Ashley Trout, Founder, Vital Wines and Owner/Winemaker Brook and Bull Cellars (Washington, USA)

Years in the Industry:
I’ve been in the wine industry since 1999 and started doing night-time ferment punchdowns in the cellar in college and fell in love with the concept that I could carve out a profession as an adult where I was creative and physical.  I’ve always been all of those things, but I grew up in Washington DC where professions tend to skew more towards desk jobs.  I currently run/own two wineries, a non-profit for better access to healthcare for vineyard and cellar workers in Walla Walla called Vital Wines, and Brook and Bull Cellars, a boutique winery producing 2000 cases per year.
 
My biggest challenge to wellness:
Patience, planning and distraction - arguably three sides of the same coin. I come up with ideas about a wine or events or how we take better care of wine club members, but I won’t slow down for long enough to come up with a detailed plan, and I most certainly won’t slow down enough to properly onboard the people helping me with the latest new idea.  I simply hope for their clairvoyance.  They then, rightfully, get frustrated. I subsequently take the task back into my own hands and then wonder why I’m so exhausted, or why a huge chunk of something was missing during the roll out of that idea. 
My last General Manager appropriately learned to ignore everything I ever said if I called her while walking the dogs.  She left to do an MBA program, but not before teaching me a ton, and now I don’t do that with the new GM (as much).

How I keep It Together to Stay Well:
I think I’m an extrovert, but my days certain skew more extrovert than I am.  With winemaker dinners, two sets of staff, two young “spirited” kids, wonderful neighbors (also all with kids), a tasting room filled with people, an extremely extrovert husband and a small town with no anonymity, I’m out-peopled and need alone time.
From 8.15 to 9.30 in the morning I usually drop the kids off at school and then work out or run a silly errand, and I’ll make sure someone makes me a damn good cappuccino. If I sneak that in, I can tackle 30% more during the day. 
My Bullet Journal: Those guys should start paying me I’ve recommended it to so many people!. It has changed my life.  For each month I write a page each for scheduled events, the daily priority, what I’m grateful for, a brain dump page, a staff brain dump page, a page for groceries, and then two pages for a grid for tracking smaller tasks. Finally, I have two pages per week for filling up each day’s to do’s. I don’t see technology like I do paper, so the very small spaces that I leave myself to fill in force me to prioritize.  Also, personal and work have to go together because I can’t be in two places at once, so I have to check that I’m not double booking.
Owning my time:  I stopped putting other people’s incoming emails as a priority first thing in the morning and I make sure that I start the day proactive, not reactive.  I also don’t have my phone with me often and while it annoys others, I think it is silly that we should be expected to be available at all times to all people.  That isn’t healthy. 
Climbing: I rock climb. Nothing clears the mind like “don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fall.” It’s just one hand hold at a time and a puzzle and you’re alone up there with some simple choices that affect you and you alone.  I love that.
 
You can connect with Ashley on Instagram @troutashley on Facebook Brook & Bull and online at BrookandBull.com