“Bonnie and Michael captivated the audience and were mobbed after their presentation!”
– David Colgan Founder and CEO Eliances
“Bonnie brought a wealth of tactical and practical information to our attendees. Her story is inspiring & her down to earth delivery was perfect for entrepreneurs at all stages of their business!”
– Jerry Ross
President, National Entrepreneur Center
“The Barefoot Founders were a big hit at the Northwest SOCAP Chapter meeting in San Francisco. Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey are truly charming and engaging presenters! They shared stories of the challenges they faced founding the Barefoot Wine brand and how they overcame them by putting the customer first and creatively responding to their needs and wants. Their tag team approach was refreshing and kept us entertained while delivering this important message. It was fun and our members had nothing but praise!”
– Northwest SOCAP Board
“Bonnie and Michael were excellent keynote speakers for our inaugural entrepreneurs’ awards luncheon. They tailored their presentation to fit the Chamber’s mission and the audience’s expectations. The duo’s success story captured the audience’s attention from the first sentence to the last word. Their presentation was informative, useful and charismatic. I have only heard positive feedback from everyone in attendance and several chamber members have asked us to bring them back to Mobile. They inspired Mobile’s business community and the next generation of local entrepreneurs.”
– Darrell W. Randle
VP, Small Business Development, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce
“Our group really enjoyed their presentation. Most of us are business owners or decision makers. Their insight into the sales process and how to make sure that the team has open lines of communication, so even the receptionist has the ability to positively influence a business, was so refreshing.”
– Larry Klobertanz
President, Oregon Executives Association
“Your talk was excellent. It is plain to see that you ran your company intelligently both from an marketing perspective as well as how you trained and developed your employees.”
-Mark Steiner Pro Visor Attendee
“Michael and Bonnie embody the true entrepreneurial spirit… Grit and Hustle!”
-Lea Woodford
CEO, SmartFem Media Group & SmartFem Magazine
“Bonnie and Michael are a captivating force in the classroom, relating real-world experience in a delivery method that both engages and captivates any student in an entrepreneurial learning environment. As presenters, they do not shy away from connecting on a deeply personal level with their audience, and their ability to make their story applicable to a start-up venture made them the perfect fit to inspire our 2013 Syracuse University Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) students. I am honored to count Bonnie and Michael among our go-to group of world-class speakers for the EBV program.”
– Jared S. Lyon
National Program Manager, EBV & EBV-F
“As our company was one of the sponsors, I was in the unique position to hear them speak 3 times in the same day to different groups. I found their real world experiences interesting and motivating. For an uplifting and educational experience, I would recommend them to any business group looking for a speaker. They are the American dream.”
– Brian Barquilla
Attendee
“I had the opportunity to hear Michael Houlihan tell The Barefoot Spirit story in the company of over 400 university professors and administrators at the annual conference of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Michael’s story, while in many respects the quintessential American entrepreneurial story, commanded mine and the audience’s attention because it is a story of both humility and dogged determination to succeed through innovation in an industry where innovation is a rarity.“
– Pat Dickson
President, The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Associate Professor, Wake Forest University, North Carolina
“It is so refreshing to hear the mindset behind such a great product and the evolution of your business. I will be able to take your business lessons and relay them back to those that are working to expand. I especially enjoyed your explanation of the “money map” and “organizational charts” but more importantly the idea of treating suppliers (and all others) how you would like to be treated. Such a basic idea that seems to fall by the wayside.”
– Gina L. Sederstrom
Financial & Portfolio Advisor, Morris Fuller Group, Merrill Lynch Private Client Group
“The most inspiring and informative keynote I’ve ever heard!”
-Suzy Clark, BMW, Ideas America Attendee
“The International Council for Small Business (ICSB) held its World Entrepreneurship Conference in Dublin in June 2014 and it attracted an audience of 876 delegates from 61 countries. Michael and Bonnie were Keynote Speakers at the conference but they also gave talks at dedicated workshops for Irish Entrepreneurs and at the Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum. While each talk needed to be tailored to the specific audience that they were addressing, their professionalism, practical advice, and excellent communication skills ensured that they enjoyed a rapturous response on every occasion. They have an ability to speak to any group of people in a way that resonates with their particular needs and through their stories the hard lessons of business are understood in an entertaining fashion. Because of the success of their talks, they have already been invited back to Ireland for other speaking engagements and I understand from international colleagues that invitations to other countries are also likely to happen.”
– Professor Thomas Cooney
Chair International Council for Small Business, 2014 Organizing Committee, College of Business, Dublin Institute of Technology
“Michael and Bonnie brought a true sense of grassroots marketing to our franchisees. The way they developed and structured their success is nothing short of brilliant, built on hard work, passion and a love for giving back. Ingenious marketing tricks at a low cost price tag will make you see how to create a story and buzz around your brand. Fabulous and real, Michael and Bonnie inspire others to win and have fun doing it!”
– Martha O’Gorman
Chief Marketing Officer, Liberty Tax Service
“(Their presentation) not only benefits me now, but it benefits future generations. They were discussing keys to prepare for buyers, to show them the true value of your business; how valuable it is to teach people these things. (Their) ‘pre-pare-for-acquisition’ paperwork was awesome.”
-Business Owner and Workshop Participant at Small Business Breakthrough Conference
“It was an inspiration to hear Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey’s (founders of Barefoot Wines) story of how they broke all the rules to become the country’s #1 best selling wine! From the laundry room to the board room, theirs was an inspiring story of determination and perseverance. Their natural story-telling ability blended with a little humor makes for an enjoyable experience. Their obvious love for what they do, caring for employees, and search for continuous improvement is the foundation for their success. Their presentation was very entertaining and shared a powerful message to our members. They enjoyed interacting with them both during the Summit. We appreciate them being there and adding to our Summit success. We were honored to have them as our key note speakers at the 75th Anniversary Ideas America Summit.”
– Brenda Kelly President, Ideas America
“Michael was outstanding! One quote he made was particularly impactful to my audience of 100+ Orange County CEOs, entrepreneurs and business executives who are in the Critical Mass for Business Community. The quote was ‘If you are not in a place, you can’t fail.’”
– Ric Franzi
Founder & CEO of Critical Mass for Business
“Michael was phenomenal! His talk stole the show and he spent the rest of the day surrounded by people who wanted to hear more.”
– Jon Bittner
Executive Director, Alaska Small Business Development Center
“Their presentation was very inspiring and all of us loved it. Even though their experience was from a completely different industry the key observations and learning that they shared was appropriate to our business and everyone could relate to them. Their story came from the heart and all of us could appreciate the way they built their business starting from scratch. The team really liked the session and we all found it to be very inspiring. It was the best session of the event!.”
– Anand Deshpande
Ph.D., Founder, Managing Director and CEO, Persistent Systems – Delhi, NY, London, Silicon Valley
“I so connected with your message. I so loved learning of your focus in every aspect of your business and life success.”
-Scott Kiburz
Keller Williams Sponsor, Dynamic Woman’s Summit
“They both are the definition of a powerhouse couple and their story is truly inspiring”
-Nicole Sawyer
Dynamic Women’s Summit Attendee
“The feedback we’ve received regarding your presentation has been overwhelmingly positive. Thank you for doing such an excellent job at relaying the entrepreneurial message. Again, we appreciate the superb job that you and Bonnie did. I’ll look forward to seeing both of you sometime in the near future.”
– William B. Sisson
President & CEO, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce
“We completed a very productive conference in San Francisco. Michael Houlihan was our plenary speaker. His talk was entertaining, timely, inspirational, and poignant. Our attendees were electrified with his candid, real-world appraisal and practical recommendations for entrepreneurial success.“
– Becky Gann
MBA, Executive Director USASBE
“Michael’s reputation as a successful entrepreneur precedes him. He is on top of his topics and consistently delivers news we can use. He has given my staff sales tools and insights that have resulted in increased sales and a new appreciation for customer relations. He is clear, understandable and practical. He shares his real world business experience with passion and intensity. Nobody dozes off when Michael is speaking!”
– Jeff Stevenson
Founder and CEO, VinoPRO Inc.
“I’ve known Michael for twenty-five and watched him grow one of the great brands in the industry bottle by bottle, account by account, month by month, and year by year. Michael has been there, done it, and now has graciously put himself out there to pass on the wisdom to others.“
– John Hinman
Hinman & Carmichael LLP
“The Best Presentation at the Conference!”
– Epi Ludvik
Founder/CEOCrowdsourcing Week
“I thoroughly enjoyed watching Michael and Bonnie deliver one heck of a keynote…the story is fantastic, and their interaction on stage is priceless.”
-Brad Szollose Founder, Brad Szollose International
“The audience loved them and really appreciated them sharing their story and advice”
– Lisa Busto Director of Community, Engagement
“Michael & Bonnie were the perfect speakers to help us celebrate our 25th Annual Small Business Week Awards Luncheon. With a room full of small business owners and entrepreneurs in attendance their breakout session and keynote were both informative and inspiring. It was great insight from business owners who have been through it all. Even after the event I’m still receiving compliments from attendees about what great speakers they were.”
– Marice Hague
Marketing Director, Florida SBDC at UNF, Jacksonville, FL
“Our organization thoroughly enjoyed their presentation as one of our featured speakers at the Retail Packaging Association conference. The Barefoot Spirit story is a compelling journey of perseverance in overcoming obstacles along the way as well as a unique approach to business by focusing attention to all aspects of the distribution chain of delivery. By focusing attention on the people closest to the process you were able to bring needed changes that solved problems and ultimately helped to make the customer experience a great one!”
– Tony Van Belkom
President, Retail Packaging Association
“Thanks so much for your well received keynote speech this week. I received rave reviews from the attendees. Your humorous approach to teaching how to approach the sales situation and your stories about how your built Barefoot Winery dovetailed extremely well together. I’m looking forward to a number of the companies who attended turning their marketing program around based on your presentation.”
– John Van Horn
Editor, Parking Today Host, PIE
“FAU Tech Runway launched its new program to support startups the very next day, over 530 guests were registered to hear about the brand new program to help entrepreneurs and to have the opportunity to meet the founders of Barefoot Wine. The crowd truly enjoyed their story of overcoming obstacles and being victorious in their exit. All who attended appreciated their start-up advice, their candor and sincerity. Michael and Bonnie are a class act-hard to follow!”
– Kim Gramm
CEO, FAU Tech Runway
“I enjoyed their “dynamic duo” speech with Bonnie more than any other event this past weekend. Since the dot-com bubble and especially since the Lehman brother’s financial meltdown, most advice people give these days is overwhelmingly negative. They’ve given all of us hope!”
– Jamie Critelli
EBV Member, Owner of Floral Beauty
“Michael and Bonnie are one of the most inspirational speakers I have had the pleasure of meeting. It is very rare to actually meet entrepreneurs who have taken products from obscurity to the #1 selling product in its class. “
– Joseph Caruth
President of Caruth Central Business Advisory & Education Service
“Michael Houlihan speaks from a place of passion rooted in real world pragmatism. Engaging fully with each set of eyes in a room, he makes his “you-can-do-this” challenge to audiences entirely palpable. Michael turns the most apathetic listener into a player ready to take it on with renewed purpose.”
– Craig Anderson
Executive Director, LandPaths
“Michael is a dynamic speaker to whom audiences respond very well. His effective speaking style combined with his vivid examples taken from his successful career as an entrepreneur always command a very positive audience response. He has an energetic style combined with rich stories.“
– Vic Motto
Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Global Wine Partners LLC
