A Career Uncorked
Shanna Windham was drawn to Napa Valley-based ONEHOPE wine because of its mission to also give back
SHANNA WINDHAM seems to have the kind of career many working folks strive for. She loves what she does and does what she loves – while making a positive impact, to boot.
As vice president of sales for her company’s Eastern region, Windham is a driving force behind ONEHOPE Wine, a boutique brand of vino and like products that not only fill consumer needs but also make a difference. From breast cancer treatment and autism research to eradicating hunger, and more, every bottle of ONEHOPE wine sold supports a brand-partnered nonprofit cause.
“Bringing a quality wine to our customers is first and foremost, but we choose to give back 365 days a year without a cap or a limit so that’s icing on the cake,” explains Windham, who joined ONEHOPE five years ago as its Southeast sales manager and is based in Wilmington. “To be able to do a job that I love, and to be able to help others who are in need brings a special drive, because at the end of the day there is a bigger picture.”
In her current company role, Windham oversees three regional managers, twenty-five states, and thirty-four distributors on the East Coast. While her professional responsibilities include building brand awareness and boosting sales, giving back to the community is an equally key component to her workday.
While the causes that Windham’s work and ONEHOPE support are nationwide, local organizations benefit, too. Windham says that she collaborates with Lump to Laughter, the American Heart Association’s Cape Fear Heart Ball, Wine Women & Shoes, pet adoption agencies, and others.
“I work with the Pink Ribbon Project in October so that all case sales sold in Wilmington also gives back $3 to their fundraising efforts,” she says. “I very much enjoy being able to use what I do every day to give back to the local community in Wilmington and other cities.”
Windham, who relocated from Raleigh to the Port City with her husband in 2010, began her career in the wine industry as a recruit with the E&J Gallo Winery Management Development Program. From there, she moved through sales and management positions with a distributor and also achieved her CSW (certified specialist of wine) designation.
Tasked with adding brands to the distributing company’s portfolio, that’s when the Roanoke, Virginia, native discovered ONEHOPE. Available only in California at the time, she researched the brand and decided that it was a no-brainer.
“I loved everything about the company, the founders, the brand and the wines. Who wouldn’t want to support nonprofits when they were already having a glass or buying a bottle of wine?” she says. “It was an easy decision to bring them on.”
Fast-forward to 2010, and ONEHOPE – with its flagship vineyard located in the Golden State’s renowned Napa Valley – came knocking at Windham’s door. Now, she manages national and regional accounts for it.
Windham’s passion for her work also extends to developing the future workforce. She aligned with University of North Carolina Wilmington to hire six interns over the past five years, hiring one of them post-graduation for a regional manager position.
“It is fantastic to see so many qualified candidates here locally and the emphasis that the school puts on internships, in general,” Windham says. “The international marketing class, led by Dr. Lisa Scribner, has used our company for two semesters for their case study, which has been an honor to be involved with.”
While Windham finds that “giving back” to the community is her job’s greatest reward, for her, it’s always been a way of life. It’s a philosophy that she says she learned from her mother.
“My mother taught me at an early age, by example, and it has always been part of my core values, (that) even if you don’t have a lot, you can do something to help others,” she notes. “Being part of an organization where every person employed shares that same belief is a blessing.”
What’s more, she adds, ONEHOPE puts its donated money where its mouth is. Affiliated nonprofits, or anyone else, can view the impact that donations from purchases are making, by visiting the website onehopewine.com/impact.
“We also provide impact reports so that our partners know exactly where that money is going,” she says. Windham adds that donations from sales are substantiated, “for instance every two cases of our chardonnay sold funds a clinical trial for a woman with breast cancer, and every case of our Pinot for Paws (gift box) sold funds a pet adoption.”
As for the latter, Windham created the Pinot for Paws concept before officially joining ONEHOPE’s payroll. It took five years for fruition, but the right combination of grapes and bottle price was developed to make the gift box’s philanthropic effort a go.
Recently, ONEHOPE added a LGBTQ organization, The Trevor Project, to its nonprofit partners. Launching a special edition bubbly, ONEHOPE reports that “every four bottles sold funds one hour of operational costs for The Trevor Project Lifeline,” the company’s website states.
But as much as Windham loves her work, no job is without its trials. For her, it’s not being able to be in two places at once – but she’s not complaining.
“One of the biggest challenges that we face is being so busy,” she quips. “We try to have representation from our company or one of our distributors at all of the events that we support … it’s a great problem to have though!”
To view more of photographer Chris Brehmer's work, visit www.chrisbrehmerphotography.com
