Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Pfeil.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My career span includes more than 25 years in corporate America managing research and development and innovation for food and beverage development for The Coca-Cola Company, Frito Lay and PepsiCo. Later I began my own consultant business serving as a Chief Technical Officer for several startup companies. My educational background includes a MS and PhD in chemistry from the Georgia Institute of technology. I had often made wine in my home with my two daughters and was fascinated with the chemistry and flavors involved in the process.
My personal passions included renovating historical homes in Charleston, South Carolina. I love the process of innovation and design for home remodeling.
One of my favorite places to visit is Italy with my family. We often travel throughout the country eating and drinking our way through the gorgeous countryside.
During Covid, I decided to follow my dream and combine my experience of chemistry, product development, and wine. I decided to purchase property that had two villas which one needed remodeling in Italy. I also purchased vineyards to make my own wine. I bought these properties site unseen, and got on the next flight to see what I had purchased! Little did I know how much work and how difficult the process could be! But it’s perfect and has paid off in spades both financially and personally!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
After watching the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, I can tell you now it’s similar to that, but far more complicated in that I chose to start up wine making and make extra-virgin olive oil from the olive grove on my estate. However, with the help of a great Attorney and Accountant in Italy I was able to purchase the properties and start up the equivalent to an Italian LLC. I went in person several times to accomplish this. I also was able to hire the perfect property manager and marketing company to be able to start renting the one Villa that did not need renovating. There’s a lot of bureaucratic processes and Italy, which seemed to slow down my typical fast moving personality! We we’re elated that the adjacent winery which we had purchased the vineyards from agreed to make our wine. They had never partnered with anyone before or exported to the United States so we both had a lot to learn to get our first vintage made.
We worked with our property manager and a oil press mill that dates back to the 1400s to mechanically Press are olives to make extra-virgin olive oil oil, which we also exported to the United States. We had a lot to learn how to ship 300 glass bottles without breaking, and we had some that were not spared along the way!
Probably the most difficult process was finding an importer to bring in our first vintage and distribute in the state of Texas. Luckily, my daughter Samantha Sepcic joined the business after the first difficult year and helped us develop a partnership with an importer and distributor in Florida where she lives. That expanded our business exponentially, and before we knew it, we were in total wine in both states and more than a dozen fine dining restaurants in both Texas and Florida.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Our company truly only exists of two women… Me and my daughter! Of course we have many partners in Italy and in the United States, but 100% of the decisions and creative content comes from us. Having a strong marketing and branding career helped me to develop the logo and labels for the first three Wines. My daughter is extremely creative and an artist and made the label for the fourth wine that we have just launched. She also has a degree and logistics and supply chain so she brought all the analytical discipline that we would need for the finances and distribution. We have single-handedly been the only sales people and so we find ourselves quite often and restaurants and wine stores showcasing our wines and olive oil.
My oldest daughter, Madeline Sepcic created our first website and business card and then Samantha came behind with all the update that were be required. We also hired a marketing company for our advertising our villas on Airbnb. We all work together to create the content for our existing website included drone shots and movies.
We were able to renovate the second Villa within one year, which from what we’re told is impossible! We found a local company to make all of our cabinets and found a general contractor that could install all the tile. My daughter and I travelled to Italy several times to see the progress, but most of the renovations were done remotely. That’s not easy considering neither of us speak Italian! Thank goodness for Google translate!
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Patience! Having worked as an executive for Corporate America, I had a little of this and found out many times along the way that working in Italy is not as easy as the United States. Of course there are time zone differences, language, barriers, and government processes that are extremely different.
Know your business! We have very many Excel spreadsheets to keep up with all the data. Data of our three businesses which include the Airbnb, olive oil, production, and wine vintages which now include four different wines. Our businesses have grown extremely quickly less then three years.
Follow your passion! I really don’t think I’ve worked one single day along the way creating Villa Splendida! Being able to work with family has made it super rewarding. Utilizing my chemistry degree and professional experiences certainly supported building the business. However, having a passion of wine making, home renovation and Italy, Villa Splendida has been an ultimate dream for me.
Pricing:
- Our wines can be purchased at total wine in Texas and Florida online and in store.
- Our olive oil can be purchased on our website
- Our villa can be rented on our website.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.villasplendidaitaly.com
- Instagram: villa.splendida
- Facebook: Villa Splendida
