Collab Writing
- Feb 14, 2020
- 8 min read

From WINE passion to WINE profession (part 1)

Updated: Oct 19, 2021

Part one - The Struggle

Intro: This subject has a great importance to me. It’s basically what I’m thinking about every day, for the past months, since I left in October 2019 my day job as a Lawyer. I became a lawyer because I wanted to help people. I wanted to matter. I didn’t ask to fell in love with wine, but it happened. I don’t think there is a way back now, but to be honest there is a lot of fear in my heart. I’m scared to change my current profession and pursue my wine passion. The safe way is to combine between both in order to get a financial stability while chasing my dream. I tried it for a year during 2019 worked as a full-time job lawyer and tried to work on my wine-wear store. It didn’t work for me. I couldn't invest enough time in my wine brand. It just felt like I’m chasing my own tail instead. Although I do believe that multitasking is good, I also believe that you need to focus on something to own it and prosper in the field. So that’s what I’m planning to do from now on. Focus on my wine passion and see where it’s going to bring me.

I think there are a lot of people like me, with wine passion in their hearts, that a bit scared and search for some guidance on this matter. I hope to help them and give them enough courage to pursue their wine dreams. You know what they say, by helping others you help yourself.

So’ let’s start.

Changing profession in 2020 is the new normal. In the last decades different generations of workers have witnessed many changes in the work field (economical, social, spiritual and others) when the outcome of it, is that employers are no longer providing long-term employment guarantees. This brought people to switch jobs faster insted of satying in one place longer.

Job’s sector changed into high career mobility that became the “new normal” going far from the traditional career pattern outmoded. Those changes happened quite fast and they effected members of various generations differently, because they were at different career and life stages when these changes took place.

Many researchs showed that changing profession is a matter of psychosocial transition, learning processes and the acquisition of new social, cognitive, or technical skills. In other words, we are not the same people we were (even 5 years) before, so as we change, we also want to change our jobs especially because we spend enormous part of our time on work. We want to earn money and enjoy our jobs while doing that.

I have read a super interesting research that focused on “why people change their carriers?” and it pointed on five distinct reasons for career change: (1) dealing with health problems; (2) attaining attractive working conditions; (3) reducing dissatisfaction; (4) growing personally; (5) pursuing a vocation. When reasons 3-5 (or the combination of them) were the main ones.

Many people were not happy with what they were doing and searched for a change.

In our case, I think that the main reasons to why people want to enter the wine sector are: they were not happy with their current profession, they fell in love with wines and some even saw in the wine sector as their true calling / destiny.

Back to the research, the participants stated that a career change represented for them a personal rather than a mere professional development. They wanted to change their lives, creating a possibility to think about different future plans, meeting new challenges, or simply feeling alive.

We should not forget that we experience and understand the purpose of work differently. Some may see work as the way of simply gaining financial rewards for living, whereas some may feel “called” to a certain career that aligns with one’s life purpose or like other called it - “fulfillment,” “passion,” and “enjoyment”.

It doesn’t matter why exactly you are searching for a career change; the important part is that you are not alone. There are others like you. Wine in particular, excites many people and make them passionate to learn more about it. We are a huge community. Many wine people that I spoke with, mentioned that this passion to: know, taste and explore more is burning in them.

So, why don’t we follow our passion? Where is the struggle?

I had read a nice report that was made in London about career change that mentioned that the main reason (38%) why people don’t storm on changing their career was that they are simply happy with their current job. The second in line (29%) was a lack of financial stability. While 20% stated that they don’t change their career because they don’t know yet what they wanted to change their career to. Others said that the fear of failure and the lack of time investment required, are the main reason for them, also stating that they afraid that this change can lead to a potential disruption to their family or social life.

If you’ll ask me, my reasons changed with time, from not being sure if this is what I really want, to when I decided that I do want to enter the wine sector, I was really afraid of the financial instability that this change can bring. Not be able to provide and earn enough is scary. The struggle is real especially when there is a family you need to take care for.

As part of my journey to write this article, I asked 6 wine-people who already done the switch or in the middle of it, to tell you about their path. I feel that seeing other people doing it, can bring courage and motivate.