We recently connected with James Oliver and have shared our conversation below.

James , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

So in 2014, I moved back to Houston after spending 7 years in Atlanta, GA. I continued my IT career, but I just was not fulfilled at the end of the day. While living in Atlanta, I would do wine demos at grocery stores on the weekends and discovered I was extremely good at it! I wanted to work on something in my life that gave me more meaning and purpose. I started looking into making my way into the wine industry in Houston, so I started doing private wine tastings and consulting on the weekends for direct consumers. My girlfriend at the time, and now my beautiful wife, suggested that I go into business for myself.

Now the question was, what would we name it? She asked me what my personal interests in life were. I jokingly told her I envisioned myself being the black James Bond of wine. So from there we started researching the James Bond movies and came up with the name Vesper Wine. The Vesper Martini was the famous wine-infused cocktail drink featured in the film, which was also named after a female agent Bond was in love with.

By embracing this name for our business, we knew that we had something different and unique in comparison to the other wine companies in Houston, TX. This name provided inspiration for our lifestyle in real life and we knew it would become a household name one day!

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?

My name is James Oliver Shirley, Jr. I go by the name James Oliver for business purposes. In 2008, I decided to take a risk and step outside the world of Houston, TX where I was born and raised. I moved to Atlanta, GA in 2008 to continue my IT career and became a Blackberry IT Administrator working for a tech firm. Years later, I was working for Verizon Wireless as a Mobile Data Technician. Since I chose to make this big move to Atlanta, I needed to make sure I was financially stable and able to make it there without the help of my parents or family despite the higher cost of living!

To accomplish financial stability, I began looking for part-time jobs on the weekends to supplement my income. I thought to myself, What part-time gig can I do where it’s something enjoyable and fun? I looked at many jobs but didn’t quite find anything suited for me. One day I went over to my father’s home and his wife said she started doing grocery store demos part-time on the weekends, and she was getting pretty decent money at the time. She told me they may have other part-time opportunities and I should come along with her to meet the owners of the company.

So I put on my best suit coat and we were on our way. The owner was quite impressed and offered me a part-time position as a wine ambassador in various high-end grocery chains across Atlanta. I found that I was inspired by the engagement and interaction with other human beings. I felt exhilarated each time I interacted with customers in the store by describing the wine in a way that they could understand. I continued this part-time gig and became very skilled at it. So skilled that I became the number one ambassador in the company.

I knew I had stumbled upon something great! I felt alive when I discussed wine with the customers. Oh, and I also got to take all of the sample bottles home to taste and enjoy. Nice perk right?

Little did I know that the market back then was about to take a turn for the worse. I was in Atlanta during the recession of 2008, which was something I thought I would be prepared for financially. Things got rocky though.

My job positions were unstable and work opportunities began to dry up. I needed to seek alternative options to keep my morale boosted during this rough time. I decided to start a Level 1 wine class so I could become more knowledgeable about “everything wine.” I wasn’t too serious about starting a wine career at the time, so I didn’t put my all into it and failed the exam. I then went on to continue my IT career, but things just were not the same with the economic crisis taking place. I was offered the opportunity to go to Busia, Kenya, and study abroad with my girlfriend at that time. I traveled to 4 countries, and I have to say I fell in love with the breathtaking beauty of the Cape Town, South Africa vineyards, specifically Stellenbosch.

My journey and love for wine grew there. I moved back to Atlanta, GA 8 months later and I immediately started seeking out experts in the food and wine industry. I stumbled across a chef by the name of Khaled Chebbi that was part owner of a restaurant called Cous Cous. He started educating me about the industry and introduced me to Mediterranean cuisines, and Greek and French wines. I dove head-first into learning all that I could from Khalid. In 2014 I moved back to Houston, TX and I met my girlfriend – now wife. I kept wanting to do something part-time I enjoyed alongside my IT job, so I started reaching out to wine demo companies to become a wine ambassador again. I found a good company and worked my way up the ladder in the wine industry. My wife suggested one day that I start my own wine consulting company and pursue a full-time career in the wine industry.

We came up with the name Vesper Wine for our company and I maintained that business as a side hustle. I gained my WSET Levels 1 and 2 wine certifications and worked various jobs within the wine industry. Fast forward to the year 2020 and our world changed forever due to Covid-19. I was working as a retail wine specialist at an alcoholic beverage distributor and serviced about 50 stores across Texas. I was laid off due to the pandemic, so in July of 2020 my wife and I acquired our retail wine license. We then opened up a wine showroom and private tasting room under the same name as the consulting company. We are now going on 2 years running Vesper Wine and we continue navigating the entrepreneurial landscape of Texas.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I learned very quickly that if you put your energy into several different areas of an industry that you’re trying to master instead of focusing on becoming very skilled in one particular area, you’ll become distracted and end up just spinning your wheels with very little progress.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

We are e-commerce driven in the way we operate our business. We use the Shopify platform to sell our wine products and accessories online. We work with importers and distributors by purchasing our products wholesale and we sell retail directly to consumers in various states within the U.S.

Contact Info:

• Website: vesper.wine
• Instagram: meet_vesper
• Facebook: @vesperwine
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vesperwine
• Twitter: Vesper | Wine + World @VesperWine
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/vesper-wine-houston