Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Killingsworth.
Paul, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Growing up, I always felt a little bit like the black sheep. Not necessarily in a bad way, but I was enough of a non-conformist to notice. If I could find a way to tweak something to make it different or stand out, I’d do it. That perspective found it’s way into my early “job life”, where I swear I was fired (or almost fired) from as many jobs as I kept. It is not that I was a poor worker or someone that was unreliable, just the opposite actually. I regularly out-worked all my peers. I’ve always been someone that had more to offer and working for someone else, well… those ideas (usually) had to be pushed to the backburner and turned down to a simmer.
In college, as I studied music, I worked in various restaurants, but one, in particular, I’ll never forget. It was called Clary’s. I somehow found a way to work in this 20-table-fine-dining-joint as a server-assistant at first. But even before I was allowed to wait on tables myself, I was exposed to the world of food and wine like I had never been before. The part that stuck out to me the most was the “line up”. This was a time before the shift started where James Clary, the chef, and his Sommelier would talk about chef features and open a bottle of wine. To listen to the service team describe the wine they were tasting was so fascinating to me, and even though I didn’t really get it at the time, the spark was there.
After a few years of sowing some wild oats, I left my hometown of Springfield, Missouri and came to Houston with my little brother’s Christian Rock band called Moriah (of which, he was the drummer). Being based out of Houston, I had the privilege of meeting my wife, Nichole. After a long story of courtship that involved me quitting the band, I eventually found myself back in the restaurants. Catching the wine bug (as we call it), was an experience that we both shared, and sent us on a trajectory to where we are today. One of the most profound moments was being at a local wine bar, and being told to go to the back of the line because we didn’t know what we wanted. Being white wine drinkers, we were super inexperienced in the whole red wine world. What we needed was someone to take us by the hand and show us the way.
Before we even left the bar that night, I was already planning my next steps: “I’m going to study wine so that I can make it more easily understood to the people that I’m serving. You know, to take away the intimidation factor?” And that’s what I did. I started reading, studying, tasting, anything. Whatever I could get my hands on, and whoever I could learn from, I was a sponge. I got certified with the Court of Master Sommeliers while working with Perry’s Steakhouse group. I then went on to help manage a new location of the very wine concept that I had my epiphany at. I continued to learn the business and worked for 3 years for a fine wine distributor. At the end of the last year, I was there. I found myself sitting in a sales meeting. Everyone was going around the room saying what they were going to do the next year that was impactful (almost like a New Year’s Resolution). Most people were saying things like, “I’m going to beat my sales goals”, or “I’m going to make new relationships in the wine business”. When it got to me, I said, “I’m going to revolutionize the wine world in Sugar Land.” The room exploded with laughter, and while I laughed along with them, I knew what I was about to do: open our first location of Vino & Vinyl.
We did it. And here we are, 3 years later, with 2 locations and on the cusp of new growth in the realm of franchising.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
After all of the experience I gained working in the many facets of the wine world, plus being a musician and music lover, Vino & Vinyl was a mash-up of my two greatest passions. Unfortunately, a concept like this isn’t the most cookie-cutter or easily understood. People didn’t get it at first… but they were intrigued. And even from our perspective, we stumbled upon genius when we first opened as a wine and record retail shop (instead of a wine bar). We got to really learn what people were into, and by the time we made the switch to more of a social concept, we knew exactly what to serve and what to focus on!
Struggles? Well, we like to look at them as “challenges” or “hurdles”. Anything is possible. It just takes an incredible amount of “grit” to see it until the end. Every single day has its challenges. The secret is how to respond.
Please tell us about Vino & Vinyl .
For those who have never been, or have never heard of us before, Vino & Vinyl is a wine and records lounge. What that really means to us is curating a wine list that is soulful and playing music that is as well. The word “soulful” to us, doesn’t necessarily mean music like Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder (although we spin the heck out of them). It means wine, music, food, art, even craft beer that has a personality. Music that isn’t just the pop stuff you hear on the radio. Wine that is naturally grown, made by hand, and isn’t on every grocery store’s shelves. And apart from all that, one of the biggest ways we show this is by the art we hang on our walls. Local artists rotate monthly their works for sale, and we get to support the art community in the process.
What sets us apart? Have you ever sipped an organic Pinot Noir from Sonoma Coast and listened to Snoop Dogg? Haha, we hadn’t either, but it’s been fun to watch.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t take a chance to have a re-do if I was offered it. I wholeheartedly believe that the lessons I learned from every business, person, and mentor along the way, has been invaluable to my growth as a person, father, and entrepreneur.
Pricing:
- Glasses of wine cost anywhere from $5 for happy hour to $50. With that large of a price range, you can literally go as serious as you want.
- Our wine club called “Club Vino” has 4 different tiers to choose from and each come with 4 hand-selected bottles a month (see our website for more specifics). The price points are $100, $175, $250, and $500.
Contact Info:
- Address: Vino & Vinyl – Missouri City
3340 FM 1092 RD, STE 150
Missouri City, TX 77459
281-208-7453Vino & Vinyl – Sugar Land
15977 City Walk
Sugar Land, TX 77479
281-277-0565 - Website: www.vino-vinyl.com
- Email: paul@vino-vinyl.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/pk_vino_vinyl
Image Credit:
Chris Killingsworth www.instagram.com/cnkillingsworth
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
