We were lucky to catch up with Danny Sullivan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Danny, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I am often accused of, “living the dream”; however, it can frequently be a nightmare.
As a business owner, I am often told, “You really should get someone to help you with that.” Unfortunately, the right help and good help is very difficult to find, and is often beyond my budget. So, it falls on me to do it, and make it work; which to my perpetual surprise, I have continued to muster for almost 3 decades of scrappy entrepreneurial survival.
I fantasize about having a, “regular job”, at least once a week. But, then I also am grateful almost daily to have the freedom to mostly choose which days I, “work”, and which days I, “play work”, or which days I dedicate to helping those I love.
My life is unbeatable on every important level except financial security / predictability.
I eat, drink, and ski better than billionaires, and I feel no guilt for taking more than I have truly earned from my own efforts.
Nevertheless, a predictable paycheck, and someone else taking care of all of the bookkeeping and accounting are very attractive lures to a regular job.

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.

I got into the wine industry trying to ski bum in Austria. I could not get a job on the mountain due to my visa status; however, I could get a job with a company specialized in international bulk liquid foodstuff commerce. Wine and spirits held the highest margins and were the sexiest commodities, so I was drawn to them. It was 1995, the dawn of the internet, and I was able to forge an early telecommuting arrangement with my employer. When the snow was good, I would remain in St. Anton am Arlberg, where I would wake early in the attic of Haus Josefina to deal with correspondence, ski the bulk of the day, check messages, then work late into the night making sense of it all. After I moved back to northern California, I continued the formula with my own agency importing and exporting bulk liquid foodstuffs. I made a small fortune importing millions of gallons of bulk wine while California was replanting vineyards, whose rootstocks had succumbed to Phylloxera. After that boom fizzled and I became disenchanted with international commerce, I went back to school to become a vigneron. I have engineered my life to make the best wines possible for my and my clients’ brands, while being able to ski most of the best days of the season, and be paid to do so.

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

After being betrayed / robbed by numerous business partners, I quit international commerce and went back to school to learn how to produce fine wine. I kept the business going while I was studying to be accepted to UC Davis. After being accepted to the Viticulture and Enology program, I closed up shop, and essentially took a vow of poverty while pursuing the Holy Grail of my life to be a world class Pinto noir producer and ski guide. I am still poor, but I have achieved my goals. I live better than, and am more healthy than, the wealthiest of the wealthy.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to learn that it is better to be be in business with family than not. Growing up I was, “privileged”. My father was a first generation Irish-American who truly manifested the American Dream. But, it came at a large cost. He provided us with the best education money could buy, but was unable to relate to us, his children, and in spite of his lofty ideals, resented us for having our own ambitions, which he had never imagined. I could have taken a financially easier route leaning on my father’s wealth, but he made it easier on me by disowning me at 22 years old. So, I forged my own existence engaging with people of less than high ethical / moral standards to advance myself. I was betrayed and robbed every step of the way. In 2019 when my wife, Sri, and my little brother, Tommy, coaxed me into starting my own wine brand, I honestly divulged what a horribly unprofitable business it could be, but how equally wonderful it could be. We are horribly unprofitable, but the wines and my lifestyle are fantastic. Profits will follow, but in the meantime I am healthy and happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.makasiwine.com
• Instagram: dannysullivan0914
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-sullivan-a8781715/

Image Credits

Sri Murni Hutajulu (Sullivan)