Meet Jason & Kamie Hallock | Serial Entrepreneur | Vineyard Owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jason & Kamie Hallock and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jason & Kamie, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
We came up with Whatever Vineyards after being huge wine fans for many years. We had our honeymoon in Sonoma, CA in 2001 and that’s where our love for wine really blossomed. From there we thought it would be fun to start and/or buy our own vineyard. We were looking around the local wine area in the Santa Monica Mountains and found a beautiful property with an amazing well kept vineyard for sale, we jumped at the chance and bought it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
It was Jason’s dream out of high school to start his own company. He had an entrepreneurial mindset at an early age and wasn’t a college driven student. Over the years, his career path took him working for different Accessory companies from Michigan all the way to California. He didn’t stop there and knew he wanted to be his own boss. That’s when he thought to himself, “I’m going to start my own business and call it Whatever” and that’s just what he did! With a loan from his parents for $10,000.00, in 2003 he started his first accessories company in LA and called it: Whatever Company. From there, in 2007 he acquired the clothing Brand named Goodie Two Sleeves. Today Goodie Two Sleeves can be found in most mall stores throughout the US but also in select stores worldwide. Being a serial entrepreneur, he also dabbles in Whiskey, which is rightly named “Whatever Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey”. If I could tell anything to anybody that is dreaming of being an entrepreneur, I would tell them to follow your instincts, fear no risk and dive right in with whatever you’re doing. There are always issues, problems, hiccups, challenges…. but if you follow your gut, it will always guide you through, at least it has for me. The only other thing I would say is to have fun with whatever it is that your doing and don’t be so serious all the time, besides, without fun… what’s the point.

After graduating high school and moving down to the Detroit area, Kamie worked at a private college in the administrative department. There she met Jason through mutual friends and made the big move to California in 2000. She then started work at a local, family-owned mortgage company in Woodland Hills, CA and worked her way up from Data Entry, to Loan Funder and then Funding Manager until 2006. After taking a long break to raise their two sons and volunteering at their elementary school for many years, it was time to get back to work. In 2014 she started working along side Jason at Goodie Two Sleeves, becoming the Direct To Consumer Manager growing and handling the online store part of the company. Strong work ethics are important to Kamie. She grew up watching her dad work hard, juggling a few jobs at a time all while raising four girls. She is proud to work along side Jason today, becoming a strong husband and wife team.

Fun facts about us:

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A perfect trip would be staying in Malibu Wine Country. There are many hidden gems along the way down Kanan to PCH. First stop would be the Cornell Wine Co. This is a hidden gem of a wine bar and is off of Mulholland Highway in Cornell, CA. There they sell and pour all the local and favorite made wines, (Whatever Vineyards wine included) as well as offer snacks, unique trinkets and gifts made by local artists as well as live music and entertainment performed on the weekends. Second would be stopping for dinner next door at The Old Place restaurant. They are a historical restaurant that has been family run for generations, offering home-cooked dishes that customers keep returning back for. It’s truly a unique experience at The Old Place. After dinner and/or before sunset you have to stop for the amazing view (and more wine tasting) at the top of Cielo Farms. There they have beautiful kept up grounds and a gorgeous view of the Santa Monica Mountains. You truly feel on top of the world there. Lastly, if you’re looking to stay over night you can then head on over and across from Cielo, to the Calamigos Guest Ranch and Beach Club. You won’t have to leave the property, they have restaurants, a bar, coffee shop and spa all there. If you have a need to see the beach, they offer a shuttle service to their Malibu beach front property for the day. It’s a splurge but so worth it!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
After being on the hunt for a vineyard, we then had to learn how to make wine! We came across a local wine maker, Shaun Frohn at Camarillo Custom Crush in Camarillo, CA. He is deep and full in knowledge of all things wine and he helped mentor us in the making of our wine from start to finish. Once our grapes are harvested our wine is created and stored at their facility during the crush and aging process. Also, with the help of the Semler Family, who owns Malibu Wines, our vineyard stays maintained and beautiful through every harvest season with their vineyard maintenance team. It truly takes a village to make the creation of wine all happen!

Website: www.whatevervineyards.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatevervineyards

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhateverVineyards

Image Credits
Image credit to Todd Hallock in Rosé wine and wine glass photo.