Meet Shiloh Caffrey | Owner & Founder

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

Hi Shiloh, how do you think about risk?
Personally, I do not believe success is obtainable without confronting risk… often. Whether it be in your personal life, in relationships, in business or even in routine daily decisions, there is some level of uncertainty on the road to reaching a worthwhile accomplishment. I don’t know why the world works this way, but I have seen time and time again how the most rewarding achievements require the most risk taking. For me personally, risk has been a consistent theme of my adult life. My family of four has moved abroad with no knowledge or experience of the foreign country, we have made financial decisions with no safety nets and we have broken the mold on the “white picket fence” American dream in search of something more. So many people are convinced that they need to achieve certain benchmarks to be successful, however, I believe that success is following your heart and being brave enough along the journey to take the necessary risks to arrive at your goals. In the crash of 2008, my family was faced with the financial catastrophe of the great recession. Within a few short months, my husband lost basically all of his income and there was no hope in sight for any positive news. We realized we had to start making some tough decisions. Should we try to keep up on the treadmill of life and maintain our picturesque Southern California lifestyle with the fancy house and cars, or should we throw caution to the wind, sell it all, and start over? Obviously as the theme of this story is risk, we chose the later. Within 3 short months of making this decision, we had sold our house, 2 cars and 3/4 of our belongings, packed a few essentials and moved with our two young kids to a country – actually a continent – we had never been to. You may be thinking we had some experience in the world of travel, but I can assure you that we did not. Neither my husband or I had ever stepped foot in Europe, yet we had made the decision to call Italy home with absolutely no idea of what to expect. The risk paid off. We replaced long and demanding hours of “keeping up with the Jones” with unlimited moments walking vineyard-lined, dirt roads with our kids and sipping on 2 euro bottles of wine in our Italian garden. We dove right in to this unknown life and could have never predicted how rewarding the outcome would be. This initial risky decision was the first of many to come for our family and set us on a course that would end up changing just about every bit of our lives for the better. The next decade included homeschooling adventures, international travel and countless leaps of faith. We soon found the rewards of risk taking and with each new fork in the road, it became easier and easier to trust ourselves to follow our hearts. And I am not saying that all risks equal reward, well at least not the reward hoped for, but even the “failures” of risk taking create a resilience and perspective that play into our own person successes. Jumping forward to 2017, I was faced with another big decision: continue in my teaching career (a path that was safe and familiar) or put teaching on hold to follow my dream of diving into the wine industry and starting a champagne club. Over the years of travel, I had developed a deep love and appreciation for sparkling wines and champagnes from small, boutique producers from around the world and had envisioned bringing these wines to my community. With encouragement from my husband, I decided to delve into the world of entrepreneurship and start We Drink Bubbles, an online champagne subscription service and wine shop. Looking back to three years ago, I had no idea the journey that starting this company would take me on. With all the failures and successes that We Drink Bubbles has been a part of, not one of them could exist without the bravery to take risks. I still face risks everyday in my career and personal life. Sometimes small and sometimes big. I fail at some and succeed at others. The bottom line is that growth and success are impossible to separate from risk. I constantly remind myself to accept risk taking as the catalyst to achieving my goals.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more? What sets you apart from others?
We Drink Bubbles had been in business for 3 years. The main thing that sets me apart and has led to the success of my company is that I stay true to what I am passionate about and tell an authentic story. I am proud to offer quality products that I stand behind. I never compromise quality to make a bigger profit. I try not to bite off more than I can chew. I embrace the organic growth and try not to get ahead of myself by comparing to other companies. Surrounding myself with a community that supports and encourages me is a huge part of my success.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Favorite Restaurants: Jeune et Jolie Campfire Valentia Ironside Oyster Herb & Sea Pacific Coast Grill Born & Raised Himitsu Sushi Activities: The beach everyday Balboa Park Electric Bikes along the coast Harbor downtown Little Italy farmers market Cedros Window Shopping La Jolla Cove.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Katie Saffert from Hatched Collective! She is incredibly gifted in business and helped me to tangibly share my company’s message and culture to my community.

Website: https://wedrinkbubbles.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wedrinkbubbles/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiloh-caffrey-703319184/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wedrinkbubbles

Image Credits
Brandi Schutt of Thoughts by Brandi http://www.thoughtsbybrandi.com/ Gary Payne od Gary Payne Photography https://www.garypaynephoto.com/