In this episode of Do Small Business Like a Big Boss, host Aisha Massengill, Founder and Principal Attorney at Sedgwick Andrews Legal & Consulting, LLC, sits down with Nancy Belle Hansford, Founder of Watkinsville Wine, to talk about how she turned a passion discovered at 19 into a thriving winery business.

Nancy shares her inspiring journey from making wine in her parents’ house during the COVID quarantine to founding a federally licensed farm winery. She talks about navigating complex alcohol regulations, turning wine-making failures into new product lines, and balancing a full-time job with running a 24/7 passion. This conversation is a masterclass on how to start small, think big, and build a business that funds your passion without burning you out.

• Starting Young and Asking for Help: How Nancy learned to make wine with zero formal training, and why attending a dry college helped her business
• Navigating Legal and Regulatory Challenges: Decoding federal alcohol licensing and finding loopholes to launch a winery in a dry county
• Turning Mistakes Into Revenue Streams: How Nancy’s early wine failures led to profitable new product lines
• Building a Sustainable Business Model: How Nancy scaled her winery while keeping her passion and paycheck separate to prevent burnout
• Balancing Full-Time Work with a 24/7 Passion: Setting boundaries and making use of simple tools to manage both business and full-time work
• Redefining Success on Your Own Terms: Why Nancy defines success as loving what you do—and not just making money

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 03:23–03:58 – How Nancy learned to make wine with no formal background
• 10:01–10:28 – Cold-calling government officials to get wine-making approval
• 25:10–25:45 – How mistakes became new revenue streams, like pineapple-grapefruit wine
• 48:22 – Wrap-up & Calls to Action

Nancy Belle Hansford is the founder of Watkinsville Wine, a federally licensed farm winery. Starting her wine-making journey at just 19 during the COVID quarantine, Nancy has since grown her business while working full-time as a project manager in tech. She is passionate about creating quality wines, navigating complex legalities, and building a business that allows her to follow her passion without sacrificing her well-being.

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