I was recently speaking with Michael Houlihan, co-founder of Barefoot Wines. This is the story of how two people overcame remarkable odds and built a beloved brand that transformed the wine industry. It is hard to believe that such an iconic brand as Barefoot Wines began in a laundry room of a rented farmhouse in the Sonoma County hills. Even more surprising is that the people who started it were just an average business couple, Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey. From the start, with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and strategic alliances, while pioneering Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They successfully sold the brand to E&J Gallo in 2005 and Barefoot is now the largest wine brand in the world. (ref The Drinks BusinessJune 2014 London)
Did you know Bonnie M. Harvey and I have a FREE audiobook chapter of our… Read More
Customers crave compelling narratives they can identify with and root for, turning brands into heroes.… Read More
So often we see great brands derailed. They seem to have lost track of their… Read More
"We were truly honored to have hosted the founders of Barefoot Wine, Michael Houlihan and… Read More
As the founders of Barefoot Wine, Bonnie M. Harvey and I understood the challenges of… Read More
Bonnie and Michael were grateful to be judges at the 2024 Mississippi State University Entrepreneurship… Read More