The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America's #1 Wine Brand

It is amazing that such an iconic brand as Barefoot Wines began as a start-up in the laundry room of a rented farmhouse. Even more surprising is that it was started by a business couple with no money and no knowledge of the wine industry. They regularly ran into difficulties that nearly killed the brand. It was their unshakable belief in Barefoot's potential that kept it going, along with the use of classic business principles, and a never-say-die outlook. Hardship, hustle, and heart are the essence of The Barefoot Spirit. The book was written by award-winning journalist Rick Kushman after hundreds of hours of research and interviews with the Barefoot Wine founders and many others. The Barefoot Spirit is not a dry business text. The lessons are woven into a humorous twenty-year business adventure story. It's an uncommon peek behind the curtain of the wine business that's inspiring, amazing, and entertaining. This book is a testament to the power of out-of-the-box thinking. It is a guidebook for anyone in business, and a great read for everyone who loves a rags-to-riches story. Filled with encouragement, inspiration, and empowerment, it covers how Worthy Cause Marketing outperformed paid advertising, how boot-strapping was used instead of conventional financing, the surprising advantages of being small and broke, and how creating a fun, yet hardworking company culture encouraged innovative leadership. If you like wine, the wine country, or a story about how a plucky couple disrupted an industry, if you want to know what it takes to really succeed in the face of adversity, or how to use your core beliefs to build a national brand, then The Barefoot Spirit is for you.