When David Lane enrolled at Florida State University, he joined a fraternity and became involved with student government.
“I learned how to deal with people,” he said. “I learned the importance of goal-setting. I learned about negotiation and compromise.”
These campus extracurriculars proved to be crucial in his job hunt.
Five companies–Macy’s, Wal-Mart, Deluxe Checks, Frito-Lay and Gallo–were intrigued enough by his campus involvement, as well as his grades, to interview him, Lane said. He received offers from four of them.
Even though he wasn’t a wine drinker at the time, Lane chose Gallo because “I thought wine would be more fun.”
“I didn’t expect to stay in wine. I thought I’d get a professional degree, maybe in medicine or law. But … I’ve been exposed to a lot of smart, good people. I’ve been given great opportunities to lead and grow. I’ve traveled the world.”
Today, Lane, 36, is vice president of marketing for Paterno Wines International, the Lake Bluff-based importer and marketer for 45 wines. Its parent company, Terlato Wine Group, also in Lake Bluff, owns five wineries, including Sanford Winery, a principal location in last year’s hit movie “Sideways.”
Q. As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
A. I liked dinosaurs and wanted to be an archeologist. My mom, Kathy Vito, was an elementary school principal. We read a lot.
I discovered I liked science and always read science magazines. That’s what started my interest in biology, which became my college major.
Q. At what point in your working life did what you’re doing now become your goal?
A. After a few years of being in the business, I was enjoying the people and the industry so much that I gave up any desire to pursue a career in another field. That’s when gaining more responsibility in the industry became my primary professional goal.
I loved working for the Gallos. I liked working for a family-owned company. I loved the wine industry. I liked working in high-end wines. But the Gallos were in the process of redesigning their organization. I realized that I wasn’t going to assume more responsibility as quickly as I expected. My learning curve was starting to flatten out. I wanted to grow. I like to succeed.
Q. Did anyone give you a big break or mentor you?
A. David Kent, chief executive of The Wine Group in San Francisco, broadened my horizons. He identified me as someone he thought could be a good marketer. That’s when he recruited me from sales in Florida to marketing in Modesto, Calif. “Being a good marketer,” he said, “was having the ability to find a diamond–ideas other people had kicked around but hadn’t polished–refining and executing them.” He thought there weren’t a lot of original ideas out there. There were only ideas that hadn’t been executed properly.
He also exposed me to the Gallo family by inviting me to sit in on meetings with the family. Wine is their life and became mine. That impacted me enormously.
Q. Were any classes from college particularly helpful to your career?
A. As a junior with a pre-med focus, I was required to work as a volunteer intern in a local hospital emergency room. I had wanted to study medicine because I thought it was both socially responsible and a fascinating study.
But I was unprepared for the manner in which doctors and nurses were forced to deal with the stress of the job. What probably bothered me the most was that a gang member could come in with a self-inflicted wound that we would have to treat before a child who was in very serious condition and suffering.
Ultimately, I was uninspired and no longer interested in pursuing medicine. So this one volunteer requirement tremendously shifted the direction of my life.
Q. How did your personal life fare while you were moving up the ladder?
A. I met my wife, Emily, while I was in Key West with friends at the end of a sales week. She was from Key West and was on spring break, visiting her parents. I saw her in town, started a conversation with her and knew immediately I had found my wife. Had I not been in Key West selling wine, I would have never met her.
We’ve got twin boys, Ethan and Joshua, who are 3 1/2. We’re expecting a baby girl in late February.
Q. What’s the best advice that anyone’s given you?
A. When I first came to Modesto, Joe Gallo told me, “Don’t look left or right. Just focus on what’s straight ahead, what you’re doing. The rest will come.”
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Step by step
2005-present: Vice president of marketing, Paterno Wines, Lake Bluff
2004-05: Senior marketing director, premium wines, Gallo Wines, Modesto, Calif.
2002-04: Director, import division, Gallo Wines, Modesto
2000-02: Senior marketing manager, Gallo Wines, Modesto
1999-2000: Marketing, restaurant exclusive wines, Gallo Wines, Modesto
1998-99: Florida state manager, Gallo Wines, Tampa
1996-98: Southeast region fine wine manager, Gallo Wines, Tampa
1995-96: Manufacturer’s representative, Prestige Wine Imports, Boca Raton, Fla.
1993-95: Key account wine manager, Premier Beverage, Ft. Lauderdale
1992-93: Wine and spirits, marketing representative, Premier Beverage, Jacksonville, Fla.
1991-92: Wine sales representative, Carolina Distributing Co., Durham, N.C.
1990: Summer bellman, George Steinbrenner’s Yankee Harbor Inn, Tampa
1989: Summer counter help, California Smoothie Shop, Tampa
1984-89: Bag boy, night stockman, cashier and front-end supervisor, Kash N’ Karry Supermarket, Tampa
1982: Summer hay baler and watermelon seed planter, Zephryhills, Fla.
1981: Summer work finding and selling golf balls, Saddlebrook Country Club, Zephryhills
