Amy, how would you define your role at Pink Diesel?

I’m the co-founder but I see myself more as the main driver. Logistics, PR, marketing - you name it, I’m doing everything to drive the company forward. Marina Ayton, a great friend who I went to school with, is my co-founder. She is now more of a silent partner and a brilliant ambassador, while pursuing her own career. So, yes, it’s just me driving the ship!

I’m fascinated by the day to day, the nuts of bolts of how people work. Working from home or office? Colleagues or solo work? Lots of travel and entertaining? I want to know the ins and outs of a typical day, so what does a day at Pink Diesel look like?

No day is the same, especially with a rosé brand. I split the year into two: high and low season. The lines between high (spring/summer) and low (autumn/winter) are blurring more and more because people are drinking rosé more consistently but regardless, people aren’t out and about as much in winter and the rosé river isn’t flowing as fast.

The first half of the calendar year, or certainly January, February, March, is the time for business development. This is the time to really think about restaurants and pub groups, as they will all be starting to curate their wine lists for the launch of spring or summer menus. With big pub groups, or serious restaurant groups, you only really get only two openings throughout the year to get onto those lists. Supermarkets change their listings once a year, so you’ve got to prepare for these opportunities when it’s quieter. I spend a lot more time organising and planning, which means I’m more desk based during these months. However, I try to keep my meetings and tastings up.

The second half of the year is full of events, which I plan and partake in. We’ve done events at the Goodwood Revival Festival and opened a pop-up bar in Covent Garden. The summer is all about getting people to open and enjoy Pink Diesel so I’m always out and about. The Pink Diesel van turns up around the country in the summer and I’m in the office a lot less.

So you’re an office person?

Absolutely. I’m really regimented with my routine and I find working from home hard. I now rent a desk off a friend in an office at the end of the Golborne Road and I make sure I have at least two days in the office a week in the summer and at least three, if not four, during the colder months. A balance has to be struck in the summer. When it’s busy, and the orders are flying out, I need to keep on top of things and the office helps with that. But, if I’m behind a screen and I’m not out selling, representing the brand and the dream then it all falls apart.

So no 9-5 schedule for you?

I used to have a really strict schedule and I put a lot of pressure on myself. I was adamant I had to be at my desk by 8:30am and under no circumstances would I leave by 6pm. Then I started to realise that running your own business is like having a baby. You’re always trying to keep the baby alive. You feel like, if you don’t stop doing it, it will stop breathing. My inner narrative was so unkind. I’d regularly fend off my own punishing thoughts like ‘‘you weren’t in at 9am, you’re slacking!’’. That was so detrimental, because I wasn’t proving anything by trying to be in earlier or staying later when I wasn’t actually doing any work. I wasn’t seeing my friends or doing any exercise, so last year I was better at being kinder to myself. I can do a mid-morning exercise class because I worked all weekend. I can rationalise a lot better now.

Do you have colleagues?

I have a freelance sales director and a freelance financial director who help me with the numbers and strategy, but no one is full time.

Do you find that lonely?

Yeah, I do. I think it helps now that I work in an office with other people, but I’m a people person. I make up for the lack of colleagues by attending loads of founder and female entrepreneur network events. When I first started, after leaving my previous job, I made a rule to meet a drinks founder every week for the first six months. It’s hard to trust your instincts when you don’t have someone to bounce ideas off of but I have a great network now, which helps.

Thank you for indulging my nosiness, but now we should go back to the beginning. Can you tell me how you got into starting a rosé brand in the first place?

Like many good ideas, it was born around a kitchen table. Marina and I had spent a lot of time together drinking rosé in lockdown and Marina was interested in creating an alcohol brand. She originally wanted to look at gin and I said, I don’t drink gin, so I wouldn’t be interested in doing that. The seed was clearly sown though because that night, I went to bed and sort of sprung up in the early hours and was struck by a thought. Pink Diesel would be a great name for a rosé brand.

Before lockdown, I had been living and working in Hong Kong for two years where my interest in rosé started. I worked for The Flying Winemaker, who had three different rosé blends, which he made in Australia and brought over to Asia. He approached me with a problem. He couldn’t get his rosés into any of the restaurants in Hong Kong because Whispering Angel had the monopoly. I might not have had previous wine experience but I do have a creative brain so I devised this Pink Dim Sum menu. It was served at lunchtime in a restaurant I also worked with, and we paired each Dim Sum course with his each of his rosés. It was really successful, becoming a huge Instagram thing, and his rosés became the talk of the town. Then the restaurant started listing the rosés, which led to other high end restaurants wanting to get in on the action. The whole experience gave me a taste for branding, events and of course, rosé.

Putting your time in Hong Kong aside, do you feel having no prior wine trade experience has been a help or a hinderance?

I think it’s been my superpower. I’m not a huge wine person and I actually, shamelessly, haven’t even done my WSET levels (I am in the process of!) but this hasn’t held me back. At the beginning, my lack of inside trade knowledge gave me a naivety that helped when walking into a room of mostly men who have been in the industry for thirty years.

The name is iconic. Did you have any other brand iterations before you settled on Pink Diesel?

After my premonition, it was always Pink Diesel. No other names came close. We’ve had a bit of backlash with diesel’s negative impact on the environment being one complaint, but we stuck to the name. Pink Diesel plays on rosé being derogatively referred to as lady petrol or bitch diesel. Why are women always penalised for drinking? I heard a story once of a husband seeing his wife drinking a glass of Whispering Angel before remarking, ‘’she’ll now be a whispering headache’’. Why do we get that? Men can drink as much as they want without negativity and derision. So, we wanted to keep the punch and Pink Diesel felt the right name to do so with.

How difficult was finding a supplier? Do you still work with the same one?

Finding a supplier was definitely a process. When the idea started to grow, I rang the person who, to me, knows the most about wine, and that’s my dad. I said ‘’you know, we’ve got this idea for a rosé brand? Well, I’ve got the name, but I don’t have the liquid.’’ My dad replied ‘’well, most people start with the product, Amy, but okay.’’ Thankfully, he remained positive and put me in touch with everyone he knew in the wine world. There was one man who kindly put me in touch with loads of Provence producers, who would be interested in working with us. Initially, we just wanted to buy someone’s already made wine and slap our label onto it. We weren’t ready to create a blend at that stage. We tried nearly 80 different blends, around the kitchen table with our housemates pretending like we knew anything about wine! Finally, we found the blend we clicked with and luckily, the producer was as good as the wine. We have stuck with them and I consider them our secret weapon. They’re the real magicians, not me! They make the most amazing, delicious blend, while practicing sustainable harvesting and I couldn’t have hoped for a better partner.

What has been your career high and career low?

My high point has to be when Keith Prowse, a big hospitality partner, asked me to speak on a panel at Wimbledon. They asked me to speak alongside ex-pro British player Laura Robson and ex-Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott about being a founder. That was a real pinch-me moment because Wimbledon is such a cool brand and place to be associated with. In fact, our listing at Wimbledon full stop is my highest achievement. We have been Keith Prowse’s exclusive rosé serve for two years in a row. We won this off the back of blind taste tests - I’m proud of that.

The low point was around this time last year. We had very nearly run out of money. I had hired a Commercial Director but the employment relationship had not worked out and he was exiting. There were some really tricky conversations around that. You’d think you’d say ‘’I’m gonna put an end to all of this and go back to someone else paying my salary, maybe getting some health insurance?’’. Yet, when you think you’re knocking on a closed door, you find another gear, and actually, it’s in those times of desperation, you kind of find a weird new love. I’ve worked so hard to even get here. I cannot give up now, this is all part and parcel of it.

What do you wish you’d known at the beginning that you know now?

The importance of wholesalers. A strong relationship with a successful wholesaler is the only way. If you’re trying to get trade listings it’s imperative. My lesson to any burgeoning drinks brands is to focus. If you’re going after a distributor such as Enotria, go to them and find out who they are selling to and get in with those places. I went for the scatter gun approach and I spread myself and Pink Diesel too thin. I felt like I was dating loads of people but none of them wanted to get into a relationship with me!

My experience working in wine sales revealed how much most people hate making phone calls, preferring the anonymity of emails. What do you prefer?

Nothing beats face to face. I’ll take a train to Inverness, taking out a whole day, if that’s what it takes! In the early days, I would hide behind emails and wonder ‘’why am I not getting anywhere?’’. I quickly realised I would have to pick up the phone if I wanted to make things happen, but that comes with confidence. Beyond that, I also turn up on doorstops. We still don’t have a bricks and mortar shelf space, so every time I pass a Jeroboams or an Amathus, I pop in, say hi, and let them taste the latest vintage. I’ll keep doing this until they list Pink Diesel.

How ‘social’ is your job? Do you find you have to consume a lot of alcohol? If yes, how do you manage it all?

It is extremely social but the balance, I have to say, is something I’m really good. Firstly, I get terrible hangovers, so it’s just not worth it. Throw in the anxiety of waking up the next morning and not having anyone to call and say, ‘’do you mind covering me?’’. I don’t have the luxury of that, so I just don’t do it. Occasionally, l’ll have a glass at an event but usually I’m not drinking at all. It’s something I stick to and I feel all the better for it. You need to keep yourself on the straight and narrow.

Have you noticed any emerging trends in the last 12 months?

I’m easily swayed by what other rosé brands are doing. Trends such as non-alcoholic, low abv and sparkling are all being explored but I try to stay in my lane. My main focus is what are my customers are doing rather than following trends. How are they drinking? Where are they drinking?

What’s more important? Taste or brand?

It’s a bit chicken and the egg isn’t it? At the end of the day, if the quality isn’t good enough, it won’t sell. Fancy labels and gimmicky names won’t help if the wine doesn’t taste great!

Anything exciting ahead for Pink Diesel in 2026?

I want to do what Fever-Tree did to Schweppes to Whispering Angel! That’s the goal.

Amy, thank you for your time. I absolutely loved hearing about how you started, how you operate now and what you’ve learnt along the way. You can order Pink Diesel via the website and or check out their Instagram pink_diesel.

It’s in my free time that I research interesting grape varieties, taste new wines and travel to wine regions. My mission is to keep sharing these adventures and discoveries with you for as long as possible through this newsletter. If you’d like to support me, you can donate any amount via the button below. I’d be forever grateful.

Buy me a coffee (or a bottle!)