this awesome community who are every day building your businesses, and somehow finding time on top of that to contribute articles, write your profiles, post questions, answer them, share tips, and much more. Biznik is worth writing about because of you.
Charrisse Reents is Biznik member 13,000
I’d like to give a warm Biznik welcome to Charrisse Reents, of Portland, Oregon, who is the 13,000 member of Biznik. Charrisse owns http://www.greencuisineherbs.com, and thanks to the fact that she’s completely filled out her profile (nice work!) we know this about Green Cuisine Herbs:
“We started this company after the birth of our twins boys. This is when I became increasingly more conscious of the food I was feeding my family. Armed with that curiosity, my love of food, and the opportunity to work with a seasoned herbalist, Green Cuisine was born. I wanted to put the fun back into cooking and entertaining, and doing that meant making things a little simpler in the busy life of this stay-at-home-mom.
Spices, herbs, and seasonings have been used since the beginning of time for health and healing.
Green Cuisine all natural herbal blends are unique in the marketplace because our blends are dehydrated rather than ground. This helps ensure that our herbal blends retain their flavor and natural health benefits.
For instance our Cross the Road Chicken Soup Seasoning has wonderful rich flavors to spice your broth while at the same time providing immune support and decongestive benefits.”