[Image borrowed from the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus]
The Aquarius personalities (and today’s full moon in Aquarius) are geared toward doing
“something useful with their lives, mixing that with their amazing way with people, they make excellent politicians and social workers/psychologists. They are progressive thinkers and are great at forming new ideologies and theories, any type of research is very suited to Aquarius. Aquarius one downfall in the business world is the attention to detail, they like the grand ideas and massive plans and can make them happen, but the mundane day to day repetitive details causes them to procrastinate. Aquarius needs a secretary.” (zodiac-signs-astrology.com)
You know how you work in a place and when the times comes to an end, there’s always one really cool person who you still continue to connect with? Yeah, that’s Randy Arnold of Barefoot Cellars for me. I had a brief time with Barefoot, for which I’m grateful. I learned a lot in a short amount of time. One of the most important things I learn was cause marketing.
Nobody, I mean nobody, does it better than Randy Arnold. His first employers Michael Hollihan and Bonnie Harvey gave Randy all of the room he needed to develop his cause marketing choices; and so, the wine sales flourished (along with Jennifer Wall’s winemaking talents). In sales, most buyers will tell you, more than the product, they first buy the salesperson. Ask yourself, when was the last time you happily bought something from someone you just didn’t like? You’d rather go to another person, right?
What was remarkable… and still is (with current owners being the Gallo Family)… is that when Gallo bought Barefoot from Michael and Bonnie, Gallo left everything in place. While the former owners may have had a hand in also securing positions for their employees in the sale… I’ve personally been involved in that kind of a deal… it doesn’t always go well in the long run. This one has gone extremely well, to the credit of everyone involved.
Randy Arnold is happier than ever
with a Facebook hashtag of #gladIworkhere.
And so, today’s blog, since today is the full moon in Aquarius, with heightened energy and your own enthusiastic emphasis in humanitarian efforts, is for my pal Randy Arnold, Barefoot Wine’s brand ambassador. He’s quoted as saying, in the video below:
My passion in life is to raise money for non-profits… My work with non-profits is one of the best parts of my life, I would say. I get to donate our great wines to help these wonderful organizations raise funds and awareness. For me, it’s all about finding a place where you can be comfortable, you can be yourself, be who you really are, and you can support the community around you at large. That’s really part of a really wonderful life.
Here are a few examples of Randy’s causes, which originally began with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus…
From THE BUSINESS JOURNALS:
The original Barefoot brand ambassador, Randy Arnold, an energetic and vibrant LGBTQI community hero, has inspired the global team of Barefoot ambassadors (called ‘Barefooters’) who represent the brand at 250 Pride celebrations around the world, to unite for the first time at WorldPride in Toronto.
Rebecca Rolfe, Executive Director for the SF LGBT Center: We love Randy Arnold, and we love Barefoot Wines. We’ve had a long partnership with them.
Nature, Naturally
Mono Lake: Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve
Randy measures time in fundraisers, dollars raised, and hands-on work for non-profit organizations. He has donated Barefoot Wine and Bubblies to over 200 non-profits so far [2015]… from bird research to outdoor education. The hallmark of everything Randy does is fun….
Barefoot Wine has been a proud supporter of the Surfrider Foundation for more than 20 years.
In 2015, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly took a stand in the sand, celebrating the 9th year of the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project. In total, Barefoot, with the help of celebrity, YouTube, and Instagram influencers, hosted 12 cleanups and celebrations with thousands of volunteers picking up tons of trash in an effort to help keep America’s beaches “Barefoot Friendly.
California’s Wildwood Conservation & Retreat Center
…a sanctuary created and sustained by gay men for healing, transformation and spiritual growth.
I’m going to finish this list, because the sheer massiveness of it, if I were to continue, would exceed anyone’s attention span, except for his biographer. This Video represents the most generous humanitarian in the wine business, who’s been fortunate enough as an employee, to be working out his life’s passion every single day… Thanks, Randy Arnold for being such a great Aquarian and my friend. Anyone who knows you, knows that his or her life has been blessed.
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