Good Neighbor Podcast: Rochester
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of Rochester
Good Neighbor Podcast: Rochester
EP#110 Wines for Humanity with Donna DiPonio
Imagine stepping out of the corporate grind and into a world where your passion for wine enriches lives, including your own. This is the journey Donna DiPonio of Wines for Humanity shares with us, as she pours out her story from corporate America to a heartfelt wine advisor. Together, we uncork the misconceptions swirling around the wine industry, from the stigma of screw caps to the right way to store your beloved bottles. Whether you're a seasoned sommelier or a curious newcomer, Donna's expertise is a treasure trove for any wine enthusiast seeking to sip with purpose.
Donna also peel back the label on her life, revealing the dance of adapting a business in the face of a pandemic, the joy of ballroom dancing, and the sweetness of giving back. Under Anton's leadership, our company culture is as rich and complex as a fine vintage, dedicated to making a difference one glass at a time. If your heart beats for charity and your palate yearns for discovery, this episode offers a taste of how you can join the Wines for Humanity family and leave the world a better place, one bottle at a time. Cheers to that!
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lisa Swiftney.
Speaker 2:Hi everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today is episode number 110. I'm so excited, and we have with us Donna DiPonio with Wines for Humanity. How are you doing today, donna? I'm doing fine, lisa. How about you? I'm doing really good. Sun is shining, so that's always good, right? Absolutely yes. So let's first start off by telling our listeners about your business. What do you do?
Speaker 3:Okay, so Wines for Humanity. We're an Illinois-based company where our wine advisors come into your home or your place of business and we help you learn about and enjoy fine wines. We do it in a fun, social way to take some of the intimidation out of learning about wine, and then we help you raise funds for a charity of your choice. We actually are now in 24 states and we keep expanding. So a little bit about how it works is you and your guests. You can have up to 18 people and we travel around the world. We sample five to six different wines that the host and I choose beforehand, and our wines they're sourced from vineyards all over the world. They're private label, so we like to give the client and their guests kind of an around the world experience.
Speaker 3:I, as a wine advisor, I bring everything for a fun filled afternoon or evening the wines, of course, the wine glasses, tasty notes, corkscrew. I also bring chocolates because I haven't found a red wine yet. That doesn't pair well with chocolate. I teach the five S's of wine tasting and as we sample each wine, I talk about the region and the grape and the food pairing and I throw in wine trivia just to kind of engage everybody in the learning process and then at the end, if people want to select wines, they have the opportunity to do so, and then up to 12.5% goes to a charity of the host choice. So, and then up to 12.5% goes to a charity of the host choice. The one thing that sets us apart is we choose to give the proceeds for the charity off the bottle price of the wine as opposed to the cost, so that gives the charity some more money.
Speaker 2:That is really good, so tell our listeners about your journey. How or why did you get into this business?
Speaker 3:Well, it's kind of an interesting story because I was working in corporate America and then I got downsized so I was on Career Builders looking for another job and they actually sent me an email and it said work your passion. And I'm like I don't know what my passion is. I got to find a job, but anyways, they gave me keywords. One of the keywords was wine and I said, well, I like wine. So I clicked on it and Wines for Humanity popped up and I thought, huh, it's kind of an intriguing name. So I clicked on it, learned a little bit about the company. We were just a year old at the name, so I clicked on it, learned a little bit about the company. We were just a year old at the time. So I actually got to meet Anton, our founder. He told me about the company, the charitable aspect of the company, and I thought wine charity, I'm in. So I started doing wine tastings and I was having a blast.
Speaker 3:But I was single at the time and I needed a job that had health benefits. So I decided to go back into corporate America and I was going to give this up because I thought, oh, how can I work full time and do this, and so I thought you know what I'm going to do Wines for Humanity as a side gig and then, if I'm continuing to enjoy it after I retire, will be my retirement job. So six years ago, when I retired, I thought you know what this is my retirement job. Let me tell you, it's the best retirement job ever. I've been having a good time with it, that's great, great, great great.
Speaker 2:So can you tell us any myths or misconceptions you hear about in your industry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, there is one, and you're going to find more bottles with screw caps nowadays. That used to be associated with cheap wines, but not so much anymore, because they're going to more screw caps and plastic corks. For two reasons Number one, there's a cork shortage. And number two, which a lot of people don't know about, there is something called cork taint and it's a chemical that gets into the cork. It has nothing to do with the way the wine is stored or shipped, but it's a chemical called TCL that gets into the cork.
Speaker 3:And the best way to detect it is and you should always do this with the bottle of wine is, once you uncork it, smell it and if it has like a wet, damp newspaper, kind of like a musty odor, wet basement smell, that's cork taint. It's not going to kill you, but it's a bad bottle of wine. So you want to take it back to where you purchased it from and they should give you another bottle. It happens in about 5 to 15% of the bottles, so that's why they're going to alternative closures. So if you get a bottle of wine and it's got a screw cap most likely nowadays it's a pretty good bottle of wine and it's got a screw cap most likely nowadays.
Speaker 2:It's a pretty good bottle of wine. That's good to know. You know it's also easier to store too.
Speaker 3:Yes, it is Because with a cork, you have to store it on its side so the cork doesn't dry out, which prematurely ages the wine. With a screw cap, you can store it upright. So yeah, you're definitely right about that. You must be a wine connoisseur yourself, lisa.
Speaker 2:I have, but I've learned a lot from you over the years too, so I appreciate that so tell us what you like doing for fun when you're not working on your business.
Speaker 3:Well, my husband introduced me to ballroom dancing, so we do enjoy doing that. And, um, I love downhill skiing. I know I could only do it, uh, three months out of the year, but I do enjoy that, but doing it since I was a kid. Um, and I love spending time with family and friends, and I I am blessed with a lot of friends, so I am a very social person. And then I love to travel. As a matter of fact, I just came back from my fourth trip that I earned with this company. We just did a cruise. One year with this company I went to Italy and that was phenomenal. Then the following year I earned California, and then last year we went to Germany and this year it's a cruise. So they've helped me with my travel adventures.
Speaker 2:That is great. Where was your cruise?
Speaker 3:to. So we went to the Bahamas and Half Moon Cay and then Grand Turks. So it was my first cruise too.
Speaker 2:So so will you go back and do another one? I think.
Speaker 3:I would. Yeah, I really. There was so much that was overwhelming at first, cause there was just so much to do. So I think now I'm a more wise, wiser for it and so, yeah, I probably would definitely do another cruise and I got to bring my husband, so that was fun.
Speaker 2:That is fun. That is really good. I know I am earning a trip, or working on earning a trip, to Cabo San Lucas. So Los Cabos for next year. Have you ever been there?
Speaker 2:I have not, so a new adventure for you too, then yes, so I need lots of new sponsors and then I will earn my trip. So that's what. That's what I'm working on awesome. So let's um talk a little bit about. Can you describe one hardship or a life challenge that you rose above and can now say because of that challenge, for that you're better and or stronger, because of it?
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, I think, and probably a lot of people have had this experience but when COVID hit, we couldn't go into homes and do wine tastings, just like most businesses, we were shut down. However, our retail operation could remain open so we could ship wines to our customers. So, as a result, anton, our CEO, offered a very generous discount on our wines. So I and at this point in time I think I had several years into the business, so I had a nice client list so I started calling my clients and I told them about the discount and how they could keep enjoying our wines. But so not only did it keep my business going, but gave me the opportunity to really connect deeper with my clients. I mean, I learned a little bit more about them their family you know how they were dealing with COVID, with schooling their kids online, how they were coping with their job and loved ones who were having health concerns due to COVID. So it was just a really nice way for me to connect with my customers.
Speaker 3:We also I also learned how to do virtual wine tastings, because our clients were able to get our wines delivered and then I would, via Zoom, come into their homes virtually and do the wine tasting, so it was a learning experience for me. But we also offer that today because we're operational in 24 states. So this is good for people who may have family or friends in other states and as long as we're operational in those states, we can do virtual tastings because we can ship our wines. So that was something that came out of COVID Plus. I upped my technology skills. Well good, that's good to hear.
Speaker 2:So what is one thing you wish our listeners knew about your business?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think a lot of people don't realize that we're a direct sales company, but we're and also the fact that Anton, our CEO, treats everybody like family. I mean, what CEO calls every wine advisor on their birthday and sings happy birthday in one of six languages that he knows. That's nice. Oh yeah, I mean he is, and I mean we've got wine advisors all over the United States, so it's a full-time job for him. But we also have a charity certificate program that I think a lot of people don't know about, where we'll donate certificates for live and silent auctions as part of a charity's fundraising effort. So, to date, we've raised almost $10 million for not only our charity certificates, but also through our wine tastings. So, with that said, though, we are looking for people to join us, either who want a side gig or career change, because we're growing, and in order to keep up our charitable mission, we need people to join us. So I think that's kind of what I would like people to also know about our company.
Speaker 2:That is good. That is really good. I'm excited Over $10 million Yep.
Speaker 3:And that's since our inception, since 2007.
Speaker 2:Oh, so now, my listeners are intrigued, so how can they learn more about you?
Speaker 3:So the best way is to go to my website, which is wwwwinesforhumanitycom. Forward slash D, deponio, so that's double D I P O N I O, and there you can look. You can see our wines, you can look at our charities. You can also find out more about hosting a tasting and all the benefits or joining our company. So the other way is simply call me 248-231-0139. And I'd be happy to talk to anyone who would like to learn more about doing a tasting.
Speaker 2:That's great. Well, Donna, thank you so much for being a guest today on our Good Neighbor podcast.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you, lisa, for giving me that wonderful opportunity, and I've enjoyed the interview Great.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast Rochester. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPRochestercom. That's GNPRprochestercom, or call 248-988-9640.