Sheila Donohue is the founder of Vero
https://www.verovinogusto.com , which seeks out artisanal wines and olive oils from small producers around the world and sells them to businesses and consumers across the US. Vero is headquartered in SoCal (Ventura, CA).
Sheila is originally from New York, with 30 years experience in the financial technology space, half of that while living/working in Italy where she became a sommelier.
Her move from NYC to Italy took place right after 9/11, when she received an offer from a firm based in Bologna Italy. Following the events of 9/11, she was eager to leave the city and try something new. While in Bologna, she met her husband - a third generation bakery owner in Bologna. Though her plan was to stay in fintech, she quickly developed a passion for the food and wine business in Italy, and in 2008 she got her sommelier certification.
After a series of life changing events in 2016, at age 51, she was forced to start over. She saw an opportunity to give smaller wine and olive oil producers a platform to be discovered, and in 2018 she founded Vero, splitting time between her home in Bologna, Vero’s office in California, and traveling throughout the US to develop the business. She spends her days discovering great wines, running virtual wine tastings, and working to promote and grow Vero!
More professional background on Sheila is on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheiladonohue
www.verovinogusto.com