No Label Wine is a local wine that promotes artists. Two of its five varietals are prize winners and the thing that excites the owners the most is the possibility to make local artists visible. i-genius talks with No Label Wine Creative Director and COO, Judith Gonzalez.

i-genius: Why did you start No Label Wine?
Judith Gonzalez: I co-founded NLW with the intention to make visible local artists and designers through the delicious wine that’s available here in Mexico. I’m formally educated in design in Barcelona, and I knew I wanted to apply the power of design in Mexico to transform something.

i-genius: What makes a good candidate for a Founder of a company?
Judith: Dreaming big, he/she has no problem in doing things outside of comfort zones and having a clear WHY you are doing it.

i-genius: What’s been your continued source of inspiration?
Judith: PEOPLE! And their stories 🙂

i-genius: In what way is No Label Wine a social enterprise?
Judith: We decided to make an open call to make it work for talented people too. It is a collaborative project and we are working to make it a sustainable project, in order to collaborate with musicians, chefs and more graphic and visual artists.

i-genius: What difficulties did you experience setting up nolabelwine?

Judith: People putting labels on things, including us: saying we were too young, the wine industry is too complicated, people are not talented… and it is great to see people eager to keep the bottle after they drink it 🙂

i-genius: What are the most crucial things you have done to grow No Label Wine?
Judith: Find a reliable partner, look for unexpected places to place it, such as the Chinese market. This year NLW travelled to China and we got interest from the biggest wine club in Shanghai, our interest now is spreading availability in Mexico too.

i-genius: How much wine is good for your health?
Judith: It’s a good question, haha, wine has always been part of humanity. I like to view it as a means for gathering and enjoyment, as long as the quantity does not compromise your relationships and becomes a problem. I believe food can be your medicine, and I discovered that one glass leaves me content and satisfied, wine is something to take your time with. You can visit my blog in www.toop.com.mx 🙂

i-genius: Why is art and design important for wine?
Judith: The most relevant and interesting things for me are a result in merging concepts, cultures and even races. We wanted to gather attention to our wine through good design and why not give the chance to talented people to do this task? Everybody wins! You get to experience good wine while getting a collectible bottle, people get to know work from artists and designers and they get published to land new opportunities.

i-genius: What makes Mexico an ideal country to grow wine?
Judith: Our vineyards are located in the golden belt of wine, which is also the latitude of Mediterranean wine country. San Vicente, the valley, is surrounded by mountains, protected from strong winds and ideal to receive the sea breeze for the 12 varietals to grow slowly. Mexico is growing award winning wines, as ours. 🙂

i-genius: What is your favourite motto in life?
Judith: “everything is figureoutable” and “little by little my dear”

i-genius: What’s the worst business advice you’ve ever received?
Judith: Be protective with your ideas. Who the hell has the guts to act on an stolen idea? You need the passion, perseverance, people and abilities to make it happen, not just an idea. Talking about what you want to do with the right people can take you far, find useful connections, and receive overall useful feedback. Be open!

i-genius: What advice would you give to those starting up a social business/project?
Judith: 1. Listen to your heart, you always know what to do, the most important thing in all projects are the people involved. 2. Ask yourself: What can I do? (think big), What do I really really really really want to do? (be sincere about how every item of the first list of possibilities feel to you), What will I do? (take into account your longings and resources). 3. Learn how to handle numbers! (otherwise you will regret it :s )

This interview was conducted as part of the i-genius Getting Started interview series. If you would like to learn how to get started in your social business, then why not take our ‘Getting Started – Social Business Start Up’ online course with i-genius Academy. To find out more, click here!