Today we’d like to introduce you to Bertrina Shorter & Danielle Williams.
Hi Bertrina & Danielle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Hi. We are Kultured Vines LLP. My name is Bertrina Shorter and I am an artist and crafter, owner of Imaginationarts78 my business partner is Danielle Williams, a vintner.
She owns and operates LePour901. We originally met at a pop-up Le Pour was hosting last year during the holidays in 2021. We recently started a collaboration per the suggestion of my artistic skills and her amazing exclusive wine and from there the birth of our new baby was born… Kultured Vines LLP featuring Wine & Design.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In some aspects, yes, the road has been smooth. Two ambitious divergent entrepreneurs met and the blessings that this is a good business move and the decision have been the smoothest part. We both have a strong desire to bring to Memphis something bold, different, socially upscale, and engaging to our community. We both have a strong desire to be a chameleon in the art and wine business. This for certain has been a blessing.
Some of the struggles we are facing are exposure, funds with this being a newly formed business, and of course the audience. A business can’t thrive without support from an audience that believes in you, embrace what you bring to the table, and share the support with others to keep that trend going in keeping a black-owned business or a self-employed business operating. Both myself and Danielle have talked many nights saying what can we do differently.
How can we get our audience engaged? Will our strong desire become contagious and our community welcome us with open arms? We definitely feel the resonance from the universe blessing this partnership but it is also some aspects of Murphy’s Law. How badly do we want it and what will we do to bring this to fruition? As with any business, these are all important questions.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
How did we come up with the name Kultured Vines? When you think of art, you think of culture, lifestyle, habits, traditional and nontraditional, society, and diversity. What also comes to my mind are expression, acceptance, difference, similarities, emotion, chaos, calm, tranquility, and commotion. For generations, art has become so many things to so many people. It’s a huge umbrella. I love that artists embrace art in all forms because it takes thoughts & expression to make a mark that hits a person’s soul to the core, and creates imagination, dreaming, and reality.
Wine comes from some of the best vines, plants, and the love of the earth (the soil). Wine creates relaxed scenes, and can make taste buds explode with excitement. I have experienced a renewed appreciation from small business wineries that take a passion and put their mark on making it different and stand apart from the rest.
When Danielle and I were brainstorming the name of our company, ironically, we were wine-tasting some wineries in Tennessee. So, you can say wine tasting was our inspiration behind the unique name in not just calling ourselves Wine & Design because we are so much more.
We all have different ways of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I think the best way to define it is the purpose, passion, accomplishment, and blessing of others.
Creating memories and opportunities for others to pursue their goals and desires. Success is not comfort at all. It’s the exact opposite it’s learned mistakes, the sleepless night that turns into restful nights, it’s resilience, but most of all it’s a strong feeling of fulfillment.
You love what you do and you utilize that love to expand your successes into meaningful opportunities to bless others with that success as well. I also think success is teaching someone else to find purpose and accomplishment.
Pricing:
- Wine & Design events are $ 65.00 including winetasting, charcuterie, and painting.
- Coming soon more events and merchandise. Please check our website for details.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kulturedvines.org
- Instagram: @KulturedVines
- Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/profile.php?id= 100087365040481&mibextid= ZbWKwL - TikTok: @KulturedVines
- YouTube: Kultured Vines
- Other: https://linktr.ee/
kulturedvines
