Today we’d like to introduce you to Rania Zayyat.
Hi Rania, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in San Francisco but primarily grew up in Houston, Texas. My mom is originally from Texas and moved us here to be closer to her family when I was about 12. I started in working in restaurants while I was in high school. My first job was as a hostess at a fried catfish restaurant in Houston. Right after high school, I moved to southeast Houston and took a job as a server working on the Kemah Boardwalk at a prominent seafood restaurant. I always knew a college education was something I wanted for myself and I was the first person in my family (on both sides) to attend. I balanced restaurant life and school while paying my tuition. I slowly became more and more interested in the art of hospitality and service during my seven years of college tenure, and by 2010 I was working in a fine dining steak house with a massive wine list. It was while working there that I decided I wanted to be a sommelier. I was studying cultural anthropology and international business at the University of Houston and felt like wine was a perfect conduit to what I was studying at school, and it would allow me to travel the world. I was given direction from the wine team at the restaurant to begin pursuing wine certifications through the Court of Master Sommeliers, so I did. I was studying like crazy, tasting, doing inventory, organizing the wine fridges, literally anything I could do to learn. After a year plus of being a cellar rat, I still wasn’t fully promoted and decided to part ways and accept a floor somm job in Austin opening a new wine-forward French restaurant called laV.
During my tenure at laV, I took and passed my Advanced Sommelier certification with the CMS. Unfortunately, laV was ahead of its time in Austin, and the restaurant closed its doors after less than two years. I took a job as a sommelier for the Four Seasons in Austin for about six months and then transitioned to be the Beverage Manager at a newly opened wine bar called June’s on South Congress. I was only there for about seven months and was feeling very burnt out managing, running the wine program, and trying to prepare for my first attempt at the Master Somm exam, which I was sitting for in the summer of 2017. I decided to take a step back from managing for a while and accepted a server position with Bufalina. I loved the environment at Bufalina, and it was the first restaurant where I felt truly valued as a team member. After a couple of years, I was promoted to Wine Director and am now a managing partner. While I worked at Bufalina, I started Wonder Women of Wine, initially a two-day conference to address gender inequities in the wine industry, that then morphed into a nonprofit organization. In January 2021, Wonder Women of Wine rebranded to Lift Collective, and today we advocate for equity and inclusion in the wine industry.
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?
One of the biggest struggles in my career was navigating my success within the Court of Master Sommeliers (CMS), a white, male-dominated organization that deifies its leaders and has no transparency within its testing system. In order to make it to the higher levels of the examination process, candidates are required to build relationships with Master Somms in order to get letters of recommendation to move up. As a young woman, this felt unnatural and extremely difficult, especially because it required a lot of going out, drinking with, and traveling with older men who didn’t have any code of conduct to adhere to and there was no system for reporting inappropriate or harmful behavior within the CMS. I was preyed on by an MS for a few years, a man who was the leader of the educational body for the CMS and traveled extensively around the country teaching wine classes. I was even accused of sleeping with this man by a former mentor of mine, who suggested that I had done something extra to win my first wine trip to Germany. It was crushing and made me very insecure about my success for a very long time. I found out that this man, Geoff Kruth, was doing what he did to me to young aspiring sommeliers all around the country and even had a few quid pro quo relationships with women who he refused to write letters of recommendation for if they broke off the relationship. It was this experience amongst a white-dominant, sexist, and racist culture that compelled me to start Lift Collective and become an advocate for folks who have been marginalized in the wine industry.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Lift Collective is a community-centered, multi-channel platform advocating equity and inclusion in the wine industry. Through its annual programming, proprietary research, community partnerships, and scholarships, Lift Collective collaborates with experts and key opinion leaders across the beverage space to ensure activities are relevant, credible, and prioritize diverse perspectives. Since its inception, Lift Collective has awarded $21,000 in educational, entrepreneurial, and travel scholarships in partnerships with organizations including Les Dames d’Escoffier | Austin Chapter, The Wine & Food Foundation, Becky Wasserman & Co., and Avaline.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Sunshine makes me happy. I love enjoying a beautiful weekend in Austin riding my bike, having tacos outside, and going for a swim and laying under the trees at Barton Springs. I also find a lot of joy in running, cooking for and with friends, loving on my dog Mango, and traveling. I get giddy every time I pack a suitcase. I want to see so much of the world and I’m always seeking a new experiences.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@liftcollective.org
- Website: https://liftcollective.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liftcollectiveorg/
Image Credits:
Taylor Prinsen Photography Olive + West Photography Spencer Selvidge Chris Kelly
