Categories: Business Blog

Does your college or university seek an inspiring entrepreneurial speaker duo to engage your students?

Do you organize entrepreneurship summits or pitch events in need of a compelling keynote address?

Your search ends here! For Speaking Engagements and Appearances please contact, sales@thebarefootspirit.com or call 707-484-1600 for more information.

“Bonnie and Michael provided very useful advice to our students. Their suggestions and lessons learned complemented our curriculum in a variety of areas, including customer discovery and validation, promotional strategy and branding, and bootstrapping. I highly recommend Bonnie and Michael as speakers both for students and experienced entrepreneurs.”

Madison Pedigo, Associate Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programs, Naveen Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The Barefoot Spirit

Recent Posts

The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle & Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand 🍷

Learn how Michael Houlihan and I built an incredible business and made a lasting impact… Read More

3 months ago

Something has to change.

Women’s representation in senior leadership dropped to 18.3% in 2024, down from 18.7% in 2023.… Read More

3 months ago

Book Michael and Bonnie!

“OUTSTANDING speech! Better yet, PERFECT. What an incredible way to end this conference.” -Robert Reiss,… Read More

3 months ago

How to Recognize Opportunity (and Make It Sustainable) KNOCK! KNOCK!

We often hear, “Follow your passion” as the universal prescription for happiness and success. But… Read More

3 months ago

Don’t Hurt Your Brand Image with Single-Use Containers – LOOK WHO’S AT THE TOP OF THE HEAP!

When you brand single-use containers, you are signing your own garbage. These “brand impressions” last… Read More

3 months ago

How Barefoot Wine Mastered Brand Positioning and Customer Research to Capture a Market Gap

How Barefoot Wine Mastered Brand Positioning and Customer Research to Capture a Market Gap //… Read More

3 months ago