Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey help companies become more entrepreneurial. They co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built Americas #1 Wine Brand. The book, chosen as recommended reading for the CEO Library in CEO Forum, chronicles their humble beginnings in a laundry room in 1986 to their creation of an international bestselling wine label. With virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas and strategic alliances to overcome obstacles and create new markets. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance based compensation. They took a comprehensive view of customer service.
In 2005 they successfully sold the brand to E&J Gallo. Since then, Michael & Bonnie share their experience and innovative approach as authors, keynote speakers, corporate trainers and consultants to Fortune 500s. Their clients are among the Inc. 5000 and Inc. 500. They are sought-after workplace culture experts in both print and broadcast media with hundreds of interviews and articles in professional and national publications including Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Huffington Post, AMEX Open Forum, and Costco Connection. Their bi-monthly business articles are published by The Business Journals (in 43 cities). They co-author weekly, no-nonsense business blogs at: www.thebarefootspirit.com and www.thebrandauthority.net
Michael & Bonnie speak internationally for corporations, conferences, universities and symposiums including SOCAP (Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business), The World Conference on Entrepreneurship (ICSB) in Dublin, Ireland, The Conference Board’s Consumer Experience Symposium in NYC, The C-Suite Conferences, Persistent Systems, Liberty Tax, Retail Packaging Association, Renaissance Executive Forums, and over 60 universities that teach entrepreneurship.
They are highly sought-after interview guests on radio, television, & podcasts including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, Bloomberg, and others.
They are highly recommended by business leaders and professors of entrepreneurship as inspirational speakers and entrepreneurial thought leaders. Their latest book, The Entrepreneurial Culture, 23 Ways to Engage and Empower Your People, was featured in Jeff Hayzlett’s C-Suite TV Network launch and The C-Suite Book Club.
