Victoria James On Changing The Wine World, Blazing Trails & Standing Up For Working Moms

Radio Cherry Bombe

The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network

Restaurants, 591312, Business, Arts, Food Radio, Interviews, Kerry Diamond, Female Chefs, Radio Cherry Bombe, Entrepreneurs, Society & Culture, Women, Careers, Women In Food, Food, Cherry Bombe Magazine, Talk Radio, Chefs, Restaurateurs

4.6 • 592 Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Our guest on the third episode of our special Power Miniseries is Victoria James—sommelier, author, advocate, and mother of two. She joins host Kerry Diamond to talk about her memoir, “Wine Girl,” her fight against sexual harassment at the highest levels of the sommelier community, and her role as Executive Director of Beverage & Partnerships at Gracious Hospitality, which includes the COQODAQ and the COTE Korean Steakhouses. Victoria and Kerry also discuss her Trailblazer Award, presented to her by Cherry Bombe and Veuve Clicquot at the recent Power Awards, her support of pregnant women and nursing moms working in restaurants, beverage, and hospitality, and the organization she co-founded to provide free industry education, Wine Empowered. Our Power miniseries is presented by Veuve Clicquot and coincides with the new Power Issue of Cherry Bombe’s print magazine, out now. We spotlighted more than 100 women in the worlds of food, drink, and hospitality, including Victoria, who are using their power in interesting, inspiring, and innovative ways. Subscribe to our magazine here and check out the full list on cherrybombe.com. More on Victoria: Instagram, “Wine Girl” memoir, Wine Empowered, Julia Moskin NY Times story More on Kerry: Instagram Past episodes and transcripts

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bomb and I'm your host, Carrie Diamond. This is the third episode of our special power miniseries, and today's guest certainly knows how to use her power. It's Victoria James, the trailblazing sommelier, author, and advocate for working moms.
0:21.9	Where do we even begin with Victoria?
0:24.0	She overcame a complicated upbringing to become one of the youngest sommeliers in the country,
0:28.9	a journey she wrote about in her memoir, Wine Girl, the obstacles, humiliations, and triumphs of
0:34.7	America's youngest salmelier.
0:36.6	In 2020, she helped expose the sexual harassment
0:39.2	happening at the highest level of the wine industry and was featured in a New York Times
0:43.5	investigative story on that subject by reporter Julia Moskin. Victoria has risen through the ranks
0:49.2	of gracious hospitality, parent company of the celebrated coat restaurants, and today she is their executive director of beverage and partnerships.
0:58.0	Victoria is the mother of two, her little one is only three months old, and through her Instagram account, she has helped normalize seeing pregnant women and nursing moms working in restaurants, beverage, and hospitality.
1:09.7	People should get used to seeing us
1:11.1	pump in all the places we weren't able to years ago. She wrote in a post last month,
1:16.1	Mamas, all the spaces are yours. Last week, Cherrybaum hosted our first ever power awards,
1:21.8	and Victoria received the Trailblazer Award, given by Cherrybaum and the legendary champagne house,
1:27.3	Vuv Clico.
1:28.6	Victoria is such an important person in our industry, and I can't wait for you to learn more
1:32.6	about her. Stay tuned for our chat.
1:35.5	Speaking of Vuv, our Power miniseries is presented by Vuv Clico, the iconic champagne house
1:40.6	led to greatness by one of the most powerful women in the history of champagne,
1:45.3	Madame Cleecoe. Bold, brilliant, and ahead of her time, Madam Cleecoe took over her late husband
1:50.5	Champagne House at just 27 years old. In an era when women couldn't have bank accounts or run
1:56.1	businesses, she defied expectations and led with vision and determination.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.