Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Erin Wassum
The Muse

Erin Wassum is one of the inspirations for Middle Sister Wines. Sandwiched between an older sister and younger brother, and therefore sheltered from the demands of either role, Erin was free to re-invent herself on a regular basis. From fashionista to social butterfly to flower child to happy rebel, Erin loves trying things on for size (especially vintage stuff from the thrift shop).

For Erin, pink is really magenta...why have just one hair color when you can have three or four thrown in…short girls belong in stilettos…and wine makes life more delicious! The self-described heart of her family, Erin is independent, loyal, feisty, original and endlessly amusing—everybody has an Erin in their life. Middle Sister is dedicated to your "Erin"- and the Middle Sister attitude in all of us.

Philosophy: I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys ‘r Us kid.

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Terry Wheatley
The Founding Mother

Middle Sister is Terry Wheatley's baby! A wine professional with over 30 years in the business, Terry began her career as a teenage rodeo trick rider promoting E&J Gallo wines in California. In fact, she married a champion professional cowboy and raised two children while working her way up to a senior position at E&J Gallo! Yee-haw!

Terry became one of the top female wine executives in the business while at Sutter Home Winery. Her mission has long been to bring a female point-of-view to the male-dominated world of wine. Terry and her friends started her wine company, Canopy Management, to create delicious, affordable wines inspired by stories from her life experiences.

Middle Sister was inspired by the style and attitude of the sassy second daughter of one of her closest friends (Erin!) and all the middle sisters she has met along her way.

Philosophy: Play nice in the sandbox or take your toys and go home.

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Susan Lombardi
The Designer

Even as a little girl (and a middle sister, at that), Susan always had her hands in the mud, her clothes smeared with chalk, glue, or paint, and a giggle inside just waiting to explode. Just like many middle sisters, Susan was misunderstood. Luckily she was able to embrace her inner-funk through creativity, earning a degree in Advertising from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Thus began her design career, creating packaging and marketing & sales materials for the fashion, fragrance, cosmetics and consumer products industries. She’s even done design work in the banking and aerospace industries (no trip to space yet, unfortunately)!

Susan finds that her haphazardly scattered background has allowed her to approach wine label design from a pleasantly skewed perspective, creating work that is “a breath of fresh air” for consumers used to traditional wine labels. She is also Middle Sister’s Official Social Media Marketing Maven! She loves interacting with Middle Sister-lovers online, and hopes that her efforts help people to learn about and love the Middle Sister brand.

Philosophy: Smile! It won’t mess up your hair.
(lovingly-stolen from the barber-shop singers that frequent the 4-5-6 NYC Subway line)