Mar 23

Mar 23 Lyn Archer, LM Archer

Title: Wordsmith
Location: Kirkland, Washington State

What's your background, and how long have you been in the beverage industry?
I arrived in wine twelve years ago via writing. Writing snagged my heart at age eight, but student debt led me to the financially stable corporate world of budgets, P&L's & ROI's. Along the way, I wrote for in-house, trade, and community publications. After taking the leap of faith into wine, I understood the value of designations, and enrolled in ISG Wine Fundamentals, but realized service was not for me. I thus decided to focus on France and Bourgogne, the 'roche mère' of fine wine. I stumbled onto sparkling wine through Champagne, which I call the "flip side' of Bourgogne - same grapes, but a multi-dimensional expression.
Finally, I set about understanding the business side of wine those first few years by forcing myself to work at different winery types: family, boutique, corporate and luxury. Unfortunately, I suffered from acute shyness at the time, and zero cash machine skills. Consequently, two (with ipads) proved positive; two (with cash machines) proved disasters. Interestingly, the day I realized I didn't 'need' to suffer anymore, gave my notice, and focused on writing, my shyness dissipated.

What are the top three challenges to maintaining your well-being in your work?
1. Time - learning to prioritize viz., deadlines, interviews, transcription, samples, social media, social events, travel, etc.
2. Constant proximity to alcohol.
3. Balancing work with family and personal time/workouts.

What are 3 things you do (or try to do) to maintain your well-being?
1. Daily meditation and yoga practice.
2. Daily walks
3. Photography.

What do you drink when you're not drinking alcohol?
Water - still and sparkling.

What inspires you on your journey in the beverage industry?
I consider wine the canary in the coal mine of climate change, hence my focus upon sustainability. My involvement with The Porto Protocol Foundation, particularly their bottle reuse/recycling project also inspires me - so many good people doing innovative things! Visiting wine regions leading the way in sustainability also inspires me, such as Portugal, Uruguay, Valdobbiadene, and Penedès. Ultimately, anyone in the beverage industry willing to walk their talk to save Mother Earth inspires me. She needs our help. Time is running out.

What is a quote that you love?
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Lao Tzu

You can find Lyn on Instagram at @lmarcherml

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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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