ITALY ON MADISON: Women in Wine ~ A Multifaceted Success

Per ITA ~

Opening Remarks: Antonino Laspina ~ Trade Commissioner & Executive Director for the United States

Moderated by Mirella Menglide Sr. Analyst Food & Wine, Italian Trade Agency

Speakers: Olivia Becker, owner Dalla Fonte : Olivia Becker is the owner of Dalla Fonte, an ecommerce platform dedicated to bringing Italy to consumers when they can’t be in Italy. Each quarter, its subscription club members are surprised with a collection of curated Italian specialty foods paired with a bottle of wine.
After a lifechanging trip to Italy, Olivia finds herself always seeking the Mediterranean. Her early career led her to a maritime company in La Spezia, and, after years in management consulting, she has pivoted to a life filled with more wine and biscotti.

Sherrill Flaum, Advertising Director Wine Enthusiast: Sherrill Flaum is the Advertising Director for Wine Enthusiast magazine, which is an award-winning print publication and online resource that showcases wine and food trends, enotravel, and over 25,000 ratings and reviews annually. Sherrill leads a team of Sales Account Managers to bring in revenue for Wine Enthusiast across print, digital, social media, and events. She has 20+ years of experience on media and sales teams for major international brands and agencies including MasterCard, Johnson & Johnson, and The Honda Motor Company. Her passions include building branded creative, wine, lifestyle, fashion, food, and travel.

Shelly Lindgren, owner, sommelier and wine director A16: Shelley Lindgren is the wine director and owner of San Francisco’s Italian restaurant A16. She has received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine Program; has received the 2023 Slow Wine Fair Award for Best Selection of Good, Clean, and Fair Italian Wine; and has been knighted by the Italian government, receiving the prestigious “Cavaliere dell’Ordine Della Stella Italia” (Dott.ssa) distinction for her professional dedication to Italian wine. She is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and has served on the boards of La Cocina, the Guild of Sommeliers, and Slide Ranch.

Kellie McLean, MPH, RD, CDCES, CDN- Nutritionist NYU: Kellie McLean, MPH, RD, CDCES, CDN is a registered dietitian and adjunct professor with a background in nutrition counseling and type 2 diabetes management. Kellie has an extensive teaching background, having taught a myriad of nutrition and food safety courses as an adjunct professor for various CUNY colleges, including serving as interim Assistant Professor and Acting Director for a nutrition and culinary management program. Kellie also teaches as an adjunct professor for the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University.

Li Valentine, Blogger, influencer, founder The Wining Hour: Li Valentine, PhD, is the founder of The Wining Hour, Inc. Both a boutique and blog, The Wining Hour is dedicated to wine lovers across the globe marketing premium wines and wine-related items and sharing wine tastings, reviews, press tours, travel, and Italian experiences. Held Tuesdays at 9pm EST, the #WiningHourChat functions as an easygoing vinous chat open to a community of learners and wine-lovers reaching over 6 million people each week. Li is an Italian Wine Scholar (IWS) and member of the Wine Scholar Guild and has been recognized by the Vinitaly International Academy.

https://italyonmadison.nyc/speakers-2023/#wiw

Per the talks and per my (Mega’s) conversations with the ladies…

The talks focused on the balance between work, family, and quality of life where each discussed their own challenges and successes in their fields and in the industry, as well as helpful hints and pointers of ways of navigating through the world as well as the industry. A common theme in this talk was the inspiration of their mothers, grandmothers, as well as the inspiration of their children. Some discussed the inspiration of other leaders as well. With diverse backgrounds, they have all found their home in the wine industry, and that they can authentically be themselves in the wine industry.

While Li Valentine usually focuses on education, her wine blog and shop were created after and she finds the blog to be very fulfilling, and a platform to share with others what she loves most about wine, and the different types, and special details. She has had a diverse audience receive her well! From young women asking questions via social media etc, to older groups - nursing home groups booking her to speak. She finds the elderly groups to really enjoy her talks and explanations, the learning, and the tidbits of information about the wine industry. So if any of you have an elderly person you go to visit, don’t be surprised if they want to go out for a glass of wine, or if they order you a bottle of wine for the holidays and want to chat it up with you about what they have learned and about their favorite wine!

We had a delightful time with Sherrill Flaum, lively as ever and ready to go out to dinner with her friends after the ITA event! She was excited that her daughter is seeing her as a role model and learning more about Italian culture as well. She loves sharing Italian culture with her daughter, family, and friends, including everything wine. Sherrill’s daughter loves seeing her mother in Wine Enthusiast magazine … and is proud of her mother for all that she does. She finds overall, that she has family life balance and an awesome and supportive team that she works with at Wine Enthusiast.

Shelley Lindgren was delighted to share more about her restaurant and her experience within her restaurant, opening it and having it stay afloat through the pandemic. With enthusiasm for this trip and to come speak at ITA - to share of her experience, she says there is no one way to run a restaurant… and that every detail, in it’s own way matters. When asked about how she would recommend having a restaurant bounce back… and if adding a wine and beer bar or a full bar would be best to raise the numbers, she was happy to admit that she couldn’t tell someone the answer to that off the cuff. She knows it takes knowing the dynamics of the restaurant, the flow, the customer clientele, location, and specialty before being able to know which would be more or most successful in a given area or with a given restaurant. Having flown in for the talk, she was delighted to mix and mingle with everyone sharing more about herself and all that she is passionate about. She just finished with a major Meal on Wheels fundraising event / gala event etc.. in California before arriving for her talks at ITA

Olivia Becker used to work in corporate and find it was not in alignment with her soul… she felt drained and worn out even though she was excellent at what she did. As she was realizing this truth, she found her passion for all things Italian because of her Italian heritage. She leaned into what brought her joy and started her subscription service … loving being a wine business owner. She finds this gives her the family life balance she was seeking and enjoys having the freedom to plan her days the way she thinks is best, focusing on what she loves.

Kelli McLean is a nutritionist and sommelier… creating harmony within the human body with a balance of food and wine. Loving Italian food, she focuses on the right mix of fresh ingredients and goodness with the perfect pairing of wine, to create a healthy lifestyle, nutrition, and harmony within the body. Her free spirit leads her to approach things with a holistic lens when experimenting with food pairings and wines, and when teaching others about health, nutrition, and nutritional balance. And yes, if you are diabetic, you can still eat some Italian food! : )

Mega ~ Founder of The Grenchus Foundation

(photography below by Mega)

(to make a donation to The Grenchus Foundation culture section go here: https://www.thegrenchusfoundation.org/donate )