Prema Kerollis was born and raised in Northern California; while she was growing up, her parents were involved in the restaurant and hospitality industry.  Early on, she learned that setting the table for a family meal isn’t just about putting food on a plate, it’s about paying attention and communicating love through the act of serving those you care about.  She went on to college to get a degree in Sociology and Spanish literature, which oddly enough, prepared her for her current role at Three Sticks Winery, where she manages the team that creates the most memorable experiences with food and wine.  Here’s her story.

 

You were born in Marin County and were raised by your mother and stepfather. Was wine part of your family meals and celebrations?

Yes, although I wouldn’t say wine was the center of our family life. My parents were very much part of the restaurant and hospitality world, so food and gathering around a table were always important. Wine was part of that experience, but what I remember most is the ritual of sitting down together, eating something delicious and talking. Everything at the table was put there with intention and love. The table and the food and wine at it are my parents’ love language.

That language stayed with me. Wine is interesting to me because it sits at the intersection of so many things I love—food, agriculture, place, history, people and hospitality. It has a way of slowing everyone down and creating a reason to be together.

 

Growing up with parents who worked in the restaurant and hospitality world, what did you learn from them about food, wine and taking care of people?

I learned that hospitality is really about paying attention.  You notice what people need before they have to ask. You remember how someone likes their coffee or if they prefer tea. You make people feel welcome. You understand that the details matter, but that ultimately people remember how you made them feel.

I also learned that hospitality is work. It’s not just putting beautiful things on a table. There is a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes effort involved in making something feel effortless.

That has probably influenced the way I think about Three Sticks more than anything else. We aren’t just making wine. We’re creating an experience around wine and making people feel that they belong.

 

After graduating with honors from UC San Diego with a dual major in Sociology and Spanish Literature, you landed a job on Capitol Hill. What was your role and what did you think you were going to be when you grew up?

I worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Barbara Boxer as an intern initially and then a full-time staffer. I was young and fascinated by the inner workings of politics, government and how decisions get made. I had studies sociology rather than Political Science like my peers, so my perspective was always taking in the actual inner workings of Washington, as opposed to the products or services of government. I had no idea I was going to end up in wine.

I loved sociology because I was fascinated by people and how societies/cultures/groups work, and Spanish literature gave me a completely different way of thinking about culture and communication.

Looking back, those two degrees actually make a strange amount of sense for what I do now. My job is still fundamentally about people, culture, communication and understanding what motivates people.

 

Your path to wine was anything but conventional. In 2000 you started to work at Texas Pacific Group, a private equity firm, with Bill Price, one of the firm’s founding partners. How did you meet Bill? Why did you take that position? What did Bill see in you early on that led him to eventually entrust you with his growing wine interests—and what did you see in him that made you want to take that journey with him?

I met Bill working at Texas Pacific Group in 2000. I was hired at age 25 to be an administrative support person for him and the head of the firm’s Administrative Operations. At the time, wine was nowhere on my career radar. I took the position because I was interested in the business sector, and because Texas pacific Group had a maverick’s reputation in the world of Private Equity. The firm was known for drive, creativity, success and requiring a killer work ethic. Work hard, play hard.

Bill is one of those people who is quietly brilliant and publicly magnetic. He sees possibilities and solutions where other people can’t get past limitations, and he has an extraordinary ability to identify talented people and give them room to grow and work.

I think what Bill saw in me was probably a combination of curiosity, energy, resourcefulness and—perhaps most importantly—a willingness to take on things I didn’t yet know how to do, with some modicum of success.

What I learned from Bill was the importance of following your gut, in business and in life. He gave me opportunities well before I probably would have given myself permission to take them. He left private equity when it was not fashionable to do so. He followed his gut and pursued his growing fascinations with medical research, media security and wine and vineyards, and eventually I got pulled into that last world.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Although I will say that when I look back on it, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. Haha

 

Three Sticks began on a remarkably small scale—just two barrels of Pinot Noir. What do you remember about those early years, and what did you have to learn on the fly?

Everything.

We started with two barrels. There was no grand business plan. There wasn’t a tasting room, a club, a marketing machine or even much of a roadmap. We were essentially figuring it out as we went. I had to learn about wine, vineyards, winemaking, distribution, hospitality, finance, compliance and an astonishing number of things I didn’t know existed, nor was prepared for.  The great thing about being young and inexperienced is that you don’t really know what you should be afraid of.

I was lucky to be surrounded by people who knew vastly more about wine and business than I did, and I learned to ask a lot of questions, listen carefully and then make decisions. This also ultimately led me to Sonoma State University’s Executive Wine MBA program in 2011 to build a cohort of friends and allies around me and to uncover my blind spots and hone my leadership skills. Twenty-four years on, I’m still learning. That is one of the things I love most about wine.

 

You’ve spoken about being a young woman suddenly managing men who were older and more experienced than you. Was that intimidating? How did you find the confidence to lead them while still being yourself?

Yes. Of course it was intimidating.

I was young, and I was often the least experienced person in the room. There were men working around me who had been making wine, or farming grapes, or selling wine longer than I’d been alive.

I learned pretty quickly that I didn’t need to pretend to know more than I did. I needed to know how to ask good questions, listen, make decisions and most importantly take responsibility for them.

I also learned that confidence doesn’t mean being the loudest or smartest or most experienced person in the room. Sometimes it means being willing to listen or to say, “I don’t know.” or “Tell me more.”

Over time, I became comfortable with the fact that I didn’t have to lead like anyone else. I could be direct, curious, emotional, funny, demanding and empathetic—all at the same time. Being myself turned out to be a much more sustainable leadership strategy than trying to act like the person I thought a leader was supposed to be.

 

You went back to school for an Executive MBA in Wine Business after you were already well established in your career. Why was that important to you?

I had learned an enormous amount through experience, but I wanted a deeper understanding of the business and the industry. I also felt isolated having come into wine through business and didn’t have friends in the same roles as me to bounce ideas off of or benchmark with.

The Executive MBA at Sonoma State gave me the opportunity to step back from the day-to-day and understand the larger wine ecosystem—economics, marketing, consumer behavior, finance, supply chain, agriculture, strategy.

It also, thankfully, introduced me to an incredible group of people from across the industry. Wine can be a little insular, so being in a room with people looking at the business from completely different perspectives was enormously valuable.

And I love learning. I’m probably never going to stop going to school in one form or another.

 

You talk frequently about people, culture and creating a workplace where talented people can thrive. What have you learned about bringing out the best in people—and were there any mistakes that taught you a lesson about leadership?

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that people want to do great work. Your job as a leader is to create the conditions where they can.

That means clarity. Trust. Accountability. Recognition. And giving people enough room to make decisions and occasionally make mistakes.

I’ve also learned that culture isn’t something you put on a wall or talk about at a company retreat. It’s what happens on a Tuesday afternoon when something goes wrong.

And yes, I’ve made plenty of mistakes.

I’ve sometimes held onto people or situations too long because I wanted things to work. I’ve learned that avoiding a difficult conversation rarely makes the problem smaller. I’ve also learned that being empathetic doesn’t mean avoiding accountability.

Probably the biggest lesson is that you can care deeply about people and still make very hard decisions. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive and the business will at times require that of you.

 

If we asked the people who work with you to tell us something about Prema that would surprise us, what do you think they’d say?

That I’m probably much more goofy than they expect. I’m pretty serious about the work, but I’m also easily amused, I laugh a lot and I don’t take myself too seriously.

They might also tell you that I have a very low tolerance for unnecessary and overly flowery words (!) in emails, on PowerPoint slides, or in general.

Ryan Prichard (Director of Winemaking), Prema, and Rob Harris (VP, Vineyards)

And they would probably say that I’m intensely loyal to the people I work with. Once you’re on my team, I care about you as a human being—not just as an employee. Oh…and I get moved by things and kind of teary (cry a lot).

 

Is there anything that you’re terrible at? And are you completely OK with being that way?

Oh, so many things.

I’m terrible at being early. Truly terrible. I suck at filing. I often change my mind…based on my keen ability to see things from many, many angles…. Haha My expense reports are always late.

I’m also not particularly good at relaxing when there is something that could be getting done.

And I have learned that I am not a person who is going to become an expert at every detail of every function in our business. I am much better at seeing the big picture, connecting people and ideas, communicating, motivating and figuring out where we are and where we need to go.

I’ve become pretty comfortable with knowing what I’m good at—and hiring people who are brilliant at the things I’m not. A wonderful example of this, our Vice President, Colette Simpson, who has worked beside Ryan, Bill and me over the last twelve years to build the Three Sticks brand. She brings data-focused operational and marketing know-how to the table and has dedicated herself to building the internal workings and sales universe of Three Sticks, allowing me to stay focused on the big picture. Colette has also honed her own leadership style and approach while doing so. I am so proud of her and love working together. To have a team that is wholeheartedly invested in Three Sticks’ success is one of the most gratifying and motivating parts of my job.

This might be one of the most important lessons I’ve learned: build a team with diverse strengths and let those strengths shine.

When you leave Three Sticks at the end of the day, who—or what—do you go home to?

I go home to my son and my animals, which is sometimes considerably more demanding than going home to a team of employees.

My son Ryder is fifteen, six foot 2.5 inches tall, is the Captain of his JV Water Polo team, has a hundred friends and struggles to get his chores and homework done. He literally lights up my life…and occasionally frustrates the heck out of me.

I have two cats, Toad and Maisie, and a Frenchie named Doug. They are an important part of my life and they have absolutely no interest in wine, business strategy or whether we hit our revenue goals.

They are allllll very good at reminding me that there is life outside of work.

And there is always someone begging for dinner.

 

You’ve spent much of your life creating memorable experiences for other people. What does a perfect day look like for Prema—where are you, who are you with, what are you eating, and what’s in your glass?

A perfect day is probably much simpler than people would expect.

I’m somewhere beautiful, preferably outside. We’ve taken a long gorgeous hike, like on Mount Tam. There is a long table, great food, all the people I love and absolutely nowhere to be afterward. I always say that our wines pair best with a swimming pool and my girlfriends, and that is TRUE!

I’d want seasonal, delicious foods—probably a really great salad, grilled veggies, fish, something from the garden, a ridiculous amount of fresh fruit, good bread, salty butter and cheese.

There would be wine, obviously. Definitely Pinot Blanc. Definitely crisp, dry bubbles. Probably a great Chardonnay if it’s warm outside. Three Sticks Gap’s Crown Chardonnay FOR SURE. And eventually some pinot. Grilled meats…grilled breads….don’t get me started. Also great tequila…

The wine is part of it.

The perfect day is when you’ve exercised and taken in plenty of nature, and everyone is lingering at the table long after the meal is over, nobody is looking at their phone, the conversation keeps getting better, laughter rings, music plays and you realize you have nowhere else you’d rather be.

That’s what wine does! That’s what we call Table Fellowship. DREAMY!!!