Categories: Business Blog

What is a Brand if not the Founder’s Legacy, Concept, and Intention?

So often we see great brands derailed. They seem to have lost track of their purpose and style, their principles and commitments. They often get watered down and diluted by corporate governance, standardization, and complacency. What happened?

They lost their spirit, that’s what happened! They degenerated from a passion to a label – simply another faucet to dump product into. They focused on that neglected market and committed themselves to satisfy it. But then, as time passed, something happened. Maybe it was through an acquisition. Maybe it was through a merger. Or maybe it was through their own growth.

How can you keep the spirit of the brand alive? How can you get those specialists to focus on sales and customer service no matter what their job is?

We are offering a solution to the increasingly common problem of brands becoming just labels by breathing life into the stories that define the brand and making those stories available to employees, vendors, and buyers alike. The solution is presented in an entertaining and compelling Business Audio Theatre format that’s easy to use and is a one-time investment that pays off for decades, keeping your people and your brand on track!

mother handing key to daughter inheritance concept

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

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