Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamie Cegelski-Gaebe.
Hi Jamie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started Priority Wine Pass in 2011 in honor of my father who had passed away in 2010 from cancer. He was an avid wine enthusiast and I know he would have enjoyed the journey of growing Priority Wine Pass with me. In three years, I personally visited over 350 wineries and had invited 250 to join the program. In early 2016 my cousin and business partner Nolan Plant joined to help grow the tech side of the business. By 2019, we had over 400 participating wineries and 20,000 members. In 2020 our business died overnight due to Covid, fortunately, we had a business plan on the back burner to promote virtual experiences to our members not living near wine country. As soon as Covid hit, we figured putting in motion our virtual experience idea was the only option we had to survive. So, in March of 2020, we did exactly that with our virtual listing and we ended up being first to the internet with the term virtual wine tasting. Next thing we knew, we received several write-ups and in early 2021, our virtual experiences for corporations became so popular we launched a new company called Priority Experiences. We now offer global experiences that expand past wine to include chocolate, cheese, cocktails, baking, cooking, holiday and themed experiences, beer experiences and more. Our next steps are to focus on helping corporations prospect using our virtual experiences to help grow their businesses.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh my, I’d say starting/running a company is never a smooth road. We have had issues with folks copy and pasting our wine pass offers/stealing them. We invested a significant amount of money for POP displays to be put in all Bevmo locations, but due to Covid they were all destroyed and removed. We went from being on the brink of going under due to Covid to having more business than we could have dreamed of and not being big enough to support it. It’s been non-stop but a journey I’d never change.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Priority Experiences and Priority Wine Pass?
We have two entities that we manage.
Priority Wine Pass: we are the largest wine-tasting experience program in the world. We work with over 400 wineries in CA, OR, and WA. We assist with trip planning, advice on where to taste, recommendations on drivers, and large group tasting in Napa and Sonoma. Our wine pass offers discounts and savings as well as access to special wineries and upgraded experiences. We also get our members discounts on wine at our winery partners throughout the year with special email discounts. We also hope to expand into the Texas wine country in 2023. We have been around for over a decade and have survived covid and continue to grow and provide benefits for members.
Priority Experiences: we are a virtual experience company providing virtual experiences nationwide and globally. We primarily work with corporations who are looking to entertain and educate prospects and clients. We assist with customizing gifts and experiences and providing advice on how to best market our partner’s products through the virtual experiences. We also assist with corporate gifting or seasonal customized gifts to help our corporate clients stand out all year long.
Our ability to send similarly or the same gifts to people attending the virtual event globally has set us apart. Along with the fact we can customize gifts and arrange last-minute experiences. We are very hands-on and boutique and work with clients’ needs and restrictions to make their job a bit easier.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I have many incredible childhood memories. I grew up the oldest of four girls and with that being said you can imagine there was always a lot going on. I’d say something that I carried with me from my childhood was that I would create adventures for my sisters along with the neighborhood kids and we would go explore the ‘world’ and create fun experiences for others to join in on after we discovered them. In terms of entrepreneurship, my sisters always laugh as I made them find pretty rocks and then sell them door to door in Lake Tahoe. I would also make them pick fruit, bake, and cook almost anything and everything and sell it outside our house growing up.
Other fun memories are sailing lessons with our cousins, motor home experiences with our grandparents to Oregon, boating out on the delta, and so much more. Family has been my a huge driver in my business career.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.priorityexperiences.com and www.prioritywinepass.com
- Instagram: @prioritywinepass @priorityexperiences
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PriorityWinePass/
