EPISODE #957
Maria Castellucci Moore
Gratitude & Giving Back:
Gratitude & Giving Back
957 Maria Castellucci Moore: Gratitude & Giving Back
How to Diversify Your Life to Find Joy in the Arts, Travel and Charity
Thanksgiving, is of course, a time for gratitude but when times are tough, it can be hard to remember to count your blessings.
It’s an understatement to say 2025 has been a tumultuous year—our democracy under threat, our economy flailing, many people living in fear and uncertainty. Businesses are not immune, hit by tariffs, faltering U.S. tourism, and faltering consumer spending power.
Maria Castellucci Moore is the founder of the luxury winery and real estate business Castellucci Napa Valley, and her business is under growing pressure from roundups and deportations of migrant workers, a massive decline in tourism to the U.S., not to changing tastes and suppressed luxury spending.
So how do we find gratitude and joy this Thanksgiving when it feels like things are not going your way?
Today Maria shares why it’s important for entrepreneurs to diversify their interests beyond relentless focus on the business bottom line alone. She shares how her work in the arts and charity—from her work with the San Francisco Opera Guild to the acclaimed charity Roots of Peace, which transforms war-torn land into fertile vineyards and orchards. Plus, she shares how mindfulness and creativity inspired her children’s book series, Traveling Mindfulness, encouraging the next generation to discover joy and confidence through exploration.
🔑Key Takeaways🔑
🍷🌱 Navigating Challenges: Pressures facing the wine industry, from shifting consumer tastes and competition from seltzers and European wines to reduced Napa tourism and a changing luxury market, how both hospitality and agriculture are feeling the economic squeeze, and creative strategies for weathering economic storms.
✨💡 Purpose Beyond Profit: Why diversifying your interests beyond building your business to also focus on positive social impact builds your resilience, joy and happiness. Maria shares her involvement with organizations like Roots of Peace and the San Francisco Opera Guild.
🤎 🤝 Immigration & Community: the critical role of hardworking migrant workers in agriculture, and the impact of the Trump Administration’s anti-immigrant roundups on the California wine business.
✈️ 📚 Traveling Mindfulness – A Creative Journey for Kids: Maria’s shares her inspiration for the children’s book series, which blends the joy of travel with mindfulness, inviting kids to use their senses to find their unique happiness in Paris, Rome, London, and beyond.
🔥🛠️Advice for Entrepreneurs: Stay hungry, stay curious, stay creative. In uncertain times, its vital to grow, pivot, and diversify. Maria reminds us: “If you’re not growing, you’re going backwards.”
More about Maria Castellucci Moore at www.mariacastelluccimooreauthor.com
Create and share clips of your favorite moments of this or any other podcast episode on across social media via Podopolo, and join the conversation with Maria and me in the Wings episode comments section.
More about Maria at Maria Castellucci Moore Author
Maria Castellucci Moore is the founder of the boutique winery and real estate business, Castellucci Napa Valley. She’s also a multi-award-winning author of the children’s book series Traveling Mindfulness, including Vivian in Paris and Sophia in Rome, and winner of the Gold Mom’s Choice Award. First-generation American and mother to four children, Maria is also a board member of the San Francisco Opera Guild and Napa Valley’s Ambassador to Charitable nonprofit organization, Roots of Peace— an organization that demines war torn lands and plants fruit orchards and vineyards worldwide. Maria also received the 2023 Most Intriguing Award for Napa Valley.
Get the Transcript HERE
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