What I Mean When I Say Gooey
Day 4 of Napa RISE: On being scared, kind, vulnerable, and out of control. Pour a glass and snuggle in--this one's long and juicy.
Hi! Welcome to the middle!
In one of my prototypical thinking-about-thinking mind warps, I realize that all of life is all of us peeking our heads in in the middle of something. We arrive with a little context, not all of it ever, judgmental and skewed towards our own biases, unknowing but already surmising an assumed outcome. Showing up half-way through is quintessentially human.
So while I’ve been strongly recommending you catch up on my preface posts (the intro, then parts 1, 2 and 3), so you know where this cold shower of hodgepodge notes is coming from, I also give you all the permission to just peek your head into the middle here. And then I invite you to stay! I also humbly and bumblingly ask you to consider becoming a paid subscriber if you feel grateful for this content. She’s a labor of love and deep conviction for me, but… I like to eat and pay my rent too, and these posts take about 7-8 hours each to write, separate from the 6 hours per day I’ve spend listening and learning and note-taking.
OK! Awkward part, done!
Below, we arrive on Day 4 of Napa RISE. These are some of the notes I took—often incomplete, half-heard, inevitably influenced by my own biases… but something to wet your whistle. I’m hopeful that my sharing these notes makes you thirsty for more info, which sparks a personal conviction, which spurs collective progress toward more regenerative practices that build our community’s resiliency.
I hope you stick around for days 5 and 6 if you wish, if you dare.
Day 4 of Napa RISE: Social Justice, Diversity and Inclusion - Here’s some of what I wrote down and you might care about…
THE TLDR: OVERVIEW OF THE DAY (keep reading below, if you wish, for more detail):
First we watched a little brilliant community playhouse theater situation between Tod at Dominus (who might in fact be my new favorite human) and Nikki Silvestri of Soil & Shadow (who is the only person who could rival Tod for that accolade). Their workshop on mentorship and the parallels of diversity || biodiversity was meant to mirror how they interacted as mentor/mentee… and YOWZA. It was as vulnerable and riveting as, truly, the best live theater ever can be—like where you’re wriggling in your seat and also can’t peel your eyes away from this raw and terrific emotion. I am floored.
Next we heard from Doug Boeschen, who won the day’s Leadership Award for the hazard pay and disaster insurance they offer their vineyard workers. REMINDER: vineyard workers are the most underpaid and under-appreciated, under-recognized albeit THE MOST invaluable workers in our entire industry. Have you thanked a vineyard worker today? I’ll wait.
Boeschen reminded us that, during disasters like fires, vineyard workers are asked to make impossible choices: come to work and risk your life OR don’t come to work and don’t get paid or maybe even lose your job. This is inhuman.
So Boeschen worked with North Bay Jobs for Justice and now offers a combo of hazard pay and disaster insurance. During times of natural disaster, they get to choose whether to come to work and get 1.5x pay, or not come to work and receive full regular pay. They have an annual “contract” workers sign which outlines the program. In the first years, workers didn’t believe it; now, of course, they’re wildly supportive and grateful.
Doug would love to talk with anyone about how the program works; reach out.
As far as RISE knows, this is the only Napa winery offering disaster insurance and hazard pay. Pause for dramatic effect.
THEN JERMAINE STONE TOOK THE STAGE! Dropping gemmmmmssss about what inclusion means and looks like and how we can all offer it, easily, by simply embracing our own unique skills/passions/interests and connecting wine to culture. I particularly loved this brief summary of what Jermaine does, for anyone who hasn’t had the honor of making his acquaintance yet: building more on-ramps to the wine industry.
Finally we enjoyed a panel discussion on “Does Diversity Improve Business Performance and Resilience?” Like yesterday, the answer is a no-duh, yes, obviously. I loved all of it, but most of all these two takeaways: First, that each of us holds incredible power to make personal changes, improvements, and connections. Second, that we’re living in a time where everyone is scared as hell. Remember that vulnerability and connection is the way through; vulnerability is the precursor to trust. There’s always someone you can be vulnerable with. Let your body lead the way. Lean into the local resilient community. There is a storm, it will get worse before it gets better, and we need each other to weather it.
MORE DETAILED NOTES:
Mentorship Results: Building Regenerative Social Systems with Soil & Shadow and Dominus Estate
Note: BRB Crying from this one.
Contacts: Tod Mostero, Dominus Estate; Nikki Silvestri, Soil & Shadow
As anyone working in wine will understand, craft requires the passing of knowledge from previous generations, from those who have been practicing and have learned from those who went before them. This is why mentorship is important!
Often when you start a new relationship you’re so green you don’t even know what to ask, so just ask for advice. “What advice do you have for me?” Mentors also offer accountability.
Tod: “When I was first asked to be a mentor by Nikki, I was taken aback and scared. I was afraid of being exposed. But Nikki had my back and provided a soft landing. She didn’t talk to me about social equity… she led me down a path I wasn’t expecting… she asked me to define biodiversity.
“I have a good understanding of how to create that and what the benefits are. She threaded that into diversity in the workplace. My takeaway was that you can intentionally create diversity in the workplace by planting seeds and then letting them grow and develop.”
Tod said: “Let’s start this conversation the way you, Nikki, taught me.” Then they did this whole crazy awesome theater thing! They turned their chairs towards each other with a bit of quiet dramatic flair, like morphing into characters now conversing intimately with each other instead of addressing the audience.
“How are you?” asked Tod, genuinely.
Nikki takes a slow, intentional breath. “Thank you for starting with that question,” she pauses, looking Tod in the eyes for a few moments. Tod is visibly emotional. “I am so grateful for your emotion,” she encourages. “What I’m holding right now is this polarity. Biodiversity and social diversity are under overt threat right now. What I appreciate is how overt the threat to both are. And I have a really deep appreciation for grace. How to not register change as threat.”
(Whoa y’all, WHOA)
Tod begins to discuss his trials at Dominus with re-seeding in both tilled and no-tilled soils (WAIT FOR IT…):
In tilled rows, he got neat, organized plugs of cereals
No-till rows resulted in a less clear growth pattern and lots of other things growing
No-till = more diversity
Tilled = less diversity but more control
Diversity brings uncertainty and risk and with it a lot of fear of the unknown. It requires trust.
In no-till rows, things that they didn’t plant also started popping up, which they’re not sure yet whether is a good thing or not—having to watch/monitor to see the effects because they recognize that if it gets too competitive they may need to pull these back at some point
Nikki points out notion of “diversity as fantasy”: total free-range diversity is not how living systems work. It requires co-stewardship. Conservation left the land wild, but sometimes land needs to be managed to be healthy. There is such a thing as letting one side have too much say. Instead, it’s a conversation. We may need to set boundaries down the line.
The dark side of DEI initiatives is inefficiency. But it gets challenging to call out or push back on inefficiency because this whole thing requires a LOT of emotional maturity, and it takes practice. Are we in a place where we can still wrestle with really hard concepts like this?
One of them said: “I used to see Man and Nature as separate. That necessitates a ‘struggle.’ But we are part of nature. It’s a conversation. We feed each other.”
Discussion of three types of power: power over, power with, power under
Integrity is where you’re able to shift between those.
Some of the best eco-stewards aren’t trying to eradicate pests (power over approach) but work alongside or integrate with
Nikki asked Tod: What have you seen change in your relationships with land and people?
Tod says he used to be a micromanager and wondered, in light of above, if he could try something new. Says after trying it, he feels lighter. “It reminds me of the control piece of biodiversity. Before, I didn’t have room for any unknowns. But now, we’re doing better with our land, and it’s so much more interesting. People feel more free and safe to express an idea. It feels a lot lighter and a lot richer.”
AND: “There’s something that’s coming through in the wines! I don’t know if that’s the soil or the team or both. What I call it is energy. Life—a life-force we didn’t have or that I couldn’t see/taste before. After all, that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing. I love wine! For the connection it creates. Wines that I like to drink remind me of the life we recognize and appreciate in each other.”
Next we took a wild hairpin turn I wasn’t honestly ready for, careening into Critical Race Theory vs. Human Resources approach to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) approaches.
HR approach looks at statistics and data; it feels cool-to-touch and free from emotion.
CRT, which Nikki defined as “the study of how human prejudice at group levels gets enshrined in policy,” gets into the roots and guts and dehumanizing elements, systematic identity constructs, biases, and enshrined policies and procedures that make it up. (Oh. Feels.)
This all ties into Tod’s emotional comments above. These are the currently-nearly-impossible-to-measure, energy-laden, emotion-wrought bits of DEI work.
Tod says it’s hard to measure the light and energy and quality of the finished wine, but: “I believe that energy is coming from the interaction of what’s going on underground with the vines themselves. The only way a wine can have any quality at all is based on what’s in the berry. The amount of connection and resonance a vine has with its place, that dynamic, gives better berries.”*
**GOOEY BITS, see below at end of post
This is why “diversity” looks like statistics right now. We know how to measure weight and density and ratios, etc. but we have trouble measuring the feeling or the identity. Our measurements are currently around corporations and how much money they make; these notions of identity, belonging, inclusion are not what our US society values currently; there’s a whole system built up of what we measure—and why.
Yes, it’s easier—at first—to manage a less diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. Because you tightly control it. But long-term, that’s not sustainable. So: How do we start this gooey/messy/difficult but necessary process? Tangible tips and tricks:
Bottom up vs. top down tactic: Do not start by saying “We want to increase diversity by hiring minorities.” Instead, start with how you structure your performance reviews and systems for receiving feedback, your feedback loops, the policies that make ultimate equity and inclusion possible. Then, eventually, you’ll get diversity as a result.
First tackle psychological safety within your culture: the ability to speak your mind, take a risk or make a mistake without fear of shame or retribution (!!!!!! EVEN RIGHT NOW), because that is a key expression of inclusion.
Make sure you’re profitable. If you’re not profitable, you can’t do diversity well. Know that you’ll be coming up on a time of producing less but that this is necessary work for longterm sustainability. There will be no companies that can continue to function without diversity.
Get the buy-in of your executives.
Find your ride-or-die co-creation group: the small group of core team members who will go on this bumpy journey with you, who understand we have to continue to make money but we also want to do this thing and we’re here for it. You must be able to have politically incorrect conversations with a straight face. It will get very uncomfortable. But that’s what it takes. Get help from an organization (like Soil and Shadow!) if you need it.
Marquee Keynote: Jermaine Stone, Wine & Hip-Hop
Who is Jermaine? Read my interview with Jermaine here.
Everyone in this room is so brave. Just saying certain words like “social justice” and “diversity” makes you BRAVE.
Inclusion without ownership is just optics.
How can we empower others like me to be here, to be in these positions, to be welcomed into loving this amazing beverage we love so much?
Find out what people want to do with wine, what questions they have, bring them in.
Representation without infrastructure looks great… but what happens when you find your seat at the table, and you don’t like the menu?
I started building my own table.
My events are about reengineering access for people who look like me, watch what I watch, hang out in places I hang out, and want to do the same things I like to do. It’s not a color thing or an age thing. Lots of people who show up to my events learn more about hip-hop than they do about wine!
When you expand the narrative you expand the market.
You gotta do the right thing, but if it don’t make dollars… it don’t make sense! (Get it?!)
This is a business. How can we use this to help the entire ecosystem? Wine is in a tough spot right now—how can we create a healthier ecosystem?
Having an interesting story, being approachable, being open-minded.
It’s NOT just people of color who get counted out. Entire markets get counted out (look at Tulsa, OK, a market most producers don’t think about bothering with). Embracing diversity is not just thinking about “bring more Black people into wine” but bring larger, more diverse groups of people together.
Wine is a cultural exchange.
Omni-channel marketing: marketing the same message or story through multiple touch-points.
Start with a meeting point. Meet people where they are. Attach it to their culture. Don’t ask them to come to you and your way; bring it to them. In Tulsa, we simply brought Champagne to their place.
People are more interested than you give them credit for.
ACTION POINTS:
Don’t just invest in diversity. Invite diversity in; be a part of it; make it a part of your life. Don’t think about bringing one new group in but creating spaces for diverse groups to come together.
Don’t just platform new voices. Create new voices; help people to find their voice.
Don’t just talk about inclusion; build the models and scale them. Anything you’re interested in you can build a bridge with wine. So many different pockets of culture where people get excited about wine.
Don’t just amplify culture, but let the culture lead.
What we did before is dead. We’re doing a new thing! Look at your neighbor and tell them, “We’re doing a new thing!”
Don’t just open the doors but leave them open behind you. Continue to welcome new generations. Everything ain’t for you, and it’s not gonna be for you. Let them do their thing. Check yourself before you correct them. Check your friend, too.
The road to a person’s heart is to talk about what they treasure the most.
I treasure truth, I treasure legacy, I treasure people who believe the culture belongs to us.
And then, just before the crowd burst open with applause, I heard a whispered, awe-struck “WOW” erupt from behind me. “Amen,” I said.
Asking the Critical Questions Forum: Does Diversity Improve Business Performance & Resilience?
Contacts: Nikki Silvestri, Founder and CEO of Soil and Shadow; Gabriela Fernandez, Events Curator, Duckhorn Portfolio and Founder & Host, The Big Sip; Javier Zamora, Owner of JSM Organics; Rosalind Conerly, Ed.D, Associate Dean & Director at Stanford University
Nikki moderated and started by asking the panel: What’s an example or a way that DEI has shaped your work or helped you become the person you are today?
Nikki explains of herself: Biodiversity saved me from burnout. I went to a workshop where I learned about soil microbiomes and the abundance under the soil and how what is hidden there is what contributes to all these benefits. Reorganized my life and work around the principals of living systems and conditions conducive to life.
Gabriela: I grew up in Napa and wanted nothing to do with the wine industry; didn’t want to contribute to an org/industry that perpetuated the harm I saw done to my family/community.
Met Pedro Garcia working for a Spanish wine importing company; he asked, “Don’t you think it would be more incredible if you used your position of influence to be an agent of change?” This is now what I try to do.
Rosalind: Wine space came to me as an outlet from my other work; curating tastings, freelance writer, consulting with wine entrepreneurs on HR
Javier: A night club in SoCal where I worked taught me about America and diversity based on the different clientele I saw come through every night
Tons of stats available out there on how diversity DOES improve profitability, decreases employee turnover, increases customer satisfaction – these come from big management consulting companies. Tangible and practical applications. Swirling underneath all that is your culture. Culture includes how happy employees are to be working together and striving towards the common goal.
We can take lessons from living systems and biodiversity to learn about social systems and human diversity. For example “personal cover cropping” is like setting boundaries; and introducing healthy bacteria is like establishing parameters to allow “good” conflict that’s productive or drives progress.
In light of recent pullback on support (literally millions of dollars being pulled back), how can leaders in academia foster increased DEI efforts?
Taking conversations off Zoom and into in-person.
Mission statements: what does your mission mean in this time? What is your value statement saying? Many of these statements are already aligned with DEI work even if not explicitly mentioned.
Language matters. Words matter. “Fairness” or “culture” or “access and opportunity” as synonyms for DEI work. Thinking about whether that dilutes meaning and intent or reduce accountability?
Continuing to put people first. How are you treating people, how are you leading by example? Servant leadership.
Mentoring.
In times of trial like this, remember many of us are a generation who has only lived through the “good times.” Check in with older people who have been through these other tough eras, learn from their lessons, lean on their wisdom, and remember their steadfastness.
Consider community: It has to be at the core. How do we build more, who is being left out, how can we strengthen this community and lift it up? When community is what you prioritize, you’ll gain DEI inevitably.
Feedback Loop: loop part is so important. Make sure you’re getting feedback from all of the people—not just those you naturally pay attention to. Get feedback on what they’re struggling with or what they want, work on that, and then loop back to how they can see/feel those results.
Do this on a quarterly basis. Ask: What are the top 3 things you’re struggling with? What’s going well? What do you want to see more of?
Increase what’s going well, work on what’s not going well; the loop part comes when you go back to them and are very transparent about what came up and how you’re working on it… if 3 quarters later you have the same issues, then you’re not doing the work.
Create accountability for the power structures that be.
Do not base your success in money. Base your success on what others are saying about you. We’re all gonna go the way we came: naked with nothing! We’re a community; do not forget that. I need you and you need me.
Every great movement starts small.
Local resilient communities in some ways is the silver bullet to solve for all that’s happening. After climate science and economic development work, real people in real places is what will get us through when infrastructure collapses.
Why do you think there’s been such a DEI backlash, and what can we do?
Look at behavioral science, which takes emotional part (the “How could they?!” feelings) out of it:
“In group / out group” bias: who is my people and who is not? This basic framework is how we organize our world.
How safe you feel influences this.
If you have enough attention span influences this.
Because of technological advances lately, what’s happened to our experience as animals—to our core feelings of safety—is extreme.
There are way more people in the “out group” now—it’s happening to everyone—than ever before.
Our bodies haven’t changed enough to keep up with wrapping our head around the fact that this planet hosts 8 billion people and the technology that’s evolved.
1st step is understanding physiological and behavioral science. Know this:
Everybody is scared as hell. Remembering that vulnerability and connection is the way through; vulnerability is the precursor to trust. There’s always someone you can be vulnerable with. Let your body lead the way. Lean into the local resilient community. There is a storm, it will get worse before it gets better, and we need each other to weather it.
EMOTIONS / KEY TAKEAWAYS / OVERARCHING FEELINGS:
* I’ve been using the word “gooey” a lot lately. I used it in a question/comment to Nikki and Tod when they were talking about the intangible “energy” benefits of diversity work, and Nikki asked me what I meant by the term. Merriam-Webster defines “gooey” as an adjective: soft, wet, and sticky; or excessively sweet and sentimental. I use it more euphemistically, akin to yummy, juicy, wonderfully succulent and toothsome… but, like, in terms of feelings? And YOU GUYS. I live for the goo… and I’ve also spent my whole life battling the shame I have around my own gooeyness, trying to keep any semblance of my soft, sticky, wet messiness as rigid, smooth and neatly packaged away as possible. Gulp. The conversations of Day 4 here were so luscious and gooey, I confess I did cry twice. OK, three times.
Jermaine said: “The road to a person’s heart is to talk about what they treasure the most.” Bring wine, pour it for people, don’t talk at them about it. Ask questions of them to learn what they treasure, and then let culture lead.
In case you missed the first two times I said it, I’ll paste this again, from Nikki: “Everybody is scared as hell. Remembering that vulnerability and connection is the way through; vulnerability is the precursor to trust. There’s always someone you can be vulnerable with. Let your body lead the way. Lean into the local resilient community. There is a storm, it will get worse before it gets better, and we need each other to weather it.”
PLEASE COMMENT! Did you attend Day 4 of Napa RISE?! What did you think? Do you have notes to add to mine (or more proper clarifications and fleshed out data)?
If you didn’t attend, any thoughts or comments back from my cold shower of notes above??
Who in your community are you calling that you can lean into resiliency alongside?