For the third and final episode in our three-part series highlighting several of 2023’s Future 40 Tastemakers, Marie Cheslik tackles an imperative question: “How do I make wine accessible for everyone?”
As a Chicago-based sommelier and entrepreneur, Cheslik noticed that wine wasn’t a very hot topic in the Midwest. But it wasn’t necessarily because people weren’t interested. Often overwhelmed by industry jargon and stuffy cultural perceptions, they just didn’t have a safe and informative space to talk about it.
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In 2020, Cheslik founded Slik Wines as a wine education platform to make wine more fun and accessible. Her mission is to help more people become confident about wine by translating complex terminology into plain English and crafting a supportive community, which she affectionately calls her “Slik Squad.”
Cheslik has since expanded her reach to TikTok, where her relatable skits help over 65,000 followers feel seen, comfortable and heard—an essential ingredient in creating a more inclusive industry, she notes.
Listen as Cheslik shares her industry journey; finds insightful parallels between her former career as a registered nurse and the wine business; and shares her vision for a more inclusive wine landscape.
Episode Transcript
Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting.
Speakers: Samantha Sette, Marie Cheslik, Jacy Topps
Jacy Topps 00:09
Hello, and welcome to the Wine Enthusiast podcast. You’re serving the drinks culture, and the people who drive it. I’m Jacy Topps. This is the final episode in our three part series highlighting some of this year’s feature. 40 tastemakers Wine Enthusiast has always aimed to center communities who’ve been traditionally left out of the wine conversation. Formerly the 40 under 40. The future 40 is composed of innovators, tastemakers advocates, and those bring them the wine industry into the future. Which leads me to our guests this week. Marie Cheslik. Marie is a certified sommelier and the founder of Slik Wines, a company whose mission is to provide approachable wine education. Marie sits down with our digital web producer Sam Sette. So listen on as Marie explains why she’s passionate about making wine education more accessible, what she finds frustrating in the wine space, that one thing she would teach if she had to only teach one thing about wine, and how she makes her online education platform engaging and interactive. The calling is a dream collection of California wines offering a distinctive range of varietals, styles and best in class Appalachians. Winemaker James MacPhail gives each wine a clear, singular voice, working with renowned family growers to craft Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, while collecting over 7090 plus scores in the process. Join one of the callings, fully customizable wine clubs for first access to new releases, special library vintages and more. With four membership options, there’s a club for every wine lover, receive three shipments per year, or try the monthly subscription delivering three bottles a month straight to your door. For more information and access, visit us at the calling wine.com backslash enthusiast.
Samantha Sette 02:29
Hi everyone and welcome to the Wine Enthusiast Podcast. My name is Samantha Setter and I’m the digital web producer here at Wine Enthusiast and today I have the pleasure to speak with Marie Cheslik, one of this year’s future 40 honorees. Every year Wine Enthusiast recognizes a diverse set of tastemakers who are bringing the drinks business into the future. Among them are winemakers, educators, brewers sommeliers and all sorts of professionals who find unique ways to open doors and build bridges in the industry. Marie is a certified sommelier and the founder of slik wines, a fun, approachable, yet informative wine education platform. Before we dive into the world of accessible wine education, Marie, do you mind sharing a little bit more about yourself and how slik wines came to be?
Marie Cheslik 03:14
Sure. And you nailed it. That was great. Really just my elevator pitch is essentially not but yes, my name is Marie Cheslik. I believe in fun, approachable, everyday wine education and started slik wines, which is just the tail end of my last name. So it’s S L I K started at the beginning of COVID in August 2020. Really deciding where I wanted to go within the wine world. I was working in restaurants before COVID. I was working even as a nurse before working in restaurants. So I’ve lived a couple of lives and really decided that wine was something I was passionate about, but also people and educating people behind it. So slik wines was my way and my mission of exploring how do I make wine accessible for everyone? And what does that look like? And when we started at the time, it looked more like virtual events because that was obviously very popular at the beginning and COVID. And it’s really just changed over time. And I knew that had to happen for slick to grow. But the mission remains the same have fun and approachable wine education for everyone. And the way this started turning into Yes, virtual events, yes, doing events for people. But it started turning more into an online business really things where I started to create content, not only for slik myself to sort of advertise what I do and my skill set, but also for other people. I started getting recognitions from lots of different kinds of wine brands. And people started really liking the content I was making. And I grew a small following fairly quickly. I have almost 90,000 followers on all my platforms and I really use them as a feedback board to saying, What do you like about wine? What do you find frustrating about wine? What do you wish existed in the wine world, so I call them affectionately, my slick squad, the people who follow me, My followers who I try my best to interact with everyone who reaches out to me. And that’s really created this strong structure of product market fit within the wine marketplace. So I’ve created an online wine course that I feel like fits the slik squad and their needs incredibly well. And I’m working on some books as well how to read a wine label, which is if I had to teach one thing about wine, it would probably be that thing. So it’s on the mission of slick of approachable wine education for everyone.
Samantha Sette 05:36
Thank you so much for sharing all of that. It seems like your mission expands in so many different directions. And I’d love to even take a step back for a moment, because you mentioned that you have a previous history in healthcare. And so where did that pivot come in. And what really inspired you to get into wine?
Marie Cheslik 05:53
Yeah, there’s a, there’s a joke in there about nurses needing a glass of wine at the end of the day, or any health care provider, especially during COVID. Well, I got into nursing because I really liked people. And I really liked connecting with people. And I really liked feeling like I was helping, right. And a really obvious objective way to help someone is to help save their life. And so when I was younger, that made the most sense. And then when I got into nursing school, I worked as a host in a restaurant here in Chicago, where I’m still based out of, and I loved it, like I worked at this kind of stupid bro bar in downtown Chicago, and really had no means of liking it as much as I did. But I remember being like 19. And we had like tabs behind the host, and that we could pour beers for people who were waiting. And I just thought that was the coolest thing. And I was like, man, like, restaurants are cool. Like, I really dig this, right. And so when I started working as a nurse, I was like, you know, being a nurse’s is fine, right? It makes lots of people satisfied and happy. But I just know there’s this other thing I have to pursue. And I have to know more about and see how far I can take with that. And so yeah, getting into wine was really just my way of getting into a restaurant. That was a higher caliber restaurant, I really wanted to do something Michelin star, just something upper echelon. And I felt like wine was just a skill set that a lot of other people didn’t have. And I wanted to have a leg up in that. So getting into wine from health care, was really more pragmatic than anything. But it’s turned into something like insane like this. And I’ve just been loving every step of it.
Samantha Sette 07:35
Absolutely. And what has surprised you most so far on this journey from this transition specifically?
Marie Cheslik 07:43
What surprised me the most is how similar working as a nurse is to working in a restaurant. And even what I do now, it’s such a similar skill set of taking complex topics, whether it’s diabetes, or heart failure, and translating it into the world of wine, I see so many parallels of approachability and weird a jargon and just being too complex, right? Or maybe even a little taboo of like talking about death in some ways, right? Like, I see a lot of parallels within the wine world. And I would also joke that I feel like I’m getting water for people in both scenarios, whether it’s in the hospital or at a restaurant, that was my main job was 40%, filling up water glasses.
Samantha Sette 08:30
I’ve never thought of it that way. And I’m coming from a little bit of a science healthcare ish background, if you will, as well. And you’re so right, and that there’s so much people don’t know about wine. And it’s hard because it’s simple to understand that it’s not very easy to communicate. And there’s that barrier there, which I’m assuming is what you’re trying to break away from is trying to get past that rather.
Marie Cheslik 08:53
Yeah, absolutely.
Samantha Sette 08:55
And so why wine and not beer, because you mentioned you started by pouring your glasses.
Marie Cheslik 09:02
I felt like there was more opportunity within wine, like wine contributes to 30% of restaurant sales. And so I felt like that I could contribute more I could be more valuable to a restaurant by understanding wine. And of course, the world of beer has history is as complex as the world of wine. But there was just something that really alerted me to the world of wine. And I also think there’s a big question mark with wine too. Like, I’m from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and so I I’ve drank some beers before. I’ve done it like, I get it, but I feel like blue collar Americana culture really has already embraced beer culture. Like I felt like there were already some answers to that of being like, well, there’s craft breweries that people love and people love particularly in the Midwest. And with wine. It’s like I don’t see anyone talking about wine in the Midwest and if someone is can I swear on this? I won’t swear but you Some people just, you know, really poopoo the whole wine thing, right? And I’ve wanted to be able to solve that. And I feel like that I mean, I feel like I have and I felt like at the time that I could and so that’s my journey with slick is trying to figure out how to make it more approachable.
Samantha Sette 10:18
Absolutely. And so what do you think it is about wine that makes it unapproachable versus beer versus maybe a margarita? Or now canned cocktails seem to be all over the place?
Marie Cheslik 10:27
Yeah, for sure. I mean, there’s a couple of different things, right. And I think you could go a lot of different ways with this conversation. But in my head, I feel like it’s the, it’s a combination, the two biggest things are the terminology. And just like the terms that we use within the wine world, and just the cultural perception, so kind of like how I alluded to earlier with healthcare, like, you can describe diabetes to someone really well, or really poorly. And how you do that will ultimately determine how compliant they are with how they use insulin, or how much they take care of themselves, right. Like it’s a very powerful thing to be able to effectively communicate these complex topics in a way that is approachable. And I think a lot of, there’s a lot of people trying to do it. And I think a lot of people miss the mark on a couple of things. And we’re still a bit too jargony, we still use words like you know, tannin, and acidity, even legs, and things like that, where people are just confused by it. Like, these words are important when you learn more about wine, but you can’t always use that word set right away. So I think just the terms that we use can be really intimidating to people. And then of course, the cultural perceptions. I’m make tiktoks All day now, right. And I see trends within wine contents. And the I always see the most popular wine videos are the ones where people are making fun of wine snobs, right? Like those always blow up, whether it’s sort of a skit of someone like fake tasting wine, or like, you know, you’re at a wine tasting. And this happens, right? Like people relate to that so much. And it’s obviously such a pain point for people. Wine has been just associated with like sophistication and refinement forever. And people don’t want to look stupid, right? And people like, have this pressure to get it right, quote, unquote, when they’re tasting or talking about wine, and therefore, inherently, you’re just gonna feel unapproachable when you don’t want to make those mistakes. So those are the two biggest things I see if you’re on approachability within wine.
Samantha Sette 12:32
That is so true. I remember when my first wine tasting ever, I felt so scared because I felt like I was being tested. Like it was a quiz. And I needed to get the right word and something like tan and like I don’t even know what like means. And I feel weird saying that on this podcast right now. But it’s it, there’s so much nuance there. And so I guess what advice would you give to someone if they were in a situation like that? Where they don’t know how to describe a wine or they felt that pressure? Or how can you get rid of that pressure? How can you alleviate that?
Marie Cheslik 13:06
Right. For me? I feel like why I started slik was I felt like education was the answer to this question. It’s like education and having a good community, right. And when I say by the both of those things like education, you kind of need to know, the baseline stuff, right? And I equate it like learning a language like you can, if you’re this kind of person who can take a French class, take a Spanish class and learn French or Spanish by sitting in the classroom, like awesome, more power to you, you should do that. And you can do that with wine. And there’s lots of great free resources out there. But most people would probably benefit more by moving to France, you know, or moving to Mexico to learn a new language and just be fully immersed in it. It’s the scarier option. People don’t do that option. But that if you really want to do it like that would be the best way to do it is just fully immerse yourself. And I find that, of course, if you don’t have the means to move to Napa or burgundy right away, you know, just finding a group of people that you feel good about and who speak your language and you really align with and whether that’s in person at a wine shop, that’s just down the street, right? Like I know lots of people who attend tastings at wine shops, and it makes them feel more comfortable and be like, Oh, it’s just right down the street. I’ll go there after work. And you know, I really like who works there or whatever, right? Slik is my solution to an online answer to that, where so much of what we do is online, but if we can have an online community that makes people feel welcome and feel good, and I create content that is approachable and like kinda stupid and allows for honest conversations about like, I don’t know what tannins are, and be like, that’s fine. That’s cool. Welcome. You know, come on in. So finding a good group of people and immersing yourself in that group of people I feel like is the best way to do Do that.
Samantha Sette 15:00
Absolutely. When it comes to the communities that’s like, what kinds of people do you find? are seeking this information and seeking this education?
Marie Cheslik 15:09
Yeah. So, I mean, I’m based in Chicago, right? I’m really Midwestern, I bring it up every once in a while on my page. So I think humans do this very natural thing where they gravitate towards people with similar shared experiences, or someone who even looks like them. This is just human psychology. So I think I get a lot of Midwesterners, and I get a lot of women who come to my page being like, it’s just so refreshing to see someone like you talk about wine in a way that is just so light hearted and fun. So it’s kind of the biggest clump of people that I get on the slick squad. And then I also am a German wine ambassador. So I do get a lot of international slik squad members as well, which has been really interesting because I try to frame a lot of my conversations and content about the American Wine Experience, which I feel like as a little dip, this could be a whole nother podcast, as opposed to like the European Wine Experience, where it’s like, there’s still that wall, and there’s still that barrier. But you know, at least if you’re in Germany, you could go to all sauce within reason and be like, oh, yeah, wine is made here are like are you could go to, you know, the mosel and be like, oh, yeah, like I see a vineyard, I get it. But for Chicago, it’s like, where do you go, and people don’t even know that we make great wine in Michigan. People don’t know that yet. Right? Or people feel like that. It’s not, quote unquote, like, a real place to make wine. But it’s like, we have so much to learn on the American side. So it’s been interesting to see what kind of people follow slik. But it’s been a whole wide variety. It’s been wonderful.
Samantha Sette 16:39
Yeah. And I noticed this difference emerging between experiencing and learning. And there’s that I don’t want to call it a wall or a transition, but it’s almost a gray area between the two where you can kind of have both and with an online virtual platform, how are you simulating that experience? How are you getting to that level of learning,
Marie Cheslik 16:59
consistency, I mean, I and consistency, and really reaching out to people who reach out to me, like I do try to respond to every DM that I get, I really tried to make something that is interactive, and makes people kind of feel seen, but this, of course, takes time. And I don’t always get it right. You know, like, sometimes I’ll make a piece of content and it flops, I’m gonna go okay, like, why did that happen? What was it about what do I need to change and make people feel like, they want to engage with it more XYZ thing. So it’s, you know, it’s, I’ve never run a business before. So I’m kind of learning these things as I go. And I’ve been reading a lot of like marketing books, because a lot of what I’m doing is marketing and a lot of marketing is communication. So a lot of these lessons that marketers teach about, like, Okay, you’re on a business, you want people to know about it. That’s marketing, right? That’s advertising. And so I kind of use my own personal experience with the things I’ve learned in business books and marketing books. And there’s this one book, Anne Hadley is a really famous like, marketing expert, and author. And she’s got this great quote that I think about, which is good marketing makes the company look smart. And great marketing makes the customer feel smart. So don’t do things because you feel like it’s a good idea. Like, it’s maybe a helpful tool to start just to see what works. But really, the ultimate goal is like serving that person and helping other those people helping the slik squad be seen, and helping people really just feel comfortable. So that’s my ultimate goal with what I try to do to make people feel like they’re being heard.
Samantha Sette 18:36
That sounds really fulfilling. And I love how you spoke about marketing, because not only are you marketing for the slik squad and slik wines, but also for wine in general. Because it seems like this un approachability, if that’s a word. In the wine industry, it’s making people a little bit hesitant. But from your experience, do you find that the layperson who doesn’t know much about wine, they actually get pretty excited about this stuff once they have the the verbiage and the language to talk about it.
Marie Cheslik 19:08
Yeah, my I love I love it. It’s one of my favorite things when someone comments or DMS me and they say, I don’t drink wine, or I don’t like wine or I don’t think I like wine. But I love watching your content. And it’s like, well, that’s powerful. Like I don’t know how many people you can convert in that way to do that. I think that’s an incredibly powerful thing. And I didn’t really think I’d have the capability of doing that just by being myself. But that’s really all it is. And it’s been incredibly rewarding, like you’ve said.
Samantha Sette 19:13
And for these people. What do you think when they’re embarking on their wine journey and you see them growing, you’re facilitating that growth in them. What seems to be the most fulfilling part of that?
Marie Cheslik 19:51
I mean, in short, you’ve said it like, I like people. I like helping people. That is what brings me joy. It’s my selfish Just watching you grow is what makes me do it and makes me feel fulfilled. Like, I’ve I’ve had probably 12 People from a slik squad pursue wine and keep me posted on their wine journey as a professional, because of watching my stuff. I just had a call this week with this guy who works a sales job and in LA and he’s like, I want to get into wine. And I’m like, that’s amazing. Let’s talk about you know, what you’re good at and how to get you there. And he just, you know, he told me that he applied for a sales job within wine, you know, that same week, that same day events. So it’s just been like, the results are tangible, and it’s crazy. And I never thought I would be able to do that within the conduit of wine. I mean, it’s satisfying to do that within healthcare, certainly to see the results of, you know, your hard work and making sure your patient is safe and gets to go home. That’s rewarding. And my equivalent within slick is watching people get into wine and having their life enriched through that. That’s what keeps me going.
Samantha Sette 21:02
And do you notice that’s a common pattern that people are not only just learning about wine, but sort of pursuing this in their career and professional life?
Marie Cheslik 21:11
You know, I would say it’s probably the uncommon scenario, I think most people will just enjoy it. People who’ve taken my course I would I pulled them after they’ve taken it, I would say probably only 20% of people pursue a more professional career, because of it. But I also have like no other reference point of that. That’s a lot. Or if that’s a little, you know, I don’t have any background knowledge of like, what the WSET does for like conversion for the next course and things like that, right. But I think just me being my business and sort of carving this path out for myself. I think that’s a powerful thing. I think people should do whatever they want with the wind knowledge. But I do think, yeah, a good chunk of them do end up going to more professional as opposed to a hobbyist route, and just life enrichment route.
Samantha Sette 21:57
Absolutely. No. And I think it’s a testament to the fact that we’re always learning, right? Isn’t that what keeps us fun and exciting, and we’re eager to just soak up more in the world. And Wine is a great place to do that. Because it’s this thing that for so many people, it’s just something to drink, it’s red or white. And then you start to peel away layers, and there’s just so much more nuance to it. And there’s a world and people like yourself, who are so excited to speak about it.
Marie Cheslik 22:23
Absolutely. It’s been it’s been amazing. Really. It’s been awesome.
Samantha Sette 22:28
Yeah, and I think this is a great place to transition to because I do want to talk about the TikTok. I’d love to hear just about your experience so far starting, I guess from the beginning, when did you start that aspect of your platform and presence?
22:43
The TikTok talk, I mean, it’s been stupid, it’s so crazy, I just, I love every second of it, because it’s so absurd, like, particularly on TikTok, it’s sort of the more, the more insane that you are, the more likely you’ll probably get noticed. So I think it just allows people to really express themselves in ways that I think you can’t really do on other platforms. So I started TikTok, January of 2022. So January of last year, and the goal for myself in January, I said, I’m going to post a TikTok a day for the month of January and see what happens. And so I did and my first couple socked as, as it, you know, has to happen your sock before you get kind of good at something. But by the end of the month, I had 10,000 followers, I said, that’s crazy. I’ve been doing this for a month and on Instagram, where I’ve been doing this for, you know, a year and a half now. I have like three times more followers than I do. And it’s like, Okay, that’s interesting. So let’s just keep doing it. And then I kept doing it. And then you kind of find trends and niches that work. I was doing these sort of comical, stand up bit wine tasting reviews that people really liked. And that got me up by March to like, 23,000 followers, and I was like, wow, okay, there’s like, I don’t know what this is. But I feel like, I need to continue to add this to my repertoire and just keep doing it and see what happens. And so now, you know, now I’m at like 65 or something like that. And there’s and there’s good days and bad days with it, of course. And there’s times where I get a million views on a video. And there’s times where I get 200 views on a video for seemingly no reason. But it’s just because I’m learning still, right. I’ve only been doing this for a year and a half. So I feel like I have a lot under my belt still. But it’s been really fun. And it’s most of the clients I get come from social media. Most of the sales I get for the wine course come from social social media. So it’s an incredibly powerful tool that I don’t mind spending a ton of time on, because it’s effectively my advertising budget to which is I don’t spend any money on it. It’s free. The only thing costs is my labor. And for me, that’s worth it and then trying to explore other platforms like YouTube as well. So it’s been it’s been a journey, but it’s been really great.
Samantha Sette 25:07
There’s something so powerful here as well, because especially with the medium like, TikTok, right? Where the content, you’re not always seeking it, it’s kind of landing in your lap. And I think that your quick growth is showing, or at least to me, that this is content that people want, but really don’t know how to find. And it’s growing, because it’s important, and it’s interesting, and people like it. And so it seems like there’s this maybe hesitancy as we’ve spoken about towards learning about wine, or just an untapped curiosity that you’re helping people learn about themselves, and realize, hey, even if I don’t like this, this is cool to learn about even if I don’t like drinking it.
Marie Cheslik 25:51
Yeah, absolutely. I feel like TikTok in particular to I mean, I could have, again, a whole nother conversation about social media. But I think TikTok is particularly interesting, because you will get wine content, even if you don’t consume any other wine content. So like, sometimes you do just kind of get a random video of like, what they think you would like. And so that just means your reach goes so much farther, like, yes, you can teach about wine and that can, that could attract a certain kind of person. But if you can add wine with another skill set you have, whether it’s like, illustration, or humor or whatever other like tool that or skill that you’re good at, I feel like that just broadens you even more, because like, I use a lot of humor with my content. So it’s like not only am I getting a wine clientele, I’m also getting like people who watch comedy pages, which is a much bigger market, a much bigger pool on the tick tock, you know, spectrum. So using whatever you got, which is also kind of like a famous adage, within business, just like use what you got whatever you’re good at, just keep doing it. And whatever people like, don’t stop doing it don’t if you have a video that goes viral, just repeat it until people hate you for it right until you’re just people are just absolutely sick of it. Right. So it’s taught me a lot of lessons about not only just consistency, just like business in general, it’s been really great.
Samantha Sette 27:17
One of my favorite things that I hear as I get to know you, and your story is that as you’re helping other people learn, you’re learning along the way as well. And you’re owning it so much. And so what is something that you think you still have to learn? Whether it be about wine or about teaching people about wine, or even TikTok, if you will? Well, there’s plenty to learn about tick tock, I think we’re all struggling on that front.
Marie Cheslik 27:39
I mean, honestly, for, you know, related to wine, I mean, for me, the biggest struggles I have are the business surrounding wine. Like, I know, I’m good at these skill sets. Like, I feel like I’m a pretty effective communicator, you know, maybe this isn’t like, the fairytale ending. But this is like the real ending of like, okay, I do what I do, and I love it. And brands pay me to do XYZ thing. And that’s awesome. And that’s amazing. And it allows me to spread the good word of slick, spread the good word of wine and continue to do what I do. But like, you know, I can barely, I didn’t go to business school, I’m learning how to juggle to be every single hat in a business. And it’s, it’s hard, you know, and trying to figure out, how much time do I allocate for invoicing? How much do I allocate for marketing versus my product versus future products? Versus how do I manage a team, it was just like, it’s a whole skill set where it’s like, I don’t learn this. I don’t know. I feel like I’m just trying to figure that out as I go. But as far as the, the product, right, as far as the wine itself, it’s such a giant world, and I’m not going to know everything. I think I’m a pretty effective generalist, I teach people about wine, and I’m pretty proud of that. I’m a little more specific with German wine only because I am a German wine ambassador, just like healthcare, right? You can learn to be a family medicine doctor, which is like a lot of different things, right? Mostly pediatrics, or you can be a nephrologist, right? You can specialize in just kidneys for your entire life. And it’s always going to change, right? And so I equate wine to that where it’s like, I could learn about Germany, probably forever, you know, I could probably just hone in on a single place and be a specificed for a long time, but I’m happy being more of a generalist because I feel like it allows a bigger group of people to get excited. And then just creating content around that that is effective that is interesting, and grabs and holds attention. So I feel like it’s a lot of things, but I’d say mainly the business side and then the content creation around it, because it will help the business side of it.
Samantha Sette 29:54
Absolutely. There’s so much to learn. I love what you were saying with being a generalist because we need you. Like it helps you put things in a plainer language because just like in health care, you’re not going to go to the nephrologist if I don’t know, I’m blanking. You have a cold. You drink too much wine.
Marie Cheslik 30:16
Yeah, totally, totally.
Samantha Sette 30:18
So I guess what’s next then for slik wines, do you have anything coming up or ideas brewing that you’re open to sharing on this platform?
Marie Cheslik 30:27
Yeah, 100%, I am working on a series of books called how to read a wine label. And this book series came up, when I was making my online wine course, which you should also check out, it’s $189. It’s four hours long. I made it for the slick squad. It’s very practical information. I love it. I love that it’s a thing that I can, that I can give to people that I think is actually helpful within the wine world. But as I was making that course, there is a section how to read a wine label. And I was like, you know, that’s a powerful skill that I think a lot of people can relate to where they’re in a wine shop, and they’re looking at all these labels, and they go, I don’t know what I want. So either you default to the thing that you normally get, or you just get the cheapest thing, or the second cheapest thing, or whatever your thought process is. And so learning how to read a label a wine label means that you know what a wine is going to taste like without even opening it. And that’s a skill set. Right. And that is something that is so teachable, that I haven’t really seen be taught yet. So the first book is almost done. It’s how to read a French wine label, we’ll break it down into country, because I think that’s important to do it that way. Yeah, just keep following slick squad and keep following that just to you know, I have an agent coming up soon for it too, which is amazing, just been so many opportunities. And so it’s going to be legit, it’s going to help the slik squad out and just get more people more confident about wine, which again, is always my goal. So that’s kind of a big project I’ve been working on these days is the course making it as squeaky and shiny as possible. And then these books coming up.
Samantha Sette 31:59
That’s very exciting. And I don’t want to miss out on my favorite question ask people so before I forget, it slips my mind is did you expect to end up where you are today?
Marie Cheslik 32:13
Well, no, I mean, of course not. This is so ridiculous. So like I didn’t TikTok, you know, making videos didn’t even wasn’t even on the wasn’t even on the register for me. But I’ve always loved a job where it could be creative. And I could again connect with people. So did I know I’d do a creative job for a living? Probably not. I was again, a little too pragmatic. There was a reason I wanted to be a nurse. And there’s a reason why I’m so thankful. I’m a nurse, I always tell myself if slik wines were to blow up tomorrow, and I didn’t have it anymore. I could still be a nurse, I could, I could just do the Botox nurse thing and call it a day, you know, and just feel confident that I would be financially stable and be okay to move on to the next thing. But what I never imagined that I could do this job would I do full time? No, definitely not. But it’s been so cool. It’s been such. You know, I self refer to myself as an entrepreneur. And that used to make me cringe. I used to hate that word. It just sounds pretentious. It’s almost like calling yourself a small Yeah, it’s, it’s like, there’s something to it, where you feel like that you’re more than you are. But really, there’s no other job that rewards you for bettering yourself more, the better I get at slik and the better I get at communicating wine, the better I get at creating content, the better I get at XYZ thing, the better that slik is going to do and the better I’m going to do. And I see the reward for that financially and you know, emotionally, right? There’s not another job in the world that really does that. I could have gone back to get my master’s degree been a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist or whatever, ensure you make money, but you still have cap, right? You still are like, Okay, you went to school, you’re done. Congrats, you know, like, with this job. It’s like, I could, it could turn into anything. You know, like, I could, yeah, I made this course I’m gonna write a book. You know, maybe there’s like a brick and mortar situation in the future. You know, like, there’s so much potential. And that’s what I find really exciting about what I do. And I’m so thankful that I get to pursue this journey and that people like yourself, people like Wine Enthusiast, like, gas up people like me, and I’m just thankful for every opportunity that comes my way. So I just want to say, Thanks, guys. I appreciate that. It’s pretty cool.
Samantha Sette 34:33
Well, you’re so deserving of it. And I think for most people, that uncertainty of what’s next would be very scary. And I’m sure it’s not always exciting, because it’s it’s scary. It’s uncertainty, but I applaud you just for having such an open, excited mind about it and all the possibilities that can come your way in the future.
Marie Cheslik 34:51
Yes, I’m delusionally optimistic because I feel like you have to be
Samantha Sette 34:57
Chers to that and yeah, right. if we’re making a cheers what’s in your glass?
Marie Cheslik 35:04
I have iced coffee and water in front of me. But I also do have a bottle of 2007 Gigi Riesling that is just sitting here. So I am thankful to have that and maybe I will sip on that later as the celebration.
Samantha Sette 35:19
Well, Marie, I guess we’re at the tail end of a conversation. I wanted to thank you for taking the time and just again, recognize your achievement as a future 40 honoree, if there were any last words, or where can our listeners find you? Take the floor? Here’s your shot.
Marie Cheslik 35:38
Yeah, thanks for listening guys. I want you to be part of the slik squad. I want to meet you I want to get to know you. I want to get you excited about wine. So check out either Instagram Tik Tok or YouTube slik wines S L I K wines and come say hi, come through write a comments. Otherwise, check out my website. Yeah, I’ve got the course just for you. If you want to. If you’re curious about wine and want to get more competent about wine, I definitely recommend that otherwise, you know, all my content is free and I will see you on the internet.
Samantha Sette 36:08
Get swiping is what you bring expression of gratitude once again.
Marie Cheslik 36:15
Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
Jacy Topps 36:22
Learning about wine doesn’t have to be complicated. But oftentimes it is. The terms and jargon that many professionals use are often seen as barriers and intimidating to consumers, particularly the newer consumers. We in the industry say that education is the key. But maybe it’s more approachable education. That’s the key. What are your thoughts? If you liked today’s episode, we’d love to read your reviews and hear what you think. You can email us your comments and questions at podcasts at Wine Enthusiast. dotnet. And hey, why not tell your wine loving friends to check us out to remember, you can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. You can also go to wine enthusiast.com backslash podcast. For more episodes and transcripts. I’m JC tops. Thanks for listening
Last Updated: November 1, 2023
