Regine T Rousseau, CEO Shall We Wine (Chicago, USA)

Regine T Rousseau, CEO Shall We Wine (Chicago, USA)

Cathy Huyghe
bipoc, black wine professionals, Educator, Communications, Entrepreneur

Years in the industry
I worked as a wine salesperson in the late 1990’s. I left the industry after two years to pursue  a career in pharmaceutical sales. I always maintain an interest in wine and spirits and knew that someday I would return to the industry.
 
Fast forward to 2013, when I was happily laid off from a sales position with a litigation consulting firm. I decided then to find my way back to wine. I applied to a few sales positions. The companies I was most excited to work for did not offer me a position (I am sure they are regretting this now). Circa December of 2013, I put pen to paper and decided to create my dream job. Did I ever!
 
Today, I am the CEO of Shall We Wine. The mission of Shall We Wine is to celebrate and demystify the alcoholic beverage, inspiring great drinkers everywhere! Shall We Wine is an experiential marketing, promotions and event partner that specializes in offering wine & spirits solutions for both client and consumer — with a philosophy that embraces approachability and accessibility.
 
My biggest challenge to wellness
The pursuit of perfection. I am working on surrendering to the reality that perfection is an illusion. I know this to be fact, but I sometimes struggle.  A few weeks ago, while listening to Brené Brown's podcast, Unlocking Us, I heard a quote that best sums up the mindset I am working to embrace. Brené Brown was interviewing Laverne Cox.
 
Brown ends each podcast interview with ten quick fire questions. She asked Cox, “You are called to do something brave, but you’re scared, what do you do?” Cox answered I say, “God give me the strength to do this imperfectly and be of service.” We are called to be brave at least a hundred times each day. Some of these calls require big acts of bravery and others minor. Like now, sitting in my car answering these interview questions. For me this is a big act of bravery because, although I love it, writing and speaking take me to my most vulnerable place. I prayed Laverne Cox’s prayer even before I heard the words. Wellness comes with the abandonment of the pursuit of perfection.

How I keep it together to stay well
Keep it together? Hum, I have you fooled. My life is one gigantic, unpredictable, interesting, complex, exciting roller coaster.  I would not trade it for anything. I have learned to pay attention to my body, it tells me when I am out of balance. My body signals impending chaos in quick sharp prods. I used to ignore the signs, now I create peace. I have a beautiful apartment filled with artwork and wines that soothes me. I take long walks while listening to Brené Brown’s podcast (yes, it is an obsession) and books by authors who have become my spiritual guides. I sometimes just sit still and allow my body and mind to be healed by silence.
 
You can connect with Regine on Instagram @shallwewine , Facebook @ShallWeWine and Twitter @regineTRousseau and online at ShallWeWine.com and RegineRousseau.com

Cathy Huyghe
bipoc, black wine professionals, Educator, Communications, Entrepreneur
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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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