Moraga Vineyards is a wine growing estate in the Santa Monica Mountains at an elevation of 600 to 900 feet, five miles from the Pacific Ocean in the Los Angeles community of Bel Air. From the care of each individual vine, to the selection and blending processes, to the hand labeling of each bottle, every effort is taken to produce wine of distinctive style and quality.

This is where Rich works his magic. Hired by former owner Tom Jones, who created the vineyard two decades ago out of what was once the horse ranch of director Victor Fleming (of Gone with the Wind fame), Rich now makes wine that has earned the praise of such renowned critics as Robert Parker and the Financial Times’ Jancis Robinson (who cited it as one of her favorite California wineries).

“Most winemakers don’t have this opportunity in a lifetime,” says Rich, eyes twinkling above a small goatee that makes him resemble a young Frank Zappa. A native of Chatsworth, Rich studied enology at UC Davis. Since then, he has had a knack for nurturing vines in unusual places, starting with R.H. Phillips Wine Company, which hired him to create a vineyard north of Sacramento. He eventually launched his own wine label, Talisman, in Glen Ellen, and now splits his time between there and LA. “Look at how [rich in calcium] this soil is,” says Rich, scooping up the earth beneath a row of Merlot grapes ripening in the sun, reflecting off the Pacific glistening between the Santa Monica mountains. “This was all once under water, and the drainage makes it very similar to other great winemaking areas, like Burgundy.”

The constant sea breeze keeps things chillier here than in other local wine regions, lowering the high sugar levels typical to California grapes. “This temperate climate means that the wine is not a Napa fruit bomb type of thing,” notes Rich. “It has a subtle, herbal quality more associated with European wines.”

But it takes micro planning to grow grapes in this sort of environment. As we round toward the lee of the hill, grape clusters grow darker.

But it takes micro planning to grow grapes in this sort of environment. As we round toward the lee of the hill, grape clusters grow darker.“This is a little pocket that gets protected from the breezes, so we planted Cabernet here,” says Rich. “They thrive more in warmer spots.”

At this time of year, the juice of these grapes will be brought down to the large steel fermentation vats in the hypermodern stone and glass winemaking building at the bottom of the hill. Afterward, the red wine will be stored in French-oak barrels lining a 200-foot cave dug into the side of the hill. The vineyard even has its own bottling machine. “Most small vineyards hire mobile units to come and do their bottling for them, but we want to be able to time everything perfectly,” says Rich. “It might seem extravagant for such small batches, but that way we can best control the quality.”

Having visited more than 50 countries on six continents, 50 U.S. states, and numerous cities around the globe, author and seasoned traveler Taryn White sees travel as transformative. This author and blogger has explored many of the world's hotspots and hidden gems, from Switzerland to Swaziland. Always looking for her next adventure, she created www.tripwishlist.com to encourage herself and others to make their travel dreams come true.

Her book: Get Your Travel On!

About the time I was graduating from California Polytechnic University with a degree in Biology, I remember hearing for the first time President John Kennedy speaking “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” I decided and was accepted to join the Peace Corps to teach high school Biology in Africa. Unfortunately, at the same time, the army was calling me to Vietnam. I decided to make my own choice and joined the Marine Corps as an infantry officer. During those life changing 13 months I spent in Vietnam I remember saying to myself, whatever I do the rest of my life had better make sense. When I returned home to the United States my search began to fulfill the promise I made to myself. Not knowing exactly what that was, I decided to spend a year exploring 17 countries in Europe on a 10-speed bicycle. This fueled my love of travel, culture, and history…the joy of just moving.

I believe travel is the greatest university in the world. It is a fulfilling yet humbling experience to explore the cultures and history of our planet.

For the next 7 years I would travel the globe as a Tour Director. When I returned to Europe leading tour groups, I met a whole new breed of professionally trained tour directors and guides. They could talk about art, food, wine, music, history, culture…they were like modern day Renaissance people. I found that most countries in Europe had national guide schools that trained people to be the “face of their country.” In America tour escorting was done mostly by college students as a temporary summer job or by a retired person to obtain a free trip. Starting a school for tour directors in America seemed pre-destined to be a goal that I would pursue. I wanted to ensure that tour directing was a recognized, respected profession and more importantly give others an avenue to pursue their passion for travel. So, in 1976, my friend and colleague Bill Newton and I started the first school in America to train tour directors and guides.

I am proud of each one of the graduates that made the choice to follow their dream to teach, learn, and grow into the role of a Professional Tour Director and ultimately be called Ambassadors of Goodwill throughout the world. Even after all this time I still lead a few tours a year, when I am not instructing at ITMI. Tour Directing is still my passion… besides, I’m not going to let my students have all the fun!

Paolo is Pulp’s in-house sommelier and CEO. Prior to founding Pulp, Paolo worked in the financial industry, including the Singaporean sovereign fund GIC. Paolo is a WSET and UKSA certified sommelier and lifelong wine lover.

He is Italian and comes from one of the best kept wine 'secrets' of Italy - a region of Friuli, well known within Italy as the best white wine region. Will be happy to have a chat about wine, wine making, Pulp and what we are trying to achieve - ie desnobbify wine and the wine industry.

From Pulp Wine:

The wine tasting experience in the comfort of your own home. We've combined wine and technology to make wine tasting accessible to everyone, everywhere.

How does Pulp work? Every month, we deliver four great wines, carefully selected by our somm Paolo, to your door. Each box comes with an online lesson that talks about wine with a simple, no-nonsense approach. At the end of each lesson, you rate each wine you drink to create your own personalized taste profile.

Lisa Niver is a travel expert, writer, artist, entrepreneur, and on-camera host who has explored 96 countries. Niver has established a following through her written and video content, garnering over one million video views on YouTube, Amazon Fire Tv and Roku.

Niver is the founder of a top 100 travel blog, We Said Go Travel, that reaches more than 200,000 annually and is in the top 1/8 of the top 1% of all sites in the United States. In her tri-annual international travel writing competitions, she has published nearly 2000 writers from 75 countries.

She was invited to the United Nations as a Champions of Humanity ambassador, to the red carpet at the Oscars with United Airlines and to New Orleans for a project with American Express and Starwood Hotels. Her recent stories include Dutch designer villas for Luxury Magazine, interviewing Fabien Cousteau for Delta Sky, skiing with the blind for Sierra and scuba diving in the Solomon Islands for Smithsonian.

She also contributes to USA Today, Wharton Business Magazine, the Jewish Journal and is verified on Twitter. Niver was a 2012 nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching and a 2014 nominee for the Charles Bronfman Prize.

As CEO, David McNally connects people to the power of purpose through his unique gifts and his unmitigated passion for helping individuals and businesses thrive. His insights as an entrepreneur, speaker, author and film producer have been instrumental in motivating leaders, teams and individuals across many organizations. He finds that powerful transformation occurs when people are genuinely committed to a compelling purpose.

David has inspired millions of people from the stage, on film and with his best-selling books. His loyal following garnered him the honor of election to the Speakers’ Hall of Fame and recognition by a leading speakers’ bureau as one of the world's Top 50 business speakers. He has written five respected business leadership books and produced two inspirational films.

I'm Joanne creator of FifteenSpatulas.com when I was in middle school, I read the “cool kid books” like Harry Potter and Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, but more often I read cookbooks and culinary textbooks that taught me about the chemistry of cooking on a deep, molecular level. Food is cool stuff. I mean, did you know that the hardness of your tap water can affect the gluten development in your bread? Or that one of the reasons we keep butter cold for pie crust is because butter is an emulsion of water and fat, and once it melts, you cannot get it back? Those are the tidbits of knowledge that I have collected since I was a little girl, and my curiosity for that food knowledge has never slowed down. Fifteen Spatulas now has 700+ recipes from scratch and includes step-by-step photos and tutorial videos. Joanne also created a weekly Youtube cooking show in December 2012 and accrued nearly 30,000 subscribers in her first year.Joanne and Fifteen Spatulas have been featured in numerous media outlets, including live and taped television appearances, and print and online publications, such as Cooking Channel TV, Fine Cooking, Glamour, Redbook, Better Homes & Gardens, and more. 

About my food:

Pretty much everything I eat is made from scratch. I suffered from severe gastroesophagael reflux problems in college and all my hospital and doctor visits eventually went away after I started eating real food from scratch. I believe in using whole foods and natural ingredients, which means checking that the chicken breast I buy isn’t 20% an injected chemical solution I don’t want in my chicken. Whole foods and natural ingredients doesn’t mean I eat kale all day long. I have an affection for butter and I love to eat the food I crave, I just like to make them at home so I know what’s going into it.

Ralph Velasco is President, Founder and CEO (Chief Experience Officer) of PhotoEnrichment Programs, Inc. d.b.a. PhotoEnrichment Adventures, as well as a travel photography instructor and international guide who has photographed in over 60 countries on 6 continents.

Drawing on over 10 years of experience planning, organizing, administering, scouting and leading more than 70 international trips around the world, and over 100 domestic trips in the United States, Ralph has created TourOrganizerTraining.com, a free webinar and online course series that trains everyday people, step-by-step, how to organize and lead their own tours, whether around the world, or around the corner.

He’s the author of “Ralph Velasco On Travel Photography: 101 Tips for Developing Your Photographic Eye & More,” as well as the creator of the My Shot Lists for Travel app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch®.

Ralph was recently a finalist for the prestigious 2016 and 2015 Travel Photographer of the Year award and was selected to a group of the Top 100 Travel Photographers in the World for 2014 by a site in the U.K., as well as one of the Top 10 Travel Photography Bloggers by USA Today’s 10best.com.  Additionally he was chosen to a list of 10 Photography Travel Bloggers to Inspire You This Year (2015) by FlipKey.com, a TripAdvisor company.

And two years in a row he was chosen “Open Photographer of the Year” by the Professional Photographers of Orange County.

Ralph has an MBA in International Business from United States International University in Mexico City and San Diego (1995), an undergraduate degree in Management from the Indiana University School of Business (1985), speaks Spanish and is a licensed private pilot SEL (single engine land).

He’s also been an integral member of several championship sailing teams in Chicago, San Diego and Newport Beach, California.

Born in Los Angeles, CA in the mid-80’s, my culinary journey started when I was 13 years old in my mother’s kitchen in Redding, CA.  I remember turning a package of fresh strawberries into a puree by hand (today I would use an immersion blender, but with age comes wisdom) then adding sugar and cinnamon until it was a delicious strawberry sauce!!  This is where my love for creating food began.  I’ve since spent years teaching myself the ins and outs of cooking and learning my own signature taste.  My biggest honor was being named Top 40 Home Cook in America by MasterChef in May of 2017.  This is only the first of many awards I hope to accomplish in the field of the culinary arts, so follow along and enjoy my journey!!

Brien, from Redding, CA, has been whittled down from tens of thousands of hopefuls across the country to compete for the MasterChef title, spot on the MasterChef cruise, and $250,000 grand prize.

 Other facts to him:

• 33 years old
• Grew up in Northern California (Redding), but has lived in Pacific Beach for 11 years
• Started cooking around 13 years old
• Was kicked out of high school, but now has a Master’s degree
• Specializes in “California Comfort Food”
• Won 1st Mystery Box of this season’s MasterChef
• Was first Team Leader on in a Team Challenge (Won)

Kristy DeVaney, the person behind cavegrrl.com She is a Paleo and Primal Food, Wine, Travel and Living Travel. She loves to talk about the Paleo Food and Wine. 

Nestled in California’s beautiful Central Coast Region is the lovely Santa Maria Valley. Their unique micro-climate in the valley produces cool mornings and long warm afternoons.

A perfect combination producing some of the highest quality fruit Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Syrah wines.

Ca’ Del Grevino is located in the Santa Maria Valley appellation of Santa Barbara County. The vineyard is located just 10 miles from the Pacific Coast and benefits greatly from cool, maritime influences. The vineyard is planted methodically and meticulously, with special attention paid to varietals best suited to the estate’s terroir. Taking into account the soils, the meso- and micro-climates, the coastal influences and the orientation of the sun upon the hillsides, you can find here Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Grenache, Dolcetto, Riesling and Syrah.

“Our vineyard produces some of the finest wines in California. The region’s cool climate, geology and topography provide the opportunity to create uncompromised, premium wines. Ca’ Del Grevino, meaning “House of Grewal Family Wines”, produces fine wines steeped in Italian tradition with a distinctive California style.”

“Ca’ Del Grevino is the signature wine brand of our estate representing regality, tradition and opulence. Nestled in California’s prestigious Central Coast is the lovely Santa Maria Valley. The unique micro-climate of the valley produces cool mornings and long warm afternoons. Together with us the best quality fruit produced and attention to detail produces our award -winning Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, White Riesling and Syrah wines.”

Ca’ Del Grevino wines are available to their Wine Club members and at their distinctive area Tasting Rooms. Each Tasting Room has a bit of a different character. The Orcutt Tasting Room is also a Café. The Los Olivos Tasting Room skillfully pairs their wines with cheese, charcuterie or chocolate plates. The Tasting Room in Santa Barbara is in the vibrant “Funk Zone” at the Santa Barbara Wine Collective. An attraction there is Helena’s Bakery with a menu of custom-baked sweet and savory goods.

Mary Gorman-McAdams, MW is a New York based independent wine consultant offering a range of wine business, education, marketing and tasting services to the wine industry. MaryMary Gorman-McAdams, MW is a New York based Master of Wine. She is also a businesswoman, with 17 years experience in a range of environments from multinational corporations, to start-ups as well as Government agencies.

Today Mary is Market Advisor to the Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) for North America – a position that combines her passion for wine with her extensive international business expertise. Mary became a Master of Wine in 2011, a distinguished title held only by 310 people worldwide.

She was also awarded the Viña Errazuriz Award for excellence in the Business of Wine exam paper. During the course of her MW studies Mary was the recipient of the Trinity Champagne Scholarship and the Constellation Brands Award – international prizes for MW candidates. In 2012 she was honored as a Dame Chevalier de L’Ordre des Côteaux de Champagne.

As one of the foremost Wine Educators in the United States, Mary is a Board member of the Society of Wine Educators and a member of the North American Education committee for the Institute of Masters of Wine.

She also teaches the globally recognized WSET wine programs. Fluent French speaker with excellent communications and editorial skills, Mary has a highly trained wine tasting palate and international experience in wine judging, reviewing and scoring. She is a judge at the Decanter Wine Awards, the Ultimate Wine Challenge and the Dallas Morning News/TexSom international wine competitions.

Between 2008 and 2014 she was the wine columnist for the highly trafficked lifestyle website Apartment Therapy. Mary has a BA (Honors) in Languages and International Marketing from Dublin City University, and an MBS in International Marketing (First Class Honors) from the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business (University College Dublin), where she was awarded both the Dean’s List Award & the Sir Charles Harvey Award for academic excellence in post-graduate studies.

Jonathan David Lewis is Partner and Strategy Director at McKee Wallwork + Co., and has been endorsed by companies such as LEGO, LG, Disney, and Hyundai. Jonathan is a contributing writer for Forbes.

A branding and business strategist, Jonathan honed his skills during the lean years of the Great Recession, helping brands navigate today’s unforgiving new business paradigms. Jonathan’s opinions are highly sought by numerous business and marketing publications, including Forbes , Digiday , and Advertising Age , where he explores the factors that
lead to stalled growth and the principles proven to help companies navigate the ambiguities and dangers of the brand wilderness.

His new book, Brand vs. Wild: Building Resilient Brands for Harsh Business Environments uses 10 years of proprietary research, to explain what survival psychology can do to lead your business through The Wild.

Psychologically, there is no difference between a group of people who crash-land on a mountain, and a group of leaders in a boardroom. Both are experiencing disruption, and both can overcome it in the same way. Disruption isn’t going anywhere, and Jonathan David Lewis is here to help navigate it.

My name is Ferdinand Goetzen and I am a full-stack Growth Hacker. I first ventured into the digital sphere almost a decade ago and have been helping companies grow ever since. The world is rapidly changing and with the emergence of new sophisticated technologies, in particular those driven by AI, it has become more frightening but also more exciting than ever to grow a business online.

I am currently living in Amsterdam, working at Growth Tribe with some of Europe’s leading Growth Hackers, helping companies of all shapes and sizes take on the challenges of the digital age and scale their businesses. I come from a pretty mixed background, so moving around has always been a big part of my life. So far, I have travelled to over 50 countries, 6 of which I have lived in.

I am also the co-founder of the new generation media outlet Pynx Media and currently blog about travelling the world at Wireless Vagabond.

Diane Lang has dedicated her career to helping people turn their lives around and is now on a mission to help them develop a  sustainable positive attitude that can actually turn one into an optimist, literally. A therapist and educator/coach of Positive Psychology, she has seen that it can provide a strong foundation for finding great happiness and is gratified that it is becoming a mainstream method of treatment.

A parent herself, Lang has taught Positive Parenting to parents and written extensively on the benefits of using it with even the youngest children. She has also spoken or conducted seminars on postpartum depression, striving for balance versus having it all and practical tips on interviewing, networking and dressing for success and is the author of “Baby Steps: the Path from Motherhood to Career.”

Diane is a Therapist and Life coach in NJ. Her clinical experience includes treating patients with different forms of mental illness, physical and emotional abuse and relationship issues. Lang is also an Adjunct in Psychology at Montclair State University, her college work includes mentoring students for individual career counseling and personal issue advisement.

As an expert in her fields of therapy, Lang has been featured in the Daily Record, Family Circle, Family Magazine, Working Mother Magazine and Cookie Magazine, seen on NJ 12 TV, Good day CT, CBS TV, Style CT, The Veira network and the national television program “Fox & Friends”. She has also participated in a reality based Internet show, ourprisoner.com, hosted Generation X-tinet and appeared in various educational videos including Columbia books.

Lang has an M.A. in Counseling and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from the New York Institute of Technology. Diane has her Positive Psychology coaching certificate from Wholebeing Institute. Diane’s latest book is: Creating balance & finding happiness.

Underground Cellar has come up with an interesting new concept for wine sales, where its customers are able purchase package deals that include random, free upgrades to premium, rare, and private-stash bottles from a number of wineries. These wines can then be shipped immediately to the consumer, or they can stored in Underground Cellar’s own climate and temperature-controlled wine cellar for on-demand shipping.

We’ve gamified online wine buying with our ‘upgrade’ ecommerce technology. Been in business 3 years, backed by Silicon Valley VCs, such as Y Combinator, Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran, and Jason Calacanis.

Underground Cellar is a groundbreaking online wine marketplace for discovering and buying premium wine that randomly rewards our consumers with free upgrades to rare and private-stash bottles from prestigious wineries. Members can increase their chance of being upgraded to a higher-value bottle by referring friends, purchasing wine, and participating in discussions with other users. Underground Cellar is free to join and everyone of legal drinking age 21+ is invited.

Our Approach

Unlike the other countless "deep discount" ecommerce websites, we take a different approach to helping wineries move inventory. Rather than providing value to our members through discounts, value is provided through randomized upgrades to more premium wines. Not only does this provide an exciting new way for wine consumers to experience high-end wines they might not otherwise go to the store and buy, but it allows a winery to maintain its price point by never advertising their product at a discount. Discounts ruin brands - We preserve them.

The Offers

Each week we post offers exclusive to Underground Cellar members only. Each offer is comprised of a few similar wines of different price points. Our members only pay for the lowest priced bottle in the offer, and have the chance to be upgraded to the higher priced bottles. Chances for an upgrade are fully transparent, and all of this information is provided on the offer pages. Most of our deals are direct with the wineries, so you're receiving wine directly from the winery itself. This means you're purchasing bottles with the highest possible provenance. Please be patient as the winery gets your wine to the shipping facility and then directly to your door.

What is CloudCellar?

We provide our members the ability to accumulate and store their purchases for free and for an unlimited amount of time in our state-of-the-art, humidity and temperature controlled wine cellar located in Napa Valley, CA. Known as the “CloudCellar,” members can mix-and-match bottles from different wineries over time, and when they are ready to take them out of the “cellar,” they simply click on their “CloudCellar” tab and select which bottles they want delivered. Our members can even request them to arrive chilled and ready to drink to nearly anywhere in the US. This is a cost-effective and great way to accumulate bottles as users only pay $5 when shipping 6+ bottles, with free shipping when shipping 12+ bottles.

Purple Line Urban Winery is a small family owned winery born out of our long romance and passion for good wine. My name is Kate (Owner/Tasting room manager) my husband’s name is George (Owner/Winemaker/cellar rat) and this is our story.

Our story begins a few years ago when George decided that we needed to build a wine cellar in the basement of our 1865 Victorian home in the historic district of Oroville. George doesn’t do anything half way and once he gets an idea in his head he is as tenacious as a bull.  So the wine cellar was built. Now we need to fill it up. Ok we can do that…we belong to wine clubs from many regions and surely that will fill the cellar. With our thoughts into filling the cellar we ventured out into the country side on one beautiful Sunday afternoon to do a little wine tasting in our region.  We met the people making the wine, we talked to the people tasting the wine, we smelled the wine fermenting in the oak barrels.

That is the day we fell in love with the craft of making wine, with its intrigue and romance.

Then before we knew it we were helping at the local wineries and learning to make wine from the winemakers. Our innocent flirtations quickly evolved to a full-fledged love affair, as passionate and all-consuming as any love affair can be. We were hooked! What made us want to grow our passion into a serious business are the people and the camaraderie that develops because of the wine.  

The stars aligned and the signs were all around us pointing the way.

We jumped – heart, soul and pocket book – into the wine industry and Purple Line Urban Winery was born. After a few character-building moments (ok, more like questioning our sanity moments), encouragement and guidance from industry winemakers and mentors, and timely opportunities (funny what following the signs will do sometimes), we found ourselves standing in a cold, rundown, warehouse with a leaky roof in downtown Oroville.. Amidst the dust and darkness, we thought “Perfect” Just like our love affair with wine has been a journey that at times has seemed like one challenge after another….. This is the perfect setting to share our passion for wine with you. Our grapes will be sourced from mostly local vineyards in our North Sierra Region. We will crush, ferment, press and bottle the wine ourselves in our cellar.  Thus, the name “Urban Winery”.

We will take advantage of so many incredible grape varietals grown in our North Sierra Foothills region and hand craft them into our wine using time honored traditional methods right here in our fully functioning winery 

In the fall of 2013, (when all the stars aligned) we opened the doors to our tasting room and cellar in the Old Warehouse.  We call it “Warehouse Chic” and we introduce the wines of Purple Line Urban Winery to you.  We are different, we are edgy, but we make great wine. 

Be a “ part of History”  come out and see us and help promote the wines, art, music and food of our region. 

So begins the next chapter of our story… We looking forward to meeting you every step along the way…

Gianni is our miller and overviews all aspects of production in Apollo Olive Oil. He learned his craft the old fashioned way on a traditional stone mill.  His skills were further refined by working with state-of-the-art machinery. Having trained intensively with Marco Mugelli both in Italy and here, he is one of the most progressive millers in America. He is dedicated to the art of extracting the highest quality of flavors and nutrients that the olives contain. 

Apollo Olive Oil was founded in 1999, with the first commercial production of about 800 bottles two years later.  Since then friends and family, who have known each other for decades, make up the backbone of Apollo Olive Oil, working together in a way that defines our company.  Each of us became a partner in the company at different times – the Stefanini family – Gianni and Diana, in 2002, and Steve McCulley in 2005.

Before founding Grey Fox Vineyards in 1996, the Arrigoni and Cecchi families spent much of their free time pursuing their passion for flying small planes. It was on these getaways that conversations turned to dreams of planting a vineyard and building a winery. Bruce's family had a tradition of making wine at home and Gary had a good chemistry background. A seed was planted and it began to take hold.

They all sought out viticulture courses at U.C. Davis and committed themselves to a new passion--winegrowing. While Bruce, Gary and Jeanne are involved in the vineyard and winery operations, Pat is busy handling sales and wine tasting events. Their goal is to create high quality wine by constantly overseeing and improving their vineyard to produce great fruit.

Come visit Grey Fox and share in the fulfillment and pride of this incredible endeavor. Taste the premium wines and you'll understand why winemaking has become their ultimate passion.

    Light has more than two decades of experience in wine industry  communications. Prior to forming Nancy Light Public Relations in 2003, she  was Vice President of Public Relations for Robert Mondavi for seven years,  acting as chief communications strategist and managing public relations  programs for the company and its portfolio of 16 wineries and labels.  Light  was responsible for communications programs for the launch of ten new labels,  including international joint ventures, during a period of intense growth and  expansion in the US and key export markets.  She also managed press activity  for family and key company executives and served as spokesperson on  promotional, business and industry issues.      This direct experience augments the broad view of the industry that Light  gained as Wine Institute Communications Director and in her previous positions  as Account Supervisor for Shelly Berman Communicators, a public relations and  advertising agency, and as Public Relations Manager for Kobrand Corporation in  New York, where she started the company's first in-house PR department in the  1980s.      Wine Institute is a public policy advocacy group representing  637 California wineries and affiliated businesses responsible for more than  80 percent of the nation's wine production and 90 percent of U.S. wine  exports.  Light replaces Kari Birdseye who departs the organization and plans  to remain in the wine industry.     

Justin's love for broadcasting started on his 8th birthday when his parents gifted him a microphone and a speaker set that year.  After several years of hosting mock radio shows in his kitchen, Justin landed his first big gig as a weekend radio DJ on JR 93.7FM in Scranton, Pennsylvania during his senior year of High School.

While bouncing his way through radio and television markets in Pennsylvania, Justin attended West Chester University pursuing his  Communications degree. After successfully running the campus radio station and creating the first ever campus news show at WCU, Justin began looking for his first "real job."

During Winter break of his Senior year, Justin set up his camcorder in his basement, grabbed his iPad (a product he knew inside and out) and started talking. That tape would lead to an audition, interviews and eventually Justin's first National Gig.

Since 2014, Justin has been one of QVC’s resident electronics experts presenting a wide array of products - from shredders to hoverboards, computers to drones and everything in between. He has represented some of the biggest brands on air: Apple, Energizer, Segway, Rosetta Stone and HP are just a few of the companies that have trusted him to represent their products.  

Justin’s overall goal is to “take the tough out of tech” for the viewers and does so through his highly energetic and highly engaging presentations. Painting a picture of how customers will use technology in their everyday life is a skill that Justin demonstrates every time he goes on air. Justin has established a trust with the QVC customer because he is relatable across all audiences.  

In November 2015, Justin launched the first ever drone to appear on QVC. Since that initial airing, he has sold over 14 million dollars worth of drones, coining him the nickname “The Drone Dude.”  

Aside from appearing on air, Justin has a highly active and engaging social media presence that reaches thousands of people every week. Whether it is posting about upcoming airings or sharing helpful tech tip videos, Justin’s reach goes far beyond just television screens.

When you pair Justin’s expertise of electronics and his charismatic personality, the outcome is an on air guest who delivers the messages brands want their customers to hear.

​Justin currently lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania but doesn't seem to ever sit still. Follow him on social media and try to keep up with his crazy adventures that take him all over the world.

Through my company, Global Organic Designs - Discovering Earth's Science & Spirit (GOD-DESS), I have been providing education, presentations/demos and articles since 2001. My topics include cooking, home entertaining, decor/design, travel, indoor gardening, simplification, organization, prioritization, and others. I always emphasize earth-friendliness and cost-savings.I moved from Chicago to Portland, Oregon, in 2014. Since moving, my emphasis has expanded to include food and wine pairings, since I now live in the middle of world class wine country. My approach with pairing is to start with the wine, seek its emergent properties, and then design food to go with it. There are a number of techniques that can be used to achieve a perfect, or near-perfect, pairing, rather than merely an adequate/average pairing.

Bret S. Beall, MS, PhD (Cand) is the CEO and founder of Global Organic Designs – Discovering Earth’s Science & Spirit (GOD-DESS).   He offers private consultations, group presentations, demonstrations of all kinds, and articles on a wide range of topics that help people live fantastic lives with minimal time, effort or money.  He has used his rigorous scientific training to synthesize psychology, sensory input, and logic, which he has applied to global cuisine, décor, lifestyle concepts, indoor gardening and travel planning to provide customized services for each individual in an easy-to-understand, easy-to-create and easy-to-maintain style. 

Bret’s background is as diverse as his educational lifestyle service offerings.  He was born in California’s San Francisco Bay area, and his family often took vacations to the seashore and to the redwood forests, where he first felt the great interconnectedness of all life.  His family later moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he continued his environmental interests (including growing houseplants).  Soon, his family relocated to a farm in the Ozarks of Southern Missouri.  He and his family raised cattle, ducks, geese and rabbits, and he worked on a neighbor’s pig farm, all of which allowed him to witness the cycle of birth, life and death firsthand.  His family grew a variety of produce, precipitating his learning about growing, preparing and preserving food.  It was also at this time that Bret truly began developing his talent in art, design and esthetics.