We recently connected with Amanda Gunville and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, thanks for joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

From as young as I can remember, my dad would start each summer by creating a goal to achieve by the end of the summer. Each summer the goal would have an age-appropriate award attached to it. I grew up playing competitive golf in an era when very few girls played golf, so I played with my dad and his friends almost exclusively.

I remember the first summer, the goal was to beat my dad on one hole and if I did, I got a $50 bill. I was probably 8 years old, so this was a TON of money for me. I remember every shot and when my dad handed me that crisp fifty, I immediately asked to laminate it, lol.

As a teenager, the goals became more challenging – break 80 on my rounds or beat my dad on 18 holes (he was/is a very good golfer).

These summer goals taught me so many lessons. How to set achievable, but stretch goals; how to work hard to get a reward; the satisfaction that came from working hard vs. just getting a reward; by accomplishing each yearly goal, I was consistently getting better at my craft (golf), which ultimately allowed me to become the high school state champion as a junior.

Another invaluable lesson my dad taught me started in junior high. My dad would have me write down everything I needed to spend money on for the year – clothes (how many pairs of jeans, dresses, shoes, etc), movies with friends, etc. He would go over the list with me and we would add up the total. He would then deposit the entire amount into my bank account and it was up to me to stick to that budget and keep the records in my check book. I wasn’t getting any additional money, so I had to be responsible. As you can imagine this practice is incredibly valuable for budgeting as an adult and as a business owner.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Amanda Gunville is a seasoned entrepreneur and business consultant focusing on businesses that have developed proprietary and innovative technologies. Amanda is currently the COO & CMO of Wander + Ivy and partner of BloomTV.

Amanda began her career in sports working with one of the largest sports agencies in the world and on the television production side of sporting events for Fox Sports, ESPN, and NBC.

Following her Venture Capital focused MBA at Notre Dame, she worked in Private Equity sourcing deals, creating strategic investor relationships, performing due diligence and liquidating real estate assets. The opportunity to work with several of the portfolio companies led to a consulting practice where she has consulted for companies in oil & gas, medical software, FX trading, hospitality, manufacturing, commercial banking, CPG/ecommerce and sports management.

Additionally, throughout the past decade, Amanda has created and run several businesses including Prime Athletes (Sports Management & Marketing), Prime Experiences (Event Management) and Impact Beverage (Sports Beverage Manufacturing). Through her event management company, Amanda has run several events during Super Bowl weekend, MLB All- Star weekend, NASCAR, Formula E, and Formula 1. Amanda is passionate about creating state- of-the-art companies that leverage new technologies to enhance consumers’ lives.

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Following the exit of my last company, I became very focused on spending my time making a difference. Most of my companies were fun, entertainment driven companies. My brother is a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Physician where he literally saves lives every time he goes to work. I wanted to look in the mirror and know that I’m making a difference in the world.

I joined an investment group of women who were passionate about investing in and supporting women-owned companies. We held a pitch event in 2019 and one of the companies was Wander + Ivy. Long story short, I invested in the company and became their COO and CMO. Wander + Ivy is the premium and organic single-serve wine brand.

Only ~2-3% of financing goes to women-owned companies, so I feel great about the investment and absolutely love the people I work with (especially founder and CEO, Dana Spaulding) and work that we do.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Following business school, I worked for a private equity firm. I was a part of the deal sourcing team as well as running various aspects of portfolio companies. For example, I ran Government Affairs and Marketing for an Oil & Gas Services company. I loved my job and would often say that I wanted to retire with the company that I was working for.

In 2008, the debt market collapsed and it appeared that no deals in private equity were going to get done for probably 2 years. I was laid off and I felt like someone had punched me right in the gut and face simultaneously. I was crushed. The challenge was that many of my classmates were also getting laid off and the job market looked bleak.

The Oil & Gas company owners called me and asked if I wanted to move to Wyoming to work for them. I did not want to move to WY, but I did want to keep working with their company. This was the start of my consulting practice that still lives today!

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

I’m not the co-founder of Wander + Ivy, but I do feel like a business partner as an investor and executive of the company. I met Dana Spaulding, founder & CEO of Wander + Ivy in the winter of 2019. My investment group held a pitch day where 8 companies came and pitched their business in hopes of investment. We really liked Wander + Ivy and decided to move to the next step.

The next step came in December 2019, when we did a full day deep-dive into the business. Our goal was to not only learn about every aspect of the business, but also provide advice and resources where we could. We were blown away by the professionalism of Dana AND she was 9 months pregnant!

About 2 months later I was in a different investment group meeting and in walked Dana. She presented perfectly to a large group of mostly men after having just given birth to her first child TWO weeks prior. AMAZING.

Then COVID hit and all deals were put on hold. My small investment group discussed how we could be helpful in this uncertain time. So, I called Dana and I asked her if she would like help with operations. At the time it was only her and one sales person. She was growing and needed help. Since I used to own a beverage company and was a certified Level 2 Sommelier, I thought I could be helpful. Fast forward a couple of weeks, we absolutely loved working together. She formally asked me if I would join the company as an executive and I committed to a substantial investment. Neither of which was dependent on the other.

It has been a dream partnership for over two years. The company grew 450% in 2020, 230% in 2021 and is on track for another triple digit growth year.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wanderandivy.com
• Instagram: wanderandivy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-gunville-0823b16

Image Credits
Ellie Grace Photography