The Art of Wine and Words

culture, behind the scenes

The Hemmings House and A to Z Wineworks teams! Note B Corp Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s references 🙂

written byhhadmindate published Sep 20, 2017 content type behind the scenes

As a filmmaker, story sharer, and active ambassador of the B Corp movement, I have the blessing to meet incredible humans that are using their companies to create far-reaching ripples in the world. The 2017 B Corp Champion’s Retreat is quickly approaching in Toronto, attracting many companies that are “Best For The World” to be inspired and empowered to make even more positive change in their communities. I have had the pleasure of working with a number of these B Corps, producing films that help them demonstrate their values to the market and their stakeholders. You’ll find examples of our podcasts and videos at the bottom of this post!

A to Z Wineworks

One of the 2017 Best for the World companies that my company Hemmings House Pictures has worked with is A to Z Wineworks/Rex Hill. I met this incredible wine-making company on the 2015 Champion’s Retreat in Portland, Oregon. I signed up for the wine tour, where we visited the vineyard, had lunch, sampled some delicious wine, and heard an inspiring presentation from one of the vineyard’s owners Deb Hatcher. Instead of talking about the wine and the process, she talked to us about the use of language in business. It was eye-opening for me.

A to Z Wineworks is a 2017 Best for the World honoree. Find the full list of Best for the World companies and all of our stories about these companies setting the gold standard for people using business as a force for good.

The ‘Military Words’ We Use in Business

Deb pointed out that so many of us in business use the military words and analogies in business that are actually more damaging than helpful. Military words or sayings such as, “hit our targets,” “in or out of scope,” “fire away,” “kill the competition,” “corporate takeovers,” and even “make an impact” (a favorite word in the B Corp lexicon) are used daily in business ...but why? I never really thought about the words I use in business until Deb presented it to us, and I haven’t stopped talking about it since.

All Deb did was demonstrate her personal values to her fellow B Corp family. But the ripple she created in sharing this perspective has reached all around the world, and I, personally and in my business, continue to reference to Z Wineworks all the time.

Why? Well, it is true that the pinot noir is friggin’ amazing, BUT the real reason is because I now have an intimate values connection with the company through the words of the owner. I was so excited about her perspective that Dave Veale and I hosted her on our “change-maker” podcast, The Boiling Point Podcast. We talked all about the power of words, and the challenge for us to use words from nature instead of military in business.

Sharing Values

After developing a relationship with Deb and her team as a result of shared values, fun conversations about word-choices, and our common love for using business as force for positive change, we had the opportunity to get to know her team even deeper by producing a few films with them. The cool thing about the projects we produced is that they really were focused on their mission, values and world-view and less on the product. This is ‘new-economy’ marketing at its finest. We are living in an age where we buy from people we love and respect—end of story.

What Are Your Personal and Corporate Values?

What are the values of your company? Are they shared? Are you able to invest time and energy in talking about purpose more than what makes you profit? If so bravo! If not, I hope you are inspired by Deb and her team and consider sharing your authentic purpose and values through the stories … and words … you choose to share.