Somm Vivant: How a Musical Theater Career Turned Into a Global Wine Phenomenon

From musical theatre to the world of wine, Amanda McCrossin took a major pivot in her career after finding her calling in the wine industry. Eager to learn as much about wine as possible, she trained as a sommelier before embarking on her content creation journey.

Making Wine Content Relatable and Educational

In this episode of The Spirit Guides, host Tequila Jay Baer sits down with Amanda McCrossin, the Sommvivant, to hear about her unconventional path, starting as a musical theater major and even standing in for Reese Witherspoon, before finding her passion for wine.

Amanda takes us through her roles in New York as a sommelier to teaching herself a crash course in Napa Valley wines when she moved to California. Taking after top YouTubers, she decided to start vlogging her experience of visiting different wineries for 30 days straight to learn more and document her journey. This challenge not only expanded her wine knowledge but also honed her video production skills, laying the foundation for her future as a content creator. 

Amanda explains some of the challenges and rewards of distilling complex wine information into bite-sized, relatable content for her nearly half-million followers. We also hear about her work with brands, both wine-related and non-wine brands like Papa John’s, and how each collaboration has been different. 

In This Episode:

·       Amanda’s background in musical theater

·       How an early mentorship helped Amanda learn about wine

·       The challenges and rewards of explaining wine knowledge through short-form content 

·       The advice Amanda got when she started making content 

·       Why Amanda became a content creator 

·       Why quitting her job right before the pandemic kickstarted her career 

·       How Amanda measures “good” 

·       How Amanda describes her career to her parents 

·       The differences when working with non-wine brands like Papa John’s 

·       Upcoming collaborations and projects

·       Amanda’s thoughts on using wine barrels for spirits 

·       Amanda’s ultimate food and drink recommendation 

·       Someone Amanda would love to sip wine with 

Resources:

·       Follow Amanda on Instagram

·       Follow Amanda on TikTok

·       Amanda's Website

·       Sommvivant Website

This podcast is brought to you by LoveScotch.com and produced by our friends at Content10x.com.