Meet Danielle Westfall

Meet Danielle Westfall

Companies: Winery Insider; VinoFina; Westfall Marketing Group
Age: 41
Family: Husband, Tony, Daughters, Alexandra 6 ½ & Audrey 2 ½
Motto: There’s no dress rehearsal in life; this is it!


How did you get started in the wine business?

Just about my entire career (not counting a few dot bomb start-ups) has been spent in the wine business, starting with a marketing and operations director role at Wine.com – one of the first on-line wine retailers in the late 1990’s. Unfortunately that was after it had used up all its initial funding, but I learned a ton and eventually moved on to Viansa Winery & Marketplace. Viansa (a brand known at the time for being a complete innovator - -selling over 80K cases a year solely through the Direct channel) was like my second child. It was an experience I wouldn’t change for anything!

What prompted you to start your own business?

I’m an entrepreneur at heart (and perhaps a sucker for start-ups) and in 2006 I decided to launch my own business, Westfall Marketing Group. The timing was good – more and more wine and luxury brands were starting to realize that marketing directly to consumers was a good way to build awareness and loyalty and sell more wine. My client base expanded quickly to include brands like legendary racecar driver Mario Andretti’s wine brand, Andretti Winery, Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon Estate, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, St. Supery Vineyards and Winery, and Childress Vineyards of NASCAR fame. Exciting work with the perks of great wines to enjoy!

What made you decide to go for business number two?

After my daughters were born, I would get together with other moms for play dates and this being Sonoma, wine was always on the table. Inevitably the conversation would turn to the myriad of charity events we were involved with and one day I thought, why not put these two together? And that’s how VinoFina – an on-line wine retailer that donates a portion of every bottle sold to charities and non-profits – got started. That was in the fall of 2009.

A lot of thought must have gone into the decision to add yet another business to your plate. What made you go for the third?

Apparently one start-up, a consulting business and two girls under 7 wasn’t enough for me, so in early 2010 Tony and I launched Winery Insider. We couldn’t resist! I’d personally seen with deals from my winery clients how successful members-only private sale sites like Gilt Group, RueLaLa and some others were and thought: we’ve got to do this exclusively for wine. With Tony’s educated palate and amazing business sense, my marketing proficiency and love for wine and both of our relationships in the industry, I had this feeling like “how could we lose”? So, like countless others before us, we dumped our life savings into starting another business.

What do you want people to know about you?

I am not a wine geek. Far from it. Whenever someone (my husband) starts to wax on about how they can detect gooseberries or cumin or porcini in a wine’s aroma, I’m most likely rolling my eyes. It’s not that I don’t like wine…I love it, in fact. To me, there’s nothing better than a great glass of Pinot Noir or bubbles at the end of the day – or any time really; I just don’t want to analyze it to death.

Oh, and sleeping is for sissies (or so I have convinced myself). Hopefully, that’ll be enough businesses for me for now …til the next idea pops up.  


A gift from Danielle!
To get  a $10 Insider Credit to use on your first wine order click here. No strings, just great wines to enjoy from one Mom to another! Offer ends 8.30.10. Cheers!

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