Building Memories One Bottle at a Time
My Forum, “The Directors,” is the founding Forum of EO South Florida and boasts nearly 100 combined years of EO experience among its members. To celebrate our growth, we spent our last retreat in Napa Valley, California, USA, and it was arguably the best retreat in our rich history. Not only did we rent a compound and engage in deep and meaningful exercises, but we met a vintner while touring the region. In an instant, an entrepreneurial bond was established.
Ten hours of laughter, storytelling and bonding later, we came up with a way to commemorate our new friend and build upon the cool experience: create “The Directors” wine. Our wine was formed from one barrel of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon that our honorary Forum brother created from the hills of Howell Mountain. After six months of barrel-choosing, label-designing and bottling, the unveiling of our wine occurred. We flew the vintner down to Miami, Florida, USA, as a dinner party guest and soaked in the culmination of our passion project. Our loved ones enjoyed the fruits of our collective labor, and the overall experience served as a real testament to what EO is all about.
The typical misconception about the primary value of EO is that membership will equate to being a more successful entrepreneur by way of learning events and experience-sharing. To that I say, “Yes and no.” The real value, in my opinion, is having the honor and privilege of being allowed into each other’s personal and professional lives without thought or hesitation, due to the safe environment in which we, in EO, thrive. Creating our wine was just added proof to me that EO brings more to the table than just business support, and that’s a delicious notion.
