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

Cole, appreciate you joining us today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Not only do I take vacations, I try to take at least three of them a year. During the slow season I love taking month long road trips and adventures around the world. I’ll also head down to Mexico City and Oaxaca to soak in the sun (The Pacific Northwest can get dreary in the winter) and explore the food, music and art. “You either work to live or live to work” and “Get busy living or get busy dying” resonated with me when I was younger and long ago I made the decision that if I was going to work as much as I do it was imperative to find time to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I’ve always been driven by experiences rather than materials so it’s a pretty easy decision for me most of the time. “Memento Mori,” “Carpe Diem,” etc, etc. My advice for other entrepreneurs is to find that balance. You can always find time to make more money but time is our most valuable asset, far more than the almighty chase. Seek out that balance of finding yourself, making time for your family and friends and learning about the world around you. If I’m going to work seventy hours a week certainly I feel justified in taking time off, I hope that you’ll feel the same.

Cole, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was born and raised on Orcas Island. My parents moved to the island in their mid-20’s and raised our family on the side of Mt. Pickett out in Doe Bay. We had goats and chickens. There was a lot of reading. I was homeschooled until eighth grade and graduated from Orcas Island High School as part of the largest class in OIHS history. Just under fifty students. I began working in restaurants at the age of fourteen (Bilbos’s!) and was later mentored by the Orchid’s at Christina’s Restaurant where I returned from college each summer to work.

I majored in Political Science at the University of Washington. I was kicked out of the dorms. Three of them. At one point I studied Arabic and applied to exchange programs in Cairo and Beirut. It was 2001. The timing was poor. Instead I took a six month sabbatical to Europe. I rode the rails, worked in hostels and met a few other crazy people from all walks of life. Hobo life 101. Months of eating and drinking around Spain, France and Italy changed my entire perspective on life. I came home having decided that financial security and American sensibility were overrated and that I would chase a career in wine. I’ve second guessed a lot of decisions in life but most days I’m still comfortable with this one.

In my early 20’s my friend Jeff Lindsay Thorsen (now the owner of W.T. Vintners) and I were working together at Cascadia in Belltown when he suggested that if I was serious about wine it would make sense to pursue it in a more academic and regimented manner. Reading the room. Super advice! I enrolled in sommelier classes at South Seattle Community College with instructor Shayn Bjornholm and upon finishing moved to Vail Colorado to be a bum and also to work at Restaurant Kelly Liken. I began traveling as much as I could. Most years I’d work for eight months and then backpack around random countries for the remaining four. I found that lifestyle to be exciting and agreeable to my constitution. My early goal was to travel to forty countries by my fortieth year. I sped happily past that goal several years early. I’m a fan of epic adventures and constant celebrations of life.

Upon leaving Vail I booked back to back three months trips. I spent the first segment in South Africa, Malawi and Mozambique and then three months with the Parkerson brothers down in Central America. Lots of whacky things happened. I hurried back to Seattle, working first for Maria Hines and Adam Chumas at Tilth in Wallingford, and then took a sommelier job with the John Howie Restaurant Group at Seastar Bellevue while also working a harvest internship with Master of Wine (and true champion) Bob Betz at Betz Family Winery.

Fast forward a couple of years, and some good times at Cavatappi and Hestia Cellars, and I found myself back in restaurants. This time as a sommelier at RN74 Seattle. I loved it. I could wear a jacket, jeans and sell Grand Cru Burgundy. I had passed the Advanced Sommelier exam with the Court of Master Sommeliers and was having a ball.

But when corporate asked me if I’d like to run the wine program for Restaurant Michael Mina at The Bellagio in Las Vegas I figured why not? Life goes quick….

So I went and lived between the Aria and The Cosmopolitan on the 35th floor of the Veer Towers and walked the strip to work. I managed a Michelin starred program at one of the most iconic luxury properties in the world. It was a wild chapter. You have no idea. I have some good stories and made some great friends. I spent a lot of time in Southern Utah and came to appreciate the rocks and the desert. I’d go to Mexico City to relax. But you can’t take me too far from the water before I grow restless.

Ok, almost there.

The last stop before returning to the island was working for my good friend Laine Boswell and the Perez-Cuevas family of Bodegas Ontañon in Rioja Spain. I was their national sales and marketing manager and we had a blast. I spent most of my time on the road exploring our country, opening distribution networks and working on building out a US presence. Our clients included Delta, MGM International and The Jose Andres Group and we worked hard to share the story of Rioja Baja, Ribera del Duero and Rueda. There was so much learning.

2016 found me living in Seattle with my now ex-wife and building Doe Bay Wine Company as a part-time consulting business. in 2017 we quit our jobs, moved to Orcas and opened the brick and mortar version of the business. Full circle! It hasn’t been easy coming home. I was gone almost twenty years and didn’t expect to be back here quite yet. The island is my home, and the love is strong, but we still go at it some times, as old lovers do. We’ve shared a lot of blood, sweat, tears, love, laughs and sorrow over the years. Memories. We will see what the future holds.

I currently live in a tiny home on my property in Doe Bay. I’m about a four minute drive from Mt. Pickett where I grew up. And where both sets of parents and my brother still live. I’ll build a house over the next couple of years.

My passion is still, and always will be, experiences and adventures. I work to live. I love Oaxaca, Mezcal and Mexico City. Not sure in which order.

I started a mezcal brand down there during the middle of the pandemic. I keep going back to Vietnam and Japan. Pho, cheap beer and scooters or ramen, sake and fast trains? I’m a big baseball fan. I dig hammocks. I’m stuck in a world of Harvest, Blond on Blonde and Animals. I’m super close to my siblings. They are all crushing life. I really, really love good food. If it’s delicious I want to eat it.

Thanks for being here on this ride with me. Let myself and my team know what we can do to help support you in living your best life.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Communication. The most important aspect for any relationship. Take the time to get to know your team and to show them patience and grace. Lead by example. Take care of them, offer opportunities, grow together. The people around you are your most valuable asset. Show and tell them that.

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

The first location of my business opened on Orcas Island, population 4,000 people, back in 2017. It’s a very challenging business market with seasonal dips, lack of employees and a remote location. Several years after we opened I went through a painful divorce followed two months later by the dawning of covid. Crippled financially, deprived of in store business and running on fumes, I put my head down and adapted to the new climate. We were able to prevail and now have multiple locations and performing on a higher level than ever before.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.doebaywinecompany.com
• Instagram: doebaywinecompany
• Facebook: doebaywinecompany