Jesse Kirkpatrick, AGM/Buyer at Elemental Spirits Co. (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

Jesse Kirkpatrick, AGM/Buyer at Elemental Spirits Co. (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

Cathy Huyghe
Owner / Founder, Retail

Years in the Industry:
I’ve been in the Food and Beverage industry for over a decade, beginning with a summer job as a delivery driver with Qdoba. Since then, I’ve worked as a hostess at a Michelin star restaurant, server at a trendy pizza parlor, manager of restaurants and bottle shops and now, I get to play with my own wine program at Elemental Spirits Co. and have never had more fun. 

My Top Three Challenges to Wellness:

My biggest challenge to wellness is getting out of my own way. Ultimately, that challenge lies inside my own head. Keeping my anxiety and self-criticism in check is tough, and I’m often unsuccessful. I’m also challenged by learning when to say ‘no.' I’m a chronic people-pleaser and I am not often successful at saying 'no’ to opportunities when my gut tells me to. I tend to over-extend or over-promise and will work myself to the breaking-point to get things done.

How I Keep It Together to Stay Well:
I’ve recently been trying to practice sticking to boundaries and prioritizing time for myself. I’ve come to realize that I am an introverted person who works (successfully!) as an extroverted person, and I really need time to recharge to be able to get through my work week. I lay low, treat myself to a face mask and a book or TV show binge, and am very picky about who I choose to spend my time off with. When I truly give myself space to rest, I am so much better prepared to tackle the week ahead!

What Inspires Me:
My community. When I first began answering this question, I listed my friends, my family, my work and coworkers, but I realized that this is just all of my people. I consider myself incredibly lucky to be surrounded by people (and particularly a large group of amazing women!) that I am constantly motivated by, inspired by and who push me to be my best ‘me’ just by being ’them’.

A Quote I Love:
“Already am, always was, and I still have time to be.” — Anis Mojgani

You can connect with Jesse on Instagram @jessecat12 and @afterflours and on Facebook.

Cathy Huyghe
Owner / Founder, Retail
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Cathy Huyghe

Cathy Huyghe is a dynamic media professional with a special interest in wine and the spirit of hospitality. She is also an effective, engaging public speaker on subjects ranging from wine and gastronomy to digital media and entrepreneurship.

Cathy is the co-founder and CEO of Enolytics, a big data startup providing business intelligence for the wine industry. She also currently writes for Forbes.com about the business and politics of the wine industry, and for Inc.com about entrepreneurs with a special focus on women. She is the author of the award-winning book Hungry for Wine: Seeing the World through the Lens of a Wine Glass; she was a finalist for the 2016 IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year award; and she won the 2016 Innovator of the Year award from Diaz Communications.

Cathy's writing has appeared in print and online for both general-interest and wine industry publications including the Harvard Business Review network, The Atlantic, Decanter, Food52.com (where she was the "Wine, Unfussed" columnist), DailyBeast, The Boston Globe, the Washington Post, Wine Enthusiast, GlobalPost, Grist.org, and Daily Candy. She has also been featured on the BBC, WNYC, WGBH, and Nevada Public Radio.

Cathy is the founder of 365daysofwine.com and Red White Boston, a digital media company for the wine industry. Red White Boston produced daily content, monthly tasting events, and a location-based iPhone app of video wine recommendations from their network of 30+ local partner stores. While in Boston, she also managed the wine cellar at WGBH public broadcasting station and managed wine events for donors and the public.

Cathy’s restaurant experience started when she knocked on the kitchen door at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. She also has worked for Jean-Pierre Vigato in Paris (at Natachef bistro and at his two-star restaurant, Apicius) and for Thomas Keller at Bouchon in Las Vegas. She studied at La Varenne École de Cuisine in Burgundy, France; she completed the Wine Studies program at Boston University; and she received Advanced Certification from WSET (Wine and Spirits Education Trust). 

Cathy received a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard in 2004 and a second master’s degree in Journalism in 2010, also from Harvard. Before that, she received a master’s degree in comparative literature from the City University of New York in 1998 and a bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania in 1995. She is also a trained mediator, and worked for two years at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School on a project in the Middle East.

In April 2008 she founded the Harvard Alumni in Wine and Food special interest group, which provides educational and networking services to the Harvard alumni and current students. She has also served as the President of the Harvard Club of Georgia, and she has begun a term of service on the Board of Directors for the Harvard Alumni Association.

Her other non-profit involvement includes the Women's Solidarity Society at the new National Center for Civil & Human Rights (Atlanta), grant reviewer for the Food Well Alliance (an Atlanta-based organization that supports the local network of 350 urban farms and community gardens), Coach at GOTR (Girls on the Run) in Atlanta, Board Member at the Greening Youth Foundation (Atlanta), Board Member at The Food Project (Boston), and Mediator at the Neighborhood Justice Center (Las Vegas).

She lives in Atlanta with her husband, their twin boys, and their Bernese Mountain dog, Coco.

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