Uncorked: Wine, Business, and Life with Bill Green

Bill Green
  • 4.0 (4)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Biweekly

Join host Bill Green on Uncorked, a captivating conversational podcast that blends wine, business, and life into one flavorful journey. Each episode features engaging discussions, drawing from Bill's decades of entrepreneurial success across a wide variety of industries and his fresh perspective as he ventures into the wine industry at Saddlehill. Bill is joined by a diverse lineup of fascinating guests, including successful business leaders, accomplished athletes, and other remarkable individuals who share their stories and insights. Together, they offer entrepreneurial insights, leadership tips, and strategies for building successful businesses, as well as Life Reflections that explore personal stories, life philosophies, and the pursuit of balance in relatable and authentic conversations. And because enjoying great wine is simply a part of life, they take a few moments to share Wine Insights, discussing their discoveries and passion for wine.

  1. 6d ago

    From Running Prisons to Advising BMW: Quinn Spitzer Uncorks '82 Lafite and Hard-Won Lessons

    At 22 he was the youngest state commissioner in Georgia history, working under Governor Jimmy Carter. At 31 he was helping run Arizona's prison system, overseeing 17 institutions and nearly 20,000 inmates. Since then, Thomas Quinn Spitzer Jr. has led the consulting firm Kepner-Tregoe, advised the board of BMW since 2008, and counseled executives in close to 20 countries. He's also one of Bill Green's closest friends and one of the very few people Bill will open any bottle in his cellar for. On this episode of Uncorked, Bill does exactly that. The conversation starts at Quinn's first wine auction in 1981, run by Christie's legend Michael Broadbent, where he bought a case of 1961 Latour for $100 a bottle and drank every drop. He tells the story of a mail-in bid that nearly bankrupted him, the Munich restaurant that had to destroy an empty bottle of Romanée-Conti by contract, and the blind tasting where a Finger Lakes Cabernet beat a celebrated Bordeaux and cost him a friendship. Along the way, Bill and Q taste Saddlehill's The Scribe and Proprietor's Blend, then open a 2011 Harlan Estate and a 1982 Lafite Rothschild, revisiting the Napa trip 26 years ago that first brought them to Harlan's barrel room. Between pours, Quinn gets candid about what separates great leaders from the rest. He explains why German automakers ignored years of warnings about China, why the best executives are the ones willing to admit what they don't know, how rubber-stamp boards fail the companies they serve, and why most businesses never do the "autopsies" that would keep them from repeating mistakes. He also shares what running a prison taught him about the gap between consulting and actually running something, including a fight with a city manager over the prison's sewage. The episode closes with his work in youth golf and Snider Hockey, and a lightning round answer that says a lot about the man.

  2. Sep 1

    Flip Phone, Maxed-Out Credit Cards, and a Grandmother's Falls: The Medical Guardian Story

    Twenty years ago, Geoff Gross watched his grandmother struggle after repeated falls in her Delaware County home, relying on neighbors to notice when her lights stayed off in the morning. He knew there had to be a better way. In this episode, Bill Green sits down with the founder and CEO of Medical Guardian to hear how that personal experience grew into one of the country's leading connected health and safety platforms, now serving more than 630,000 members with a team of 600 and nearly $250 million in annual revenue. Geoff takes us inside the scrappy early days: teaching himself Google AdWords when clicks cost two dollars, taking sales calls on a flip phone, and selling his first 2,500 accounts to competitors before betting everything on building a full-service business. He opens up about maxing out credit cards, borrowing millions to grow, and signing a lease for an office far bigger than his team because he knew empty seats would force him to fill them. It's a masterclass in hunger, focus, and finding a way through the wall. The conversation goes well beyond the balance sheet. Geoff and Bill dig into America's $80 billion fall crisis, why Medical Guardian rejected fear-based marketing in favor of empowerment, and how the company is transforming reactive devices into proactive health tools with its new Guardian Flex. They also talk culture, recognition, remote work, lessons from YPO, and the five Fs that keep Geoff grounded as a husband, father, and CEO having, in his words, the best time of his whole life. Pour a glass and join them. Episode Resources: Learn more about Medical Guardian

  3. Aug 18

    From the White House to Restless Ghosts: Annie McCormick on Chasing Crime Stories for 25 Years

    Bill Green sits down with award-winning journalist and true crime author Annie McCormick, whose career began in the White House photo office during the Gore administration and took her to the New York Times, the Philadelphia Daily News, and eventually 6ABC Action News, where she spent 13 years as one of the region's most trusted reporters. Annie shares how she talked her way into photojournalism, built lifelong relationships with the press corps and law enforcement, and hustled her way from freelance shoots to the anchor desk of breaking news across the tri-state area. The conversation dives into some of the biggest stories of her career, including the 13-day manhunt for escaped convict Danilo Cavalcante, the capture of Bryan Kohberger in the Poconos, and the still-baffling death of Ellen Greenberg. Annie opens up about why she has always been drawn to crime, what viewers never see behind the Action News van, and what it felt like to cover a summer packed with history, from an assassination attempt to a presidential debate hosted in her own backyard. Finally, Annie takes us inside her latest book, Restless Ghosts, a deep dive into an unsolved 1929 Moorestown death investigation that has haunted South Jersey for nearly a century. She explains how she uncovered the story, why old Quaker families, Prohibition-era bootleggers, and Philadelphia gangsters all collide in its pages, and why she left her comfortable job at Disney to bet on herself. Over farm-fresh strawberry mocktails and Saddlehill wine, this is a masterclass in storytelling, reinvention, and following your passion. Episode Resources: Annie McCormick’s Official WebsiteRestless Ghosts: Murder, Suicide, and the Case That Wouldn’t Stay Buried by Annie McCormickHulu Docuseries - Death in Apartment 603The Doctor, the Hitman, and the Motorcycle Gang by Annie McCormick

  4. Aug 4

    Chuck Cahn: A $50 Million Exit, a $1 Salary, and the King Who Almost Came to Dinner

    Chuck Cahn never planned to join the family business. A pharmaceutical job fell through the week he graduated from Rutgers, his mother told him to go work for his father, and he figured he would stay a few months. He stayed decades. In that time he turned a small office supply company into Stewart Business Systems, a 120-person digital imaging and document management operation doing $85 million a year, with more than 500 of New Jersey's 685 school districts under contract. He sold it for $50 million to Global Imaging Systems, which Xerox later acquired, timing the exit almost perfectly ahead of the 2008 crash. Then came the part nobody saw coming. In 2012, Chuck became mayor of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a town of 85,000 people, and took the job for a dollar a year so he would never feel beholden to anyone. He tells Bill Green what it actually takes to run a municipality like a business, from discovering that government accounting looks nothing like QuickBooks to spending two years visiting a different neighborhood every single month. He walks through the quiet win almost no resident noticed, a mall reassessment that brought the county's biggest taxpayer to full value, and the very public one, a land swap that saved Woodcrest Country Club from becoming 600 single-family homes and preserved 180 acres in perpetuity. Along the way there is wine and one very good story about a king. Chuck and Bill taste through three Saddlehill bottles, including the first Chardonnay ever grown and produced in Voorhees, and Chuck recounts the blind tasting at his own dinner table where Saddlehill beat a very expensive Italian bottle in front of fourteen people. He also explains how his home landed on a Homeland Security shortlist as a possible meeting place for the Pope and the King of Jordan, and what happened when only one of them turned up. The episode closes with a Lightning Round on the one trait every entrepreneur needs, the toughest room he has ever had to work, and where he would put $10,000 today if he were starting over.

  5. Jul 21

    Built to Last: 52 Years of Timeless Design with Susan Lachance

    What does it take to stay at the top of the luxury design world for more than five decades? In this episode of Uncorked: Wine, Business and Life, Bill Green sits down with Susan Lachance, founder and principal designer of Susan Lachance Interior Design in Boca Raton, Florida. Born in England and raised in Miami, Susan started as a $5-a-week architectural draftsman in tenth grade — the only female in her architecture classes — and by 1974 had launched her own firm, landing Chase Federal Savings as her very first client. No college degree. No shortcuts. Just an unmatched understanding of construction and the confidence to walk into any boardroom and prove she belonged. Susan takes us through her early days managing massive commercial projects for Ryder Truck Rental and Pepsi Cola, her pivotal shift to high-end residential design in the early 1980s, and how she built a business where projects now carry interior budgets of $1 million to $2.5 million. She shares why a great designer is part therapist, how she builds a "timeless architectural envelope" that never goes out of style, and why she'll turn down a job if she doesn't trust the builder. She also gets candid about balancing motherhood with an ambitious career, mentoring employees who've stayed with her for 25 to 40 years, and her surprisingly enthusiastic take on AI in the design industry. Along the way, Bill and Susan pour three Saddlehill wines — the Sauvignon Blanc, the brand-new Scribe, and the '24 Proprietors Blend — swap stories about Buck the wooden cowboy, and dig into old-fashioned advice that still works: knock on doors, sell yourself in person, and perfect your craft until nobody can compete with you. Whether you're building a business, designing a home, or just love a great success story, this conversation is a masterclass in going all in on your passion.

  6. Jul 7

    No Jingles, No Mascots, No Boss: Marc Brownstein on Staying Independent

    What does it take to run a legendary, three-generation independent ad agency that consistently outperforms massive corporate conglomerates? In this episode of Uncorked, host Bill Green sits down with Marc Brownstein, CEO of the Brownstein Group, to uncover the secrets behind building a true marketing powerhouse. Listeners will learn how to balance a family business legacy with modern innovation and discover the exact strategies used to steer growth for iconic brands like Microsoft, Wawa, and DuPont. Over glasses of premium Cabernet, Marc shares his father’s golden rule of client success and explains why operating as an independent marketing agency yields better creative work than chasing quarterly private equity metrics. He breaks down the behind-the-scenes story of pitching the risky "No Jingles or Mascots" advertising campaign to a highly conservative insurance brand, revealing the crucial "three T's" framework every marketer must embrace to achieve massive marketing campaign ROI. The conversation also tackles the harsh reality of killing your creative darlings and explores how AI in advertising is rapidly reshaping the public relations landscape. Will artificial intelligence ultimately replace the creative class, or simply push agencies into a thrilling new era of brand modernization?  Pour yourself a glass, take some notes, and be sure to subscribe to Uncorked: Wine, Business, and Life so you never miss an insightful conversation. Check out the show notes for more information on the Brownstein Group and for links to the exceptional wines featured in today's tasting.

  7. Jun 25

    The 'Oprah + Martha Stewart' of Food Media

    Discover how Asili Glam CEO Natasha Greene left corporate marketing to build a food content empire. Learn her proven secrets to land brand partnerships. Episode Resources: Official Website for Asili GlamFollow Natasha on InstagramFollow Natasha on TikTokFollow Natasha on YouTubeThe dream of "having it all" doesn't have to mean burning out while trying to be perfect for everyone else. In this episode, Asili Glam CEO and food-first lifestyle creator Natasha Greene shares how she ditched her high-level corporate marketing career to build a massive, multi-platform media empire on her own terms. Listeners will learn exactly how to leverage an unapologetic work ethic and authentic community building to transform a side hustle into a highly profitable digital brand.  Natasha breaks down the specific strategies she used to scale her audience to over 800,000 followers, revealing why her corporate background at Macy’s is the ultimate "secret sauce" for securing massive inbound brand partnerships. She pulls back the curtain on the realities of full-time entrepreneurship, from balancing motherhood with daily social media growth to the power of simply documenting your journey rather than constantly inventing it. We also pour some Saddlehill wine as Natasha pairs perfect weeknight recipe hacks with our barrel-aged Chardonnay and Cabernet - but you'll have to listen to hear the one piece of blunt marketing advice she says every creator ignores at their own peril. If you're ready to redefine success and build your own life of absolute freedom, hit subscribe and leave a review so you never miss an episode of Uncorked!

  8. Jun 10

    The $7 Million Sandwich: How Matt Cahn Built Middle Child Without Buying a Single Ad

    Discover how Matt Cahn grew Middle Child into a $7M restaurant empire with zero paid ads. Uncover his exact strategies for viral marketing and retention. Episode Resources: Middle ChildMatt Cahn’s Transition from Advertising to Middle ChildThe Story Behind Middle Child’s Famous "Phoagie"Middle Child’s Airport Expansion and "GMA’s Ultimate Breakfast" WinMatthew Cahn on the Middle Child Ethos and Brand AuthenticityStarChefs Profile: Matt Cahn’s Rise in the Philly Food SceneTrading a demanding advertising career to flip burgers sounds crazy, but for Matt Cahn, it was the first step to building a $7 million culinary empire. In this episode, the mastermind behind Philadelphia's cult-favorite sandwich shop, Middle Child, sits down to share how he successfully pivoted from corporate burnout to hospitality royalty. Listeners will learn the exact strategies Matt used to build a fiercely loyal brand from the ground up without spending a single dime on traditional advertising.  Matt breaks down the gritty realities of restaurant entrepreneurship, exploring how he identified a gap in the historic Philadelphia food scene and leveraged organic growth to scale his business into high-profile airport partnerships. The conversation dives into the mechanics of authentic brand building and modern hospitality, detailing how his radical approach to pay transparency secured a virtually unheard-of 90% employee retention rate. He also shares the unbelievable story of a massive scheduling disaster involving a wedding party, and how his team turned an operational nightmare into their most successful viral marketing moment ever. To find out exactly how he pulled that off—and why scaling a culinary business sometimes requires checking your ego at the door—you’ll have to listen to his unvarnished take.  If you’re ready to rethink your approach to business, branding, and authentic leadership, hit subscribe and leave a review for Uncorked: Wine, Business, and Life!

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About

Join host Bill Green on Uncorked, a captivating conversational podcast that blends wine, business, and life into one flavorful journey. Each episode features engaging discussions, drawing from Bill's decades of entrepreneurial success across a wide variety of industries and his fresh perspective as he ventures into the wine industry at Saddlehill. Bill is joined by a diverse lineup of fascinating guests, including successful business leaders, accomplished athletes, and other remarkable individuals who share their stories and insights. Together, they offer entrepreneurial insights, leadership tips, and strategies for building successful businesses, as well as Life Reflections that explore personal stories, life philosophies, and the pursuit of balance in relatable and authentic conversations. And because enjoying great wine is simply a part of life, they take a few moments to share Wine Insights, discussing their discoveries and passion for wine.

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