The Napa Vale Podcast Wendy Barba

It does not matter what business you are looking to embark on, what matters is the steps you take in your Entrepreneurial Journey. Irma Robinson walks us through her entrepreneurial journey, she is the founder and owner of SMOKE Open Fire Cooking, a catering company focusing on exceptional food inspired by fire since 2007 and Southside a community- centered café in Napa Valley since 2016.



In today’s episode Irma and Wendy host of the Napa Vale Show discuss the key steps to take for the success of your business, even when times are challenging what has helped Irma succeed.



Some of today’s take-a- ways.

• Develop a business that gives you flexibility with your family.

• Find your niche market and focus on location, location, location

• Get involved with your community.



You can learn more about this episode, Finding Your Entrepreneurial Journey on napavale.com

These episode is brought to you by https://my.boissetcollection.com/wendybarba/

Hey Bella,







Welcome to my first episode, Dreaming of Leaving Corporate World. Five years ago, this was exactly me. I wanted to start my own business, be more independent, run my own hours and work for something I was extremely passionate about. In this episode, I share with you 4 tips of how you can build a life beyond the corporate world.







Before I get started I want to share with you how it all began and the soul searching I did. In 2014, my hubby and I were given the opportunity to move to wine country, Napa Valley. We had been on a search for about two years for a place that we would both would be happy with our career path. At that time, I was working at Coca-Cola as the Regional Sales Manager for Hispanic Markets and my hubby was a traveling Endodontist in South Florida. Working at Coca-Cola was fun but it required a lot of my time, which meant many late nights and weekends. I remember when Friday came around I was so exhausted. I stopped doing the activities that I loved, like going to the gym, spending time with my loved ones, doing fun stuff after work, Netflix and chill nights or just hang out with my girlies. My days would start at 6am and nonstop until 7PM. I would get home to have dinner then back on the computer. It was definitely not what I had dreamed of.







Has this happened to

you?  Are you just so on-the-go that you

stop doing the things you love?















One weekend I did an exercise with my hubby (who was my boyfriend back then). This was an exercise I had learned during acting class. My best friend is an actress, so one day she dragged me to her acting classes. Taking acting classes was an impactful experience. It’s super therapeutic. We would start with a warm up exercise that I practice till this day when I am stuck in big decision making, this was the “I want”, “I love” and “I need” exercise. I don’t know if that is the name but it goes something like this—







I want, I love, I needFor two minutes you must say out loud what YOU want, what YOU love and what YOU need. I must warn you that the first time you may feel extremely odd. I felt super silly and super awkward but the more I did the exercise the more it helped me understand what I want, love and need. It’s like giving yourself an amazing therapy session.















This was an exercise I would do on my own when I felt I needed a change.  Somewhere in between going up the corporate ladder and being too busy I just stop doing it… until that weekend, when I did the I want, I love and I need exercise with my hubby.







We then made our list of what we want, what we love and what we need. The one thing that was repetitive in our list was— quality of life, outdoor activities, own our business, travel, live in a small town close to family, pay my hubby’s student loans, invest and enjoy life more. As the type A personality that I am, I reacted to this quickly.







I decided to hunt for places for us to move the next day. I had been living in South Florida since I was ten (24 years to be exact) and it was time for a change. We first explore Maryland where my hubby is from, then Denver because we love the outdoors (ojo: I won’t camp but I will glamp LOL) and then we thought to explore west coast of Florida. But nothing came up. Until…







December 2013, we decided to spend Christmas holidays with my brother-in-law in Napa Valley. It was his first year living in Napa and so we decided to all spend the holidays there. While wine tasting, my hubby checks-in on Facebook at Ma(i)sonry, currently the RH wine vault in Yountville. Minutes after, one of his buddies from University of Pacific, let him know that if he is in Napa there is an office look...