Kellie Martin can still remember the moment when she changed her mind about wine. She was in college, sitting in a French café with a friend and overwhelmed by the expansive menu and wine list. Her friend stepped in, offering to order wine for them.
“I took a sip, and it was mind blowing. It was nothing like I expected,” says Martin, an alumna of the Honors College and a McNair Scholar. “My friend started to tell me about the wine — it was a dessert wine. And so, she told me about the history of dessert wine like where it’s from and how it’s made. And it was in that moment that I realized that anybody could understand wine. Anybody could experience beautiful wines that fit their palate preferences. They just needed someone to show them the way.”
Years later, that is exactly what Martin does — teaching people from all over the country the ins and outs of wine as the owner and chief sommelier of the Colorado-based SommSchool.
But it hasn’t been a direct path. When Martin came to the University of South Carolina in 2005, she majored in international studies and thought she’d become a foreign service officer. Instead, she tried several different paths that eventually led back to wine.
After that experience in France, the Atlanta, Georgia, native further developed her interest in wine when she lived in the Czech Republic wine district for a year, working as an ambassadorial scholar for Rotary International in 2007-08. When she returned to USC for her senior year, she decided to take a course about wine in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management.
“I fell in love with the study of wine through that process,” she says. On the recommendation of the professor, she took an introductory exam from the Court of Master Sommeliers.
Still, she didn’t end up in the wine industry immediately. After graduating, she worked on a ranch in Colorado. Though she loved it, she says, she knew she couldn’t work such a physically demanding job forever. So, she asked herself, “What do I actually want to do?” And she thought again about wine, applying for and accepting a sales position at Duckhorn Vineyards and relocating to Napa, California.
She became the top seller at Duckhorn Vineyards during her tenure. What made her good at her job was that she didn’t go in with a sales pitch; instead, she taught people about the wine she was selling. When potential buyers felt knowledgeable about the wine, she says, she was more likely to make a sale.
“I really got to live and breathe wine country,” she says. “I got to see a lot while working there and get the feel for what daily life looks like. Like more of the non-romantic side of the jobs. And through all that, I realized there was a third avenue of working in wine — education.”
People who don’t work in wine don't really have the ability to learn about it — it’s kind of restricted. I'd go to trade tastings, and it's like you have to prove your credentials to walk in the door. If you don't work in it, it's very hard to get that level of education. I wanted to bring that level of education to anybody who wanted it.
Martin says the skills she learned at USC influenced how she approaches her career.
“A degree teaches you how to think,” she says. “It’s to teach you to think for yourself, to think well, and to look at all different aspects of the world to shape how you view it. International studies does that, and that same perspective I learned at Carolina is how I approach wine today.”
After a year at Duckhorn Vineyards, she moved on to E. & J. Gallo Winery where she worked as a tasting room representative, wine ambassador and eventually the supervisor of the trade hospitality team. Her team educated buyers for national retail and restaurant chains, so they could make informed buying decisions.
When she left the winery and decided to move back to Colorado, she says, she realized it’s difficult for people outside the industry to obtain a high level of wine education, which inspired her to start SommSchool.
“People who don’t work in wine don't really have the ability to learn about it — it’s kind of restricted. I'd go to trade tastings, and it's like you have to prove your credentials to walk in the door. If you don't work in it, it's very hard to get that level of education,” she says. “I wanted to bring that level of education to anybody who wanted it. That’s our mission statement: we believe everybody has a right to sit at the table of wine confidence.”
Now, she guides others on their journeys to learning about wine and being confident in their knowledge. People who have taken her courses often share stories with her of their triumphs in picking the perfect wine for an occasion.
“Those kinds of stories where people can approach a situation with confidence and bring enjoyment to their friends because they were able to create that magical moment when you bring food and wine together and create a synergistic effect is why I do what I do,” she says. “That's what keeps me passionate about my work.”