Female Founders: Melinda Kearney and Michèle Ouellet of Lorenza On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
… Get out of your own way. — the brand may take on an identity beyond what you have planned, and sometimes that looks different than you had imagined. If it’s a success, go with that flow and let it grow to its full potential.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Melinda Kearney and Michele Ouellet.
Lorenza, a collaboration between mother and daughter, was founded in 2008 by Napa Valley wine industry veteran, Melinda Kearney, and her daughter model/vintner Michèle Lorenza Ouellet. Originating from a shared love of Provençale rosé, they shared the same vision: to create a lasting connection, to make true rosé and wine from old vines in Lodi, including the historic Bechthold Vineyard. and share it with sommeliers, chefs, merchants, and friends.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Michèle Lorenza Ouellet: I grew up in Napa Valley in a food + wine obsessed family. When I was a teenager, I was scouted to become a model which brought me to Paris, where I fell in love with rosé. A few years later, my mom and I started Lorenza as a way to stay connected as I traveled the world, while creating beautiful wines together.
Melinda Kearney: Moving to the epicenter of food and wine, Napa Valley, in 1988 with a restaurant background and a degree in English Lit, it was only a matter of time before the wine business became my front and center. I began in production with a small winery then to VP of Sales for Frog’s Leap, plus many years of being a marketing consultant led me to the journey of running Lorenza today.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
MO: I think the most interesting thing has been my personal journey over the past 14 years. We founded the company when I was very young, so I’ve grown alongside the brand. I never thought I would be so interested in the business side of things and enjoy sitting at my desk working everything out, but I really do. When we started Lorenza, it was unusual for models to have brands or other careers. It’s given me balance in an industry that is notoriously flighty.
MK: The day that I realized that Lorenza needed me full time
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
MK: Mistakes are an essential part of growing a business. We have made many mistakes that didn’t seem very funny at the time. The gift is that each one has helped us to create guardrails as we move forward. As a perfectionist, this has been an important lesson for me.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
MK: Our friend Richard Betts who is a celebrated professional in the wine and spirits world wrote about our first vintage years ago in a trade publication and shared our story with his audience. We built many relationships along the way from this original generous endorsement. Our winemaking colleague in Lodi, Joseph Smith, has been an invaluable champion of Lorenza and friend since our third harvest in 2010. Joseph is one of the most wonderful people we know. And finally, Zelma Long, a legendary winemaker, has made herself available to me for mentorship and is a Lorenza regular which has truly been an honor.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
MK: The wine industry mirrors the findings of the EY report with a low percentage of female lead winemakers at 14% and female owners/winemakers at 6%. From my perspective, fewer women create wine companies for a variety of reasons including being protective of their time with demanding family responsibilities, lack of access to a powerful sales network, fewer examples and community of female founders.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
MK: I have been both a beneficiary of impactful mentoring over the years and am an active mentor. There is great value to paying it forward and sharing experiences, encouragement, crucial information and introductions with women who are considering starting their own companies. Joining a business group can create context and connection and now with Zoom, we can go beyond the local network. Childcare in the US and lack of decent maternity leave (US has the worst out of all developed countries) and men not doing their fair share of household duties all contribute to women not being able to pursue their own careers at the same rate as men.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
MK: Women are incredibly powerful together and are collaborators who offer opportunities that uplift, inspire and empower. More diversity in leadership and workforce always leads to better products. As women, we know what women want and need more than anyone else. Many companies are leaving a lot on the table by not having a diverse leadership team.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
MO: That being a founder is glamorous! It’s incredibly hard work and requires a lot of time, effort and sometimes can be lonely! My mom and I have worn almost every hat in our business. Recently we have expanded our team and that feels really good.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
MO: Probably not everyone is meant to be a founder. You have to have a lot of tenacity, be a self-starter, and be ok with working in a vacuum. There are lots of times when you’ll get little feedback or praise, so if that’s important to you, you’ll want to find that elsewhere! However, as a founder I personally, need a lot of help executing the many projects going on. Capable employees are priceless.
MK: One must be willing to sit (often alone) with the discomfort of uncertainty that is present almost daily as a leader of a company. An employee doesn’t necessarily take that on which can foster a lot of productivity and creativity.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
MO: 1. Get out of your own way. — the brand may take on an identity beyond what you have planned, and sometimes that looks different than you had imagined. If it’s a success, go with that flow and let it grow to its full potential.
2. Get your contracts signed — We had a big order with a national chain, made the extra wine to fulfill the commitment and then the buyer left the company and we were left with the wine. Very frustrating, but we definitely learned that lesson.
3. Bring people in — We did everything ourselves for many years, but at a certain point, ‘retaining complete control’ begins to hold back progress. Growing our team has been key in freeing us up to think big and creatively.
4. It’s important to understand all aspects of business — so learn to love math! While we have a creative business, we both have our eyes on the numbers every day and have continued our education. It’s important to understand financial processes, so you can lead and continue to strategize with a growth numbers mindset.
5. Collaborate, ask for advice, and listen to experts within the field you’re in. There’s no greater gift than learning new and different ways of working from others.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
MO: We believe rosé makes people happy, brings people together and drives connection. It’s been an honor to help spread joy one glass at a time. By now that’s over 1 million glasses of happiness! Each year during harvest we set an intention that permeates the vintage. Love, Connection, Oneness and Joy are recent themes. As our community grows, our responsibility for what we put out into the world becomes more important. We take that really seriously.
MK: The environment is a focal point for us and our customers. We support and encourage our growers’ commitment to farming sustainably per Lodi Rules by paying a premium for their grapes.
Also, we support a variety of charities in the areas of education, women’s rights, the arts and animal rights. Organizations like NEWS, Nimbus Arts, Boys and Girls Club of Venice, Jameson Humane. We recently joined LAIC Collective to promote diversity in the Lodi wine community.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
While success in your career is rewarding, at the end of the day, love, family, friendships and human connections remain. Treating people with empathy in a divided world such as ours is today, is very important for the heart and the soul, as well as the planet. If we could inspire a movement, it would be to promote kindness and to lead with love through all walks of life.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
MO: I’d love to have breakfast with Oprah or Gwyneth!
MK: Liz Lambert — she’s infinitely creative and smart
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Melinda Kearney and Michèle Ouellet of Lorenza On The Five Things You Need To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.