Sheri Morano MW, Senior Partner Wine and Spirits, Preferabli.com (North Carolina, USA)

Years in the Industry:
22 years. I first fell in love with wine when I was 16, on a trip to Italy with our high school Latin teacher (thank you, Mrs. Adams for believing that everyone should get to try having wine with dinner while traveling through Italy…). After I graduated from college with a double major in Medieval & Renaissance Studies, and Classical Studies with a minor in Art History, I started work to work for my father’s marketing research firm in New York. Then I realized that I missed learning about something, I decided to look for some cooking and wine classes. One of the first classes I found was a one-night session at The New School – a tasting with Mary Ewing Mulligan MW and Ed McCarthy, who had just released one of their Wine for Dummies books. Mary mentioned that she ran a wine school that night and the course sounded interesting. So I signed up for one of the Wine & Spirits Education Trust classes that the International Wine Center offered.

First class, I sat in the back of the room and hoped that no one would ask me what I thought! But long story short, I completed that course, signed on for the next one and then the 2-year Diploma. Halfway through the Diploma, I realized that the wine industry did some marketing research and I started to combine my “day” and “night” jobs. I also started teaching and giving tastings. I embarked upon my Master of Wine in 2000 and completed that in 2003. I’ve spent the years since working in many aspects of the wine industry, but mainly in education and marketing research. I like to joke that I am a jack of all trades, but a master of one.

My Top Three Challenges to Wellness:
1. Travel
I love to travel – but it does make it harder to keep to a schedule. And to be honest, I think that the lack of travel with the pandemic did really help me to focus on being more consistent with my running. Now that travel has started to pick back up again, I do have to work a bit harder to keep to my training schedule.

2. Age…and ageing knees
Honestly, I have to work harder now than I did 20 years ago to make sure I stay hydrated, to make sure I do my stretches and to make sure I eat properly – if I want to keep up running and being active. This past year with training for the NYC Marathon, I started working with a trainer to design a schedule for me to help me balance strength training, stretching and running.I also belong to a group called ‘Many Happy Miles’ that is part of the ‘Another Mother Runner’ community and that provides me with a lot of great wellness resources (and motivation). And, as part of my marathon prep, I consulted a nutritionist to help me design a better approach to carbo loading and racing nutrition.

3. Wine – and water
Ask anyone who knows me well and they will tell you I spend a lot of time thinking about what I am going to make for dinner. The evenings in our house when I am puttering around the kitchen cooking is when I get to relax, and so there is usually wine that is a part of both the meal prep and the meal. And dinners just don’t seem to be the same when wine isn’t served (we can probably blame that trip to Italy when I was 16). BUT – between getting older and getting more serious about my workouts, these days I try to keep an eye on my consumption. Nights before a hard workout or a long run or a race might mean no wine or just a small glass of wine, and every day now means drinking a lot of water.

How I Keep It Together to Stay Well:
In general, I’m a big believer in moderation and the importance of monitoring my stress level. I had a scare in 2019 when my blood pressure shot up and the doctor insisted on putting me on medication. So, I took a series of steps to address what I could. I lost 20 pounds on WW and I became a certified yoga instructor. I set goals for my running and have tried to set support systems in place to help keep me focused on those goals. Every time I run or do something active, rather than focus on the fact that I am slow or that I might prefer a different number on the scale or would rather look a certain way, I try to take a moment to thank my body for carrying me forward and for just being out there and being active.

What Inspires Me:
One place that represents a lot of what inspires me is my local farmers’ market. It is a place that just seems to resonate goodness – from the beauty of the produce and the generosity of Mother Nature to the general feeling of community – I always find going there lifts my mood and leave me feeling so happy.

A Quote I Love:
“From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!” ~ Dr. Seuss’s One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

I find that I say it a lot to myself in my head. Whether it is just to remind myself to laugh more and find the humor in a situation, or to remember that each of us is a bit quirky in our own way, somehow this quote always makes me smile.

You can connect with Sheri on Instagram @SSMMW or on Facebook.