It's Official: I’m Opening a Winery!

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Two weeks ago, I quit my day job!

It was a scary moment — I walked away from a successful, lucrative career that I really enjoyed.

As a marketing executive at a software company, I was leading a large team of amazingly talented people (who I now consider friends), and managing million dollar advertising budgets. Work was often stressful, but it challenged me and I really enjoyed showing up to the office each day.

Thankfully, all of the hard work and long hours that I put into my career have payed off. I’ve been blessed to have a career that meant I could afford to live in one of the best neighborhoods in Austin and drive my dream car. By all outside measures I was a “successful” young professional. I was being groomed for a C-suite position and my future in the tech industry looked very bright.

Then I decided to give it all up.

It might sound crazy that I just walked away from a career that I enjoyed. I’ve thrown away steady income & stability to risk everything I have to open this winery. But I have no doubt in my mind that I’ve made the right decision.

What I’ve learned in the past 10 years of working my ass off, is that no promotion or bonus check will make me happier if I’m spending my energy to build someone else’s company instead of building my own.

A successful career didn’t turn out to be the crowning achievement that I, as a younger man, thought it would be. So, I’ve decided to follow my heart and pour all of my energy into opening Anton Vincent Winery.

I'm thrilled to be moving back to Wisconsin to be closer to my parents, my brother & his beautiful family, and some amazing, lifelong friends.

I’ll be making wine for a living, which is my true passion in life. Just the thought of spending all of my time doing what I’m passionate about makes me feel like the luckiest man alive.

I’ve been dreaming of this day for a long time — over the last 3 years on nights and weekends I’ve been working on the winery business plan, attending winemaking school, and building relationships with vendors, suppliers, and contractors.

Maybe that’s why it doesn’t feel so crazy to start this big journey — I’ve been preparing for this day and I’m confident that this business is going to be successful.

If you’re reading this post right now, it means that you’re an early supporter of this dream, and I’m truly grateful for you! Starting a winery is going to be an epic experience full of twists and turns, so I appreciate every little piece of the support from all of you who have encouraged me to move forward.

This post is the first of many where I’ll be documenting the journey of opening my winery. I plan to use this space to keep all of you updated on our progress, and I hope that my experiences can help to inspire other entrepreneurs to follow their own dreams!

Cheers!

- John