Curious Vines launches non-wine skills workshop for female and non-binary talent

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 20 August, 2024

Curious Vines founder Queena Wong is helming a new Negotiation Skills Workshop aimed at ‘uplifting careers in wine’ for women and non-binary people.

The 9 October half day workshop is part of Curious Vines’ education and development strategy for those working at all levels in the industry. It has been designed specifically for women and non-binary people and looks to support career progression via its mission to ‘protect, retain and uplift’ female resources.

“The business case to support the career progression of women is clear,” Wong said. “Companies who are in the top quartile of diversity representation have a 39% increased likelihood of outperformance compared to the bottom quartile (Diversity Matters even more: The case for holistic impact, McKinsey Report, Dec 2023)”.

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Wong cites last year’s PROOF Insight UK Women in Wine Survey commissioned by Curious Vines as the primary motivation for the event. The results show that underrepresentation in leadership is one of the biggest issues for women in the wine industry.

According to the results, 92% of respondents feel that wine culture is still male dominated and 44% had considered leaving the trade as a result of the issues faced.

Billed as a ‘non-wine skills workshop’, the event sits alongside the Curious Vines Education Support Programme which recognises that “not everyone aspires to high level wine qualifications”, Wong said.

The event will be subsidised financially from collaborative fund-raising activities with Barbara Sandrone, co-owner of Barolo producer Sandrone, and Claire Thevenot MS, founder of Vins-Clairs.

“The development of inter-personal skills delivered by a leadership coach is beneficial to everyone and is aimed at resulting in tangible upskilling. I thank my friends Barbara and Claire who have stepped forwards to support the Curious Vines initiatives recognising that the retention and uplift of female talent is crucial to a future of diverse leadership beneficial to the whole industry,” Wong concluded.

Women and non-binary individuals interested in enrolling in the workshop should email queena@curiousvines.co.uk. Companies wishing to support the Curious Vines platform are also encouraged to get in contact.

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