Their book on transforming Barefoot Wine from the verge of bankruptcy to a leading brand became a New York Times bestseller. Now the public has the opportunity to hear the two entrepreneurs free of charge.

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey relied on innovative business tactics to take Barefoot Wine to the top with extremely limited resources. They will share experiences and advice obtained along the way on April 18 as keynote speakers in the latest installment of Cal Poly Pomona College of Business Administration’s Dean’s Leadership Forum.

“The lessons we learned apply to all businesses,” Houlihan says. “We are asked the same two questions from students all over the world: ‘What keeps you going in the face of adversity?’ and ‘How do you prepare for the unknown?’”

Houlihan and Harvey have spoken at more than 50 schools that teach entrepreneurship with students in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Their New York Times Bestseller, The Barefoot Spirit, How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand is widely used in business schools that teach entrepreneurship.

The Dean’s Leadership Forum is a special series that aims to inspire and motivate future leaders to transform business and society. Past keynote speakers included FUBU founder and “Shark Tank” star Daymond John and hostage-survivor Captain Richard Phillips.

“We are excited to tell our story and share the lessons we learned at a university that was founded on a legacy of giving,” says Harvey in reference to the 813 acres of land where the college sits deeded to California by the iconic businessman. “W.K. Kellogg was a pioneer in the food and beverage industry from which we came. We share his love of education and want to help young entrepreneurs achieve success.”

Houlihan and Harvey will address the two questions they receive most and recount their humble beginnings from the laundry room of their rented farmhouse to their ascension to the board room of the world’s largest wine company. They will also deliver what they call “The Guiding Principles for Success,” or GPS for short.

Completely void of wine industry experience, Houlihan and Harvey began their adventure with an initial investment of 18,000 cases with disregard for traditional marketing campaigns. According to Impact Databank, Barefoot sold 18.1 million cases in 2015.

“There is a misconception that startups need substantial investments from well-connected venture capitalists to succeed,” says Dean of the College of Business Administration Erik Rolland, Ph.D. “Michael and Bonnie outsmarted and outworked their way to the summit of the wine industry; they are excellent examples for our thriving entrepreneurial community, proving that several roads can lead to accomplishment.”

Rather than use commercial advertising to promote the Barefoot name, Michael and Bonnie involved the company with advocate groups like Surfrider Foundation, Save Mono Lake and organizations proactively helping the LGBT community.

“We already supported these groups as individuals,” Harvey says. “When we got into business, we discovered a way to help get the word out about our product by helping them raise funds and get their message out.”

Although seating is first-come-first serve, free tickets for the Dean’s Leadership Forum hosted by the College of Business Administration, American Marketing Association and Latino Business Students’ Association can be reserved at http://houlihanandharvey.eventbrite.com.

“Barefoot Wine, with its colorful packaging and laid back attitude, disrupted the wine industry at a time when it was exclusive, staid, and snobby,” Houlihan says. “Cal Poly Pomona prides itself in doing things differently, and so do we.”

Houlihan and Harvey begin at 7:00 p.m. April 18 in the Bronco Student Center’s Ursa Major. The Dean’s Leadership Forum is made possible by the generous contributions of the Calvert and Gregoire families.

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 post Forum to Feature Founders of Barefoot Wine appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

A keynote speaker in our experience, is a guest speaker who delivers the key “notes” or themes for the event. They must also have the ability to fill the seats by attracting attendees to the event whether they are famous motivational speakers or ordinary corner speakers. Even though event planners look for celebrity speakers, or even famous speakers, they must operate within their budgets.

Most of the events where we speak have several guest speakers but typically only one or two are considered the keynote speakers. Usually it’s for the opening or closing key notes. The organizers want the opening speech to not only entertain, educate, and inspire their group, but they want the content to set the tone (i.e. the “note” for the conference). They want the closing speech to sum up the underlying message of the conference and, ideally, leave the attendees with an inspiring message and tools they can use. They know that folks generally remember the first thing they hear and the last thing they hear, so they want to open and close with their key message.

Opening keynotes tend to capture attention and put the audience in the right frame of mind to appreciate and get the most out of the guest speakers that follow. The closing keynotes tend to remind the audience of general theme of the conference and send them home on high “note.” But how do you find great keynote speakers?

For years it seems the speakers bureaus had a monopoly on accessing well-known keynote speakers and motivational speakers. To a large extent, they still do. Speakers bureaus appear to be based on several different models and combinations thereof:

1. Agent. This model represents the speakers themselves and operates on a percentage of the speaker’s fees. Agents typically promote the speakers that garner the highest fees, more like a speaker’s representative.

2. Outsource.  These bureaus position themselves as working for the event planners and helping them match the best speakers with the particular topics and needs of the conference. This model can gain the on-going trust of the event planners once they have a track record of consistently hitting the mark. After a while, they can “own” the annual conference.

3. Venue. This model works with or is owned by the venues that offer their conference clients ”one-stop” shopping with everything from a facility to catering, from lodging to logistics, and from entertainment to great speakers.

But thanks to social media, the professional speaking business is beginning to change and open up possibilities for independents like us. Word of great candidates can spread through personal and business networks like Twitter and LinkedIn. It’s now much easier for organizers to access speakers directly, check out their websites, see their credentials, read their reviews, and view their speaking reels. The biggest competition facing the speaking bureaus these days is word-of-mouth. When someone in the organization sees a great keynote speaker, they bring them directly to the attention of the organizers. There’s nothing like first-hand, inside referrals to get new, independent keynote speakers booked!

We are primarily business speakers. We speak together as a gender-balanced business couple. Our message is designed to inspire, motivate, and help businesses succeed. We use our history of building a famous brand, starting with virtually nothing, to demonstrate our “Guiding Principles for Success” (GPS) with fun stories and lessons learned the hard way.

We haven’t been represented by a speakers bureau but instead we rely solely on word of mouth, academic and business endorsements, and networking. We spend considerable time discovering the goals of the organizers to see if there is a fit and tailor our talks to their goals. Our greatest reward is getting a note of thanks that says, “You guys really nailed it!”

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 post Keynote Speakers Set the Tone for Your Conference appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

WHAT DOES BUSINESS AND BAREFOOT HAVE TO DO WITH WINE?

The post What does Business and Barefoot have to do with Wine? appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.