Wine Women & Shoes is the brainchild of Elaine Honig. While chatting with a girlfriend about the growing popularity of wine and food pairing events, they jokingly said "wine and shoe pairings would be a lot more fun!" And they were right. WW&S events are now in 27 cities across the country, with over 15,000 attendees per year, and they have raised more than $9,000,000 for women's and children's causes.

Today the team has expanded to include Kimberly Miller, Lu Ann Chillemi, Sarah Obialero, and Celia Carey. With a combined 60 years of wine industry, marketing and event planning experience, they're expanding the Wine Women & Shoes program into more cities, working with non-profit and corporate clients to educate about wine, introduce high-fashion shoes, and inspire women everywhere to think out of the box...the shoebox that is!


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Elaine Honig
Founding Shoemmelier®

Prior to WW&S, Elaine ran the marketing, branding, and communication for Honig Vineyard and Winery. Known for their Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon, Elaine helped grow the business from its garage roots to a 90,000 case, nationally recognized brand.

In addition to her business interests, Elaine is also actively involved in the Napa community. For 7 years, she served on the board of Trustees of the Napa County Land Trust and most recently served as Chairman of the Board. Elaine has also served on the Planned Parenthood - Shasta Diablo's Napa Valley Board of Advocates, the Board of Directors of the Napa County Farm Bureau, and the Napa Sierra Club. Elaine has been honored for her professional and community contributions, including having received the Common Threads Award for Outstanding Women in Agriculture.

Elaine is a graduate of Tufts University with a degree in Economics. She lives in Napa Valley with her adorable dog Houdini.

 

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 Kimberly Miller
Director of Business Development

A professed shoe addict, Kimberly brings her extensive experience in fashion design, public relations, special events and journalism to WW&S. After cutting her teeth in the fashion industry at Gap, Inc., Kimberly worked for St. John Knits, Macy's West, and landed the coveted position of San Francisco Editor for Daily Candy, Inc., where she launched a career in journalism freelancing for media outlets such as Town & Country, American Express Publishing, Conde Nast and Haute Living. She develops and cultivates relationships with new charity partners launching WW&S in new markets and secures sponsorship for the various events while assisting the team in event management.

Kimberly lives on Blackbird Vineyards in Napa with her fiance Michael Polenske and her beloved Yorkie, Duke, and is head over heels happy to be part of the WW&S team.

 

 
Lu Ann Chillemi
Winery Relations & Logistics

During her 20 years in the industry, Lu Ann Chillemi has worked in every aspect of the wine business. She started out in retail, owning a successful wine store in downtown Cleveland. She sold the store, which still operates today, when she decided to move to California to be with her new husband, a wine industry executive. Since her 1998 move to the Napa Valley, she has worked for the small, family run Von Strasser and Volker Eisele wineries as well as a small wine distributor.

Today she oversees all winery communications and logistics, applying her amazing sense of detail to what we call WW&S Air Traffic Control.

A lover of the outdoors, she has biked 625 miles on the Southern Island of New Zealand, ran 17 marathons, done 2 Tin Mans (half Iron Man triathalons). While her pace is a little slower these days, she is still out and about in Napa walking her dog Buster.
 
Sarah Obialero
Graphic Design & Web Guru

As they say, "if the shoe fits, wear it", and Sarah is our glass slipper.  She has graphics, wine, event, and luxury retail experience, all rolled into one super cute package.  Originally from Ithaca, NY (her love of wine began in NY wine country), Sarah began her marketing career designing graphics and promotional materials for Ithaca's Hangar Theatre.

In 2004, she made the cross country journey to join her then boyfriend/now husband in San Diego, where she landed herself a position with In Motion Events as the in-house graphic designer and assisted with the production of large-scale events like Komen's Race for the Cure.  When her husband's career relocated them to Napa Valley, Sarah landed at Darioush Winery as the Assistant Buyer and Lead Visual Merchandiser for their luxury boutique.

In her free time, you can likely find her in her running shoes with her chocolate lab Porter or in her tennis shoes with her husband.
 
 

Celia Carey
How To Editor

As a filmmaker, photographer & writer, Celia works on projects around the world for various media. Her recent films for PBS earned numerous awards, including nine Emmys. Celia contracted a “shoe condition” while living in New York City and London.  Friends representing Italian shoe designers often gave her high-end runway samples.  She usually stowed one pair (with a LBD) in her backpack to far-flung sites, such as volcanoes in the Andes of Colombia. “Well,” she says, “You go through Bogota.  You never know.”  

On assignment in Napa, she met a handsome & smart sommelier named Sean Meyer.  They married and now reside in Yountville with their two-year-old daughter Vivienne.  Celia’s thrilled to find WW&S— an organization combining her philanthropic nature, footwear preoccupation, and vino veneration.
She holds an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University.