We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Benita Johnson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Benita, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
My start in the wine industry as a retailer was to fulfil a selfish need — I liked wine and was tired of driving 25 miles to get what I considered a good bottle. Once committed to two very large commercial rents (started 2 stores within 4 months), I learned that selling wine was far more than being knowledgeable about what was in the bottle. It was about creating experiences around wine. Wine is the backdrop of a lot of fun memories. It plays a role in celebrations, self-care rituals and some of our favorite dining experiences. So my mission became to create fun and memorable experiences by connecting friends through our common love of wine.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
When asked how I got into wine, I always say that being married and having 3 kids drove me to drink. It’s a joke that describes who I am. I am a fun-loving person who loves a great conversation while sharing a bottle of wine with friends. My professional life started as an Accountant. But in my past time, I attended lots of wine festivals, visited wineries in any city or state that I could, and frequented local store tastings. I was very intrigued learning about the nuances in wine and especially how the same varietals could taste different just based on geography. I was in awe! So that sparked the interest in the wine industry. Once starting The Vine Wine Club, I wanted to shine a spotlight on people of color in the wine industry. Therefore, in 2014, I started The Exclusive Blacklist, a wine and food festival that features wine, spirits and food made by Africans and African-Americans. This event is held in Richmond, VA (my hometown) and has grown from a one day to a 4 day event over the years. The purpose is to let consumers know that people of color are making amazing wines and they (consumers) have the power to have it placed in stores or at your favorite restaurants because they will answer to them if they continuously ask. Other than my children, I am most proud of the work that I’ve put into The Exclusive Blacklist. So many wine professionals have met at one of the events and lifelong friendships have been solidified.
In addition, I am the franchise owner of Wine Crawl DC. Wine Crawl is another amazing vehicle that allows me to curate experiences for consumers at local businesses. I own three wine labels, Exclusive White, Exclusive Red and Cedar Hill Anacostia Red which is named after the home of abolitionist Frederick Douglass. The 3 wine labels are the cornerstone of a self-care line that I am developing that will launch this spring to include candles, body butters, and lip balms.
Personal life: I am a mother of 3 adult children and an amazing grandson named Sire. I love to travel and I’ve incorporated travel into my business/brand. Through Wine Crawl, I’ve taken groups to Finger Lakes, NY and will take groups to Italy and NYC in 2024.
Professional: Other than wine, I am a Real Estate Agent in DC and Virginia.
Beliefs: I believe that fun is medicine.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
My advice to anyone is to first hire professionals to do this. I absolutely did not feel comfortable with social media. I don’t like doing the videos, I didn’t know how to edit the videos to look good enough for posting and creating posts constantly was taking too much time away from my core business. The professionals that I hired knew the best times to post and they convinced me that people would like the videos that showed me being genuine and who I am. I was told that consumers want to feel the connection to the brand and that comes through the personal approach.
I am a believer that as business owners, focus on what you do well and hire out the rest of the stuff. It takes more time and stress to “figure” it out while there are affordable options to have it done for you. And it also feels good to support another small business.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Now this is funny. In 2010, I was working for an organization in Richmond. The president was a really amazing man who had a fondness for bourbon. I credit him for my love of bourbon. Anyway, the organization would hold its board meetings early in the morning. At my first board meeting, I sat in an empty seat next to a very handsome and astute looking man. After we exchanged “good mornings”, he asked if I drank brown liquor. And that’s how the friendship started. As we got to know one another, he revealed that he was a frequent customer at one of my wine shops. He isn’t a wine drinker with the exception of Malbec and Champagne. But I had a robust beer collection so he shopped for his IPAs. It was George’s idea to have an online wine company. I was completely against it. He wrote it on his whiteboard so I would see it daily. I was resistant for 2 years before I would even entertain a conversation with him about it. Needless to say, The Vine Wine Club was born and he’s still here talking me into things.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thevinewineclub.com
- Instagram: @vine_wine_club
- Twitter: @thevinewineclub