Oct 24th – @silkandcoupe
Today, I am featuring @silkandcoupe. I came to one of Laura’s wine events at The Hatch Winery a couple weeks ago and met her for the first time. I love how passionate Laura is and I also share the same love for wine as her. She carries the essence of “strong, independent woman” that I love and doesn’t follow the crowd. If you love wine, make sure you check her out as she knows her stuff!
My name is Laura Milnes and my business is SILK + COUPE. You can connect with me via Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
I follow @jennaswetlikoff because I came upon her handle when searching for good quality content in Kelowna; I love the authenticity and sincerity that really comes through in all your posts. I have met other “influencers” who I don’t glean the same feeling from. You can tell they are acting the part simply to gain more followers, and I don’t really resonate with that as it’s not authentic.
My business is about wine and hospitality consulting. I specialize in wine writing and educational wine videos and articles, training and educational seminars, wine related pop ups and events, food and wine pairing suggestions and recipes, and soon to be launching wine related merchandise on my site!
I use Instagram to learn, educate and connect. My favorite accounts to follow are @juiceimports, @rachelsigner, and @winegini.
The most important part of my business journey so far would be achieving milestones I never thought I was “deserving” of. I spent a lot of my life wondering how all these other people reached certain echelons of success and couldn’t put two and two together on how they accomplished that. I have learned through tenacity, persistence, consistency and never sitting back and waiting for things to come to me, that I can dictate the success I see. Now, I just reach out and ask. It’s how I was able to get my wine column with KelownaNow, and many other opportunities I feel grateful to have been offered.
My 5-year goal with my business is currently in the works; sourcing fruit to make my own custom label. One of my best friends is a local winemaker who will be consulting on the project with me. Essentially, I’ll operate as “garagiste”; a term that was coined in France when locals would literally make wine in garages – it’s a lot more cost effective than purchasing land and building a winery! I think it would be such a cool, fun and funky project to make my own wine that’s very reflective of who I am as a person, coupled with small production – giving it a boutique, and exclusive vibe. In addition to that, plans are also in the works to open a wine bar in the long term – details will remain vague though, so I don’t give too much away :).
Lastly, to finish my WSET diploma, so that I can also legitimately educate other people who are passionate about wine and want to pursue careers in this amazing industry!
What makes me stand out from other business is that I think differently than most; I have always been described as unconventional. It’s also what has made it challenging for me to try and find out how or where I fit in. Now, I am at a point in my life where I am confident to be different, and am receiving really positive feedback that I am a refreshing change from a lot of people, that I don’t follow the crowd, and offer unique, and refreshing content that people won’t really find anywhere else.
How do I push through the worst times? I am still trying to figure this out! It seems at times, when it rains, it pours. I think gratitude is a huge way to overcome adversity, and in those moments when you want to give up, is when you push the hardest. That is when you really build character, and become principled in your devotion to making your business a success.
I think Steph Leblanc would make a good feature on this series. She is the wine director for Okanagan Wine Club, and I think, one of the smartest, most strategic and forward-thinking people in our business today.
Thank you for having me on the Who’s Out There? SERIES!!!