This week’s A Career Choice is a Life Choice blog post features Nathan Kunzman, the owner and founder of The Wine Poor Distribution. Born from a passion and love of wine, The Wine Poor Distribution was founded in 2015 in Oakland County, Michigan.
Nathan Kunzman, Owner, The Wine Poor Distribution
Small but mighty, TWP Distribution takes their wine seriously and delivers only the highest quality brands in the marketplace. Read about what led Nathan to start this unique company.
DB: Thanks for sitting down with me today, Nathan. Can you start by telling me your current position?
NK: I am the owner and founder of The Wine Poor Distribution, a Michigan based wine distributor focused on small production, boutique wine brands from a high-end perspective.
DB: That sounds amazing! Tell me about your career path and how you ended up here.
NK: My career path certainly didn’t start with an emphasis on wine. I majored in English and Political science in college. I learned sales and distribution tactics via my family business, Kunzman and Associates. After 13 years in sales and marketing within that field, I was able to take my passion and love of wine to a business my family knew well, distribution. After a few years balancing two jobs I have gone all-in on The Wine Poor Distribution as our company has grown rapidly.
DB: That’s great that you were able to take something you knew well and apply it to your passion. What do you value most about your current role?
NK: Passion. Simply put, I care tremendously about my company and the wine industry. I have always loved learning about wine, collecting wine and, of course, drinking wine. Being able to marry that passion with a business is an amazing feeling and something I am very proud of.
DB: What has been the biggest learning to date from your career path?
NK: Every day learning continues. We have to learn to follow new paths, to be creative and willing to take chances while trying to stick to our values as a business but adapting to better ourselves. From a sales point of view, things are not much different than what I already knew, it’s the inventory management that has been the biggest learning curve for us I would say.
DB: What is your favorite interview question to ask candidates?
NK: What do you love about wine? Along with questions about the wine industry and how did they end up in this field?
