As a sommelier at prestigious, Michelin-starred restaurants with a background in sustainable agriculture, Kristin Olszewski wanted to make organic, high-quality wine more accessible to people who would normally avoid it.

Her solution: Put it in a can.

In 2017, she opened her own canned wine company, nomadicon the market – cured wine, with zero sugar in environmentally conscious packaging. But not everyone was in love. For many in the traditional wine industry, canned wine was hard to swallow.

“When I launched, canned wine was all value wines, nothing you'd actually want to put in a glass,” Olszewski recalls. “I can't tell you how often I got laughed out of rooms when I started going and pedaling Nomadica to people. Even the community and my friends in the wine industry were like, why are you doing this? Nobody wants that. “

Turns out they were wrong. Nomadica is now available direct-to-consumer and at retailers in 25 states such as Whole Foods, Sprouts and Total Wine, with Target in the works for 2025 Last year, Nomadica was named Next Wave Rising Beverage Brand of the Year Awards .

Olszewski joined me at A day with Jon Bier podcast to talk about her journey from Harvard dropout to founder of a successful company and her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

You have unique expertise in your industry

Kristin spent years as a sommelier at high-end restaurants in Nantucket, Nashville and New York. This professional experience, along with her background in sustainable agriculture, gives her unicorn status in the canned wine industry. “I'm the only founder with wine experience. Everyone else has an MBA, or they hired people to manage part of the wine experience,” she says. “I'm the only person who looks at the industry from the bottom up.”

This unique perspective allows Kristin to identify trends and opportunities that others may miss. She points to an example: “I run a wine program in Los Angeles, and I saw that we sold more orange wine by the glass than all the other colors combined. and now boxes.”

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Build real relationships with board members and investors

Kristin prides herself on being very open and honest with her investors about the challenges facing Nomadica. She surrounds herself with a board of mostly operators with experience running businesses and can support her through the ups and downs. Full disclosure: I was one of Kristin's earliest angel investors and wrote her the largest check I've written to date because she checked every box for me.

Pay attention to emerging trends and consumer preferences.

Despite the success of Nomadica, Kristin is not resting on her laurels. It constantly strives to innovate and be at the forefront of changes in the industry. For example, she acknowledges that millennials and Gen Z are becoming more discerning about what they consume, which goes against the conventional wisdom that these generations just go for fancy labels and marketing gimmicks.

“This is a highly educated, edgy consumer who dives deep into what they're consuming right now,” she says.

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Stay true to your style

Kristin purposefully built Nomadica slowly, starting with partnerships in premium hotels and venues. Contrary to the advice she received, she focused on generating high-velocity sales before expanding into mass retail.

“I took this slow, hard path because I feel like that's just my vibe, that's my energy. I never do anything the easy way, which is annoying to me. All my friends are I was endlessly annoyed about it, but I knew this was the right way to build the brand, and now we're ready for retail.”

Don't be afraid to challenge the status quo

As a female founder in a male-dominated industry, Kristin faced a lot of skepticism and opposition when she launched Nomadica. But she persevered with her vision to disrupt the wine industry and make it less pretentious.

No one is laughing at her crazy idea anymore.

“When you look at the wine industry right now, the only segments that are growing are sparkling, canned wine that's over $15, which is exactly where we're priced,” she says. “I feel like while everyone else is walking away or making canned cocktails out of wine, I'm leaning in because I still see opportunity.”