Harriet and Patrick Mills both had careers as hardworking, fast-moving sales people when Wine and Design was born. The parents of three were happy career people, until Harriet’s girls trip changed their mindset. After a successful paint and sip experience on the beach, Mills decided that what the world really needed was more opportunities to have fun. She immediately put her idea to work, but it wasn’t until 2010, when she was unexpectedly laid off from her high-power sales career, that she put the idea into motion. Wine and Design has grown tremendously since then, taking this small idea from the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina, and spreading it around the country.
The concept of Wine and Design is simple, easy, and fun. Simply bring your friends, family, coworkers or anyone you’d like to join. Bring your favorite bottle of wine and sip while you learn to paint, stroke-by-stroke, by a local artist. With these classes, there’s something for everyone. Wine and Design hosts birthday parties, bachelorette parties, baby showers, romantic couples nights, business team building classes and more. Each is complete with a unique program that fits the mood of your gathering. Of course, you can always switch things up yourself, too.
With Wine and Design, you and your group can pick your style and your activities so you’ll have the best experience you can. Taking the sip and paint idea to the next level, they make it simple to customize your experience so everyone can enjoy themselves. They even offer Art Buzz Kids sessions for families with little ones, and Wine & Design On Wheels so that the paint and sip outing comes to you, wherever you are. Businesses can even cross-promotion with the company to help increase marketing reach.
When Wine and Design came to life, Harriet and Patrick Mills wanted to create something that would leave a mark on a group of people, in a truly positive way. Bringing people together over wine is a practice probably as old as time. Pair that with a group task to do something new, and the possibilities are endless.
Today, Wine and Design is a top franchising company in the U.S., especially serving female entrepreneurs. Year over year since the first launch in 2010, the brand has grown 35% to 47% annually. It has been named on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 List from 2015-2017. It has been featured in Forbes magazine, TLC, The New York Times, and Yahoo! Finance.
In a market that continues to ask for ways to enjoy new activities and cross things off the bucket list, Wine and Design is set up for success. Harriet and Patrick Mills, along with the rest of their team, put their sales and marketing backgrounds to work to help bring the company off the ground—and it looks poised to keep on going.