10. Erica Paolicelli and Three Brothers Winery's Story of Resilience and Adaptability
EPISODE 10
Imagine reinventing your business so it can survive the pandemic and then the next year, navigating the chaos of a total loss fire on your business property. In this week's episode of Figure Eight, Three Brothers Winery partner Erica Paolicelli discusses the critical importance of resilience, ambitious adaptability, and a solid disaster plan.
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Meet Erica Paolicelli, an accomplished enterprise architect, growth strategist, principled leader, brand ambassador, and financial manager. As a partner at Three Brothers Wineries/War Horse Brewing Company, the Finger Lakes region's premier destination, she has played an instrumental role in transforming the establishment into a multimillion-dollar revenue-generating enterprise since its inception. Erica's expertise spans cash flow forecasting, project management, and brand development, making her an indispensable asset to the company's success. With 17 years of experience, she excels in fostering high-performing teams and currently spearheads business development initiatives to identify new opportunities and optimize existing revenue streams.
Erica's dedication to both her community and industry has earned her prestigious accolades, including the esteemed title of 2022 Senate Woman of Distinction. Actively engaged in various leadership roles, she serves as President of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, sits on the boards of the NY Wine Policy Institute and Wine America, and is a founding organizer of the Rosé Soiree in Geneva NY, which has raised over $40,000 for community projects. Her commitment to community development is further demonstrated through her past involvement as a board member and treasurer of the Seneca County IDA.
With a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from the State University of Oneonta, Erica is excited to leverage her business acumen in her latest venture, Dominator Brave, where she merges her passion for health and wellness with her proven track record in business development. Her vision is to introduce world-class health and wellness programs to communities across western New York and beyond.
Residing in Geneva, NY, alongside her husband, Justin, and their faithful canine companion, Aspen, Erica leads a dynamic life. In addition to her roles at Three Brothers and Dominator Brave, she is actively building Synergy Social Wellness—an online brand and community that offers in-person retreats and workshops in New York and California. As a certified kettlebell instructor through StrongFirst, Erica finds joy in kettlebell training, exploring nature trails (her favorite being Moab, UT), perfecting her sourdough bread recipes, and engaging in conversations about proper nutrition with anyone willing to listen.
You can connect with Erica, Three Brothers Wineries, and War Horse Brewing Company on Instagram or explore their websites: -
**Erica's journey to managing the winery**
Erica's unexpected start in the wine industry to her partnership with the owners of Three Brothers Winery as they expanded into multiple locations, a brewery, and more.
**Adapting to the pandemic reality (00:12:23)**
Exploring the opportunities created by the pandemic, including shifting to e-commerce, curbside pickup, and drive-thru experiences, while keeping the focus on an exceptional customer experience.
**Overcoming adversity (00:19:29)**
Dealing with the total loss fire at the winery and the importance of disaster planning, solid relationships with insurance providers, and utilizing third-party representation.
**Impact on Business Operations (00:27:23)**
The impact of the fire on business operations, including the rebuilding process, lost business, and the challenges of reopening the tasting room.
**Seasonality and future dreams (00:29:00)**
Strategies to mitigate the decreased income during slower seasons and future plans to scale the winery.
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Julie Ellis (00:00:04) - Welcome to Figure Eight, where we feature inspiring stories of women entrepreneurs who have grown their businesses to seven and eight figures revenue. If you are in the mix of growing a bigger business, these stories are for you. Join us as we explore where the tough spots are, how to overcome them, and how to prepare yourself for the next portion of the climb. I'm your host, Julie Ellis. I'm an author, entrepreneur, and a growth in leadership coach who co-founded, grew, and exited an eight figure business. This led me to exploring why some women achieve great things, and that led to my book, Big Gorgeous Goals. Let's explore the systems, processes and people that help us grow our businesses to new heights. If you're interested in growing your business, this podcast will help. Now let's get going. Hello and welcome to this episode of Figure Eight. Today I am speaking with Erica Paolicelli and she is the president of the Three Brothers Winery, which is located in the Finger Lakes on beautiful Lake Seneca in upstate New York.
Julie Ellis (00:01:18) - And she's had a really interesting journey in building this business and how she came to be in the industry. And I'm really excited to talk to her today. So welcome, Erica.
Erica Paolicelli (00:01:30) - Thank you. Thank you Julie, I'm excited to be here. I love talking about this stuff.
Julie Ellis (00:01:34) - Yeah. Well, and I'm excited because I think everybody has such an interesting and unique journey. And yours was not that different in that way. and so, yeah, I was thinking about, you know, how you came to be working in the wine industry and working at Three Brothers.
Erica Paolicelli (00:01:55) - Yeah. So I started actually right out of college. I did not plan on ever owning a winery. This was not a lifelong dream. really? It started. I graduated from college with a degree in dietetics, and I lived in the area. I came back home, I had a full ride, actually. I was going to Missouri for exercise nutrition, and I was looking for a summer job back when you used to look for jobs in the newspaper.
Erica Paolicelli (00:02:22) - And I called a couple places and I said, you know what? Winery would be cool. I had grown up here my whole life and, never really visited any wineries. I wasn't, really involved in the wine industry in any way. Not really familiar with it, but there were a bunch of job postings for tasting room help. And so I actually had two interviews the day that I interviewed for three, three brothers and I pulled. I will never forget it. I pulled down the driveway and it was gravel, dirt driveway on a back road in Seneca County that I've never been on before. And I was like, this can't be it. This place looks abandoned. And and honestly, I saw a porta potty and I was pretty much checked out. I was like, this girl does not do porta potties. It's so I, I parked my car and I looked around and there were some, kind of some buildings going up, but nothing really that you could see what was happening. Like one looked like a barn, the other one looked like a house.
Erica Paolicelli (00:03:23) - and then there was a little shack. And so I looked and I was like, this can't be right. I don't know what this is. Put it in reverse in my car. My car windows were all down and I heard someone yelling, hey, hey, hey, hey, are you here for an interview? And I was like, oh, sure. so I put my car back in park and, along comes Dave Mansfield. And my life was forever changed in that moment. Honestly, he offered me a job right on the spot. After a couple minutes of talking and said, I just bought this winery in this little tasting room is what's here now. I'm building all this other stuff, but I just want to sell some of the inventory that's here. And so if you work the tasting room and this was, gosh, it was 2007. and he offered me, like, $15 an hour, and I was like, great. Yeah, I'll work here. What do I have to do again? You know, it's a porta potty.
Julie Ellis (00:04:23) - Okay. For $15 an hour? Yeah.
Erica Paolicelli (00:04:26) - Right out of college in 2007, an hourly rate of $15 an hour was like, jackpot. So, I started working with Dave, and really, you know, he is he is the definition of energy that is contagious. So he was coming into the tasting room. He at that time had sold his prior company, and he was working, at Three Brothers building, Three Brothers building his vision. Nothing had opened yet. And so he was just really constantly talking to me about the brand and the marketing ideas he had and what he was building here. And I was like, all in. And so summer was winding down and they had not opened the tasting rooms yet. It was him and his wife, Luanne and, I was just really thinking, like. I had this gut feeling that I wanted to stay here. And so. I put together a resume. They were hiring for general manager, and, I submitted my resume and I didn't get the job.
Erica Paolicelli (00:05:32) - So he hired someone else for the general manager position, but offered me an assistant manager position, and so I still took it. I deferred my, scholarship in Missouri that was waiting for me, and called the apartment that I was going to move into and said, sorry, that's not happening, and just kind of put everything off, for this place. And so and for the opportunity, I really did see a big opportunity. And I had been in hospitality my whole life. I grew up, you know, in a my, my mother was a single mom, and she was a waitress my entire life. And I was bussing tables at 13 years old. And so I worked my way through college full time, and I really just had this hospitality kind of ingrained in me. And so it felt comfortable and familiar. And so I just jumped in and I started helping and doing everything it takes to open up a business. You know how that is? Just from just from ground zero POS system setup, inventory things, cash management stuff, hiring people, figuring out marketing, doing all the things.
Erica Paolicelli (00:06:43) - And within about six months, it was pretty clear that I was the person in charge and I was the person putting in the work. And so that general manager that was hired was let go. I moved up into the position of general manager and worked there for 3 or 4 years, in that position, building the company alongside Dave and about four years in, him and his wife took me out to lunch one day and they said, hey, how do you feel about partnering with us? And so that partnership started off with just sweat equity. They gave me 1% and they said, we want you to stay here, you know, and we want you to be able to be involved professionally. I was feeling like I was ready to get involved in different boards and do different things that required me to have some percentage of ownership in the company. And so that allowed me to continue to grow professionally and stay here in the company. And then that also gave me options to start buying more stock in the company.
Erica Paolicelli (00:07:42) - And so, that's what I started doing. You know, I said, all right, I'm in. I was really grateful for the opportunity. you know, I grew up with nothing, like I said, a single mom who, you know, and I work full time through, through college. And so really, the opportunity to, like, hey, say, I own a piece of this thing was huge for me. Really huge, you know? And so, I was all in. I worked really, really hard. And I continued to buy more shares and, build the company together with them. now we're three wineries, a brewery. We have a cider, hard cider brand, a coffee line, a wine slushie line, and we're the most visited winery destination in the Finger Lakes. It's been 17 almost 18 years. So that's like a fast forward from day one to today. I hope that answers your question.
Julie Ellis (00:08:38) - Amazing. And so you've got this. I mean, obviously that's a really long way from a little shed.
Julie Ellis (00:08:44) - That was a makeshift tasting room to what the operation looks like today.
Erica Paolicelli (00:08:50) - Yeah. Yeah. And over the last decade we really did, we've put a lot of the money back into the facility that we make year after year, and we continue to improve. anyone who's been here year after year, they at this point people come and say what's new this year? Because there's always something that's different and new, we're always improving the hospitality experience. Really here? Yes. We sell wine and beer and all those things that I mentioned, but we really sell an experience. And so people come and they they have this expectation that we set for them for a really high end, really fun day, really fun experience with friends and family. And that's what keeps them coming back.
Julie Ellis (00:09:33) - Yeah, well, and the profile of the Finger Lakes wine region has really risen along with the growth of your winery.
Erica Paolicelli (00:09:42) - That's right. Yep. Like I mentioned, when I, when I first started, I really wasn't familiar with the wine industry.
Erica Paolicelli (00:09:48) - And I grew up here my whole life. And there have been people that have come before us that did. They laid the foundation. They did all the hard work. They thought, you know, the all of the the stories people were telling about Finger Lakes wines. And they really did. They set that stage for us, who, you know, we came in, we were really in a in a place when we entered the scene where Felix Wines were just kind of getting the notoriety they started. They were just starting to get the notoriety that they deserve. And over the last 17 or 18 years, it's really skyrocketed. And we're on an international world stage for our Rieslings and some of our dry rosés, specifically. And it's been a really fun to be a part of that. I've served on a few boards that that's their mission is to elevate your lakes wines in on a world stage. And so it's been really a it's been really fulfilling to see that come to life.
Julie Ellis (00:10:45) - Yeah, and I imagine that means the guests you're getting look a lot different.
Julie Ellis (00:10:49) - You know, as the years go by, more international visitors and, that sort of thing as well. Right. So your intake, so your pool of people who want to come, it just keeps growing for you.
Erica Paolicelli (00:11:02) - Yes. Yeah, that's certainly true. I mean, we're only a five hour drive from New York City. And if, you know, still today, there's a lot of folks who live in the city who've never wandered five hours west in their own state. And so, Covid helped us in a little bit in a, in a small way. That was one of the silver linings, was that when international travel and just air travel was on the decline because people weren't feeling comfortable or weren't able to travel in that way. We really got a lot of folks from New York City that for they were first time visitors, and they finally saw what the Finger Lakes is, and they finally were able to experience it in a way that they may not have been able to if if that situation didn't occur.
Erica Paolicelli (00:11:46) - And then internationally, people recognizing the Finger Lakes as a wine producing region has been very good over the years. You can see a lot of different, just different people that have come in for different reasons. We used to pull primarily from Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania is still still a huge market for us. but you can see now it's kind of the, the, the draw is spreading, you know, it's getting wider. And you can just see to from the publicity that the Finger Lakes receives internationally. It's been great.
Julie Ellis (00:12:23) - Yeah, definitely. so you mentioned the pandemic a little bit, and it must have looked bleak at the beginning, thinking of, you know, not having visitors and not having anybody coming internationally and that sort of thing. But what opportunities did it create for you?
Erica Paolicelli (00:12:41) - Yeah. So I'll never forget that day when when we were like, wait, we can't open, we can't be open anymore. And it was just so confusing. I felt like I was in a dream, and I'm sure a lot of people had that same feeling.
Erica Paolicelli (00:12:56) - and so we didn't spend much time there, though I will say that we were really reactive. We were able to say, okay, this is the way it is now. And at the same time, when we were figuring out like, how long is this really going to last? We were also moving towards a way of of generating, you know, income for ourselves. And so we went from highly visited, highly visited winery. 90% of our income comes from visitation to growing our e-commerce ten times at the same time in that year. And so, that was one of the silver linings. We really were forced to finally take a look and say, how can we take this platform and really use it to sell wine? Selling wine online was never really a big part of our business before Covid and IT. And now it's a big category for us, and it remains to be so. It's something that we hit the ground running. We got licensing to ship to states that we had never been able to ship before.
Erica Paolicelli (00:13:59) - we turned one of our whole tasting rooms into a shipping warehouse. And then we also, took advantage of the curbside pickup. So we started we converted our website to an online ordering platform where you could do, curbside pickup within a week. And we were doing wine slushies to go. We were doing all kinds of different promotions for curbside pickup. And, and then when it was evident that this wasn't going to just go away in a couple of weeks, we actually got a huge tent, put it in our parking lot. We had a drive thru shopping experience and so you could drive under the tent. And we literally we were like, we brought out. It was like a circus. We brought out tables, we put out merchandise, we put out all the wine, we put out all the beer, we rolled everything under this tent. And then we had personal shoppers walk with the car and say like, hey, you know, like, do you want this or whatever? And then we'd ring them up at the end.
Erica Paolicelli (00:15:01) - And so it gave people something to do. You know, people were caught in their houses and like just looking for a reason to get in their car and drive somewhere. We had folks from Pennsylvania, Ohio, people who made day trips just to get a wine slushie. And so, we set that up and we did that for a while. Rain through the rain, through the cold through the the whole thing. and then when we were able to open again, the other silver lining was we used to take, 1500 people in just limo and bus reservations before 1:00 on our property. And it was madness. I mean, it was just so many people, a lot of birthdays and bachelorettes and all of that. And before Covid, we could never. I tried many times to make those numbers work. How can we stop taking limos and buses? Because it was really hard on our staff. Be honest, and it was a deterrent for the people who we really wanted to come and enjoy the place.
Erica Paolicelli (00:16:01) - And so, When Covid happened and we were forced to go to seated table service, what we were able to do was to see that we could. Attract a different type of customer, and we can attract enough of them to say that we weren't taking limos and buses anymore. And so still today, we don't take any limos or buses on the property, and all of our tasting experiences in all three of our wineries are seated table service experiences, which are more one on one with a customer more relaxed, everybody is more comfortable. And it's really turned out to be a very positive thing for us. I would never say that I that Covid was positive because it was, wasn't that? but, you know, I'm the type of person that does look for silver linings. And those were a couple of them for sure Covid.
Julie Ellis (00:16:51) - Well, and it's interesting how, you know, you talked about how you create experiences for people. And that's really what you were still doing. Like a drive through tent is definitely an experience.
Julie Ellis (00:17:02) - Right, right. And so you're you're just shifting how you're creating those experiences. But you still have that same mindset.
Erica Paolicelli (00:17:10) - Yes. Right. And you know what? It comes down to making people feel a certain way. And so, that's our that's our brand. That's always been our brand. And frankly, from the day we opened all the way to today, we really don't do hardly any, almost none, you know, advertising in magazines or, you know, paid posts or any of that. All of what we've created here is around word of mouth. And it's, really been beautiful to see because you can walk into the tasting room at any time and say, hey, how'd you hear about us? And someone will say, oh, I was down the street at X winery. And this we ran into a couple. We started talking and they said, we can't miss three brothers. And so, it's been that's been our, our way of doing business. And so the experience is the most important piece.
Erica Paolicelli (00:18:03) - And that comes down to the people who are working in the tasting rooms and the training that we do with them. And then from when you step out of your car in the parking lot, what are you seeing? What what's happening? Can you you know, so over the years, we really, really gotten specific about what that looks like. And it's it's been to our benefit.
Julie Ellis (00:18:22) - I think that's so interesting because, you know, as somebody who myself built a brand that was really well known, it was about not actually selling the product. It was about the experience and the community and the way that we approached it that I think made us so popular. And so it's interesting kind of parallel in a very different business, but that, you know, when you focus on what people want and how they feel, it means that you, you know, you get their trust and you gain credibility because you're not just they're like trying to push something on them, right?
Erica Paolicelli (00:18:58) - Right. That's correct. Yeah.
Erica Paolicelli (00:19:00) - I always say I'm not a sales person and I really am not. You know, it's just what we have here is an experience and you can choose to take whatever path you want, you know.
Julie Ellis (00:19:14) - Yeah. So one of the things that did happen to you, though, sort of during the pandemic times, was you had every business owners nightmare happen when you had one of your buildings burned down. Yes.
Erica Paolicelli (00:19:29) - Yeah, we've had a couple. We've had a few hard years here. In 2020, we had Covid. 2021 was pretty much still Covid. You know, we still had regulations and all of that. And then at the end of 22, we had a total loss fire in one of our tasting rooms. And so, that was something that no one could predict, just like Covid. No, nobody could see it coming. It did feel a little like we were getting kicked when we were down, you know? But yes, so we did. We had a total loss fire in our winery that sits back on the pond.
Erica Paolicelli (00:20:08) - It's called Bagg Dare Company. And, It was just devastating.
Julie Ellis (00:20:14) - Oh, and it is that thing of like, I think everybody with the business sits down and they're like, we need to do disaster planning. And it always feels like a disaster planning. But it is that thing. When something like that happens, you need to be able to spring into action, right? You need to have an idea of what to do. Right.
Erica Paolicelli (00:20:34) - And we did not have a disaster plan.
Julie Ellis (00:20:38) - Well, and I get it because it feels like what are the chances that stuff's going to happen? Like it doesn't feel like the biggest priority when you have lots of, you know, priorities that are going to bring business in the door in a more immediate way.
Erica Paolicelli (00:20:51) - Yeah, that's right. I will say that the one thing that we did right was that we've always really had a good relationship with our insurance broker. And so they at the end of the day, once, you know, now I know all of this stuff about insurance and, that process, we were very lucky to have an underwriter that did an amazing job with all of our insurance coverage.
Erica Paolicelli (00:21:18) - he really did. I would always meet with him every year when it's time for renewal. And it was kind of like just I dread it. I just hate the stuff, you know? So, it was always like, well, what do you think? And then, you know, I would put values to things. And how do you really value things? You know, I would ask him, like, I'm not a construction worker, I don't build buildings. I don't, you know, I know what we paid for equipment, but I don't know what the value of this building is now versus ten years ago when we built it. And so he did a really good job with that. I will say that was in our favor. If you're working with an insurance company that you don't feel that trust or you don't know for sure if they are doing that for you, then that would be something that is pretty easy for everybody to make a meeting, figure that out. that's what they're there for.
Erica Paolicelli (00:22:16) - And that was something that I was really happy in the end of the day that we had, because without that we would have been screwed.
Julie Ellis (00:22:24) - Yep. So so you kind of sought out the financial peace with the insurance policy. And then I think it was probably also in your favor that you had built other buildings. So when it came to sort of rebuilding this one, you had connections, you had contractors, you knew kind of what the process would look like to go through getting design and permitting and all of those things.
Erica Paolicelli (00:22:46) - That's true. Yeah. One thing about us is that we have been, like I'd mentioned, building, adding on to buildings, doing a lot of these building projects for a decade. And so our Rolodex of folks who will come in and build something and electricians and, even our relationship with code enforcement and all of that stuff is ongoing because of the projects that we continuously do around the estate. And then even off the estate, we've had some offsite, projects that we've done.
Erica Paolicelli (00:23:15) - So, all of that was in our favor for sure. one thing I didn't expect, and no one really tell tells you is that the the night that the fire happened, it must have been like, I think I went home around midnight. but before that, like, around 11:00, these guys were showing up and they were like. It was confusing to me who they were and what they were doing. But really what they are is they're kind of third party representation that will represent you on a commission basis with the insurance company. And at a time when you're like, completely devastated, you're in shock. You have no idea. You're so confused. People are handing you cards in the middle of the night saying, hey, call me, you're going to need me. And so, I wasn't really prepared for that. And, I was questioning whether I was going to use one of those companies or not. After the first day of coming back in and seeing like, well, you know, the other thing is, is we're just spread so fast.
Erica Paolicelli (00:24:20) - So before I could even tell my family what was happening, it was all over Facebook. It was all over social media. And so, you know, I had my brothers and my mom and everybody was calling me and saying, are you okay? Are you okay? Because they didn't understand where I was in the whole thing. And so, that was surprising to me. Like the firefighters and everybody, they were posting the fire on, on social media. And so we had that. And, you know, our maintenance guy who was here at 5 a.m. the next day called me in the morning and he's like, hey, I got, you know, a news crews in the parking lot. What do you want me to do with them? You know, and so me, I'd been up in the in the I'd been up. All night long. Finally fall asleep. And that it's five in the morning and the news people are here. And it was kind of like the stress on top of what had happened.
Erica Paolicelli (00:25:13) - And that didn't even really settle in yet, you know? So nobody really prepares you for that, like. And that's part of that disaster plan you were talking about, right? and then also making some I felt really responsible, and I felt like I really wanted to make some sort of public statement to our community of people because it was like, did the whole place burn down? What happened, you know, and.
Julie Ellis (00:25:41) - Are you going to be open or are you going to be closed? What's going to happen?
Erica Paolicelli (00:25:44) - Right, right. So we wanted to at least put something out for them. So we ended up going and doing a video for the post on Facebook and social and Instagram for the people that were our community. And then, after the first day of taking interviews about the fire with different news, stations, I just stopped doing interviews. There's like nothing else to say. and so that was that. and then I got to business. I started interviewing those third party adjuster or I don't know what they're called.
Erica Paolicelli (00:26:20) - They're like public. Their representation of you to your insurance company. And so I started interviewing those companies, and I actually would recommend to that, folks, if you find yourself in that position, ask them for references and, call the references because it's really important if you're going to use them, which I do in the end suggest that you do use them because you need somebody who's going to be a bulldog for you. You really need somebody who's going to say, and there's so much that you just don't know. About an insurance claim, because none of us live in that world, that they are worth their weight in gold. They know everything that there is to know about the money that you should be getting for, for whatever your claim is, and so I highly recommend using them. I just really recommend you use somebody that you can work with and trust, because it's a very even with them. That claim process was a year long. And so you're now trying for us. We tried to build the building.
Erica Paolicelli (00:27:23) - At the same time as figuring out what the insurance company is going to pay out and, try it. We built. We rebuilt in ten months. So we really needed to get that tasting room reopened by October, when it was going to be too cold to do tastings outside and stuff. You know, we did some satellite tasting bar on the property, but at the end of the day, the experience was different and we couldn't make that. We couldn't make up for that. And so we ended up discounting our tasting passes. We ended up, not selling as much wine that year. We ended up, as a result, not selling as much beer because we had one of our satellite areas was, tied up with with where normally we would be serving beer. So it was just a lot of unforeseen lost business. And, it was a really difficult year for us. So, 20, 22, 23 finally we're in 24 and it's like, knock on wood, I think.
Erica Paolicelli (00:28:31) - Yeah, yeah. It's yeah, we we, we always joke. We're like, yeah, we we've had it, we've had we've been through the ringer the last few years but definitely.
Julie Ellis (00:28:42) - And what are some of the challenges for I mean obviously you have a business that is seasonal. So you sell wine year round. Yes. But the tasting rooms and the busiest busyness of tourism and all of those things does happen during the good weather months.
Erica Paolicelli (00:29:00) - It is true. Yeah. So that's always that's been an ongoing battle in not just with us, but in all of the Finger Lakes. And I'm sure other wine regions as well that especially get cold for, you know, certain months of the year. there's only so much you can do. You know, for years we were really fighting against the current. And then finally it's kind of like, this is our slow season. we as a company, we, we employ between 40 and 50 full timers at any given time. and so they're here anyways, they're here working.
Erica Paolicelli (00:29:33) - And so if someone comes down the driveway and January and Tuesday, we'll take care of them, you know, but I will I will also say that over the last 5 or 6 years, it seems to be picking up in the first quarter. It's not as bleak as it used to be when I first started, when GS the first year we were open, I would just lock all the tasting rooms set up in one where I could see the driveway, and if someone came, I would literally walk them around locking doors behind me because it was you're only seeing 1 or 2 customers in a day, and now we have to have one person in each building all day long. And so it looks very different. But it season seasonality can be kind of the decrease in income due to seasonality. We mitigate with things like, you know, we're talking about opening a satellite tasting room in a place that has, a either a reverse seasonality somewhere where there's skiing and winter fun or, somewhere south, like, you know, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, where it's less affected by the winter season.
Erica Paolicelli (00:30:43) - that would really help our business as far as cash flow goes. and then also really leaning into that e-commerce that we've continued to build. And so our shipping of wine in, the sales that we run during the first quarter are very different than during the busy season. We do some discounted tasting to try to lure folks to come in and and taste in the off season. We do some events. we just had a really successful, successful event celebrating Black History Month, SIP and Soul, where we had vendors and dancing and Zumba and food trucks, and it was incredible. The place was packed. And, you know, we do things like Teachers Week where we have, anyone who works in the educational system can come and they can get free tastings and half price slushies. So we do things to get people to think about us and keep us front of mind. but it's slower. It definitely is more. And there's no doubt about that.
Julie Ellis (00:31:42) - Yeah, yeah. And then you just have to embrace the summer and take everything you can out of it.
Julie Ellis (00:31:48) - When the weather's is there and you have the tourism.
Erica Paolicelli (00:31:51) - That's true. Yeah. The saying around here is we have to make hay while the sun is shining, because that is, that is very true in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Julie Ellis (00:32:01) - Yeah, yeah. And and I mean, it is there are conditions that you can't change so you can work on things. Yes. And you want to have great promotions and all of those things in the slower times. But there are some fundamentals that you can't change. It would be interesting though. I think the idea of that tasting room is really interesting, like the idea of a southern satellite destination experience for people.
Erica Paolicelli (00:32:25) - Yeah. We were actually looking we, I was making I had made a couple trips to look at real estate in Florida right before Covid. I was in Florida on like, I want to say, it's like March 1st or end of February, beginning of March, looking of 2020, and then Covid happened and then the fire happened. And then now we're back to talking about it.
Erica Paolicelli (00:32:50) - So, it's been it it is, very attractive. We used to have a satellite shop in a mall when, you know, when malls are things.
Erica Paolicelli (00:33:02) - And it was really good for us for a few years. It was a nice little complement to our brand, and it just kept us front of mind for people. And so, I think it would make sense. I know it would make sense for our business.
Julie Ellis (00:33:17) - Well, it'll be interesting to see where you go next. And so now you have, kind of you really have taken the reins. And for a few years now, haven't you, in terms of the day to day and running the operation?
Erica Paolicelli (00:33:33) - Yeah. So, I was I, I've been co for years now, you know running day to day operations. Actually this last year I just promoted our general manager to that position. So kind of stepping back from day to day operations and really focusing on business development. my core focus is, building revenue generating revenue, whether it be new or existing in, like, you know, where I really live is in the financials, you know, and so, being able to get out of the day to day operations after those extraordinary years, we just talked about of Covid and fire, is I think is really exciting because I'm, I'm, I see opportunity.
Erica Paolicelli (00:34:17) - But when you're in the day to day, it's very hard to take advantage of it. And so, we're really getting her trained up to, to continue to be ready for the season of day to day operations. And, you know, there's a lot there. And I've been doing it for so many years that it'll take some time. but at the end of the day, it really is, More valuable to have me in the business development side of things. And so, that's kind of been exciting and different. And that's as of January of this year. So it's new still.
Julie Ellis (00:34:49) - That's exciting. And so what's next for what's next for you and for the winery?
Erica Paolicelli (00:34:55) - Yeah. So we mentioned a satellite shop. I think that that is definitely in our future. and we are also looking to expand our wholesale territory. We self distribute currently and we have over 400 accounts that we distribute to regionally here. But I think it's pretty evident that if we want to continue to grow that category, we need to step outside of the region we can deliver to.
Erica Paolicelli (00:35:21) - So we'll be working with, distributors in different areas to, to try to expand our footprint.
Julie Ellis (00:35:27) - That's exciting. So people can start looking for your wine coming to somewhere near them soon.
Erica Paolicelli (00:35:34) - Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. That's true. So those are two of the things, we really are refocusing on our food program on site here. That's something that we kind of, with the with the decreasing availability of food service staff and stuff like that. It's been a couple of years in the cafe. but we've hired an executive chef that we're excited about, and he has a fully staffed kitchen now. So we'll be hitting the season with cafe being back open full swing, which is really good for this place. People spend hours here and they want they want to be able to eat too. So we're excited about that.
Julie Ellis (00:36:11) - Oh that's fantastic. Well, I think that anyone would enjoy a day out at Three Brothers Winery, and I hope to make it down to visit you myself this summer. so.
Erica Paolicelli (00:36:23) - Please do!
Julie Ellis (00:36:24) - Thank you so much for talking to me today. I really appreciate it and I love your story. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please remember to hit subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you won't miss any episodes. Figure Eight isn't just a podcast, it's a way of seeing the big, gorgeous goals of women entrepreneurs coming to life. If you're interested in learning more, you can find my book, Big Gorgeous Goals on Amazon anywhere you might live. For more about my growth and leadership training programs, visit www.julieellis.ca to see how we might work together. Read my blog or sign up to get your free diagnostic. Are you ready for growth? Once again thats julieellis.ca. When we work together, we all win. See you again soon for another episode of Figure Eight.