Happy Wednesday: Part Two of My Journey

As a wine enthusiast, I’ve been spending a lot of time lately expanding my knowledge—and writing these post has been such a rewarding part of that journey. It’s given me the chance to dig deeper into a subject I never get tired of exploring. For today’s post, I wanted to keep things a little more personal. After all, this blog is about my journey: how I got here, and hopefully, how I’ll continue to grow.

My long-term goal is to blend the operational side of my brain with my passion for the wine industry. I currently work for the government, and I’m hoping to eventually transition into a role with the BC Liquor Distribution Branch—ideally within inventory management.

For those who may not know much about my background, I previously worked as an Operations Manager for a small e-commerce company for about 20 months. I genuinely loved the work—communicating across departments and with external suppliers, creating purchase orders, coordinating deliveries, and leading the fulfillment team to make sure every order went out smoothly and every customer was happy. That’s where my love for operations, inventory, and distribution really took root. As someone who thrives on organization, I found real joy in bringing all the moving parts together.

Now, let’s talk about wine—why we're all here. Growing up, it was common in my family to have a glass of wine with dinner. At family gatherings, someone would bring a bottle, then someone else would bring another, and suddenly we’d have four or five to share (never a problem for us!). When I first started drinking wine, I only liked the sweetest varieties and couldn’t understand how anyone enjoyed red wine. But over time—through high school and university—my palate evolved. I went from sweet whites to dry whites, then sweet reds, and finally to dry reds.

My curiosity deepened when I moved to BC in 2021 and started exploring higher-quality wines. The wines produced here are truly special, and I loved learning about what makes each one unique—whether it’s the growing temperatures, climate, landscape, fermentation methods, or aging processes. The list goes on. During COVID (when, let’s be honest, many of us were drinking a bit more than usual), I decided to sign up for my WSET Level 2 certification. After chatting with a sommelier at Quails’ Gate, he encouraged me to skip Level 1 and go straight to Level 2—and I’m so glad I did. The course taught me so much, but more importantly, it sparked an even deeper desire to learn. Now, every time I open a bottle, I find myself researching where it came from, how it was made, and what makes it special. That’s my favourite part—each bottle has its own story.

Outside of work and wine, I’ve also been training for a half-marathon! In less than two weeks I’ll be running the BMO Half Marathon in Vancouver—one of my big goals for 2025.

Thanks for following along with my journey. I’m so excited to keep sharing more about wine, operations, and life along the way!