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2020 Winewives & Covid

Running a Social Business During a Pandemic


Most of you know me personally. You know I am transparent and honest. You know I care about my friends, my family, my career, and my business. The reason I am writing this is because it was brought to my attention that a small group of people were disappointed in what Winewives offered in 2020 and were fairly vocal about that disappointment recently. I want to discuss some things about the happenings of this business and the person behind it.


I’d like to share with you how being a nurse in 2020 has affected me personally to give you some background on these last 6-7 months. I have seen things that I would never wish on my worst enemy. The reason that I work med/surg is that I am able to care for complex disease processes and most often see them walk out of the door. Death is a rare occurrence. As I have floated to working the Covid unit, I’ve seen people drowning in their own saliva, panicking because they know that they are dying and have no way of seeing their loved ones, and even pregnant mothers under 30 praying to God that they make it and are able to see their babies in utero and their babies grow up dying just a day or two after symptoms. As a nurse, all I can do is do is my best to keep them comfortable, speak with their families, and fight until I have nothing to keep them alive. As a person who rarely dreams, the only time that I experience vivid dreams is usually with traumatic events. The only time that I remember vivid dreams was when we found my best friend hanging from her canopy bed when we were 17. I suffered with insomnia for years, fearful that I would dream and see that picture again. I sought therapy about a month ago when all I could see every time I closed my eyes was this young pregnant mother of 4 who I lost to Covid. My heart shatters and eyes well each and every time I think of her. Not to mention, I was fearful everyday that I would bring this virus home to my family including my son who has a respiratory illness so I spent my mornings taking surgical baths to ensure that they remained as safe as possible. I had many conversations with my husband where he just listened to me scream/cry. I was not ok. I am not ok. Working on it, but not ok.


Now I’d like to share with you how 2020 has affected me as a small business owner. Just as Covid shut everything down, we were planning our first event to start the new year here on the Northshore. As a nurse, I was scared to infect anyone that I was around so I may have shut things down prematurely, but let’s be honest: We are fighting a ghost. I would never forgive myself if I killed someone as a result of infection.


I, unfortunately, have an LLC registered under beverages with the Secretary of State (incase I ever decided to sell alcohol), so in late-March I made the tough decision to shutdown all Winewives operations (sent out a newsletter as well as put out an announcement or two on social media). We aren’t allowed to technically do anything until phase 3. I take the government’s mandates against gatherings very seriously. I have personally witnessed the results of not quarantining and following the rules. Those results are not something I’m willing to risk with my business which main mission involves gathering my friends into large groups to drink. There is a reason bars are closed. I’m not willing to expose myself or my business legally by not following these mandates. This is heartbreaking, but I’m not giving up on Winewives.
I still promoted The Winewives (so no one forgot about us) and had to fulfill some previously committed obligations such as Times Square which was done virtually. I did my best to alert everyone that things would be stalled. I am currently still paying taxes, but the business account has not had money in or out since February 22nd. I have worked my ASS off to build a brand over the last two years that is all inclusive and fosters a sisterhood. Driving to NOLA in December for a sip & shop after a 12 hour clinical day, spending 45 mins to an hour, then driving to the hospital for another 12 hour shift. I take my brand seriously and building it has been a passion.


An additional concern that I was told was discussed during this gathering is that I’m about influencers and getting my name out there. I’m friends with so many different women. Some of them are teachers, some are realtors, and some make their money using social media to share their lives with others. It’s not the primary focus of my business to work with influencers, but it would be crazy not to partner with women who have a great deal of influence and connections within the community. I boost them up as much as they boost me up. But while I cherish these friends and relationships, my brand has been entirely focused on organic growth. I haven’t paid for marketing and other services as I prefer word of mouth and appreciate seeing it grow with my hard work as well as the hard work of people on the team that assist me such as Jennifer. To say that my only focus is on marketing to influencers is an absolute insult.


As a business woman, I do see areas where I can grow and do a better job for sure, but isn’t that all part of growth? For example, we’ve had some delayed boxes. As an apology for the delay as I tried to figure out the best way to ship, I not only offered a free sipper membership for everyone in 2021, but stated just a week ago that we would be sending out “catch up” boxes for everyone that didn’t receive their packages during the pandemic. I am trying. That somehow wasn’t enough. I’m one person whose main priority is making it through this pandemic healthy both physically and mentally and not passing this on to my family or others. Comments were apparently made about how I afforded to turn my garage into my office and how much time I’m spending there. Yes, you may have seen videos/and pictures of me in the She-rage, but notice the times that they were made: 2am when I couldn’t sleep. Making the best of a time when I had nothing else to do, but drink in my garage doing the best I could not to wake up and add emotional strain to my already stir-crazy family. At this point, WineWives is not making me additional income, Covid overtime has funded the she-rage. The goal is to do so one day, but with the pandemic, 2020 is not going to be the year for that. But I’m passionate about this little business of mine, so I’m not giving up.


As a mother and human being: y’all, I’m on the struggle bus. Are y’all not? I’m thankful that I have a supportive husband, healthy babies, and continue to find good people as a result of this organization. Plus, the most amazing therapist has been essential in dealing with all the dealings of my life (pandemic work, school, family, the disorders of the country such as this movement to make everyone equal, etc.). I was at an emotional breaking point (little ptsd) about a month ago and some recent events and discussions don’t make it any better.


So all in all,


Give a girl a break. I’m doing the best I can to keep this group afloat so that women can continue to meet, grow, and make each other better. 2020 is almost over and I cannot wait to see what 2021 has in store for The Winewives, but take a deep breath and ride it out with me. I promise it will be worth the wait. Plus, with a new job (daytime) and no school, I can dedicate the time that I used to without being exhausted and if you feel that you can make it better, join the team. We are always looking for help. I actually love constructive criticism and “yes men” make me uncomfortable. I think this has hit me the hardest because I value my character and take so much pride in people knowing that I do my best and am wholehearted. I leave you with this, be kind to others, for you don’t know if they are weathering their biggest storm.


Cheers xoxo,
Kevinnie Dreher

We Love the 90's  Wine Night

7/31/2019

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The Real Winewives of the Northshore set the stage for a 90's themed event asking attendees to break out their Lisa Frank notebooks, Salt n Peppa tapes, and TLC overalls.   While 90's attire was optional, most of the wives showed up and showed out with appearances from Ginger Spice, Saved by the Bell's Kelly Kapowski, and other Bayside Tigers.  In addition, 90s fashion made a resurgence with scrunchies holding together high ponytails, highlighter colored clothing, cassette tapes, slap bracelets, butterfly clips, and sunflower prints.
Sunflower prints, cassette tapes and Bayside High are all a part of a great 90's theme. #90stheme #90sparty #neworleans #neworleansevents #neworleansthingstodo
Ginger Spice, high-pony tails with scrunchies, butterfly clips, Nirvana, chokers and cassette tapes all characterized the 90s. The Winewives of the Northshore 90s themed party had all of it! #90sfashion #90stheme #90sparty #winenight #neworleansthingstodo #winenightideas
While 90's attire and accessories definitely dominated the scene, other 90's flashbacks occurred in many other forms.  Some of the winewives relived their younger years playing the game MASH and asking questions to the tell-all magic-8 ball.  Attendees donned their faces and clothing with Lisa Frank stickers.  Some even enjoyed reminiscing on times when cell phones were not quite small enough to fit in purses or pockets.
And, of course, what is Winewives without wine?  Each month, the attendees bring a bottle for the host and a bottle to share with the house.  The host this month requested chardonnay, and the winewives did not disappoint with plenty of chardonnay and all types of wines/champagnes to go around for the host and for all the 90's guests.  In addition, Bevefresco provided some luxe chilling bags.  We are currently running a giveaway through August 10, where a few ladies or gentlemen can enter to win a Bevefresco luxe chilling bag of your own.  Head over to our Instagram for giveaway details.  To top the party off, we even had one wine-themed "go-cup" costume in the mix as the perfect finishing touch for an amazing evening.

Upcoming Events

Membership
The Winewives brand is currently in the process of introducing new membership tiers (the Sipper, the Wineaux, and the LUSH) which should roll out this September. Each membership tier comes with a quarterly wine box and its own set of membership benefits that will be released in the near future. Keep your eyes and ears open so you can be the first to jump in once the information is released and membership opens.

The Winewives New Orleans Launch
Saturday, August 10, at 6PM, we are "poppin" the cork in NOLA. The event will take place at Pearl Wine Co. located at 3700 Orleans Avenue #C, New Orleans, LA 70119.

For more information about the Real Winewives, follow us on Instagram @thewinewivesbrand
or on Facebook. Find out how to join The Winewives in our SHOP tab.

Cheers-
BB
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ALLL THE PARTIES AND AMAZON WINE GOODIES!

7/9/2019

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Hey yall!
There are so many fun things happening in Winewives land. Planning launches for each city, fundraisers for different communities, and reaching out to other brands for partnerships has been such a rewarding experience. As our brand expands, I hope to keep the same close knit feel of a sisterhood. From our yacht party, 90s revival, and little black dress event to our school supply drive and family Christmas adoption, the purpose of this group is to build a sense of community, a framily (friends + family). Nothing makes me happier than hearing that a woman has found her purpose, her people, and has begun to love herself in a way that she hadn't before. Our calendar is filling up with launches, events, and trips for our winewives. Stay tuned on the website for our updated calendar. This is my purpose. It is what I needed: Girl time...ALL the time. Now that the mushy stuff is out of the way, PRIME DAY is upon us and when I say start planning now, if this is the only advice you ever take from me, LISTEN! I often get lost in the weeds on Amazon. I work nights so any hint of alcohol + a few sleepless nights= several awkward encounters with my delivery guy due to my drink and prime escapades. Over the next few days, I will post some of my favorite wineaux must haves and grab yall some awesome deals on the necessities that I have in my SHErage. Click on my links, share them with your friends, and save! Can't wait to PRIME with yall! Hell, I might even throw a few giveaways in there. Here are my favorite things under $30 from Amazon.


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Nashville, you were SO good to us!

6/29/2019

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The Winewives team (Kevinnie, Jenn, & Sarah) took a little road trip to Nashville, TN. A super productive road trip at that! The less than seven hour trip there brought all of the good vibes and we came up with some awesome ideas, events, and products for our Winewives including new Winewives swag, custom mailer boxes, and some of the most awesome collaborations you can even imagine! We can't wait to share them all with you. Enjoy some pictures from our trip. We went to City Winery where our service was TOP NOTCH, La Jackson for the best Frose' I've ever had, Mockbird Restaurant where it all came together, and partied hard till 4am at the Flamingo! The best photo of the weekend was reposted by Nashville as it was PRIDE weekend and after the rain, Kevinnie (with the help of Jenn's cheer spotting skills) captured an amazing double rainbow from the rooftop bar. Stay tuned for all of the fun we have in store for y'all and tell ALLL yo frans to join the Winewives!

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Happy Mother's Day, especially to my entire village.

5/10/2019

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It has been an awesome week here in Mande. It was both nurse and teacher appreciation week so my hubby and I were both showered with gifts and pampered all week. Special shout out to Raising Cane's for hooking him up with a free box, his wife appreciated it. ;) The hospital where I'm employed pulled out all of the stops for us from a sundae building ice cream trailer at midnight, The Rolling Cones (look them up) to a fiesta night with virgin margaritas and nachos. I originally was going to post a few things about things going on for Mother's Day, but as I began to reflect on how I became a mother, the time that has passed, and how I have changed in my seven years of being a mommy one thing stood out...my village. I unapologetically codependent on the grandparents, aunts, and uncles whether it is a late night text questioning if I am raising a bunch of brats or if giving them rewards is beneficial or a early morning vent about how I hated being pregnant, you listened. Brenda and Clayton, the first people that we told we were going to be parents who also happen to be Liam's godparents, kept me hydrated, happy, managed a tough pregnancy, and literally put a smile on my face every single day. Each and every person that has helped me be a decent mother from my neighbor, Jill, whom I had never met walked over when I was having an emotional time taking a photo in front of our front door (deer in the headlights look) when we arrived home from the hospital with this fragile little 7lb human that God entrusted me to navigate through this thing called life all the way to my Mandeville friend, Kristina, who I met in wine club that has six kids of her own, but still manages to get my kids to school in the mornings when Billy drops them off to her on the nights when I work. Cari and Doug in GJ, who gave us an instant family with cousins and aunts and uncles when I was sad that my kids were without them in Colorado. They invited us to every family function, their parents and siblings treated like one of their own, and extended their hearts to us. We created memories that I will cherish forever. Each and every person who has contributed to the mother that I am, thank you. The smile on Liam's face when I lightly scratch his forehead to help him fall asleep (something that a friend, Missy, taught me) forever melts my heart and it is something that I hope I can do for the rest of his life any time he feels an ounce of worry or sadness. Even for my friends who don't have kids, each time that you have helped pick up a kid from school, watched a kid last minute when I had to get to wine club (because priorities...I'm kidding), or helped me wrangle them to one of Billy's basketball games....thank you. I know that I am nowhere close to perfect or even good for that matter, but each and every time my children make a good decision or display the purest of hearts I give you all of the credit. This is all you guys. To every mama that is overworked, unappreciated, and overwhelmed...we got this. You are awesome. Did your kids make it through the day and are alive? Bravo mama, bravo. You are killin this motherhood game. If today was awful, I can't guarantee that tomorrow won't be, but grab a glass of wine and be hopeful that it was be better or grateful that if you don't want to mom tomorrow, your village has your back. What seems like yesterday when I had a set of newborn twins and a two year old toddler has evolved into sassy twin four year olds and a very sweet six year old boy in just a matter of seconds. I am grateful for my village, each and every one of you. You guys make me the half ass mother that I am today and I couldn't be more appreciative. These three happy faces say thank you.
“Surround yourself with people that want more out of life. That won’t settle for average. People that you can connect with on a deeper level. Keep your circle fresh. Keep your circle full of quality rather than quantity. Full of cool ass humans that you can be yourself around. People that fill you up with nothing but love. People that want to see you succeed. People that GET IT. Good circle, good life!” 
― Genereux Philip
Happy Mother's Day to you all. Cheers!
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El Presidente

5/6/2019

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Hey Y'all! I'm Kevinnie Dreher, queen bee, el presidente, bat shit crazy nurse, whatever you want to call me. Best way to explain myself is a shit show circus full of odd jobs and crazy hormones trying to create some good in the world. The two jobs that I hope I am best at are wife to Billy and mama to William aka Liam (6) and twins, Addison and Harper (4). Since I have some time on my hands (you'll get that joke after you read this), I'll write a long version "about me" post. To start, I'm an only child (trust me it matters). If I preface people with this, they are often more understanding of my behavior. Things are usually a struggle if they are not my way, but I should also say that this behavior is beneficial in my job. I am a registered nurse pursing a doctorate in nursing so in just one year I will be able to practice as a nurse practitioner. So on top of working 120+ hours a pay period as a nurse, full time student with clinicals, being mama, being wife, I LIVE for a social life.  I am a Louisiana girl born and raised in New Iberia, Louisiana, home of the famous Tobasco sauce. I am a Ragin' Cajun in every sense of the matter except, I went to LSU. So I guess you could say I'm a real life cajun girl. I am a sports enthusiast, dress loving (gives all the stuff room to breathe), beach loving, barefoot cook who loves handy man jobs and can change my own transmission and oil. Most importantly, I love those LSU tigers!!! A graduate of a catholic school and daughter of extremely strict parents, I'd say I was naive to what the world had to offer and really didn't know what I wanted out of life at the age of 17. In my freshman year of college when I was struggling with what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be (college basketball didn't work out for me), I met the love of my life, Billy, a former professional basketball player who shared my same interests, was so very easy to get along with, let me do ALL of the talking, and didn't look bad either ;). Our life journey set off moving to Lake Charles for Billy's job after we got married, I was just finishing school and still didn't know what I wanted to do (original plan was medical school). I took a minute to write a book *cue shameless plug* "High Sock Society" for my teen friends. Writing became an awesome outlet for me as my new husband and I began to speak of our new future. Creating characters and different paths in life for them encouraged me to explore different thoughts and viewpoints of other people. We met some of our very best friends in Lake Chuck and continue to nourish those relationships from far. More on Lake Charles to come, I promise. From Lake Charles, we moved to Billy's hometown of Fruita, CO and long story short it didn't work out and seven years later we were looking to move back to the South. This lands us here in Mandeville. I don't ever see myself leaving, the perfect distance from New Orleans with the perfect amount of family activities here, who would want to leave? Anyways, my love for wine began when I was in Colorado. Just north of the town I live in was a small wine country, Palisade, Colorado. I had begun to make friends with the wives of Billy's high school buddies and they liked to drink which made this Louisiana girl feel right at home. I shamelessly tried almost every winery and jumped on every wine tour. A self proclaimed wineaux and foodie, I opened a storefront business, Corks & Cookin'. I taught Cajun cooking classes along with wine pairing. If you're going to teach wine pairing, you should probably educate yourself right? So I began partnering with local wineries and using their wines during my classes. As I attended farm to table dinners, tastings, and became a Colorado Wine Fest regular, this heart of mine grew for all things wine. As I began to meet people, I noticed that several of my friends were in different wine clubs and I wanted in only to find out that it was exclusive and there were no spots open for me :(. Then my time came, a woman in wine club was moving to Denver and her spot would be open. First wine club I attended, I fell in love with the comradery and sense of sisterhood and found my very favorite wine, Roscato, a delicately sweet, gently fizzy red from Northern Italy. In August of 2017, I divorced my wine friends and we moved to the Lake Ponchatrain Northshore. I looked for something that resembled the wine club that I adored so much. After some encouragement from my new buddies, I decided to start my own with my Kevinnie twist and no one would have to work as hard as I did to become a part of this group. The more the merrier. Within twenty-four hours of a Facebook post about creating a wine club, over 250 local women messaged me about joining. Hence, The Winewives was born. I wanted to create a brand where women could network and support each other with the common love for wine as well as contribute in a positive way to our community through service and outreach projects. Although this is not my full time job, I love it wholeheartedly. It is my baby and I cannot wait to watch it grow and experience all of the fun things that I have planned for it and for you. I have assembled this awesome team of women who keep me sane, support me at every mishap, and slap me when I'm being unreasonable. My husband calls me "El Presidente" of wine club. *cue eye roll* I run a podcast with my friend, Jenn, who is my biggest cheerleader (after my mama). We drink, vent, laugh, and cry on our podcast, Sipsy & Tipsy. Although it took me longer than planned to figure out my purpose in life (still a work in progress), I feel like it is to create a platform where women can be empowered, connect, and support one another no matter their background, ethnicity, or just their current situation. Everyone deserves a chance to be great and if we don't encourage those who have fallen down, think of all of the creativity and greatness that we are missing out on. Let's take over the world together! It is filled with opportunity for us all to be awesome. Be kind to one another - Ellen   Cheers! xoxo-Kev
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We Bloggin Yall'

4/29/2019

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Hey, girl, hey!
Welcome to the Winewives blog. We have decided to expand our brand and 2019 is our year. We're claimin' it! With support from all of our friends, members, and partners, The Winewives Brand is on the move. Expanding to nearly twenty cities over the course of the year, we can't wait to see y'all very soon! Our blog is an outlet to educate, organize, and grow. Thank you for joining us on this fun and exciting journey. Contributors include, Kevinnie Dreher (Owner/Founder of The Winewives and Co-host of Sipsy and Tipsy Podcast) and Jennifer Wood (Winewives Team Member and Sipsy and Tipsy Co-host) as well as a slew of brand members and partners. Through our blog, we hope to make you laugh, cry, understand other people in the world, and enjoy living your best life. Over the next few blog posts, we will introduce ourselves. Cheers! xoxo The Winewives Team
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    Kevinnie Dreher and the Winewives Team are blog contributors.

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