In Episode 120 of Fireside America, host Ryan Robbins sits down with Kurt, a father, husband, sommelier, and boutique wine shop owner, to unpack a life built on faith, integrity, adoption, and entrepreneurship. This isn’t just a story about starting a small business — it’s about breaking the mold, finding your identity, and turning your values into a legacy.

Adopted as a child, Kurt grew up with a deep appreciation for family and a quiet drive to make those around him proud. That same spirit would guide him decades later as he left his high-paying corporate job at Kraft and Cadbury to pursue a completely different dream: owning a small, organic wine shop in Demarest, New Jersey — one rooted in connection, storytelling, and trust.

But Kurt’s journey is anything but typical. Alongside his wife, he chose to adopt a Black daughter through the U.S. foster system, expanding not just his family but also his perspective. In a world obsessed with labeling and division, Kurt’s story is a breath of fresh air — a man who doesn’t see color as a barrier, but as part of the beauty of humanity.

Ryan and Kurt explore what it means to be a white parent raising a Black daughter, the tension between public perception and private truth, and why love, not blood, defines a real family. They also talk about men’s mental load, late-career pivots, and how faith, struggle, and wine all carry the same spiritual lessons — that complexity comes from adversity, and the richest vintages are born from the harshest soil.

Whether you’re a parent, a wine lover, a small business owner, or someone looking to find deeper meaning in your life, this episode will challenge you to think bigger, love harder, and live more authentically.

Timestamps

0:00 – Kurt’s Fireside Debut & Cheers to Connection

2:00 – Growing Up Adopted in Wayne, NJ

4:45 – Climbing the Gym Rope & Craving Respect

7:50 – Discovering the Need to Be Liked — and Letting It Go

11:30 – Why Adoption Made Him Want to Be a Great Father

14:00 – Corporate America to Cabernet: Leaving Kraft for Wine

17:25 – Going All-In: Sommelier School in His Late 40s

21:40 – The Wine Shop is Born: Demarest, NJ and Organic Only

26:00 – Why His Daughter’s Adoption Story is Proof of God’s Plan

30:10 – Faith, Fatherhood, and Being a White Parent to a Black Daughter

35:00 – What Wine Teaches Us About Struggle, Soil, and Storytelling

40:30 – What Real Business Integrity Looks Like

45:20 – Final Thoughts on Passion, Pressure & the Power of Family