Nobody From the Future Has Stopped Me Yet

A pearl of wisdom, a sparkling wine business, and why sometimes you just have to keep going.

A few weeks ago, Bubbles Don’t Count was part of Peach City Tees Up for Cancer, an event we were very proud to support.

The theme was Posh, Pearls & Pars, so, appropriately, there were pearls everywhere—including a bowl filled with little “pearls of wisdom.”

I reached in and randomly chose one.

It read:

I laughed.

And then I put it in my pocket.

I’m not sure why I kept it. But a few days later, I came across it again and read it one more time.

This time, I thought about Bubbles Don’t Count.

And I thought: Well, nobody has shown up from the future yet.

It Started With an Idea

When I started Bubbles Don’t Count, the idea was pretty specific.

Create a boutique wine experience devoted entirely to sparkling wine in the Okanagan.

Not a wine tour where one of the stops happened to pour something sparkling.

Bubbles.

I believed there was a story here worth telling. Exceptional sparkling wines were being made throughout the Okanagan, by interesting people using different grapes, different methods and very different approaches.

I wanted people to discover them.

And somewhere in there came the idea for The Bubbles Bus.

Was there exhaustive market research proving the world was waiting for a sparkling-wine-only experience in the Okanagan?

No.

Did I think it was a great idea?

Absolutely.

So I started.

And Then One Idea Became Another

• 

• 

• 

One of the things I didn’t anticipate when I started Bubbles Don’t Count was where that first idea would lead.

The Bubbles Bus got on the road.

Relationships with wineries began to grow.

Then came Between The Bubbles, because I realized there were stories behind these wines—and the people making them—that I wanted others to hear.

Then The Bubbles Bar.

Then The Bubbles Collection.

Along the way, we've collaborated with tourism organizations, winery partners and community events. We've found opportunities to support causes that matter to our community. And I've met some extraordinary people I might never have met otherwise.

None of that was written into a business plan at the beginning.

Much of it started with a conversation.

Or an introduction.

Or me walking through another door and saying some version of:

“I have an idea…”

Sometimes that sentence has worked out rather well.

Sometimes, not so much.

Not Every Day Is Bubbles

There is another side of building a small business that doesn't photograph quite as well.

The days when the bookings don't come.

The email you were hoping for that goes unanswered.

The partnership that seems to make perfect sense—apparently only to you.

The idea you spend hours working on that goes absolutely nowhere.

And then there are things nobody could have planned for.

This summer brought wildfires, evacuations, smoke and uncertainty to communities throughout the Okanagan. Wineries closed. Visitors changed their plans. Tours were cancelled.

We processed refunds while people we know and businesses we care about were dealing with circumstances far more serious than a cancelled wine tour.

It puts things into perspective.

It also reminds you just how unpredictable running a small business can be.

There have certainly been moments during this journey when I've wondered whether continuing to push an idea forward is determination...

...or just stubbornness.

I still haven't completely figured out the difference.

Then Another Door Opens

And just when you start wondering, something happens.

Someone says yes.

A winery welcomes us in.

A guest gets on The Bubbles Bus and discovers an Okanagan sparkling wine they never knew existed.

A winemaker sits down with me for Between The Bubbles and shares a story I never would have heard had I not started this business.

A conversation over a glass of wine turns into another idea.

Or Bubbles Don’t Count gets invited to be part of something like Peach City Tees Up for Cancer—and somehow, while standing there surrounded by pearls, golf clubs and sparkling wine, I end up reaching into a bowl and pulling out a tiny card that makes me think about the whole thing differently.

Funny how that happens.

Keep Going Anyway

I don't know what Bubbles Don’t Count looks like five years from now.

Actually, I don't know exactly what it looks like one year from now.

And I'm becoming increasingly comfortable with that.

I don't know which idea we're working on today will become something important tomorrow. Or which door will open next.

And I certainly don't know which idea I'll eventually look back on and think:

What on earth was I thinking?

But perhaps that's part of building something.

You don't always get to know where an idea is going before deciding whether it's worth pursuing.

Sometimes you simply have to be curious enough to find out.

Knock on the door.

Make the introduction.

Ask the question.

Try the idea.

Hear the occasional no.

And keep going anyway.

Which brings me back to that little pearl of wisdom.

Nobody from the future has shown up to tell me to stop.

So until they do, I'm going to keep introducing people to Okanagan sparkling wine. Keep telling the stories of the people behind it. Keep building relationships. Keep trying things.

And keep seeing where this wonderfully improbable little business takes us.

Because none of us gets to know in advance which decisions will change things.

Sometimes you just have to pop the cork and find out.

Because Life’s Better with Bubbles.