Spandex & Wine
Spandex & Wine is a podcast for finding balance between being healthy & living a happy life. Hosted by Robin Hackney, a 23-year veteran in the fitness industry & wine consultant, this is a place to be our authentic selves as we have real conversations exploring wellness and all things wine! Subscribe now so you don’t miss an episode.
Spandex & Wine
Meet the Women Breaking Barriers in the Wine Industry, One Bottle at a Time
Ever wonder what happens when a lawyer and a music producer join forces to shake up the wine industry? Latoya Jordan and Brianna Shelko, the visionaries behind Marble Wines, are rewriting the rules of wine with purpose, passion, and a deep commitment to women's empowerment.
When Latoya found herself helping a reality TV star create a wine brand (despite him not even being a wine drinker), she discovered her own passion for the process. Having worked successfully with Brianna on previous projects, she knew exactly who to bring along on this journey. What makes their partnership extraordinary isn't just their complementary skills—Latoya's legal expertise and Brianna's marketing prowess—but their aligned vision for creating something meaningful in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
Their flagship product, a thoughtfully crafted red blend, targets a specific audience: people who think they don't like red wine. By including Chardonnay and keeping tannins low, they've created what they call a "transitional wine" that's converting skeptics into enthusiasts. But what truly sets Marble Wines apart is the striking bottle design featuring a metallic film that creates a reflective surface—allowing every customer to literally see themselves in the product. This brilliant innovation came from focus groups where women repeatedly expressed their desire for representation in wine.
The name "Marble" itself holds deep significance, symbolizing how beautiful individual elements come together to create something cohesive and stunning—much like the founders themselves. Beyond selling wine, they're building a community through women-centered events and collaborations with female entrepreneurs across various industries.
Currently available in select Brooklyn retailers at an accessible $18.99 price point and shipping nationwide through their website, Marble Wines has ambitious plans for expansion including a sparkling varietal and potentially challenging the notion that Georgia muscadine grapes can't produce excellent wine.
Raise a glass with these remarkable entrepreneurs who prove that wine can be more than just a beverage—it can be a vehicle for connection, celebration, and seeing yourself reflected in something beautiful. Follow their journey @MarbleWines on social media or visit marblewines.com to experience this revolutionary brand for yourself.
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Hello and welcome to the Spandex and Wine podcast. I'm your host, robin Hackney, and I'm so happy that you're here. This podcast is a place for conversations about balancing a healthy lifestyle and being happy more specifically, happy hour. Together we'll explore all things wellness and wine. I hope you learn a little, laugh a lot and, along the way, know you're not alone on this balanced wellness journey. Ready to jump in? Pour something in your glass that makes you happy, because it's time for Spandex and Wine. Hey everyone, welcome back to the Spandex and Wine podcast. I am excited for today's episode because it's a little bit bold, a little bubbly and a whole lot of inspiring.
Speaker 1:I've been doing a lot of wellness episodes and I felt like it was time for a splash of wine, so I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with LaToya Jordan and Brianna Shelko. They are the powerhouse women behind Marble Wines, a wine company with heart, soul and a serious purpose. Latoya is an attorney and entrepreneur, plus a wine enthusiast, whose mission is to bring diversity, beauty and connection to the world. She founded Marble Wines to amplify women's voices and celebrate individuality through exceptional wines that honor women's unique stories and background. And Brianna is a digital marketing expert and an award-winning pop artist who brings her creative energy and entrepreneurial spirit to everything she brings. As a founding partner of Marble Wines, she is on a mission to help women feel seen, celebrated and connected, one glass at a time. The conversation is full of laughs, wisdom and a behind-the-scenes look at how they're creating a women-led brand that's breaking barriers in the wine world. Pour something in your glass that makes you happy and let's jump in. Hey ladies, welcome to the Spandex and wine podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm super excited you're here. Us too, thank you.
Speaker 1:Yes, after reading your bios and checking out your website, I'm like this is going to be a fabulous conversation. I do mostly wellness on the spandex and wine podcast, so I need more wine and you two are like the perfect fit. So thank you, of course, that's great to hear. Yes, okay, so I was reading through your bios and I'm just so impressed with both of you. Would you mind just kind of introducing yourselves?
Speaker 3:Brianna, I'll let you start introducing yourselves, brianna.
Speaker 2:I'll let you start. Oh okay, I'm Brianna, co-founder of Marble Wines. I'm a serial entrepreneur and I own Level Up Music Productions, so we're a sonic branding agency. So I've got one foot in wine, one foot in music. It goes together, and I've been doing that for 24 years.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that's so funny. I'm spandex and wine. I tell people all the time like because I used to do it on wine tastings and so I have a fitness business and then I had wine, so everything was spandex and wine. So I love that. That is awesome. That is so fun.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, so I'm Latoya Jordan and I'm the founder of Marble Wines. So I'm Latoya Jordan and I'm the founder of Marble Wines. My background is actually in law, and so I attended Wake Forest Law School. I'm still active with the law school. I sit on the law board of visitors now but I've done a number of different things in the legal space, really kind of started out my career doing disability advocacy work and then at some point in time I got into transportation and logistics. Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:A big jump a big jump.
Speaker 3:I found myself in a very unique role with a unique company. I kind of work with a family of companies that are in the transportation and logistics space. I serve as legal counsel, but I also wear many other hats on a day-to-day basis. So, for example, today I was dealing with an HR issue.
Speaker 1:Okay. So then, how did Marble Wines come about? How does that fit in? How did you get that started?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so even though I work with a transportation logistics company now, I sometimes do side projects right, I'm a hustler at heart. So I ended up having a client who wanted to start a private wine label. This was a client who was a reality television personality we won't say names, but reality television personality but he really didn't drink. He didn't drink wine, he didn't know anything about the experience of wine.
Speaker 3:So when I started working with him, I went out to Napa Valley with him, we went out to Sonoma County, we toured vineyards, we met with winemakers and I basically did everything from sampling because he did a sweet red, but sampling the product line to kind of pick the right varietal for him, to getting the federal you know, regulatory things done, state and local as well. I did want to partner with him on it because I found it to be such a really interesting opportunity and venture. But we just couldn't really make it work and so I then decided to take all of the things that I learned through that process and start my own wine label. I had talked to Brianna about it because we worked together previously on some projects and found that we worked really well together and at that point I had already kind of decided that wherever I go I was going to take her with me.
Speaker 1:I love that I love that, women supporting women.
Speaker 2:That's how it works here. I love it.
Speaker 3:And so, um when we, um, when I told her about it, she was, like you know, all in and the rest is history.
Speaker 1:Oh, my gosh, okay, so how long has it been around?
Speaker 3:So we launched in 2022. We kind of got started the year before doing a lot of the background stuff that needed to be done. Right, we had to do all the same thing for myself that you know I did for that client, but we also took a slightly different approach. We were very strategic and very thoughtful about how we rolled this out, and so we talked with women, we surveyed, you know, women, we got focus groups together and we tried to figure out what they were drinking, what they liked, what they didn't like, what they wanted to see, what they didn't like, what they wanted to see. And once, you know, the state caught up to us because I think we were ahead of them. But once they caught up to us, we were able to launch in like February of 2020.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, okay. Well, I'm sorry I wasn't part of that focus group. Wish I could have been. That would have been great. You would have loved to have had you.
Speaker 3:You're here now.
Speaker 1:That's right, we're here now, so I saw that you have a Venter. Now are all of the wines exclusive to you all.
Speaker 3:Yes, so we only have one varietal right now.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:But we come up with what I would consider to be unique blends. Right, we don't completely abandon tradition, but we like to kind of put our own spin on you know products, because the wine industry is so kind of it's ran by the establishment, right, it's a lot of you know older white men and so, and even you know people who are enthusiasts or experts in this space. They kind of adhere to you know that tradition, and so we knew that we kind of wanted to do something different. So when we go in we say you know, we know, we start by saying what is our goal with this particular you know varietal, right, and kind of you know more of this, less of that. And that's how we kind of get to determining like our venture kind of works.
Speaker 3:He's a scientist, right, so he's a science person. How do we accomplish the goal? And so with this particular varietal, our goal was to we wanted to open people's minds to what they thought a red blend was. Okay. So, for example, our liking red wine, so like, for example, we might encounter a lot of people who say I don't like red wine, and then we'll end up letting them try our wine and they're like oh, I do like red wine, and that's because we were very thoughtful about making it something that was approachable it's not super dry, it's not super sweet, it's kind of really balanced. Because if you're a white drinker or just only a sweet red drinker, for example, it's hard to go from that to like a Cabernet. And so we really we kind of came up with this term of creating what we call a transitional wine for those people, and that was the market that we went after.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that's so smart. That is so smart. We had so many people at our wine tastings. They would say the same thing. They're like, oh, red wine gives me headaches. Or oh, I don't like red wine and I'm like, just try it. Just try it, Try it with this food. You know, the food really makes a huge difference, but that's so smart. Would you say, it's more like a Pinot Noir.
Speaker 3:Then yes, it's along that line. What I think helps to kind of balance our blend out is the fact that we do have Chardonnay in it.
Speaker 1:Nice Okay.
Speaker 2:And Robin, back to your tannin comment too. I am actually allergic to tannins, and so we were also mindful about keeping it super low tannin in our blend. So the headaches go away. The hangovers I mean, unless you're downing five bottles at a time. You know no judgment here, but it's a lot harder to get a hangover or to have those tannin reactions with our wine.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I love that. Now, are you guys in stores? Do you go out and do samples Like, how is the product out there?
Speaker 3:So we're doing events, but this year we actually launched in the New York market, retail, the retail market. So we are in two stores in Brooklyn, New York, and we are currently working on distribution here in Georgia. So by the end of the year we will start getting into, you know, retail stores. But in the meantime, when we have opportunities to do you know events, particularly events that are centered around women, we show up as vendors in those events and let people try the wine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so why New York If you go? Both are in Georgia, why New York? If you both are in Georgia, why New York?
Speaker 3:It was an easier market to get into. Ah, okay, so the big thing for you know brands, small brands, minority brands is that distribution is a challenge, right, and the laws around distribution vary from state to state. Georgia has some pretty, you know, funky distribution things you know going on, and so you really have to find the right distribution partner, and in New York, we were able to find a distribution partner that really allowed us to sit in the driver's seat and, you know, do things our way. So there's none of this. Oh, you have to deliver a minimum of you know this amount of cases you know to a retailer.
Speaker 3:They don't care if it's, you know, six bottles or six cases.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay. So do you guys ship then to different states, like, if I wanted to order some wine, can I have it shipped to Kansas?
Speaker 3:Yes, you absolutely can. So we on our website, marblewinescom, we do direct-to-consumer sales as well, online.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, very cool, nice. Now. Do you guys have your own bottling facility, or is that all kind of the process of the making of the wine?
Speaker 3:That's the process. We pretty much our our venture that we use Chris. He's got his own brand as well. And so it's easy to work with him because we just use whatever facilities he uses Got it.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, okay. So tell me where Marble Wines is going Like. What do you envision, do you think that is there going to be a wine club that people can subscribe to? I mean, obviously you want to be in different States and different stores, but, like, tell me a little bit more about what your future plans are.
Speaker 3:So we know that we definitely want to do a second varietal and, brianna, I'll let you talk about that.
Speaker 2:Oh, no, no, no, I I was. I halfway joked and just said world domination first, everything else is second country, every single store. No, I'm, I'm joking. We have a varietal that we're working on that is um super unique and we won't go too deep into that, but it does have, as Latoya says, it has, bubbles and I'm really excited about that. It's a different taste, different, slightly different market for people who like some sparkling versus still.
Speaker 3:But yeah, it's kind of and let me say this about this this second blend, because you know we started in Sonoma County, but I am not necessarily of the mindset that that's where we have to stay Right. I think part of the uniqueness of our brand is can we do something with grapes from different regions and bring it to market Right? And so I don't know if I've even discussed this with Brianna, but I've been out a lot recently here in Georgia and I keep hearing people say you cannot get a good wine with Georgia grapes Like they would be, you know, kind of poo-poo on the muscadine grapes that we have here.
Speaker 3:So in the back of my mind I'm thinking is that the next challenge right?
Speaker 1:Is to.
Speaker 3:Come up with a good blend with muscadine grapes to show people that it actually can be done.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I love that. I love that you're like Ooh, I hear a challenge, let me show you. Oh my gosh, okay. So you guys said that you work together. Um, so I mean, you seem to be close friends, but you're not in the same room, so tell me how your separate jobs work. But then you're doing this together.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, um, back in the day, no, I was running a social media agency and Latoya was one of my clients and then her clients were my clients and we just figured out that a lot of our goals were very aligned in the way we work together and the way we communicate together was super aligned. And that's really rare to find someone that you can just openly communicate with, no matter what, like I'll say no and if she bucks, she bucks. And if she says no and I buck, I buck it. But it's a general just having that love for each other's opinions and being able to work together. And so we worked together on and off for probably two or three years before Marble came into the picture and every I mean we are literally intricate each other's lives. We're like if I have a client over here who needs attorney needs, like I'll tap Latoya on the shoulder.
Speaker 2:If she needs someone with social media, she'll tap me on the shoulder and music and we are like. She sits on the board of level up music productions of our nonprofit. She's the one who got us filed for nonprofit status, I mean. So we're very like, just totally weaved in each other's lives. It's very cohesive.
Speaker 1:Everywhere. I love that. I know, I absolutely love that. Okay, so why marble? What's what's special about the name marble?
Speaker 2:Go ahead Latoya.
Speaker 3:Okay, I mean, I think it's pretty, you know, obvious. So for us, when we started thinking about the name, we wanted something that represented both of us, right? And so when you look at a piece of marble, your countertops or whatever the case may be, you have these spe specs that you can see, like the individual pieces, but it still comes together to kind of make, you know, one cohesive, beautiful piece of like art. Right, you know, the name is how do we what is a term or what's a word that kind of demonstrates our differences but also kind of is cohesive at the same time?
Speaker 1:I love that. That's so cool. I mean, I was thinking marble, like a little marble, but it's the same thing Like there's this world colors in there and everything just kind of comes together and it's circular and okay, very cool, nice. Okay, all right. So if you're not drinking your wine, what do you typically pour in your glass for both of you Like? What kind of wine? What other types of wine do you drink? You don't have to do brands, just varietals.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I like. I actually do like some Chardonnays. I like Sauvignon Blancs as well. There's a I think it's a Zinfandel or a Redblend, I'm not sure by Brown Estates Chaos Theory that I actually really, really like. So those are kind of like my go-tos. I did recently pick up a white Pinot Noir and that was very interesting. It's almost similar to our brand, since we have that Chardonnay in there. It was like it kind of gave you the notes of a red wine, but it was a white. It was a very unique blend and we're seeing more unique things like that happen in the marketplace. So where we were a little bit concerned in the beginning about kind of taking those types of leaps, I don't know it looks like we might be on trend now.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:We started it.
Speaker 3:We started the trend. That's right.
Speaker 2:You know I'm a cab drinker. Most of the time you're going to find a cab or I know I. It's not a wine, but it's a cider. I love ciders. Oh yeah, yeah. So, and I really I love ciders. Oh yeah, yeah. So, and I really I love wine, like on the cab side, but I didn't really start drinking wine until marble came into the picture. I stick. I typically stuck to tequila or I love tequila. Yeah, learned a lot through the process, so it's it's been fun for me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I'm a whiskey and bourbon girl too.
Speaker 1:So there you go, I love it. Yes, this is awesome, awesome, awesome. So, you mentioned wanting to do lots of women's events, and tell me a little bit about that. Like I can see bridal shows, but I can also see just intimate.
Speaker 2:Yes, you get it. Yeah, wherever the women are and where we can, where we can provide them a delicious and beautiful experience, you know, via wine. That's where we want to be, like we've done women in business shows, we've done bridal shows, we've done activations in our New York retailers, and that's what we intend to keep doing that, wherever the women are, we want to support them and partnering with other women-owned brands, right?
Speaker 3:So, you know, for Mother's Day, for example, we did a giveaway with you know the wine, but we included other women-owned brands in you know that package, right? So we had candles, we had, lipsticks, we had, so we put together a really cute package teas, yeah, and so now we're actually in conversation with another woman in Alabama who's looking to do, who's looking to do like wine and coffee, pairing gift boxes around the holidays. So, yeah, so it's really it's a lot about, you know, collaboration. I mean that's. We did this to kind of be able to connect women, and every time we have an opportunity to connect with a woman, we kind of try to seize that moment. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but we definitely try to do our part to make it work out. I met someone who has a studio like a fitness studio and she wants to do like a wellness day at the studio and kind of have, you know, wine there as well. So there's, well, you know, we're going to try to be everywhere we can be.
Speaker 1:That's wonderful, that is wonderful, and I think you're just spot on with just women supporting women. You know it just. There's no need for comparison, there's no need for competition. Let's just lift the next girl up and help her out. I love it. It's wonderful. Let's just lift the next girl up and help her out.
Speaker 2:I love it, yeah Wonderful, we don't need to make it any harder for.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's wine. Hello, yeah, it's wine.
Speaker 3:And you know it becomes part. I didn't recognize how doing this because, you know, before people read people, oh, you know what is your personal brand? Right, and like Brianna, I'm not a social media person at all. I, you know, I this is probably the most you know marketing things that I've done being involved with Marvel, because I've kept a pretty low profile and kind of, you know, stayed behind the scenes profile and kind of you know, stay behind the scenes.
Speaker 3:But you know, before I thought that my personal brand was running and drinking whiskey and bourbon and now that identity is changing a little bit as a result of this brand. Right, I actually one of my neighbors opened up kind of a wellness type spa and I went to the grand opening and another one of our, you know, female neighbors was there and she had a friend with her and she introduced me to her friend and she said she's a strong supporter of women, like that was in the introduction, right, and so that is so this brand and everything that people are seeing us do with this brand is, you know, it's changing my personal brand a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm getting ready to do a wine camp retreat with another one of my friends and I'm like this would be fun to have some of that wine there. So tell me about the price point.
Speaker 3:So it retails on our website at $18.99 a bottle, so it's a good, affordable wine. I know there's a lot of things going on in the world right now and people are watching you know their dollars but I think we're priced at a good place.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Yeah, no, that's a great price point. Okay, you guys. Seriously, this is just so fun. I'm so happy for both of you and I can't wait to see where you go with all of this. I mean, there's just so many possibilities. I just had book club yesterday. I'm like, oh my gosh, they could be a book club package. It could be the wine and the books and the so many fun things. So what didn't we cover? What? What do you need to tell everyone?
Speaker 2:I think one important from our brand perspective that we we didn't get to cover was on the bottle latoya, I think you have a bottle sitting behind you show us um.
Speaker 2:So they're speaking of connecting with you know, um purchasers and women in particular. There's a metallic film over the glasses, so when you raise the bottle, you see your reflection in our brand, and that is one of the most important things that we've carried out when it came to bottling is to make sure that everyone was reflected in our brand, and that is one of the most important things that we've carried out when it came to bottling is to make sure that everyone was reflected in our brand, regardless of who they were or where they came from.
Speaker 1:That is so cool. I love that. I love that you guys have that thought process and oh my gosh that's really cool.
Speaker 3:Well, it was the women, right, we did the focus groups and what the women told us is they wanted representation and I didn't know how I was going to give everybody representation.
Speaker 3:Well, but the person in me who likes a challenge right, and you know, like I hear I hear a challenge you know problem solver, right, how do we solve this problem? And so, you know, I worked with from a concept perspective. Excuse me, I actually worked with one of the, my mentor, his daughter. She's a artist, right, she's at UCLA right now doing an art program and you know, I told her what we wanted to try to do in terms of having the representation on the bottle, and she kind of helped us come up with that concept. We were in the office, on the whiteboard, you know, drawing mirrors and sunglasses and all this other type of stuff, and so when she did sunglasses, we were like okay, and she was like maybe there's a way to make it, you know, like reflective on the bottle, and so then we ended up having to work with the printer to find the right paper to, and that was, that was a process, that was one of our fun because we worked with this printer that was like out in, like out, like in the.
Speaker 3:Midwest or something Right, and like he lived up in the mountains, up in the mountains, and so like he would have to like we're sending paper samples back and forth to each other. So it'd be like hey, did you get the paper sample? And he'd be like, well, I got to go down the mountain and get us.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's hilarious.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:I mean I think it took us a month to find the right paper.
Speaker 2:I think it took us a month just to find the right paper. It was close to a month, I mean. We kept shipping back and forth and all I remember is getting all these paper swatches and going through and we're like looking at them, like can you see yourself? No, can you see yourself? No. Is it reflective enough? No, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can't imagine all the hoops that you guys had to jump through, and I mean just all the planning. My goodness, that's a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean we've done a great job Like there. I gotta say, like the the legal hoop jumping that it takes to start an alcohol company of any kind. I mean. I will yeah. So kudos to Latoya yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean, and even that process too, right, because I live in a small county in Georgia. I live in Hall County, and while we have a few like we do have a couple of vineyards in the county, I don't think that we, what we had to technically apply for in Georgia was a broker's license, and so I don't think anyone in my County had ever applied for that before. So they didn't know, they didn't understand. You know what I was doing and they were asking for, you know, things that I just couldn't give them. And I'm like, well, why do you want that? You know, and when you're going through this alcohol licensing process, it's normally done through your local police department, right? And so, while you know, my background is clean, I'm an attorney, you know and all the things when they say, well, why don't you just come down here and tell us what you're doing? And I'm kind of like I'd rather not.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3:But I did have to my neighbor across the street. He's actually on city council and I was like dude, I was like I might need you to get involved because they just don't understand. And so he said, well, let me know. He was like I can definitely talk to him if you need me to. But it didn't come to that. I was able to kind of get the state to put in writing that what they were requesting was not necessary for this particular licensing. So we had to, you know, work through all of those challenges too.
Speaker 1:Wow, oh gosh. Well, like I said, I'm super excited for both of you and this and this vision that you have, and that it's come to fruition and you're just going gangbuster with it. So how can the listeners find you?
Speaker 2:All over social media. At Marble Wines. It's on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and then wwwmarblewinescom. Yeah, we're on LinkedIn as well. All they have to do is at Marble Wines everywhere.
Speaker 1:Okay, perfect, make it nice and easy. Well, I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to be here. Thank you, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Thank you for listening. If you're enjoying this podcast, be sure to follow Spandex and Wine so you don't miss an episode. To do this, just go to the podcast and click subscribe or follow. Wherever you're listening, look for the plus sign or follow button. This is one of the best things that you can do for the podcast. If you'd also be willing to give a five-star review, that would be amazing and much appreciated. Lastly, please share an episode with a friend or five to keep the love going and join the Spandex and Wine community in our private Facebook group by searching Spandex and Wine. Feel free to reach out to me at any time by emailing info at spandexandwinecom or text me at 913-392-2877. I appreciate you. Thank you.
