We recently connected with Nakira McCrea and have shared our conversation below.

Nakira, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

For as long as I can remember I knew I would own my wine business. I’d researched how to start one in the past however, I didn’t find much information on the subject. The night I decided to go for it I couldn’t sleep and went down a rabbit hole researching and found more information than I’d found in previous years. From that moment on I’d spent months learning and cold calling industry experts. You could find me with my AirPods in my ear listening to a wine business podcast for hours each day. My bedroom was full of Post-its with ideas and notes. I had to learn how to bring this idea to life. This was my first product business and I had no clue where to begin. The biggest task at hand was, where would I get wine? We were in a pandemic I couldn’t just fly to a winery so I began cold calling until I got a yes! Quickly I began to see this was going to be a costly venture and I was in store for a long ride.

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 Nakira I honestly stumbled into the beverage industry during the pandemic. I worked as a makeup artist for over a decade and later transferred those skills to a career in Human Resources. I always knew I would enter into the alcohol beverage industry however I started about 30 years earlier than expected. Wine was my retirement plan but once the pandemic happened I knew it was time to strike while the iron was hot.
Suede Rosé was birthed out of necessity. During the pandemic I witnessed the wine influencer market grow but I felt like big brands weren’t marketing to the demographics really pushing their products.

I’m most proud of starting a business that has created a sisterhood. I love that bonding and fellowship have been fostered because of my product. That continues to be the goal for the brand and I would like to do that through events and by creating space for the people I’m called to serve.

We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.

Suede Rosé is currently produced in Sonoma County, CA. I became familiar with Sonoma after living in California. When I initially got started I reached out to wineries on the East Coast but didn’t have any luck so my search led me right back to the wine regions of California. I researched and called wineries until I landed on a winery that aligned with my vision. From there we began the back and forth creating the perfect rosé.
Once the winery was in production it was time to work on the label. I knew I wanted the label to be bold and vibrant but the label designers the winery referred me to weren’t going in the direction I wanted to go in so I took to Instagram to find an illustrator. I found a young lady based in Atlanta named Destiny Darcel and asked if she was open to creating a wine label for me. Most people don’t understand how intricate creating a wine label is, you have to submit to the Certificate of Label Approval (COLA) and the requirements are strict. As a Black woman entering the wine industry, it was very important to bring Destiny along on this journey because it created representation in the alcohol graphic design industry.

The next step was shipping, whew talk about a costly lesson! My initial goal was to create a canned wine however the winery wasn’t able to produce it. I went with glass bottles and had them shipped from California to Maryland and learned quickly how expensive shipping glass across the country is, especially in a pandemic. During Covid ground shipping rates were skyrocketing and the heavier the product the more costly it was to ship. Moving the wine cost five figures and a few months after I shipped it I learned that wine can be shipped through the ports for a fraction of the cost. An expensive lesson however those are the things we only learn by doing.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

While I don’t have a co-founder I would consider my Dad my silent co-founder haha. He’s been my biggest supporter, employee, and investor. My Dad has been sober for over 30 years and knows nothing about the wine industry so it’s extra special to have his support on this journey. My Dad is always rooting for me and showing up consistently when I need him.

I wish I had a business partner because this business isn’t meant to be scaled by one person. While I haven’t met anyone who I think aligns with the vision of the brand, I’m not giving up hope and am always keeping an eye out for one.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.SipSuede.com
• Instagram: @SipSuede
• Other: TikTok @Sipsuede

Image Credits
Raba Abro @raba.jpg Kelvin Bulluck @kelbpics Dee Hardaway @Deehardaway1