This is the first in our series of interviews with the first group of women to join Sisterhood Direct as Social Directors. Sisterhood Direct is a brand new direct wine service that lets you make money while you share your love of wines. In case you missed it, catch up on the ins and outs of Sisterhood Direct here.

Our first interview is with Meryl Holland, a founding Sisterhood Direct Social Director, based out of California. We hope her experience gives you the inside scoop on what it means to be a Social Director.

Remember: Sisterhood Direct is currently looking for Social Directors who reside in California, Texas or Florida only. (Sisterhood Direct hopes to be able to assign Sisterhood Direct Social Codes to Social Directors who live in more states soon).

If you’re interested and live in California, Texas or Florida, simply complete the registration process and supply the requested information here.

Why did you want to get started with Sisterhood Direct?

As part of the group that worked on the Sisterhood Direct planning, I was happy to see it launch with a few of us as built-in Social Directors—ready, willing and able to share this new concept with friends and family.  While I am familiar with direct-selling companies, I was relieved that I did not have to “recruit” people or stock wine inventory—a part of every direct-selling business model. Instead, I could very simply order wines to taste, and those who liked them could order them. And, the bonus to me is that I can make a percent of sales for the “effort” of introducing my friends to the wine.

How long did it take for you to get set up as a Social Director?

It took me about three months to get started. I had all of the colorful Hello Sister materials on hand to share with my friends and to talk about the wine. An impromptu July 3 evening brought three of my women friends together to hang out and watch pre-4^th of July fireworks on our beach. It dawned on me that this was the perfect time to host a Hello Sister Sisterhood Direct party and test six bottles of Sisterhood Direct Wines. I ordered a six-bottle kit of white wines only, knowing summer was near and that would be what everyone wanted to drink.

Who did you invite to your first party?

I invited my very good, fun-loving, drinking group of girlfriends who are quite satisfied to sit around the kitchen table, drink wine, eat good snacks—goat gouda cheese and rosemary crackers—to start, and laugh and talk. My husband was nearby enjoying the laughter, too, and barbecuing sausages with fun condiments, all served on great bread for dinner out in our garden.

How did you present the wines?

I presented the wines, wine by wine, using all of my fun glassware—short “European” glasses, proper wine glasses, and funky vintage glasses for each of the six wines, sort of matching the personality of the wine—more elegant, less elegant, and fun—with the glasses we used to taste. Each bottle was an adventure! That is what I discovered—with the bright Hello Sister information and order cards in front of everyone and my Hello Sister deck of wine cards to read and chat about it—we were in for a night of pure unadulterated fun—no expectations, just chat and wine.

We had no idea what each bottle of wine tasted like and so we began. Everyone shared their tastes and we were off and running through the tasting kit. I forgot to say, I relish my role as a Social Director with my friends anyway, and the best part for me was that I had a built-in speech that started and ended the night with a riotous chorus of “HELLO, SISTERS!” with screams of laughter. The entire night, when we wanted to address ourselves, we screamed, “Hello, Sisters!” to get everyone’s attention!

How were the wines received?

By the time dinner was ready we had gone through three bottles of wine! We had three more to go and sausages, corn on the cob and salty Lay’s regular potato chips to go along with them. We were in heaven. My husband joined in for dinner and we had another opinion to count on!

Six bottles of wine down and it was time to tally up our favorites— two out of six wines we LOVED and were ordered on the spot. Three bottles were good and one was the least inspiring, but good enough to polish it off. Our impromptu hang-out added to our extraordinary fun night—because we shook it up and had a Sisterhood Direct Party.

Seriously, friends still haven’t stopped talking about it. New wines they never would have known about, impromptu dinner outside, six bottles of wine to finish (yes, it was a goal to finish each one before moving on to the next!), and everyone Ubered home as we shouted down the street, “GOOD-BYE SISTERS!” to my Palisades High School Moms all with graduating senior boys, we call the “Pali Moms!”

What are you looking forward to most as a Social Director?

I have every intention of bringing my wine business along as our small group gets together simply as friends. My wider social circle includes all different kinds of women, so it looks like my opportunity will always be welcome as a new adventure; plus I have red wines to get through, bubbly, and three more seasons of wines as I revisit the “Pali Moms” and others each month.

Live in California, Texas or Florida and are ready to sign up as a Sisterhood Direct Social Director? Supply the needed info here!

Don’t live in a state where you can become a Social Director just yet? You still can order wines directly from sisterhooddirect.com.

Use a Social Code from a Social Director living in California, Texas or Florida and you’ll receive the Sisterhood Direct discount price.

For more details on the states Sisterhood Direct ships to, visit the shipping information page.