Anna’s business takes producers beyond the barrel

After completing her degree in eco-tourism she decided to study administration and accountancy so she could remain in Adelaide, and completed her Masters in Business and CPA.

While studying, Anna took on a support role in an accounting firm specialising in healthcare.

She quickly climbed to the position of office manager and was part-owner of the business by 24.

But she decided lifestyle was more important than burning out in public practice and left the company to work in corporate accounting.

In 2006, she saw a job advertisement for a general manager at a winery in McLaren Vale, and despite not knowing anything about wine besides that she "liked to drink it", she applied.

"That was eight years ago," Anna said.

"Over that time the industry suffered a number of knocks and there was an over supply issue in 2005-06, the global financial crisis and then exchange rates heading in all the wrong directions.

"It was hard but we managed to grow the business during this time and I believe that was through understanding the importance of customer service culture."

Anna is proud of what the McLaren Vintners team were able to achieve.

"I am lucky enough to still manage Vintners as part of a management contract with BTB," she said.

Four years after starting at Vintners, Anna took on the role of group general manager at Galvanised Wine Group and in 2013, a major restructure gave birth to Beyond the Barrel.

Anna had experience in a service office set-up through her work at the accounting firm, and expanded on this to provide wine industry business support to establish medium-sized brands.

Beyond the Barrel is supported by an investment group, and has management agreements with Vintners, Mr Riggs and Zontes Footstep.

Anna said the idea for the back-office business service came from realising that many people who get into the wine industry did it for their passion, not necessarily their business acumen.

The Wine Industry Report, prepared for Winemakers Federation of Australia by Centaurs Partners in August 2013, found that in 2011-12, 88 per cent of the total domestic wine production by volume was by 38 wineries, the remaining 12pc was made by between 1900 and 3000 small to medium-sized producers.

"These people have a passion for the industry and a love of wine and agriculture; they want to be involved in the process of making and sharing it but they need support in certain aspects of the business," Anna said.

"There are a lot of small businesses, mum-and-dad operators, crushing a small amount of wine but they can't afford the back-office support the big guys have.

"We help these people start, grow and establish a good business model which understands the cost of production and what is happening with their business.

"This allows them to focus on selling the product and we focus on the risk factor and ensuring it is dealt with appropriately."

Despite a busy schedule, Anna strikes a good work-life balance.

"I have two daughters aged six and four and an incredibly supportive husband and family which has allowed me to continue to push my goals and aspirations for my career," she said.

"I had two weeks maternity leave with my first daughter and two months with my second; between my husband Brett, my mother and father-in-law and two days a week in childcare, we make it work."

Anna said people were often surprised to learn her husband was the primary caregiver and believed cultural perceptions around parenthood needed to change.

"Not taking an extended time out of the workforce after the birth of my girls has helped me continue to push my career aspirations," she said.

"Although if I had to put my success down to anything, it is a positive can-do attitude, building good relationships, always being open to learning and to new ideas, and surrounding myself with amazing people - the team around me are no exception."

Anna is also community driven, having been involved in her netball club and spending a lot of time with her local surf club.

"I think being able to donate my time to clubs and participating in sport means I do have a good balance," she said.

"I eat well and exercise five days a week.

"One of our core values at BTB is to be happy in life through flexibility and understanding and I encourage my staff to get the balance right too."