Founder's Story - What the Wine Industry Was Missing—Until Now | Ep 234 with LaToya Jordan and Brianna Shelko Founders of Marble Wines

Episode Date: June 20, 2025

LaToya Jordan, a former attorney, and Brianna Shelko, an award-winning musician and entrepreneur, to talk about founding Marble Wines—a brand born out of frustration, fueled by purpose, and designed to reflect the women who drink it. Key Discussion Points: Why the wine industry lacked female representation How they turned past careers in law and music into wine entrepreneurship The unexpected challenges of distribution and brand visibility Why Marble’s red blend is a “transitional wine” for first-time red drinkers The power of seeing your reflection—literally—on the bottle Building a community of women through events, wine tastings, and storytelling The unique bond between two co-founders from different generations and backgrounds Takeaways: Don’t wait to be included—build what’s missing The best businesses start from genuine relationships Authenticity resonates more than perfection in branding Representation isn’t just visual—it’s experiential Start small, connect deeply, and let the product speak Closing Thoughts:LaToya and Brianna are redefining what a wine brand can be—rooted in identity, friendship, and fearless ambition. Marble Wines is more than a label; it’s a mirror for the women it serves. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey everyone, welcome back to Founder's Story. We always enjoy having two guests. And I'm excited because I really like drinking wine. I like to understand about how wine and community are coming together. And that's why we have these two amazing co-founders. We have Latoya and Brianna, the co-founders of Marble Wines. And I can't wait to hear about your expansion now into New York. But if you both can give me a little download of what is the history of, of why you started this company? Well, we started Marble after I had an experience trying to assist somebody else with getting their wine label off the ground. And so ultimately, I had acquired all of this knowledge, all of these contacts, and I had done all of this work. And at the end of it, I really didn't have much to show for it, except for like a couple of checks that I spent really quickly.

And so we decided that, you know, we were. wanted to do something on our own, right? I wanted to be able to take that information and utilize it and do it kind of a way that I wanted to do it. And when I approached Breonna about it, she was 100% on board with it and immediately wanted to be involved. Yeah, Latoya and I have worked together historically as well. Back when I owned a social media agency, she was a client for a couple years on and off and we would work on really fun projects together. And every time we were on the fun with each other, just felt like old girlfriends, just yapping. We almost never talked about that what we were supposed to be talking about. And so it was a good fit from the beginning. So when

Latoya approached me about it, it was a no-brainer for me. It was great. So how was it going from your past lives now, your past careers, to jumping in this together and going into the wine industry, which I know Latoya said you had some experience helping somebody else, but now that you're doing it for yourself. How has it been? It's been great. It's been a lot of fun. The wine industry is, it's a slow grind, right? It takes a minute to break a product into the market. But being able to like go out, I talk people all the time, I have like the best weekend job because I get to drink and socialize. And those are two things I'm really good at. We also, you know, we partner with some other third parties that assist us with compliance and all of those types.

of things. So we don't necessarily get fully ingrained in the minutia of all of the regulatory things that we need to maintain our license as importers and wholesalers. But it's been great. We've enjoyed it, you know, a thousand percent. Was there something that you realized about the wine industry now that you've been getting, you know, you've been getting into the wine industry and you've been talking to your customers or consumers that, you know, future consumers, is there something that you're finding out that you didn't think about before? So the biggest challenge that we've had has been around distribution. We did not understand that distributors can be a gatekeeper to the marketplace.

So we've had to really try to strongly navigate that space. And then I would think the other thing that we kind of learned is that one is such a subjective experience. We encounter people. Our first blend that's on the market is a red blend. And we encounter people who say, you know, oh, I don't drink red wine or I don't like red wine. And we've done something very unique with our particular red blend that when we introduce it to customers who don't typically drink red wine, they actually really like it and think that it is a red wine that they can drink. So we actually call this a transitional wine. So if you only drink wide or if you think you don't like red or you only like sweet.

red. This is a good product to transition you and kind of open your palate in your mind to other things that you might like. And to add on to that too, you know, something Latoya and I figured out just a little bit along the way is that women felt like they were not represented in the brands. So we, they'd be shopping in the store and, you know, there's your favorite brands. There's a cellar roses and, you know, stuff like that. But when we were doing our focus groups, it was like, I don't feel represented in a wine brand yet. You know what I mean? And so that was another cornerstone that we really wanted to conquer while we were in business. I'm curious, if you can dive more about the, like you're saying, being able to feel represented as a woman in the wine industry and at the same time building community for people to come together and a safe space for women, not just, you know, to drink wine, but also to network and, you know, create friendships.

How has that been? That's been a great journey for us as well. We really started by adding in the representation with the label itself. There's a woman on the bottle that really doesn't necessarily have any race at all. It's just, you know, an artistic drawing of a woman on the bottle. But where the representation comes in is that those sunglasses are gold metallic and they're reflective. So every woman who actually holds the bottle will get to see a little bit of their reflection on the label. So that was just a unique way that we were able to try to bring in the representation that women really said they want it.

And then we connect with women just through the events that we do. We hosted our first, we joined a lot of other events, but we hosted our first event this year. We did a Galentine's Day. So we got about 12 to 15, you know, women from different events. different professions, different walks of lives out to dinner. We served marble wine. We had conversation about careers, families, love, all of the things. And it was a really great experience. I really like that. You're saying it's almost like they can see themselves in the wine. What a devious way to come up. When you think about the marketing of this,

Are you having to go about it differently because maybe many brands are looking at more male-focused customers that they are marketing to? When you see a huge category of women, maybe even more women drink wine, I don't know. Now, if you had to change your marketing to make sure you appeal to that customer. For us, from at least a social media perspective, it's been interesting to see who's engaging with the brands. almost all of them are women, and almost all of them have some kind of form of entrepreneurial and or baking background, chef background, which makes sense, right? Culinary arts background. So we've been trying to figure out the best places to meet them, both in person, you know,

foot traffic, but also online. And that's been a little bit of a challenge just because a lot of the culinary experiences are done in person. You know, you go to a restaurant. you and that's where Latoya has really taken the bull by the horns and she went straight to New York and got us distribution in New York and we're going to start there to for that foot that foot traffic experience where we're in those those retail stores so that way maybe more there's more affluence in the city and not just online but it is it's hard to explain how something tastes

and how something how wonderful something is just from an online experience so that's why you know the distribution is so important when it comes to wine, too. But that's the only challenging part is trying to translate just how wonderful and velvety and fruit-forward this wine is without it being an in-person experience. Yeah. So like Brianna said, we got into the New York market. And I think for us, I think where the story is different is that you have two women who are so different from one another working together to bring. this product to other women, right? You know, there's obvious differences that we have, but we also, there's an age gap

between Brianna and myself. I'm 43, almost about to be 44, and Brianna is in her early 30s. And so we have an age gap. There's a generational gap. There's, you know, a gap from a ethnicity, you know, perspective. And so that in itself is just a unique story that you don't see every day, particularly in the line space. And so when we go out into these, you know, events, we get to meet with all of these different women. And it's not just, oh, it's a black brand or it's just a brand or it's, you know, it really connects with women because they get to see two different, very different women.

and working together, having fun together. Our vins are always fun. We're going to make sure that they're always fun. You're not laughing and celebrating and drinking wine together. And that's what it's supposed to be. Wine is a social experience. Well, I see Marble Wines as being the fastest growing wine company, maybe the most successful wine company in history in the U.S.

I can see. It has an incredible potential. Can you talk about what's happening in New York? Sure. So we got distributions started this year in New York. We are in two retail stores right now in Brooklyn, and that's Happy Cork, and that is also Bedvine. And so we were there in March doing events, and I will actually be back this weekend on Friday at Happy Cork from 6 to 8 doing a tasting. And I will be in Bed Vine on the 21st from 6 to 8 p.m. doing a tasting.

Well, this is very exciting. So if people want to get in touch with you, they want to find out how they can attend. they also want to know more about the brand as well. How can they do so? Social media. We have the flyers and the dates, the times, the locations, the addresses to those places. They're free events. So you can pop in any time between six to eight, come say hello and, of course, try the... On Instagram, we're at Marblewines and www.marbelwines.com. And you can follow us for more information on all of future events. Well, I'm very excited. I can't wait for you to come back in the year. Tell us how it's going then. I'm sure it's going to be just incredible. Really love what you're doing. And I can't wait

to hear more. Latoya and Brianna from Marble Wines. I hope everyone checks it out and then goes to your event in New York. And then it sounds like they can buy it from New York after that. So really excited. And thank you for joining us today. Thanks for having us.