There are very few wine jobs that Monika Elling doesn’t do: As the founder and CEO of Foundations Marketing Group, an NYC brand development agency, she helps wine producers with crafting blends, labels, and marketing strategies. As the founder of The Paradigm Collection, she’s a fine wine importer. And as the author of Wine 123: All You Need to Know About Wine in 90 Minutes or Less, she is teaching wine lovers about the beverage.
Monika started on Madison Avenue in an advertising career. She went on to do trade and investment promotion work with emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe. After the fall of Communism in 1989, because of her work in that area, she was primed to help with the resurgence of the wine industry. “Major wine companies of the world were investing in the ancient wine region of Tokaj, Hungary, and I met these industry leaders during the course of my work,” Monika explains. And, well, “the rest is history,” as they say.