Inspiring Conversations with Kirsten Fox of Fox School of Wine

Hi Kirsten, I’m so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Fox School of Wine opened in 2008, when my first two kids hit their teenage years, (not a coincidence!) and we provide fun historic tours and events with a side of wine education to the corporate-meeting market in Northern Utah, along with a weekly, public wine classes held on Park City’s Main Street.

We started our second tour in the Fall of 2022 in Salt Lake City, focusing on the history of the Mormon Church with a side of wine education. The tour is called Saints & Sinners, and is a two-hour, happy hour tour, offering four wines and a taste of a Utah-made dessert whiskey. We drink the wine in the vehicle between stops, ensuring that no one will have alcohol in public.

We love designing creative wine events for groups like our Blind Leading the Blind teambuilding, Somm-el-yeah!! Tasting Event, Wines of the World Passport event, and others.

The overarching goal of everything we produce at Fox School of wine is fun, tasting, and learning.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
After getting married in 2003, my husband and I had agreed that I’d be the second income in the family.

Then, he decided he didn’t want to be married in 2017, so I needed to support myself and my kids and only had a small amount of revenue in 2017. But desperation is a powerful motivator. In two years, I more than 10x’ed my 2017 revenue.

Covid destroyed 91% of our business in 2020, which was brutal. Lots of tears… then mountain biking and a coach brought me back to life. Now we’re at 25 employees and just added a new location.

We’ve been impressed with Fox School of Wine, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The thing that sets us apart from many other companies is the approach to our offerings that emphasizes all should be having fun: our students and our employees. Not necessarily the snobby approach seen in many wine schools.

We believe in treating all of our fellow workers and guests with respect, serving enough but not too much alcohol during our offerings, and creating opportunities for humans to laugh and bond with each other to create memorable experiences.

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
If your brain or spirit is scared, get out and do something physically scary. By moving into real, physical danger, (or perceived danger) you realign your perspective and after surviving, your stress in the other areas of your life is greatly reduced.