Barefoot Wine Founder Michael Houlihan Gets Us in "The Barefoot Spirit"

JANUARY 1, 2013

Our spotlight today is on: Barefoot Wine’s Co-founder Michael Houlihan

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Our hot topic: Can an entrepreneur really start a business on less than a shoestring budget?

Your host: Hope Katz Gibbs, publisher of Be Inkandescent magazine, and founder & president of The Inkandescent Group

On this episode of the Inkandescent Radio Show, we interview Michael Houlihan, co-founder of Barefoot Wine, a company that he and Bonnie Harvey started in their laundry room in 1986.

They turned it a nationwide bestseller, and successfully sold the brand to E&J Gallo in 2005—starting with virtually no money—and no wine industry experience. How did they do it?

“We employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles and create new markets,” explains Houlihan, using pioneering ideas such as worthy-cause marketing and performance-based compensation.

In this podcast, Houlihan describes those methods, and also shares insights into:

• How, and why, he and Bonnie Harvey got into the wine business in the first place.
• The one lesson they learned the hard way.
• The moment in time when he knew that being entrepreneurs was all it’s cracked up to be.
• His 11 tips for entrepreneurs on how to start a business on even less than a shoestring—on dental floss.

• Download our podcast, right, to our interview with Michael Houlihan.

• To glean more insights from Michael, check out our Q&A in the January 2013 issue of Be Inkandescent: The business magazine for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs.

• And click here all of his 11 Tips for Entrepreneurs.

About The Inkandescent Radio Show: What’s Your Story?

Bringing the voices of small-business owners to the radio waves is the goal of The Inkandescent Radio Show, which launched in the fall of 2012 on the Entrepreneur Podcast Network.

Hosted by journalist, publicist, author, and entrepreneur Hope Katz Gibbs, the show will spotlight the Entrepreneurs of the Month featured on her monthly business magazine, www.BeInkandescent.com, — as well as the Truly Amazing Women she has interviewed for her book project, www.TrulyAmazingWomen.com.

Gibbs will also be interviewing the bestselling authors, nationally renowned artists, and expert columnists featured in Be Inkandescent magazine, and on her popular networking website, www.InkandescentNetworking.com, which lists hundreds of the best networking events—and professionals—in seven East Coast cities. Plus, she’ll be talking to top restaurateurs, chefs, foodies, and hoteliers whom she spotlights in her “From Soup to Nuts” reviews.

Promoting, educating, and inspiring entrepreneurs is the mission of The Inkandescent Group, LLC — a PR, marketing, design, and publishing company that helps small businesses get the visibility they need to glow and grow.

So, what’s your story? If you’d like to be interviewed on The Inkandescent Radio Show, www.theinkandescentradioshow.com,, send Hope Katz Gibbs an email: hope@inkandescentpr.com.