The Extraordinary Lens of Wine
Perspectives on Leadership and Life
What if the best leadership lessons weren’t in a book, but in a bottle?
This isn’t a talk about wine. It’s about what wine reveals.
“Stephanie’s keynote - There is nothing else like it on stage!”
Holly Kostrzewski
“Wow! Stephanie’s wine parallels are phenomenal.”
Lynn Gillette
Stephanie draws on her wine career to reveal life and leadership insights, uncorked with depth, clarity and relevance.
I’m Stephanie Morton-Small, MBA, accredited in wine, a business leader, speaker, and award-winning lyricist. UK-born, I’ve lived around the world, and now California’s home. I’ve taken a start-up wine estate to Top 100 status, created wine concepts, and made bold life decisions. I’m Principal, Strategy at Activequity and advise wineries through my company, Wine Diamonds.
As a speaker, I help business leaders navigate change, fuel innovative thinking, strengthen decision-making, build self-trust, and lead with authenticity, unlocking clarity, courage, and conviction when it matters most.
Stephanie catalyzes authentic, impactful leadership
Navigate Change & Drive Momentum
Find Clarity Under Pressure
Strengthen Decision Making
Lead with Authenticity & Build Trust
Uncertain leadership drains energy, trust and progress. Clarity, courage and conviction drive momentum and strengthen culture.
"Completely Riveting”
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"The World Needs More of This!"
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"Her Wine Parallels are Phenomenal”
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"Wow! Powerful, Relatable, Inspiring!"
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"Extraordinary."
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"Powerful metaphorical storytelling, truly mind-blowing."
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"There is nothing else like it on stage!"
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"Completely Riveting” ~ "The World Needs More of This!" ~ "Her Wine Parallels are Phenomenal” ~ "Wow! Powerful, Relatable, Inspiring!" ~ "Extraordinary." ~ "Powerful metaphorical storytelling, truly mind-blowing." ~ "There is nothing else like it on stage!" ~
Wine Inspired Perspectives for Leadership & Life
A leadership framework revealed through the lens of wine
Four curated Wine’s Unfiltered Genius keynotes, each focused on a distinct dimension of leadership
Or build your bespoke keynote from individual themes
Each theme is a 15-minute segment. Use individually or combine three into a 45–50 minute keynote.
FERMENTATION
Navigating Transformational Change
(Uncertainty is the messy middle of transformation)
The mess isn’t the problem.
It’s the process.
BLIND TASTING
Courage & Intuition in Action
(Self-trust in making decisions when the path ahead is unclear)
Instinct isn’t risky.
Ignoring it is.
TERROIR
The Power of Authenticity
(The foundation of trust, engagement, and culture)
Without authenticity,
nothing aligns.
BOTTLE SHOCK
Navigating the Loss of Momentum
(When momentum drops after a major decision or transition)
Progress pauses before it pays off.
You're not lost. You’re recalibrating.
DECANTING
Creating Clarity
(Creating the conditions for clear, high-quality decisions)
The best decisions aren’t rushed.
They’re revealed.
ÉLEVAGE
The Power of Perspective
(Experience builds range, perspective, and judgment)
A résumé shows what you’ve done.
Your choices reveal how you lead.
CO-FERMENTATION
Collaboration
(The parts matter. What happens between them matters more)
Combine late, you blend.
Combine early, you amplify.
SIGNATURE KEYNOTE
WINE’S UNFILTERED GENIUS
Lessons in Life, Leadership & the Long Game
“Wine’s Unfiltered Genius” flexes to your audience and format.
It can be delivered in one of four curated keynote versions or as a bespoke keynote built from Stephanie’s wine-inspired themes.
Each theme can stand alone, be combined into a 45–50 minute keynote, or delivered as a series.
Wine’s Unfiltered Genius is also offered with a curated wine tasting (one wine to match each theme), an exceptional experience for leadership retreats and alumni wine clubs.
For business leaders, founders, entrepreneurs, women in business, business schools, and business school alumni wine clubs
What if the best leadership lessons weren’t in a book, but in a bottle?
Stephanie captivates audiences, uncorking powerful insights for leadership and life.
This isn’t a talk about wine. It’s about what wine reveals.
Using the lens of wine, Stephanie reveals how leaders can navigate transformation, make confident decisions, lead with authenticity, and regain momentum, showing how perspective, clarity, conviction, and courage shape how we think, decide, and lead.
Stephanie delivers compelling, wine-inspired perspectives, infused with humor and grounded in hard-won insight from her richly varied experience and global wine business career. From boardrooms to vineyards, creative breakthroughs and soul-deep clarity, she brings a viewpoint few can offer.
Book Stephanie for Keynotes, Leadership Retreats & Alumni Wine Clubs
Create a bespoke keynote from seven wine-inspired perspectives
Choose from four curated versions of Wine’s Unfiltered Genius
Wine’s Unfiltered Genius with curated wine tasting - an exceptional experience for leadership retreats and alumni wine clubs
FAQ
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Stephanie’s inspirational keynotes resonate with business leaders and entrepreneurs because she is herself a global wine business leader, entrepreneur, and creative force with richly varied life experience.
Her talks stand strong as powerful one-off keynotes or as a themed series across multi-day events. She also offers a keynote paired with a curated wine tasting - perfect as the opening or finale of a leadership retreat.
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As a successful, highly respected and well-profiled businesswoman in the wine industry, Stephanie speaks from her three-decade experience, engaging her audiences on navigating business and life.
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Stephanie offers highly engaging, speaker-led wine tasting experiences that reveal the deeper wisdom of wine - where each glass becomes a metaphor for life. In her captivating talk Wine’s Unfiltered Genius, curated wine pairings are uncorked with stories from her life, each wine echoes and amplifies the theme through its own unique story. These experiences weave storytelling, insight, and sensory discovery into a thought-provoking journey that goes far beyond the traditional tasting.
Tailored to your group, it’s ideal for business networks and private or alumni wine clubs seeking something elevated, meaningful, and memorable, an experience that lingers long after the last glass is poured.
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Stephanie is available as a panelist and speaks from her diverse life experience, which includes both business and creative worlds.
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Stephanie is a multi-award-winning lyricist and soon-to-be published author. Having established herself as a successful business leader prior to embarking on her creative journey, she understands how to get into the creative flow, while keeping a roof over your head.