National Mentoring Month

As January continues to unfold, the spotlight shines on the transformative impact of mentorship. This month-long observance is dedicated to recognizing the invaluable contributions of mentors and promoting the importance of mentorship in personal and professional development.

In the professional realm, mentorship is often cited as a key factor in career advancement. Mentors guide mentees in developing skills, expanding networks, and navigating the complexities of their chosen fields. This support not only benefits the individuals involved but also contributes to the overall growth and success of organizations.

In education, mentorship plays a crucial role in shaping the next generation of leaders. Teachers, professors, and other educational mentors inspire and guide students, helping them discover their passions and talents. This guidance extends beyond the classroom, influencing students' choices and aspirations.

This month we celebrate the achievements our young chapter has made in both of these realms.

Dames Make a Mark at Healdsburg High School's Career Event

Last November, 16 Dames volunteered their time to
contribute their expertise and knowledge to
Healdsburg High School’s junior class. Employing a
structured round table format, we orchestrated
approximately 16 tables, each accommodating 8–10
students. Throughout the hour, we seamlessly rotated
between tables, articulating our personal success
stories with a focus on professional development.

The diversity of knowledge shared, spanning disciplines such as cheese making, viticulture, business ownership, education, communications, and food science, underscored the wealth of experiences within our chapter.

The event took place just before the HHS Juniors embarked on their 4-week internship placement throughout Sonoma County. Our insights served as a valuable compass, guiding them through the myriad of career possibilities that lay ahead - and hopefully offered perspective that career successes are rarely on a straight line. We all felt it was important to share the path to career satisfaction may take many and often unlikely twists and turns, but staying open and nimble generally leads us to exactly where we’re supposed to be.

Our time together embodied the universal goal of LDEI – supporting our communities through guidance and mentorship. The success of this event is a testament to the power of mentorship and the positive influence we can have on the next generation. Kudos to each Dame who participated – your narratives have undoubtedly left an enduring impression on these HHS juniors.

—Written by Dame Nicole Rogers

Dame-to-Dame Mentoring

Since our chapter inception, we envisioned offering a way to communicate the various skills of our members as a resource for any Dame seeking some guidance or support in a given area. Our “SuperPowers” vault is available in the Member section of the website or here. SuperPowersVault We highly encourage you to check out this powerful resource! If you haven’t filled out the skill survey yet, please contact mentorship@lesdamessoco.org.

At our Member Meeting this month, our Mentorship Committee introduced the ‘mentorship edition’ of speed dating. The very quick conversations proved not only to be incredibly entertaining but also to be inspirational, supportive and productive! “I know I speak for others when I say I enjoyed all my chats with my ‘dates’, learned a lot and have some second ‘dates’ to get on the books!”, adds Dame Lisa Stavropoulos.

Great job Dames Naomi Crawford, Felice Thorpe and Julie Schreiber for pulling this off!

Member Spotlight

Dame Mary Beth Vierra

A true mentor, Dame Mary Beth Vierra life’s path has been one of teaching, training and education. Armed with a Masters in Rhetoric and Communications from UC Davis, Mary Beth enjoyed teaching at her alma mater UC Davis, Santa Rosa Junior College and other junior colleges throughout California. She taught quite the wide range of topics - Rhetoric, Philosophy, English, Literature, Poetry, Marketing, and even Insurance and Eyeglass Frames! Experience as a corporate trainer and marketing consultant followed before the allure of Italy caught her attention.

“I thought I could experience another country, continue to teach, and enjoy living a life that offered more than two weeks vacation! So, I got a certificate to teach English as a foreign language (TEFLA) and moved. I intended to live in Italy for just 1 to 2 years, but I stayed for 5!”

For five years Mary Beth immersed herself in Italy while quickly becoming fluent in Italian. Living in Aosta in the Alps not far from the Swiss border, the city of Bologna, and in the countryside of the Reggio Emilia wine region, Mary Beth taught English at general language schools and the University of Modena. She also taught business English for private companies.

“Those 5 years in Italy gave me fluency in its language, food, and La Dolce Vita! It also gave me my love and inspiration for wine,” she says proudly.

Discovering Wine

A full seven years after she returned to the US, Mary Beth’s wine career took off when she landed a dream job, Manager of Wine and Spirits Education for E & J Gallo Winery. Based in Healdsburg, the position was responsible for overseeing the wine & spirits training program for their international sales force, trade hospitality teams, and trade clients.

“After a 20-year career training a variety of interesting and fulfilling topics, this position launched me into a whole new stratosphere— into the beautiful and fascinating world of wine (and food)! I love how wine brings so many fields together in a glass -- agriculture,food, art, science, history, botany, geology and passion.”

Crush Course “Education, Train, Entertain”

After more than a decade at Gallo, it was time for Mary Beth to develop her own wine education company. In 2019, she launched Crush Course which offers wine education programs to the wine trade and wine engagement and discovery programs to the wine enthusiast.

“I customize wine training programs for winery and restaurant staff– and offer interactive wine learning events for their club members. I also offer wine “edu-tainment” events for conferences and personalized small group education for hotel guests.”

She is in the midst of building a series of wine master classes and wine exploration events to be held in Healdsburg. These will allow the local community to come together to discover and enjoy new wine regions, take a deeper dive into Sonoma County wine and explore wine topics like food and wine pairing.

Staying true to her passion for education, Mary Beth holds quite the impressive list of wine certifications: Certified Wine Educator (CWE), Italian Wine Scholar (IWS), Italian Wine Ambassador (IWA), California Wine Appellation Specialist (CWAS), and Certified Specialist of Spirits (CSS).

Les Dames d’Escoffier

Mary Beth was one of the founding board members of the Sonoma Chapter. “It was an incredible experience to be on this initial team of dynamic women, envisioning how we want to build our chapter and serve our community under the auspices of such an esteemed organization”, adds Mary Beth.

Mary Beth took on the role of building the Mentorship Committee and served as its first Chair (2020-2023). She and her committee have been responsible for:

collecting and maintaining our “Super Powers” master list – so we understand and can tap into the resources and skills of our fellow chapter members
developing a series of educational seminars offered to all California Les Dames chapters
establishing a relationship with Healdsburg High School to share our knowledge and experience to students in a series of panels and events. This model is being expanded and offered to other schools across our region.

Mary Beth concIudes, “I chose this committee as, in my mind, it represents the heart and the soul of LDEI – mentoring, guiding, and supporting young women and fellow leaders in our industry.”

Mary Beth, thank you for all your hard work helping to start the Sonoma Chapter. Our mentorship activities continue to thrive thanks to your leadership! We couldn’t think of a more perfect Dame ‘Spotlight’ during this National Mentoring Month.

—Written by Dame Barbara Barrielle

Let’s Go to Greece

Don’t forget! Dame Lisa Stavropoulos’s company, Greek Grape Wine Tours, is offering a FUNdraising trip benefiting our NorCal Chapters (Sonoma, SF, Sacramento and Monterey). For every Dame or friend of a Dame who signs up, she will donate 5% of the trip proceeds back to that Dame's chapter.

This immersive culinary & wine tour will take place September 25-October 6 and will cover the most important wine regions in the Northern Greece, the Peloponnese and Crete. So grab a friend, dive into the world of Greek wine and gastronomy, and raise money for our chapters!

Non-Dames are welcome and don’t necessarily need to travel with the referring Dame. The referring Dame’s chapter will still get the donation!

Here is more information!

Member Milestones

Dame Sheana Davis, The Epicurean Connection, will be inducted into the Guilde Des Fromagers (where she will join fellow Dame Doralice Handal!) and the Salon de Fromage next month in Paris. In addition, she will judge fresh butter and cheeses at Salon Des Fromage and will remain in Paris for four weeks to expand her skills in cheese and butter making with https://makers-and-mongers.sturman.com/.

Dame Lisa Stavropoulos’s company Greek Grape Wine Tours received the accolade “Best Wine Tour in Europe" by World Luxury Travel Awards.

CONGRATULATIONS DAMES!

Upcoming Events & Reminders

January 10-March 20: Call for Legacy Award entries

January 12-February 12: Call for Table Talks entries - join the conversation and email Dame Lisa Stavropoulos at Communications@lesdamessoco.org if you have an idea for a Table Talk or if you would like to help with the planning/volunteer.

February 4: An Afternoon with Dame Kathleen Thompson Hill, Elizabeth Spencer Winery, 11am Learn more and sign up here.

February 4: The Disciples Escoffier International USA & Les Dames d’ Escoffier Monterey Chapter’s Annual U.S. National Induction Dinner and Celebration, 5:30-9:00pm Learn more and sign up here. (FYI, Dame Lisa Stavropoulos and Dame Doralice Handal are going! Carpool with them!)

February 8: Julia’s Table, Blue Ridge Kitchen, Sebastopol, 5:00pm-7:00pm

“Celebrity has its uses. I can always get a seat in any restaurant.”

— Julia Child

The Sonoma Table