SPREADING HER WINGS FOR JUSTICE In early 2020, Osur was one of the owners of another wine company, sheltering in place in her home office. After the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd, she asked herself what she could do to be a part of the solutions she wanted to see in the world. She led the crafting of a Black Lives Matter post on her company’s social media, which made her proud that they were standing up for what was right. However, that led to their largest investor asking for her resignation. “We had a board meeting and determined that while we would keep the post up, we would no longer use our voice moving forward. But I knew I was put on this earth to use my voice. I have been on the front lines of many social and racial justice fights. I was brought up in a Jewish family and taught Tikkun Olam, which is to repair the world, starting with your community and your family,” Osur says. She began to research the wine industry, which she found was still very male-dominated and steeped in tradition. “I found that only 10 percent of winemakers in the U.S. are female, and only 0.1 percent are black (men and women). Female sommeliers are, for the most part, still making 70 cents on the dollar to their male counterparts, and there are very few women in leadership positions in the industry and even fewer women of color,” says Osur. She also cites the World Economic Forum study from their 2019 annual Global Gender Gap Report, which tracks gender-based economic differences in 149 countries. According to this study, while women around the world are more motivated than ever before to fight for equality, it will take 208 years for U.S. women to reach full economic parity. So, Osur made a conscious decision to launch Teneral Cellars, a wine company specifically designed to be in full alignment and integrity with her principles. “I was that vulnerable dragonfly stuck in a leadership position in a company where I had to leave the best part of myself at the door every day to make my male partners happy. But now, I no longer have to leave my heart or my gut behind. Every decision I make, whether it’s challenging or not, I check in with my head, heart, and gut to make sure I am fully aligned with my highest, most authentic self. And we all have that power within us; we just need to claim it, spread our wings, and fly,” she says.
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