South Beach Wine & Food Festival To Celebrate 15 Years: A Conversation With Its Founder
Lee Schrager, the creator of the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, is not your typical entrepreneur. He doesn’t work for himself, and the festivals he runs benefit causes like scholarships for culinary school and eradicating hunger. But to me, Schrager is one of the best entrepreneurs around. The venture he started fifteen years ago and continues develop isn’t technically a startup, but I have no doubt that small business owners and entrepreneurs can learn a lot from Schrager’s experience creating and growing some of the most popular events in the world.
I remember my first conversation with Schrager very well. I had just launched my startup, The Fresh Diet, a few months earlier, and I was manning the customer service lines in our small warehouse in North Miami. The phone rang, and I answered and introduced myself to a very unhappy customer.
“This is the second day in a row my delivery has not arrived,“ he shouted. “I live in a big pink house. I don’t understand why your driver can’t find it.” I apologized, assured him I would do everything I could to solve the problem, and guaranteed it would not happen again. As I hung up I decided I would Google this client.When I did Google him, I realized that I’d been speaking to the creator of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and probably the most connected person in the world of food.
Since that day, I’ve done everything I could for this VIP client. I established a strong relationship with him, and Schrager helped connect me to the great South Florida caterer I partnered with when I needed to outsource production. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of attending many festivals as Lee’s guest, and I watched as he continued to grow his events, expanding them all over the world. I realized early on that Schrager is a true entrepreneur. He created something out of nothing, he didn’t let anything get in his way, and his straightforward attitude and his ability to bring on major sponsors and partners has led to great success. With the New York City Wine & Food Festival wrapping up last weekend, and tickets going on sale for the upcoming South Beach event, I reached out to Schrager to see if he would give us insight into his unique story in the hopes that my readers could learn from one of the most successful people I know.
Here is how our conversation went.
Zalmi Duchman: Can you tell my readers a little bit about how the original South Beach Wine & Food festival started?
Lee Brian Schrager: Prior to my joining the team at Southern Wine & Spirits (SWS), they worked with Florida International University (FIU) on a one-day wine tasting called the Florida Extravaganza to benefit the school. After I experienced my first FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen and joined the SWS team, I knew we could grow the Florida Extravaganza into something much bigger to raise funds for the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. We moved the event to the beach and hosted the first South Beach Wine & Food Festival® in 2002.
Duchman: It’s pretty amazing that you have been doing this now for 15 years. Can you tell us what surprised you most over the last 15 years? What do you see today that you couldn’t imagine back then?
Schrager: I never could have dreamt it would be the success that it is today. People often ask if we had a plan — there wasn’t one. Our growth over the years has all been a very natural evolution of the Festival. This year, SOBEWFF is expanding with events taking place in two counties — that’s something we couldn’t have predicted, but we are thrilled that all the right partners have come together to make it happen.
Duchman: Although these events are non-profit, you manage them like well-run startups. Can you give my readers some tips on how you stay super organized with everything you have going on?
Schrager: First, I have a great team of people who collaborate well and take ownership of their respective areas. I make a lot of calendar reminders for myself, and I am really diligent about following up with people.
Duchman: This past weekend was the 8th year of your NY event. What are the main differences between the NY event and the original Florida one?
Schrager: Each Festival is really a reflection of its location — with events at NYCWFF taking place in really great urban venues throughout the city, and events at SOBEWFF largely taking place beachside with the ocean as its backdrop.
Duchman: The NY food and wine festival has raised over $8 million dollars since its inception to fight hunger. Can you tell us a bit more about how the proceeds are used and if you are making a dent in the fight against hunger?
Schrager: During a recent conversation with Food Bank For New York City President & CEO Margarette Purvis, she mentioned that last year they were able to provide more than 2.5 million meals with last year’s proceeds — that’s an incredible number.
Duchman: The wine & food festivals are an organization within an organization as you started them while working at Southern Wine and Spirits. Can you tell us a little bit about what it’s like to work within a larger organization? If someone reading works for a big corporation and wants to start something within that company, what tips can you give them?
Schrager: Giving back to the communities in which it conducts business is a very important part of Southern Wine & Spirits’ operations. It’s essential to have a handle on what’s valuable to your organization’s overall corporate philosophy, and then develop ideas that help drive those goals and objectives. Before starting any project, I personally have to have a few boxes checked before I’m certain it can move forward, including: Defining the idea/concept, how said idea/concept will be funded, where it will take place, and identifying the right demographic to market to.
Duchman: You are a self-confessed foodie and have eaten at the finest tables around the world. Can your name your best meal ever?
Schrager: Anyone who knows my eating habits knows I’m a fan of really fresh and simple dishes — pick up my cookbook Fried & True as exhibit A! Fried chicken, roast chicken, fresh vegetables, or a perfectly cooked steak . . . those are some of the best dishes I’ve ever consumed.
Duchman: The food world has changed dramatically over the last few years with technology taking a front seat and driving food innovation. Are there any companies or apps that you can’t live without that you can tell my readers about?
Schrager: I think apps like Resy and Cover, a new partner of ours highlighted at last weekend’s NYCWFF, are certainly leaders in this area.
Duchman: Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur?
Schrager: Growing up, I never envisioned doing what I do today. I knew I wanted to work in food, hence why I’m a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, but I didn’t know exactly what that looked like until Southern Wine & Spirits gave me the opportunity to do this.
Duchman: What is your biggest failure or challenge over the last 15 years and how did you overcome it?
Schrager: Every challenge is an opportunity to learn something and do it better the next time around.
Duchman: You seem to be a genius at landing large sponsors. Many startups have challenges finding marketing partners or sponsors for their small businesses. Are there any tips you can share on how to land a large sponsor or marketing partner?
Schrager: Arguably, more than half the battle is getting in front of the right people — the actual decision-makers for an organization. Once you’ve accomplished that, it’s important to listen closely to what they have to say about their brand and corporate goals — and be able to answer exactly how your idea for them helps them further or accomplish those plans.
Duchman: What was your first job in the culinary world?
Schrager: I worked at the take-out counter for a Chinese restaurant in my hometown of Massapequa, and later in the cheese department at Dean & Deluca.
As you can see from my conversation with Lee Schrager, the keys to his success are common themes with many successful entrepreneurs — things like having a great team and making the right contacts. Schrager emphasized that he uses calendar reminders to help him follow up with people — this is something any entrepreneur can learn from, and it is a trait I’m always looking to improve in my day-to-day life.
Inspired by my conversation with Lee, I added an important reminder to my calendar today: on Thursday February 25th, I’ll be attending the Lee’s first ever Kosher event at this year’s South Beach Food and Wine Festival. In conjunction with Hassid+Hipster, and in response to some pushing on my end, Schrager will bring together top James Beard award winning chefs for an unforgettable “Kosher” night at the Rok Family Shul in Downtown Miami. I can’t wait to finally be able to eat at one of Lee Schrager’s awesome events.
You can find me on Twitter (@ZalmiD) and learn more about my work at www.ZalmiD.com
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Originally published at www.forbes.com on October 23, 2015.
