Name: Anu Karwa
Age: 33
Location: New York City
Education: B.S. in Finance and Economy from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in New York City
Job Title: Founder and CEO of Swirl Events, a wine-tasting event company.
What She Does: Anu and her company organize customized wine tastings for private events such as dinners, bridal showers, and birthdays, as well as for corporate events including holiday parties, team-building activities, and recruiting sessions.
How She Got Her Gig: “I’ve always wanted to run my own business, but I thought it would be in cosmetics,” says Anu. Before she decided to launch Swirl, Anu was a self-described “product junkie,” doing brand management for beauty labels like Victoria’s Secret Beauty, John Frieda, and L’Oreal Paris. In her spare time, she was volunteering for Sakhi, an organization that aims to end domestic abuse against South Asian women, and was asked to help with the group’s fund-raising efforts. “I thought, ‘I’ll buy some wine, cheese, and chocolate, call all my girlfriends, and tell them to bring their checkbooks,’” says Anu. “Everyone had such a great time that by the end of the evening they were all saying, ‘You need to do this as a business!’”
Survey Says: After the party, Anu began fleshing out the concept for her business. She wanted to offer full-service wine tastings combined with cheese and chocolate pairings, without “the typical pretense that usually accompanies these types of events.” One of her first steps was to send an online survey to her target demographic to get feedback on pricing, positioning, company names, and packages. “I originally thought I’d just cater to women, but I started getting requests from men as well. I realized it’d be really silly to ignore half the market,” she says. After she clarified her vision, Anu took classes to receive her Advanced Certification from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Enlisting The Experts: Anu used her friends to cater the first few events, but she knew in order to take the business to the next level she’d have to hire people who had a background in wine. She posted job opportunities at the training center where she received her certificate, and hired a team of connoisseurs to serve and educate her clients at events. Then she recruited her husband David as the COO to help with strategic planning and finances. “We have complementary skill sets. [Working together is] great because he always knows and understands the challenges I’m going through on a day-to-day basis,” she says.
A Brand New Idea: Her background in brand management has proven to be an asset when it comes to differentiating herself from the competition. “When I launched Swirl I wanted it to stand for something. There are other companies out there that do wine tasting, but none with a real identity behind it,” says Anu. From her staff dress code (no suits allowed) to the fonts she chooses for her print materials, everything about Swirl is intended to be “young, hip, approachable, and fun.”
PR Predicaments: The most difficult part of launching her company has been getting the word out. “We tried a PR firm for a while but it didn’t work for us, so I’ve been doing it on my own. It’s been really challenging without a lot of existing media relationships, and we’re a service not a product, so we can’t just send people a sample package. But once people come and experience an event, they get it,” says Anu. “It’s been a lot of reaching out to friends who have friends who are writers, and getting advice on good story angles.”
This Job’s for You if : You like variety. “There is no typical day. I spent yesterday crafting the perfect business development e-mail, preparing for two big events next week, and then doing a tasting at a woman’s apartment for 11 of her friends,” says Anu. It also pays to be persistent. “A friend of mine once told me that successful entrepreneurs are just the ones who wait it out the longest,” she says. “I think that’s true.”
