Article shared by Christine Rietz, Photo by Gretchen Wakeman Photography

I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska! I moved to Arizona in 1989 in the middle of the summer and in spite of the heat, I never looked back. I did have family down here with my Mother and her husband Subby along with three of my sisters at the time which made my transition so easy. I had been visiting for a couple of years during the cold Nebraska winters and enjoyed the beautiful landscape, eating dinner on the patio and the SUNSHINE. Over time, the lure of being in a warmer climate drew me to the beautiful Valley of the Sun. When I first moved to Arizona, I felt like I was on vacation with the mountains and desert landscape surrounding me. I love it here to this day. I met my husband Mike at work when he was transferred to Phoenix (as my boss) and he walked into my life to change it forever. By that, I mean that It didn't take us long to know that we were meant to be together. We are grateful to have two grown sons, Clint who is now 32, Justin who is 24 and are soon to gain a daughter with Kaleen when she and Clint get married in April! So excited about that, by the way :). We also have a wonderful dog named Beanie who is a Belgian Malinois and two grand-pups named Moose and Louie. We love them all so much and enjoy their companionship and antics greatly.

My mother passed away almost 2 years ago now and certainly miss her presence greatly. We are grateful to still have more family in the area that we share our lives with as often as busy schedules allow. Two of my sisters remain nearby along with their families, so it has been wonderful having our kids grow up with their cousins who are all best of friends. Mike and I love hosting holidays at our home with our growing local family which now includes a little great nephew and two identical twin baby great nieces. So much fun!

We enjoy traveling and have been fortunate to explore most parts of this country as well as touching a few other parts of the world. We love discovering the local flavors of each area with the culture, landscape, food and wines. We hope to enjoy much broader travels when we are both retired and look forward to many more adventures ahead.

I attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha for Business Management and Accounting. As I started navigating my journey in the working world, I pretty quickly found my way into consultative sales over accounting as my career path. When I moved to Arizona, a job found (long story) in waste management.  Who would have thought i would be a trash lady? :) and then through networking and building my business I was recruited into the Recycling Industry that turned out to be a great fit for me. I was empowered to grow personally and professionally through the various positions that I held over the years and did a lot of training and presentations which I loved. My business and finance background was extremely helpful also in managing my recycling business throughout my career. I enjoyed traveling across the country and helping municipalities, other recycling companies, retailers and businesses of all sizes save money and expand programs which was very fulfilling. The last leg of my corporate journey was 30 years with Weyerhaeuser/International Paper. As most people do, I started thinking about retirement as I approached that magic age. What did I want to do in my next chapter? I knew I wanted to stay engaged with people, build more community and give back in a broader way.

As I mentioned, Mike and I like to travel and we have enjoyed visiting wineries in various regions over the years. I have always loved wine and the beauty and peacefulness of vineyards. Visiting the wineries and learning the fascinating stories rooting growers and winemakers through tradition, inspiration and good old fashioned hard work captured me early on. A couple of years ago, I was planning my holiday gifting and was referred through a friend to check into a winery due to the delicious wines that she had tried. As I was carefully choosing special gifts for my customers, I was reading about the purposeful story of ONEHOPE rooted in hope to change the world through their wines. Their their heart to give back through their wines immediately moved me to take a step and start to explore the opportunities to work within their wonderful community. Well, I am proud to say that i am now part of their story with my wine business as I now sell wine that gives back through ONEHOPE out of Napa! This venture is the perfect combination of things that I love and was drawn to do. It also allows me the flexibility that I need to allow travel as opportunities arise.

The Seville community is wonderful and filled with so many great people and opportunities to connect. I encourage everyone to take advantage of the many ways there are to network and make more friends either through the club, community events and simply getting to know your neighbors! Life is so busy for everyone but it is so worthwhile to be a good neighbor and be there for each other. We are all better together!

My faith in Jesus is the center of my life, my compass and I have been blessed beyond measure. I am grateful to stay pretty busy between my family, our new home projects, my women's groups and of course, my wine business! There are so many people and organizations in need of assistance, physically, emotionally and financially that I am hoping to help make even a small impact in helping in this next season of my life. Think of what causes you are passionate about. I would love to help any fundraising efforts through my business and to lend a hand to create more awareness along with you!

Call (602) 341-2098

social media: @christine.rietz

Photo by Gretchen Wakeman Photography