Entrepeneurship

Kathy & Jon, Leaders

at Bryn Mawr Vineyards

Kathy’s interest in the wine industry goes back to her earliest years of legal practice. On weekends, her young family took day trips and made overnight visits to the magnificent wine regions of California. While Kathy remained occupied with her robust legal practice, Jon moved forward their vision to become winemakers. They purchased Bryn Mawr Vineyards 14 years ago and have enthusiastically been growing it, together ever since. Today, Kathy’s entire family shares her passion, with multiple family members engaged in the business of operating Bryn Mawr. Having made the decision to move onward toward corporate board rooms, Kathy realized that for an interim period she could contribute to Bryn Mawr many of the skills and abilities developed as a lawyer with clients that require and valued good business sense.

Upon leaving the hallowed halls of the law firm she loved for more than 35 years, Kathy saw the possibilities for turbo-charging Bryn Mawr’s growth. As Co-Chair and Co-CEO, she has put a sharp focus on strategic planning, business development and personnel management. She recognized that everyone running a business is in need of risk management skills to succeed at the highest levels, and believed that her experience in the challenging industry of healthcare had taught her many good lessons. Equally important, she has a long-term plan to enjoy life in new ways once she completes the necessary succession plan to allow a legacy both for her and her husband. Thus, her biggest challenge and opportunity is a function of all three of her children being interested in making a whopping success of the business in the long term. Toward that end, she relies upon the family’s shared values and passion for excellence as the underpinnings for a business that will allow any or all of them to engage in lives well lived.