Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alexandra Schrecengost. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alexandra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

My focus for more than a decade has been on community-building tied into events marketing. I fell in love with wine during my career in food and wine publicity, and worked my way up to an executive position. During the pandemic, I realized I could connect the dots to offer virtual events in a way and to audiences who needed them. With virtual wine tasting events hosted by sommeliers, I could offer gigs to hospitality professionals that were furloughed. There was demand for such an offering from the drive of bringing friends and colleagues together online to enjoy a curated selection of drinks and snacks—like they would at a traditional after-work bar or restaurant happy hour. I’ve always been interested in the business and logistical aspects of the luxury food and wine industry, and began tapping my network of chefs, sommeliers, cicerone’s and other experts to find like-minded friends who would be interested in hosting these online events. From there, business simply exploded. We realized that we had somewhat of a niche with the workforce and that our programming and themes could reinforce company initiatives such as the holiday office parties, team building, and DEI — think Black History Month, International Women’s Month and more. A few small clients looking to bring their remote teams together online recommended our services, and we’ve since expanded from an event-planning service to a gifting concierge and purveyor of our own fine products, Altrosero (named for myself, my husband, and my twin boys). We’ve mastered the logistics of hosting both virtual and hybrid events as well as artisan corporate gifts from every angle, secured warehousing space for our product line, and continue to lift up women and BIPOC-owned small businesses with every customized package we ship.

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

Culture With Us is a high-end inclusive hospitality events and concierge service built to support global corporations and distributed workforces through virtual and hybrid events as well as curated artisan gifts by BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and women-owned businesses around the world to uplift professionals from all backgrounds, and communities. When companies organize an event with us, let’s say a holiday office party, they are inherently supporting diverse businesses and in a sustainable way. We’ve intentionally chosen sustainable packaging for example.
We offer wine, spirit and non-alcoholic boxes along with artisan, small-batch and family-owned olive oil, honey and food. Virtual & Culture With Us connected thousands of professionals including 4,700 female global team members over 60 countries in 2021. We’ve done a huge amount to spotlight women in the workplace—especially in the wine and spirits industry which has a lack of representation, supporting 68 female sommeliers over the last year, and partnered with 40+ businesses from around the world, from vendors and suppliers to artisans who are part of underrepresented communities. Our programs entertain employees and boost morale while fulfilling other needs like team-building, pipeline generation, executing new DEI initiatives, supporting mental health, building a strong company culture, and so much more.

I’m a 2021 Wine Enthusiast 40 under 40 Tastemaker and a 2022 Tory Burch Fellow—two achievements I’m enormously proud of and that I hope illustrate my deep commitment to my business. I also hold the WSET level 4 Diploma distinction in wine, so you know every bottle of wine you receive is a truly fine bottle.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

Wow. I remember it clearly. It was the day I decided to do a 50 country fulfillment worldwide for our Johnson & Johnson customer. We’d done work with them a month prior, and I was excited but we’d just launched the business a few months prior and did not have the full infrastructure for such a global order. I sat down with my logistics manager, my first employee and at the time one of three people – and we brainstormed. How can we get this done both beautifully executed and timely. We called on the hospitality network and setup fulfillment in 30 of the countries in just over four days; with the others to follow suit. In the end, the order of 800 boxes landed in over 58 countries worldwide, and only six boxes went missing. A huge win for us in starting what is now the backbone of our operations in supporting global corporations with teams geographically dispersed. Now, everyone can truly have a seat at the table and that hands down brought the best feeling!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There are so many challenges I was up against as a Black and Latina mother of young twins, commuting to the city every day for my career as an executive in the luxury wine industry. When I finally decided I’d reached the breaking point, overworked and faced with a hostile work environment, I was brave about my next move. I wished there was somewhere I could work that would support my ambitions as a passionate professional and my life as an attentive, present mother so that I could truly produce my best work. It was then I realized I could make this workplace for myself—and for others, too.

Quitting my job and leaving the corporate world behind was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, and building a company from scratch for the first time involved a huge amount of trial and error. Slowly and steadily, I was able to build a team of like-minded colleagues who have helped cultivate a supportive, human-first professional environment where we’ve built support, compassion, and understanding into our values from day one. Our Culture team truly inspires me, and I’m grateful to be able to thrive together as a collective even in the craziness of a start-up.

Contact Info:

• Website: CultureWithUs.com
• Instagram: @CultureWithUs @AlexSchrec
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-schrecengost-0039758/