From Alcatraz to Budding Wine Dynasty

In this episode of Do Small Business Like a Big Boss, host Aisha Massengill, Founder and Principal Attorney at Sedgwick Andrews Legal & Consulting, LLC, sits down with Nancy Belle Hansford, Founder of Watkinsville Wine, to talk about how she turned a passion discovered at 19 into a thriving winery business. Nancy shares her inspiring journey from making wine in her parents’ house during the COVID quarantine to founding a federally licensed farm winery. She talks about navigating complex alcohol regulations, turning wine-making failures into new product lines, and balancing a full-time job with running a 24/7 passion. This conversation is a masterclass on how to start small, think big, and build a business that funds your passion without burning you out. 🎧 What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Starting Young and Asking for Help: How Nancy learned to make wine with zero formal training, and why attending a dry college helped her business Navigating Legal and Regulatory Challenges: Decoding federal alcohol licensing and finding loopholes to launch a winery in a dry county Turning Mistakes Into Revenue Streams: How Nancy’s early wine failures led to profitable new product lines Building a Sustainable Business Model: How Nancy scaled her winery while keeping her passion and paycheck separate to prevent burnout Balancing Full-Time Work with a 24/7 Passion: Setting boundaries and making use of simple tools to manage both business and full-time work Redefining Success on Your Own Terms: Why Nancy defines success as loving what you do—and not just making money ⏱️ Episode Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction 03:23–03:58 – How Nancy learned to make wine with no formal background 10:01–10:28 – Cold-calling government officials to get wine-making approval 25:10–25:45 – How mistakes became new revenue streams, like pineapple-grapefruit wine 48:22 – Wrap-up & Calls to Action 👤 About the Guest: Nancy Belle Hansford is the founder of Watkinsville Wine, a federally licensed farm winery. Starting her wine-making journey at just 19 during the COVID quarantine, Nancy has since grown her business while working full-time as a project manager in tech. She is passionate about creating quality wines, navigating complex legalities, and building a business that allows her to follow her passion without sacrificing her well-being. 🚀 Ready to Make Your Business Official? Join Aisha’s FREE weekly webinar, Make Your Business Official, and learn how to build, brand, and bulletproof your business with confidence. 👉 Register here: https://www.igotnext.co/training 👉 Grab your FREE Legal Guide at: https://www.topemployermistakes.com 🔗 Stay Connected with Sedgwick Andrews Follow us across all platforms for legal tips, business strategy, and boss-level motivation: 👉 https://linktr.ee/Sedgwick_Andrews_LC 🎙️ Podcast Mantra Build the dream messy, build it scared, just don’t build it small. If this episode helped you, don’t forget to subscribe, download, and share it with another boss who needs to hear it.