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

Alright, Sara thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I was working as a General Manager for a restaurant, fresh out of college. I was set on being a restaurant manager and one day hoping to own my own place. One day we had a reservation for a Food Blogger, this was back in 2012 so way before it became so big like it is today. I at the time, had no idea what a food blogger was I just knew we were going to roll out the red carpet for her with service and it was a great person to meet.

Meeting Miss Melody Kettle was the start of something amazing, she was this well known food blogger, and she had a wine section for her blog. She at the time did not have someone to blog about wines for the section, and after a few discussions I was her new writer! It was an unusual opportunity for me, my first time ever writing a blog post, let alone writing about wine. I was a Sommelier, I wasn’t a wine writer. Over time, the column got some attention and she told me to form my own blog so I can link it back to my posts on her site. I did, but was still getting into the blogging game, and found it very time consuming after working 14+ hour days at my job.

I still kept up with it and started an average blog about food, wine and fashion. It wasn’t until I was working at a new restaurant, as their Sommelier and Events Planner that I really got into the whole blogging industry. I was at the time also obsessed with the show Sex and the City, so it was only fitting that my blog kept up with food, wine, and fashion.

About a year goes by, and I am still in touch with Melody, and still doing an occasional blog post for her site, but now focusing more on my site. At the time it was called Fashionable Palate. I was working as a Somm one night behind the bar at this new restaurant and I had mentioned to a customer my dream to move to NYC and they said back “Oh you’re going to go be a sommelier in NYC”… it was at that moment, where I responded “Yes, imagine… me, Somm In The City!”. At that moment we looked at each other, I whipped out my phone and googled the name to see if it was taken.

Low and behold, Somm In The City was born and it’s been growing ever since. I moved to NYC, started guest blogging, attending events, and it was it from there! It’s now a full fledged company servicing luxury properties, hotels, spas, as well as event planning and wine blogging. Everything from wine services to consulting to event planning and more. I also still blog all the time and keep up with that side, which allows me to travel the world and meet the most amazing people in wine.

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

A los of these questions were provided in the previous section, sorry!!

I started off at a Culinary High School then moving onto Johnson & Wales University where I majored in Pastry Arts and Restaurant Management. I had the opportunity to do Sommelier training in Germany at The German Wine School where then I went on to explore ISG and do their Sommelier training and WSET level III. I am also now a CSWS with Sherry, as a Certified Specialist of Sherry Wine.

I help clients by hosting in home food and wine events, as well as wine consulting, brand content creation, and blog posts. I get hired by lots of clients to host events, be the sommelier for their brand at events, represent brands at tastings, as well as I partner with many restaurants to host amazing multi-course dinners with wine.

I am also the guest Sommelier at an amazing Destination Spa in the Poconos. My passion is changing people’s perceptions about wine, food and wine pairing, and also how to enjoy the wine lifestyle. I want people to embrace wine, not fear it and I want them to try different wines they never thought of. I want to introduce them to new culinary and wine experiences as well as give them the best advice when they travel.

My mission is to connect wineries and consumers, and allow the wineries to shine and become known to lesser known markets so they can too expand their reach! I am a connector and SommInTheCity.com is a site that connects people to wine, and vice versa.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Somm In The City started as a side hustle, a blog making very little but gaining me a lot of exposure. Over time I met more and more people and kept telling everyone what I could do, and wanted to do with wine events.

Within five years an amazing management company found me after I applied for a lifestyle position. It was the position that would launch Somm In The City as a full fledged amenity service in a luxury building, where I would build it up enough to eventually go on my own.

I was so lucky, I had this amazing apartment building where I could host wine events, offer wine services, and essentially be paid to be Somm In The City. This was the perfect way to bring in the brands I loved to the people I absolutely adored! It was an amazing five years, where my director of Leasing really let me have a lot of freedom, because she knew how loyal and dedicated I was to the building just as much to my company. So much so, this wine amenity service got some notice from other buildings, and it was It from there…. my company had a small niche in NYC and it was expanding.

I am so lucky that I had Debra the leasing director, because she believed in me and allowed me the freedom to pursue my dreams while also doing what I loved which was entertaining and hosting the people of the luxury building.

I took this typical position and turned it into a full fledged amenity offering. It was a lifestyle, it was a service, and still today it’s constantly growing. Somm In The city now services multiple luxury buildings, as well as I host events, wine classes, and also am in multiple states!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Me being a sommelier. as well as I am a social butterfly. I love people, and wine is my passion and it shows. I also am able to prove my worth and always deliver more than the client expects.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.somminthecity.com
• Instagram: SommInTheCity
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SommStyle

Image Credits
Gabi Porter Photography (salmon cone and Cava shot.. dark background) Kevin Markland- profile photo with wine glass Others were shot from my camera by my husband. no credits needed.