As featured in Authority Magazine — "Wisdom From The Women Leading the Wine & Spirits Industries" — An Interview With Rachel Kline
"Our customers and community feel that Folded Hills cares about THEM more than the wine."
Kim Busch is the co-founder of Folded Hills Winery in California's Santa Ynez Valley. Alongside her husband Andy, she transformed a historic ranch into a certified organic, biodynamically farmed vineyard rooted in sustainable living, genuine hospitality, and giving back. Philanthropy has always been central to the Buschs' lives. For over 30 years, their family has supported causes ranging from at-risk children and veterans to animals and those with special needs. That commitment found a natural home at the winery through Philanthropy Fridays, where 100% of sales go directly to a featured charity each week. When Andy was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM4) in 2023, that mission became even more personal. Seeing how many families face this diagnosis while also carrying overwhelming financial burdens, Kim and Andy founded Grapes for Glioblastoma. A portion of every bottle sold supports direct financial assistance for GBM4 families, so they can focus on being together rather than worrying about the bills. As Kim puts it: "We didn't want to build a business just to sell a product. We wanted to build something that held meaning for ourselves and others."
Can you tell us a bit about your origin story and your childhood?
My father was with CBS during the Madmen years so I was a bit of a corporate brat. St. Louis, Chicago, New York. By the time I was in high school my parents chose to stop climbing the ladder and raised us in their home town of St. Louis. I worked as a model in the Mid-West from 15–32, met and married my husband in St. Louis, had 4 children and in 2002 moved to Santa Barbara California. In St. Louis, we had lived on a farm. Grants Farm was the first Busch Gardens and my husband ran that park which is open free of charge to the public from April thru October. When we moved to California we wanted to keep our hands in the dirt so we bought a ranch in wine country. The 600 acre working ranch had 15 acres of organic row crops and we decided to plant another organic crop — grapes — in 2015.
Can you tell us the "backstory" about what brought you to the wine and spirits industry?
With the last name of Busch you might think we came naturally to the wine and spirits industry. While Budweiser might flow through Andy's veins we didn't know anything about the wine industry. Ignorance is bliss, right? We really just wanted to grow another organic crop on our land. We feel very strongly about being stewards of the land — leaving the land better than when we found it. Farming organically. When we decided to plant grapes we asked our friends in the business, "What should we plant?" They said plant what you love to drink. Well Andy loved beer — no help there — I loved Pinot Noir. The farmer said, "Sure, we can grow a mediocre Pinot here." Not what we were after. So, again because we are only stewards we decided to listen to the land. After a year of testing the terroir, the land said Rhônes. When the first grapes came off the vineyard the farmer said, "These grapes are too good to sell. You need to start your own label." Folded Hills Winery, Ranch and Farmstead was born.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? What lesson did you learn from that?
The most interesting story is probably also the most difficult. My husband and I started this business together. A few years in, it became obvious that working together was not working — at least not for us. In May of 2020 I left the business entirely. I chose the marriage over the business. Andy took over for three years. In August of 2023 he was suddenly diagnosed with a glioblastoma, an aggressive and malignant form of brain cancer. I came back overnight to run not only the wine business but our personal businesses as well. The good news is that my husband is doing great. Recently I founded a foundation called Grapes for Glioblastoma. G4G is a patient focused organization that helps families and patients pay for the costs of cancer care that are not covered by insurance — chair lifts to get to their bedrooms, travel with loved ones to major medical centers, caregiving, etc. A portion of every bottle of Folded Hills wines sold will go to Grapes for Glioblastoma. Folded Hills is a mission and values based business and G4G feels super personal and important to me. There have been many, many lessons that I have learned throughout this journey.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting out? What lesson did you learn?
Any founder has more SNAFU stories than we would care to think about. At the beginning we shipped wine in the heat of summer with cold packs. The wines didn't have waterproof labels on them. The bottles arrived looking like they had been through the ringer. We also launched a wine early on — full marketing campaign, social media, the whole thing — except we forgot to enter the wine in the back end of the website which prevented people from buying it. Our phones rang off the hook. I have dozens more stories; some of them were really tough and some, like the ones above, were pretty easy to work around. We all make mistakes. It's what you do about them that matters.
Is there a particular person you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?
We are a team. The Folded Hills team is a "WE". My philosophy is to always hire better than yourself. In my case that is easy. But as the hires got better I had to engrain that into our manager's heads. Hire. Better. Than. Yourself. The managers who felt threatened by that, who couldn't hire better than themselves are no longer with Folded Hills. We created a culture of mistakes as learning tools. A culture of help, forgiveness and mutual learning. We hire for the hospitality gene knowing that we can teach wine but we can't teach caring about people. I adore every single one of our team members. It feels like any member would do anything for Folded Hills and for each other. We have each other's backs. Our ranch team moves mountains when we have an event. Our hospitality team creates five star experiences every time. Our management team will host a spectacular event and take the trash out after. There are no "fancy" people on our team. Folded Hills IS the team.
Which character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?
1. Humility. Use the beginner mind. Maybe because we didn't know the wine business when we got into it, the beginner mind was a given. Because we were beginners ourselves, because we had to study and learn, we believe strongly in professional development. If one of our employees learns some skills along the way and takes a job inside or outside of Folded Hills we will have a confetti party to celebrate their success. Our CFO started as a $13/hour assistant to an assistant. To me, that is a win for Folded Hills as much as for Rachelle.
2. Take risks. Because we were newbies when we launched Folded Hills, we could do things that others in the industry might not risk. I named our whole cluster carbonic of grenache "Cluster". When I told winemaker Angela Osborne, she said, "You can't name a wine cluster… do you know what people will think?" Um, yes, Angela. I know exactly what people will think and they would be correct (and that was BEFORE the business was truly a cluster).
3. Wanting the best for others. People can smell a hard sell a mile away. I owned a couture clothing boutique a million years ago. I never let anyone out of that shop not looking spectacular. If a shop down the street had just the thing, I sent them there. My goal is to create a lovely space and experience, give our guests incredible wine made by Angela from our gorgeous organically grown estate grapes, provide 5 star hospitality from our fabulous team and hope they want to be a part of Folded Hills — even if that means one bottle of wine.
4. Creating a team culture that focuses on the employee first. My entire hospitality model comes from fellow St. Louisan and guru, Danny Meyer of the Union Square Cafe Group, and more recently, Shake Shack. The employee is your first customer. If you keep them happy they will keep your customers happy. He is a genius. Oops — that is four.
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now?
Philanthropy is at the core of Folded Hills. It is one of our pillars. From the minute we launched we hosted events for charities. Every month we choose a philanthropy partner. On the last Friday of the month 100% of every sale online and in store is matched and donated to that charity. For every new wine club member we donate $25 to Community Health Centers, a local organization that provides services for the medically underserved. In 2025 we raised over $200,000 for local organizations and donated 25,000 pounds of goods to help the victims of the LA fires. Our wine club members and guests enjoy being part of giving back. With the launch of Grapes for Glioblastoma we are really leaning in to connecting our wine to a cause. This project is the most personal yet. In addition, this fall we are embarking on the biggest project we have ever done. Folded Hills will host the Santa Barbara Vintner's Association wine festival on October 17. The Vintner's Association are fantastic partners and experts in this big event so we are super excited about working together.
5 Non-Intuitive Things to Succeed in the Wine and Spirits Industry
- Step away from the wine and focus on the experience.
- Create connection — to the land, to the team, to the wine, to the maker, to your guests and wine club members.
- Create a destination. WHY do people want to come to you to drink your product? What is your story? How can they feel a part of your story, of your brand?
- It isn't about you — it's about them. In marketing we don't say, "We're so excited for you to try this new wine!" It isn't about us. It's about them.
- Make good wine.
What 3 things most concern you about the industry? How would you reform it?
1. The industry seems stuck in its ways. Slow to change, slow to adapt, to embrace the new style of drinking. How does alcohol fit into your life? It's changing. We need to meet them and not expect them to come to us.
2. I have a gut feeling that this "correction" isn't going to bounce back like the "carbs are evil" trend a decade ago. Eventually you just have to give up and eat a piece of bread. But now, younger drinkers are asking for something else. They have options — they have gummies and mushrooms and RTDs and, heaven forbid, mocktails. I think we in the alcohol industry will be competing for smaller pieces of the pie. So we had better have a story, an experience, a connection.
3. Hire for the hospitality gene. You can teach wine. Get people on your team who welcome and care about your guests.
On Gender Parity in the Industry
So, our story is a bit different. My husband and I started the winery together, then I left and now I am at the helm without him. Our winemaker is a woman. Our GM, CFO, wine club and DtC managers — all women. This is hard to talk about, but one of the reasons I left our business in 2020 was because the patriarchal system seemed insurmountable. My husband felt that he was the "D", the decision maker and I began to feel more and more squeezed out of key decisions. One of those decisions was firing our female winemaker. I didn't agree with the decision. Angela Osborne is an artist, a gifted maker, a creator and Earth Mama. Her wines for her own label, A Tribute to Grace are sublime. Her wines for Folded Hills are nuanced, elegant, hands off reflections of our land. For Andy, a numbers guy, this approach confounded him. He decided he would be better off with a male winemaker. I disagreed. So I left. When I came back in 2023 I realized that the only person I wanted to make wine with was Angela Osborne. So I called her. It wasn't an easy call to make. But I believe that generous women should rule the world and we are both that. Angela took my call. Then we had coffee. She gave me grace. She gave me an opening. I am wholly grateful to her generous spirit in coming back to Folded Hills.
Women lead with heart, with respect for each other's path. We want the best for each other whether it is a fellow employee or a wine club member. I just don't understand why the wine business doesn't have more female representation because at the heart of wine is hospitality. I think we are seeing the results of male hubris in the industry. People, men and women alike, want a connection to the land, to the maker, to the wine and each other. They aren't so interested in the elevage, the months on French oak. They want connection. Women are good at connection. What can the industry do? Move away from tech notes and embrace relationships. Frankly, I think that the state of the industry is showing us a path forward if we just listen. The wineries that are not embracing relationships are struggling. Our customers and community feel that Folded Hills cares about THEM more than the wine.
What 3 things most excite you about the industry?
I am excited to see where these next generations of guests will take us because they will show us the way if we can be humble enough to listen to them. The 65 year old golfer guy who orders a $250 bottle of cab with his steak is aging out. So who will we court now? How will we win the next gen? They have more choices, so how can we appeal to their lifestyle? I think wine drinkers will come back but only if they connect with a brand. I am excited to see where we go. It feels like right now the wine industry is still in the throes of denial. Get with it. Trends are changing. Evolve or die.
Your favorite "Life Lesson Quote"
"It is not happy people who are grateful. It is grateful people who are happy."
I have a sign that has been in my kitchen for 20+ years. This is my mantra. So far it's working.
If you could inspire a movement, what would it be?
Give more than you get. My husband and I debate the aphorism, "There is no free lunch." He says there is no such thing as a free lunch. I say live your life like it's a free lunch. Give because it feels good. When you put goodness out into the world it comes back tenfold — not just to us but to all. Why not be kind? Why not be generous? Why not help others? Be positive. Pat someone on the back. Spend a half a minute to really see someone. Appreciate their humanity. Let that be infectious.
