Meet Gurvinder Bhatia | Quench Magazine Editor-in-chief, Wine Educator, Consultant, Commentator, Storyteller, Community Builder, Advocate for Underdogs

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gurvinder Bhatia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gurvinder, how do you think about risk?

Risk and opportunity go hand in hand. Evaluating risk is akin to evaluating opportunity. In business, risk is about assessing the potential opportunities – whether it is filling a void/need in the market for a product or service, or by creating the demand for a product or service (ie. something that the market perhaps didn’t even know that it needed/wanted). Every business venture I’ve undertaken is about creating something that I believe will enhance people’s experiences. For me, it has to be a win-win-win situation to be sustainable. If the focus is on quality, the customers’ experience, and treating the people you deal with with respect (whether suppliers, staff, or customers), then risks are minimized. You also have to be agile and recognize the need to make adjustments in the process without losing sight of the focus of the business and its mission. If the focus is solely on making money, you actually have no focus because sustainability is compromised…ie. staff, customers and/or suppliers will become disgruntled. Risk and opportunity are also closely related and affected by how someone measures success.

Risk/opportunity has always played a significant role in my life – whether as an athlete, basketball coach, deciding to switch from sciences to business in university, deciding to go to law school after my MBA because I thought law would help me in business, leaving the practise of law to start my own business (in a completely different industry), creating the largest all Canadian wine and culinary festival that had ever been held, opening a second wine retail shop (and then closing it), shutting down my shop after 20 years, taking over Quench Magazine, and being an entrepreneur and continually having to hustle vs becoming someone else’s employee and collecting a regular salary (which would likely be “safer” – but I would likely be a horrible employee – actually I would be a great employee, because I’m a people pleaser, but I would want to be the one running the show, so better to just run my own business).

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

I consider myself a bridge builder, the rudder that sets the path and helps to make others successful and look good. When you can be integral in the success of others, you become the go-to. I like being the go-to (and often that occurs behind the scenes and without public acknowledgment or recognition).

I am proud of:
-making quality wine accessible to the average consumer
-supporting and advocating for quality independent wine growers from around the world
-helping people to understand that wine and food get their context from people, place, culture and history and when you put it in that context and understand the people and the cultural and historical context, it can help you connect personally and emotionally and enhance your experience
-working with numerous charitable and community organizations to be more efficient and maximize the benefits of their fundraising efforts
-over a decade as CBC Radio’s wine columnist and having people who don’t drink, consistently telling me that the way I speak about wine makes them want to experience it
-taking over Quench Magazine (North America’s longest running wine, food and culture magazine) and doing a complete redesign and refocus to make it a truer representation of the world in which we live and expanding the voices and audience for wine and food
-having Vinomania wine boutique (the shop I owned for over 20 years) be a community hub and playing a significant role in helping to evolve the wine and food culture in the community and contribute to so many community and charitable initiatives in the community
-being certified by Vinitaly International Academy as one of only 16 Italian Wine Experts in the world.
-being named by Alberta Venture Magazine as one of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People.
-serving 2 terms on the board of the Edmonton Community Foundation – the largest non-governmental funder in the community
-developing and moderated a roundtable on ‘The Media and Racism’ as part of the Centre for Race and Culture’s Challenging Discrimination through Community Conversations series and continually advocating for inclusivity and social justice in our society
-never compromising my integrity or principles and not being beholden to anyone (often losing business as a result)
It’s not easy, never easy, but when you do it your way and you feel that you are treating others even better than you want to be treated yourself and that you can look at yourself in the mirror everyday and know that you have acted with intent and with purpose and with the best intentions to enhance the lives of others and benefit the community, then there is a level of comfort that you are on the right path.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mom. She was my greatest champion and loved and supported me unconditionally, even if she didn’t totally understand what it was that I did for a living (when people ask me what I do for a living, even I have a difficult time really explaining it).

Website: quench.me

Instagram: gurvindervino_onthego