We were lucky to catch up with Arielle DeSoucey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Arielle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

With great risks come great rewards. I fully believe in this statement and have tried to adhere to this ethos throughout my career. One of the greatest risks I’ve ever taken was starting my own wine consultancy business while living as an Expat in the Czech Republic. Prior to my arrival in Brno, expats had little opportunity to attend and participate in wine tastings, as the language barrier prevented them from fully understanding what they were tasting. After speaking with local community members, I found that this would be a way for me to connect the local Expat community with the Czech wine community. By taking this risk in launching English friendly wine tastings, the result brought great rewards- both for myself and for the Expat community. I aimed to create a space for others to converse, engage, and learn about Czech wine, forging a stronger bond between the Expat and local communities.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The start of my wine industry career began like many others in the industry- waitressing at a wine bar just outside of Washington DC in 2007. I had spent the previous two years studying and working in France, yet felt distanced from a life in academia. To pay the bills, I had always fallen back on waitressing, yet up to that point, I had no way of knowing how wine was intrinsically linked to language, geography, science, and culture. After a few tasting appointments with our sales representatives, I felt like I wanted to learn more, to further pursue my wine studies in an academic setting. It was at this point that I enrolled in the WSET Level 2 Certificate in Washington DC.

After passing this challenging certificate, I moved to New York City and started work in sales and hospitality for a 4-star French hotel in Manhattan. While my full time career was dedicated to NYC hotel sales, I felt the same calling to continue on with my wine studies. After enrolling and passing the WSET Level 3 certificate in New York in my off hours, I knew then that I needed to follow my passion.

By 2015, I moved to North Carolina, where I happily took up a full time position as assistant wine buyer for a locally owned, independent wine shop. This was one of the most transformative experiences of my life, realizing that I could make a full time career in the wine industry. At that time, social media was still in its infancy, yet I was quick to sign on and use a platform to engage and educate. I began teaching wine classes and curating our wine selection to be unique, accessible, and value-driven.

In 2018, my life took a left turn, and my husband and I moved to Brno, a small village in the southeast corner of the Czech Republic. We moved there for his employment, but it was my life and career that truly took shape during this experience. It was here where I built my website and social media content- Civil Wines and www.civilwines.com . I created these outlets initially for the local Expat community in Brno to gain more appreciation and knowledge about the wines being produced in the Czech Republic. I launched wine tastings in English at various wine bars and restaurants around the town, and began consulting for wine shops on how to market and engage the community. After COVID restrictions came into place in 2020, I turned my entire business to online platforms, creating video and social media content that would promote the wines of the country. Eventually, I was hired as an export consultant for a Canadian Wine import company and collaborated on various projects to help build the future success of their company. After three years of creating value-driven, impactful content, in 2021 we moved back to the USA, where we eventually settled in Tucson, Arizona.

After spending three years working as the wine director for various locally owned shops in Tucson, I recently decided to make the jump to distribution. I am currently the Wine & Spirits Specialist for Action Wine, a Phoenix owned wine and spirits distribution company. This job offers me a position to sell wine and spirits to various shops/hotels/resorts/bars/clubs throughout the southern Arizona market, facilitating my mission to create community through meaningful and immersive wine education programs.

While my outlet has and will always be wine- I imagine many of you reading this have your own passion projects that perhaps one day can turn into a full time career. Follow your instinct and create a space that is uniquely for you.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Whenever I hop on social media, I tend to see the same videos, the same messaging, the same audio clips, and the same overall content. My mission for my personal creative journey has been and will continue to be simple- maintain my unique identity and represent what I believe in, while creating a space for others to engage and learn. My mission is to lift others up while sharing useful, accessible information that can help build a stronger, inclusive wine community.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My social media audience and growth is 100% organic- meaning I have never offered a purchased ad, giveaway, or other paid collaboration that would have affected my growth. I find that on social media, there is a lot of noise- and finding a way to be visible and consistent means being authentic, finding your own niche that represents you and what you stand for. Viewers can identify those who they trust by humor, consistency, and honesty, and it is this type of organic growth that I have strived to maintain over the past four years. Build your audience by showing up, by engaging, and by teaching something valuable, something new, something that you find interesting. Don’t be afraid to show your face, to go on video, to be relatable. This is the recipe for social media success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.civilwines.com
• Instagram: @civilwines
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arielle-desoucey-csw-ba956015/