A Glass of Wine: POW! The Tides Springs Forth!

My business partner and I have been friends for almost 20 years – since meeting each other through mutual friends at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. After college, while going in different directions and to different states, mentally we always came back to the roots of our friendship. Keeping in touch over the years, we finally were located in the same space and time six years ago for a College Friends Retreat in Luray, Virginia. Conversation ensued, personal dreams and professional goals were expressed, fishing at a local pond brought peace, and relaxing over a glass of wine became the basis of our future business discussions.

You are probably asking, “How does wine become a basis for business discussion?”

We decided, at the retreat, that we are dedicated to making every aspect of life vital and full. Out motto is: Live, Do, Be. Friends, who are in the grind, wandering through life with little to excite them, and wishing for more inspiration, surround us. Harley and I looked around us at the retreat and decided to do something about it. We started to talk about how to create a business that would excite our friends, our families, the business world, and us.

With a bottle of our new favorite wine in hand (Torrontes from Crios de Susana Balbo) we designed the outline of our business – The Tides. The Tides explores, excavates and expounds upon the essential principles of Business Leadership and Corporate Change through an analogous look at the depths and bountiful life of the Ocean, which it provides through cyclical events and its many cherished secrets. We conduct research, produce publications, and provide a variety of educational programs and products to leaders and organizations in the public, corporate, educational, and nonprofit sectors. Through our programs, we will reach out to leaders and organizations worldwide. The Tides will serve as a clearinghouse for ideas on leadership, management, employee development, and global corporate service and will regularly convene conferences to share this information with all who are interested.

We ultimately provide guidance, structure, and tools to deeply energize and renew the Corporate Culture to increase Corporate Energy.

All of that from a bottle of wine? Well, yes and no. It also had to do with great music, delicious cooking, true friendship, and obviously, our ultimate desire to mingle all of our past business experiences into helping leaders look deeper into their decisions and corporate changes. But wine was an essential ingredient.

Wine helped bring us together and our thoughts alive. As we have built our consultancy, it has been an important aspect of The Tides to have a kindred community, share great food and wine, and fully share our thoughts and experiences.

Action for today: buy a nice bottle of wine, call a dear friend, and sit for hours with each other talking and laughing over a glass of cheer. You will be amazed with what you will come up with that will turn your life around.