Mom Invented

When inspiration strikes it can be a powerful force. For Louise Rosinsky, inspiration came from a fan deck on trees she had bought for her young daughter. After seeing the slick, card-like format, her husband wondered if there was a similar product for wines. His simple question sparked the idea for Ghigo Press, a quickly growing book and calendar business named after the couple's favorite restaurant in Italy.

Since there are many books on wines but few on wine grapes, Louise, who has a passion for botany and a background in film, started gathering images of grapes and learning all she could about their taste, use and history. After much arduous research -- and doing all the graphic design work herself -- she had her first reference deck, Vinifera, The World’s Great Wine Grapes. It’s now sold in many wineries and specialty shops as well as some large bookstores.

Ghigo Press has also expanded to include reference decks on Spices and Coffee and a line of calendars that are Amazon bestsellers, and will be adding more new products soon, including children’s stories and a Jazz guide. Louise took some time to talk with us about her goals for Ghigo Press, her marketing challenges, and how she’s juggling her ambitious young business while taking care of her two young daughters…

Mom Invented: What were your initial goals in starting your business?

Louise Rosinsky: My goal in starting Ghigo Press was to add a second income to our home so that we could relocate to an area better for our family. I wanted a business that I could run and still be at home with the kids, and which would still allow me to run the household. This has been a double-sided sword, as, although I am grateful for the amount of time I am in the house with the girls, the business never leaves the house. It has been the biggest challenge to make time for “no working” when the office is always there and always tied to me with a BlackBerry that accepts six email addresses. I am trying every day to set aside time that is just for me, my husband and the girls. When we are able to move, the number one priority is an office, with a door that I can close and be “off work.”

What’s your background and how does it relate to your business?

After working in San Francisco theater from the age of 16 and receiving critical acclaim, I graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Theater Arts. In 1987 I moved to Los Angeles to act in film. I also had aspirations as a writer and had written two novellas and a couple of screenplays.

I had off and on success in Los Angeles -- more modeling than acting roles came around, with various commercials here and there, and I soon turned to directing and writing.

I founded my own film company, Coparota Films, where I was directing, acting and writing, and creating props and costumes. My husband, violinist Anatoly Rosinsky, and I had our first daughter Alexis in 2003, and I continued directing, but was also a full time home mama. I would direct with Alexis on my hip and have to retake moments when she would coo or cry.

What was your ‘aha’ moment?

By the time Alexis was 3, I was pregnant again with Sofia. It was around this time that I purchased a brilliant fan deck from Workman Press about trees for Alexis, hoping to encourage in her my love of botany. When I showed the tree fan deck to my husband, he asked, “Do they have one on wine grapes?” We just looked at each other, and that was the moment. We both love wine, and I have fond memories of visiting wineries with my family every Sunday as a child in the Bay Area wine country. I have always been fascinated by the growing process, and my husband is also a winemaker.

How did you develop your product?

I quickly compiled a database of photos we had taken in Europe, and we set out to photograph additional grapes in California. The research was slow and arduous. New information was coming out all the time, and it is tricky to keep up with the new DNA discoveries about the grapes and their relatives. Once I got the information, I began the very complicated process of production. I do all the graphic design and editing at home. If you look closely in our Vinifera deck you can see my daughters’ little faces well hidden in the grapes.

It was very important to include the fascinating histories of the grapes, so replete with lore and romance, as well as information on the taste, the wines they produce and food pairings, both classic and exotic.

So much has been written about the wines and not the grapes. There are hundreds of excellent books on wine, so the water is deep.  I wanted, however, to provide a quick reference resource specifically about the grapes. The grapes are often confused for one another, even by the growers, yet their individual beauty and history is so interesting.

It was also very important to me to keep the company "green." I have gone to extra expenses to print only on mostly recycled paper and only use soy or other environmentally friendly inks.  I support the “green press initiative,” and as soon as we are a larger company, we can join.

How did you start marketing your product?

We hit the road to introduce our Vinifera, The World’s Great Wine Grapes reference deck to wineries in the San Francisco area and Wine Country. The deck quickly became a favorite and bestseller in the winery tasting rooms and gift shops. Although our target was bookstores, we have run into a great deal of difficulty in that market. The deck is a radical format, not qualifying exactly as a “book,” though it does carry an ISBN number, it is really a loose-leaf book in a box. It is handy for quick reference, and a reader can thumb through the deck to find exactly which grape they are looking for. This format also saves paper and also allows the deck to be shared or used as bookmarks.

I marketed to individual Borders stores initially and did very well. Now the struggle is to be accepted by Borders, Barnes and Noble and other chain bookstores on a corporate level. It is a tricky crossover for them to accept our display box of 10 decks onto their bookshelf. This year our calendars made their way into the Borders stores en masse and also held top bestselling positions on Amazon in the cooking and wall calendars categories.

After Vinifera was received with enthusiasm by wine lovers and gift shops alike, I turned next to Spice, The World’s Great Flavors, and Coffee, the World’s Great Recipes, histories and Stories.  The Calendars also contain the rich history and lore as well as pairings or recipes.

What was your greatest challenge when it came to marketing?

Building a website. Self teaching wore me out, but I managed to “get live” the ugliest website ever. It worked, but was horrible. With the growing popularity of Facebook, one honest friend from 30 years past told me so. With the lengthy rebuilding, I also added a series of Winemaker and Gourmet mini documentaries we had filmed. I believe this adds interest to the site, and can give some insight into the thoughts of the masters discussing candidly what they do and why.

How have you juggled being a mom and an entrepreneur?

I am conflicted about the time taken away from my girls. On the other hand, they have had the opportunity to run in vineyards, watch me propagate and grow spices, and help experiment with coffee recipes. We are a cooking family and I think it is great that they can watch the entire process from seed to plate, and also understand the process of grape to wine.

Have you had a low point in your business? How have you worked through it?

A dear and older female friend came to visit me recently. She picked up one of the decks and then looked at my three year old. “You can’t buy back these years,” she told me. After many tearful nights I reconciled that I am trying to give my daughters an interesting education and including them in all that I do.  But her words echo for me every day as I strive for balance in these hard days of a nascent company. All the hours and struggle and sacrifices made in the building of this company have been for my daughters. We live in a depressed and dangerous neighborhood in Venice California, and can’t wait to leave. My husband built the house there, so we need to stay until we can sell, however it is Ghigo Press that gives me hope that we can re-locate and get to somewhere with soil and time to spend together.

What has been your greatest success with your business so far?

I am thrilled with the positive response Ghigo Press has received thus far.  With praise from The Italian Food and Wine Institute’s Dr. Lucio Caputo, Banfi Vineyards and Disney, I feel confident that this tiny company is coming into its own.  The wine deck is used in several Sommelier programs across the US. They are brought in to educate in training programs for wine distributors and vintners.

What are your plans for the future?

Ghigo Press is expanding to include a line of two-minute bedtime tales for children, a deck of the world’s great Jazz artists, a collaboration with the National Gallery of London, a reference deck of iconic Hawaii, and many more gourmet and cultural guides.

Thank you for sharing your story, Louise! To learn more about Ghigo Press products, visit GhigoPress.com. And if you have a great story to share, we’d love to hear it!

Tagged as: balance, book business, featured mom, product business, publishing business, wine business, work life balance