Check Out Daniela Garrido’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniela Garrido.

Hi Daniela, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born and raised in Miami but moved to California in 2018 to be an agriculture news reporter in Bakersfield. I covered all sorts of stories, mainly agriculture, but also breaking news in the Central Valley. I covered the very early days of Covid-19 and ultimately decided not to renew my contract in the news industry. During that time, I made a weekend trip to Manhattan Beach — some of my friends were renting a house on the strand and I just thought, “this is the most magical place ever.” I fell in love with the South Bay instantly and moved here in 2020, where I worked a remote job in public relations for wine brands. During that time, I felt lonely working from home all the time, so I worked at The Lighthouse after my 9-5 a couple days a week. Once again, I fell even more in love with the South Bay — there was nothing like biking to the bar with the ocean breeze enjoying a glowing sunset and dancing to live music in shorts and sandles. After five years in public relations, I decided to return to TV as a Wine & Travel Contributor for lifestyle shows across the country, including California Live on NBC and Live in the Bay on KRON. It is always magical to visit the NBC lot to film my TV segments — just a full circle moment to combine my two passions: reporting and wine & travel. Last year, I decided I wanted to continue growing my community in the South Bay and started a social wine club, South Bay Wine Club. I had seen these kinds of social wine clubs popping up around LA and beyond, but as we know, the South Bay “Bubble” is real and I felt like we needed one here. I connected with the owner of Blue Butterfly to see if I could use his overflow space for my idea, and the rest is history. I’ve been hosting this social wine club for just a little over a year now and it truly makes me so happy to see neighbors come together, enjoy and learn about wine, and build community. I always say that I would be friends with every single person that walks into wine club, and to this day, I’ve meant it. Every single wine club, without fail, people leave with a group chat or exchanging numbers or saying “see you next month!” — and to me, that is what community and South Bay Wine Club is all about!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Honestly, the South Bay has taught me to slow down. I think a younger version of me who grew up in the city wanted to control so many things, especially my career, but I’ve learned to let the things that inspire me guide me. Living by the beach has taught me that life is like a wave — it can hit you hard, take you under, but ultimately, it passes. I even got a wave tattoo on my wrist when I first moved here to remind me of that. At first, I felt really lost and out of place in the South Bay, but with each passing year, I have found my people and my community. It was definitely challenging to launch South Bay Wine Club. I pitched it to a couple of spots but was met with hesitation because they normally rent out these spaces or charge for bringing in your own wine, so I knew I needed a true partner, a place that believed in my mission as much as I did, which is exactly why I decided on Blue Butterfly. Another challenge is setting up and breaking down basically a pop-up wine bar concept once a month, it’s physically and mentally draining, but a lot of my wine club friends have helped out. I’m proud of the community I’ve built in my six years here. I think that was the most challenging thing at first: starting something without a strong network or community.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I wear many hats! I’m a freelance Wine & Travel Contributor for TV shows across the country, I’m the founder of Sobremesa Creative, a public relations agency for boutique hospitality clients, and the founder of South Bay Wine Club.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
To me success is waking up every day motivated to accomplish something – and if that “something” can support the greater good of your world and/or community, even better!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.daniela-garrido.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/southbaywineclub/?hl=en
• Other: https://www.sobremesapublicrelations.com/