We were lucky to catch up with Hailey Bohlman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hailey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I first fell in love with wine back in 2018 after a trip to Willamette Valley, Oregon with my husband. Once we came back, I knew I wanted to learn everything about wine that I possibly could and wanted to taste a bunch of wines. So, I checked out every book on wine from the library and then started a wine club with friends.
This wine club had met once a month for two and half years when the pandemic hit. We wanted to stay isolated to stay safe but I needed to do something or I was going to go crazy. Turns out I am way more extroverted that I though. So, I hosted my first ever virtual tasting with my wine club. I bought six wines, poured single portions into little plastic cups, and dropped them off at everyone’s door. Then I prepared a slide deck and taught everyone about the wines (the theme was Chilean wines!)
A couple days later, I realized I could turn this idea into a business. I could host virtual wine tastings for other people!
There were two main problems that I saw this service solving. ONE: We all need better ways to connect with each other and this was especially true during the pandemic when we were confined to our homes and limited to virtual get togethers. Wine has this incredible way of bringing people together and learning something new can help you form bonds with the people you care about. And TWO: People want to learn about wine but often find it intimidating. This way, they could learn about wine in a fun and approachable way!
Hailey, 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’m Hailey, wine enthusiast turned wine educator and founder of Cork & Fizz. I’ve always loved learning new things (yes I was that kid that did math for fun), but throughout school and joining the workforce, learning became more about achieving and succeeding. It wasn’t until I found my passion for wine that I rediscovered my joy for learning! With this in mind, I created Cork & Fizz to share my passion and make wine more approachable to everyone. I want to be a resource for casual sippers and wine lovers like myself. By offering guided wine tastings, along with tips & recommendations, I hope to make learning about wine fun and exciting!
In terms of services,
– I offer Private Wine Tastings both virtually and in-person. For the in-person tastings I come to you! Think of these tastings like those Mary-Kay or Tupperware parties your mom used to host all the time. Except this time, you get to learn all about wine! I bring the glassware and lead you through a 75 minute tasting experience!
– I run a virtual wine tasting club called the Cork Crew. The Cork Crew is the ultimate virtual wine community where we sip, chat, connect, and learn about wine together. 
We get together twice a month to learn about new wines and meet winemakers and other wine professionals from around the world!
– I host local wine events around the Seattle area. These are similar to private tastings but you don’t have to book for a group (you can just buy a single ticket) and they’re hosted at local wineries and businesses around the area!
– And finally: I host wine retreats. These include day retreats to Woodinville and multi-day retreats to Walla Walla. Think of these as the ultimate wine vacation where you don’t have to do any of the planning. My next retreat is coming up in April 2024 and I have a couple spots left if you’re interested! (Sign up before March 31st!)
I think one thing that makes me special is that I prioritize teaching along with joyful experiences. I meet you where you’re at on your wine journey and just like to share little tips and tricks so you can feel more confident about wine! When I’m teaching you about wine, it’s not with the goal of you getting the right answer. Because that’s the thing, there’s isn’t a right answer when it comes to wine tasting. I’m simply teaching you how to taste wine so you can figure out what YOU like!
And in the end, I’m most happy when a client says they had an amazing time. One person told me my Walla Walla Retreat was the highlight of their year last year and that made me feel absolutely amazing. Others have said I’ve made them feel more confident around wine and it just makes my heart burst with joy!
How did you build your audience on social media?
I can still remember when I hit 500 followers. I was THRILLED. 500 people cared about seeing my business grow. 500 people wanted to learn from me! Each time I hit a new milestone I still get the same thrill of excitement. It’s just SO COOL.
I think the most important thing for me when growing my audience on social media was to simply show people WHO I am and build connections with those that were interested in knowing who I am and what I have to offer.
Yes, there are a million strategies for growing your audience on social media, and plenty of them can get you a much higher number of followers than what I have. But the number isn’t the most important thing to me. That number means nothing if you don’t actually have a community!
– I was consistent. I try to post 3-5 days per week and have been for the last three years that I’ve been on Instagram.
– I have a consistent color scheme. This way people always recognize my content simply by the colors I use!
– I show my personality and consistently show people the person behind the business whether it’s in video/photo or in the voice of my writing.
– I’m willing to try new things. At first, I only shared pictures of things. Then I got confident to add photos of me. Then I started filming videos. But I did that one step at a time.
– I stuck to who I was. I don’t just jump on trending topics for the heck of it.
– I’m not afraid to speak my mind. Some of my most popular posts are “unpopular opinions” where I go against the status quo.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
Once someone purchases from me, I consider them a part of my Cork & Fizz community! I like to stay in touch with clients via email and social media. I send a weekly newsletter and always make sure to balance that newsletter with current offers and valuable wine content (whether it’s educational, informative, etc). I stay connected with folks on Instagram and encourage them to interact with me via fun stories and always responding in the DMs.
I truly think it’s simple. Most of my favorites small businesses I love not just for the product/service, but for the people behind the product/service. I feel connected to them. I cheer when they succeed and I am sad when they’re struggling. I feel genuinely connected to them and want to see them do well. So I do my best to create these genuine connections with my clients as well so they feel the same way about me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.corkandfizz.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corkandfizz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/corkandfizz
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hailey-bohlman-5b480ba9/
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/corkandfizz_winetastings/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@corkandfizz Podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/corkandfizz-guidetowine