Today we’d like to introduce you to Shayna Wells and TJ Kittles.
Hi Shayna and TJ, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
We met in 2022 at a wine event and became fast friends over a shared love of wine, and honestly, a shared love of tequila too. From there, our friendship continued to grow naturally as we continued on our wine journeys .
Fast forward to 2025, we were at a wine conference together on a break talking through our business goals for 2026 (TJ is the co-founder of “Clinkitt” and Shayna is the founder of “Pour Pairings.”) We were both doing our own forms of wine education and events. Running something like this solo is a lot – you’re the host, the setup/breakdown crew, the social media team, the outreach department, the admin team, the everything — all at once. So we asked the obvious questions: what if we joined forces and did this together? What would that look like?
We talked about building a wine-centered space for Baltimore that was fun yet educational, informative but never pretentious. That conversation is where “The Vineaux Collective” was born, and “Study the Glass. Share the Table.” became the philosophy behind everything we do — you can take the craft seriously and still make room for everybody at the table.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
A lot of our struggles have been the same ones most new founders face:
Finding our footing: In the beginning, you’re figuring out what this thing actually is at the same time you’re trying to sell people on it — what an event should feel like, what to charge, who it’s for. That takes a few reps to get right.
Getting the word out: Building an audience is slow work, especially when you’re trying to grow it the right way instead of just the fast way. We value real community over vanity numbers.
Finding venues and sponsorships: Not every space is set up for what we do, and not every partnership is the right fit just because it’s available. We’ve had to be patient and intentional about who we build with.
Time: We’re both building this while working full time, so a lot of TVC has been built in the early mornings, late nights, and weekends. Finding the hours to keep growing something while holding down everything else is its own kind of grind.
The one real advantage we’ve had is that we weren’t starting from zero — we’d already been in the wine space for years through Clinkitt and Pour Pairings and various wine communities, so we came into this with a genuine network of people who already trusted us. That relationship equity has made a lot of the harder parts of building a business move a bit faster than it might have otherwise.
None of it has been effortless, but it’s been worth every bit of the grind.
We’ve been impressed with The Vineaux Collective, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Vineaux Collective is a wine education and experience platform based in Baltimore, serving Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia. We specialize in still wine and Champagne education delivered through curated tastings, guided experiences, and community programming.
What we’re known for is making wine feel like something you’re invited into, not tested on. Our events are approachable tasting experiences built for people at any stage of their wine journey. We also have a deeper-dive education cohort for people who want structure and community around their learning. We offer wine consulting, staff training, and private and corporate experiences, from intimate guided sit-down tastings to more open, social tasting formats for large groups.
What sets us apart is that we lead with culture, not just technique. Wine is history, agriculture, and craft, but it’s also deeply cultural, who’s telling the story, who’s in the room, whose traditions get centered. We’re intentional about representation in this industry, not as a talking point but as a real part of how we build our community and choose our collaborators.
What we’re proudest of, brand-wise, is that we’ve never had to sacrifice depth for accessibility. People leave our tastings actually understanding structure, production methods, how to read a label but they also leave having had a genuinely good time. That combination is the whole point.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
A few things we think are already underway and will only accelerate:
Expanding entry points into wine education: Certifications and traditional sommelier paths aren’t going away, but the gatekeeping around who gets to have a confident opinion about wine is loosening. Formal training has always come with real cost barriers: course fees, exam fees, travel, study materials, even just purchasing the wines, puts it out of reach for a lot of people. Platforms built outside those old institutions, like ours, are a big part of closing that gap.
More diverse voices in wine leadership: Winemakers, educators, and sommeliers who don’t fit the traditional mold, and audiences actively seeking them out.
Experience over instruction: Most people don’t want a seminar; they want a night out that happens to make them smarter about what’s in their glass. Education that entertains is going to keep winning over education that lectures for the average person who’s wine curious.
Digital-first discovery: In the age of social media, short-form content is becoming a popular way for people find their next bottle, their next event and their next tasting room, not just word of mouth or a wine shop shelf.
We built The Vineaux Collective anticipating, acknowledging and appreciating these shifts, which is part of why we’re genuinely excited about where the next decade takes this industry and where it takes us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thevineaux.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevineauxco
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheVineauxCo
