Julie Rothberg, President, Medlock Ames (USA)

Years In Industry:
While living in London working in tech, I started taking wine tasting classes for fun. I quickly became obsessed.  In 2003, when I moved back to New York, I started working at Sherry Lehmann while applying to business school and never looked back.

Over the years I got my WSET Diploma, managed a boutique importer, and oversaw an $80 million portfolio of 20 brands. I’m now President of Medlock Ames Winery with 100% organically-grown grapes from Bell Mountain Ranch which straddles the Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley. In 2015, my husband Gregg and I launched a Rhone-varietal boutique wine called 13th & Third, named for the street corner in NYC where we met.
 
My Biggest Challenge To Wellness: 
I used to balance the inherent challenge of working in wine by being one of those obsessive spin-class types who’d sweat out all the wine and food the next day.  Getting pregnant was an eye opener that put my frenetic work outs to rest.

It was a lot harder than expected to get pregnant. Rounds of IVF were mentally, physically and most of all emotionally exhausting. Now I have two-year-old twin daughters who bring unimaginable joy to my life. Once they were born, I struggled with returning to work when I wasn’t getting more than 3 hours of sleep at a time, which is something that continued for over a year.  

Today my biggest challenge is juggling it all and finding time to work out while not eating my girls’ mac and cheese because, well, it’s just easier when I’m exhausted and starving.
 
How I Keep It Together To Stay Well: 
Mindful prioritizing. I made it a priority after my girls were born to relocate to California, not only to expand my career but also to ensure we’re able to live a more active, sun-filled lifestyle. Gone are my spin-class days, and that’s okay. I make it a priority to set the alarm extra early so I can go for a sweaty run before the girls wake up. 

I prioritize having fun and enjoying time with my family over lots of endless weeks on the road traveling with rich wine-soaked dinners. Finding fun ways to be active and silly with kids burns a ton of calories so we have plenty of baby dance parties or we pop the girls on the back of our bikes and go for a ride.  

I prioritize being mindful and healthy in the foods I choose to eat, consciously avoiding dairy and grains except when a rare-mouthwatering cheese wafts past me. And lastly, I prioritize giving myself a break, trying to take deep breaths when I can, remembering how important priorities are.
 
You can connect with Julie on LinkedIn, Instagram and via email at julie@medlockames.com