The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America's #1 Wine Brand

by Michael Houlihan, Bonnie Harvey

This is the story of a little winery that broke all the rules—and left its footprints all over the industry. When Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey started Barefoot Wines in their laundry room in 1986, they had no idea what they were doing. They had no money or experience, but they made up for that with creativity, resourcefulness, guts, and grit. By the time they sold the brand to E&J Gallo in 2005, they’d won a ton of awards and helped transform an entire industry from stuffy and intimidating to fun, casual, and socially aware. This is a guidebook for anyone in business and a great read for everyone who loves a rags-to-riches story. The Barefoot Spirit is not a dry business textbook. The lessons are cheerfully woven into a twenty-year story that’s inspiring, amazing, and entertaining. It’s a case study, an idea book, an uncommon peek behind the curtain of the wine business, and a snapshot of the American spirit, West Coast style.

Genres: Memoir, Business, Management, Wine

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 2013

About the author

Michael Houlihan is the co-founder of Barefoot Cellars, along with partner Bonnie Harvey. Though his business card reads, “Head Stomper,” he officially served as president and CEO for 19 years. Starting with no money and no knowledge of the wine industry, he and Bonnie used out-of-the-box thinking coupled with solid business principles to build a leading national brand. They relied on “worthy cause marketing” instead of conventional advertising to grow a loyal following and promote their favorite causes.
Barefoot Wines went on to win the industry’s top sales awards. They were selling well over a half a million cases annually when the E&J Gallo family purchased the brand in 2005. Since then, Michael has been a valued advisor to large and small corporations and start-ups, offering his real world experience to improve their profitability, grow their brands, and improve their culture. Sales, marketing, and performance-based compensation are his sweet spots. He also donates professional time to non-profits to help them improve their image, increase donations and achieve financial sustainability.
Michael is a funny, informative, and inspiring speaker who delivers keynotes for conventions, corporations and national conferences. (Audiences love the quirky Barefoot stories he weaves in with how-to advice they can put into practice right away.) He is also a seminar and webinar leader, a guest lecturer at business and entrepreneurial schools, and a contributor to a variety of publications. Michael coauthors weekly business blogs at www.thebarefootspirit.com and www.thebrandauthority.net.

Michael is the Co-author of The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand, a New York Times Bestselling Business Book.


Read more: http://www.barefootwinefounders.com/a...

Reviews

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

brb need to go buy some barefoot - quite the production for an audiobook!

[BookTrib.com]

Here at BookTrib, I’m asked to review a lot of books. You can find me most evenings, weekends and train commutes deep inside a book bristling with Post-It notes. So it was a refreshing change when I was asked to review the audiobook of The Barefoot Spirit (Footnotes Press) by Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey, founders of Barefoot Wine. Not just an audiobook, mind you, but a “business audio theatre” book. A what, now?

As soon as I started listening, I understood. This wasn’t just a voiceover artist reading a book out loud for me. Rather, it was an immersive listening experience, including actors playing the parts of various characters, punctuated by sound effects and enhanced with music. In a nonfiction audiobook, no less. I was embarking on a journey of the mind’s eye into an engaging, often funny, informative look into the struggles, ingenuity and humanity behind the founding of America’s top wine brand.

The rest of the review: https://booktrib.com/2019/12/the-bare...

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I've been recommending it to friends both in and out of the wine business, and telling them "to pour yourself a glass of Barefoot Wine, grab a comfy spot somewhere, preferably a hammock, and enjoy the journey." This story revolves around the area I worked in for over nine years (Westside Road). I know Hampton and some of the Bynum family. I know Kate MacMurrray and used to watch her ride her horse thru the MacMurray Pinot Noir vineyard. I watched as that vineyard was born from the grading of the hills.
The book. It was interesting to read about Michael and Bonnie’s trials and errors and how they have no fear sharing their acquired wisdom. Kudo’s to them for doing that. Beyond the story of growing a business, Michael and Bonnie show how human business owners can be and how when you are on the right path, with belief in yourself and a lot of perseverence, wonders can happen. I hope I get the chance to meet them someday and thank them in person.

[Mom2nine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing this review is not easy for me, as I have no interest in starting my own business and certainly not in sales. I do, however, agree with the theory behind Barefoot wines, so I was curious about how the company started. One of their theories was that wine should be fun, not highbrow and one should be able to pronounce the name and afford a bottle. I whole-heartedly agree.
The owners consistently did the "right thing" in how they treated their customers and employees and it worked. Excellent for discussion.
This book is meant as encouragement to new or want-to-be business owners. It would be excellent for that market, also business or marketing classes. The reason why I say that is because it kept my interest and even had me telling family members about it. High praise, indeed, considering my first sentence.
I received this book through a goodreads.com contest with the expectation of a fair/unbiased review.

[Mark Bunch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great book for entrepreneurs. A bio, case-study and start-up how to book. I love it. Read this puppy over two days on Memorial day week-end. A lot of good lessons to be learned from Barefoot . The company culture, the use of non-profits to drive the company and product awareness. I encourage each would be business person to study this company's SOP when contemplating a start-up business. America was ready for a supermarket based, beer drinkers turned wine drinking to grab a daily cheap $5 bottle for the nights meal, like in Europe.

[Tiago Soares · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that every business owner should read.

Full of advice. Great stories. Amazing lessons.

The authors basically share how did they start their business, how they made it grow, what were their struggles, how did they solve them, what differentiates them, etc. Even though this is about a wine company, you can take all these lessons to any other business.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[Jack Oughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tend not to drink Barefoot because I am probably a wine hipster/bastard. However, this was something of a heartwarming story about some people who had no idea how to run a winery, succeeding wildly in the wide, wild world of wine.

Inspiring...

[Drema · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this one and an unexpected surprise. I thought it may be boring but it was really a delight. The narration was excellent and lively. Barefoot has always been my favorite wine. I love their spritzers. I live it even more now!!

[Rohan R · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the writing was a bit too simplistic, I loved some of the lessons strewn amongst the anecdotes.

[Alina Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

how to listen to your clients and be open and transparent. Choose the best people and stay true to your beliefs.

[Holger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource for entrepreneurs who want to start a brand business.

[Stormi Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for a college marketing class. It was so fascinating to see someone else try to find their way through the business world, and gave me hope with their success of being flexible and sticking to their values.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this as a Goodreads First Reads and I can honestly say that I enjoyed learning about all the trials and tribulations Michael and Bonnie encountered. What I did not like however, was the fact that the book felt tedious to read. I'm an avid reader and can usually get through a novel in two days or so. This one took me almost a month because I couldn't make myself stick to it.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a winner, or in the wine world, "it has legs." It is more a book about doing the right thing, enjoying life and your work rather than a wine story. It is worth your time. I have bought copies and given it as a gift, with a bottle of wine, for a job promotion and a house warming gift. Keep this one in mind for the holidays.

[Margaret Gaudio · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.

It was a quick easy read about how Barefoot came to be; their hardships, etc. I was glad that they didn't bog it down with information. It's a decent time passer though, especially if you're enjoying it with a glass of wine.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute little book about what seems to be an impossible goal - to build a new wine brand. Very enjoyable.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for entrepreneurs or want-to-be entrepreneurs. Real advice for real world small business.