Team

Joe Waechter was named CEO in March of 2010.  Joe’s background in logistics, fulfillment and business management is extensive.  Prior to joining WineDirect, he held positions as President and CEO of DHL Worldwide Express and Managing Director of California Pacific Capital, a San Francisco-based investor in early stage companies.  During his 18 year tenure at DHL, he is credited with the company’s growth and expansion as it transitioned from a virtually unknown company into one of the world’s largest logistic companies.  He was President and CEO of Air Micronesia. Chairman of United Micronesia Development Company and Chairman of Danao International.

During his time at WineDirect, Joe has transformed our business into a leading provider of integrated direct sales technology and services for the wine industry. 

Joe’s vision for WineDirect is to fully support wineries in all aspects of direct to consumer sales, with a comprehensive product and service offering designed to help customers achieve success in the direct sales channel. He strives to build an aspirational culture with visions of becoming not only the best company in our category, but the most unique in our passion for serving our clients.

Expert in the wine industry, Jim leads WineDirect's business development efforts.

Jim has 15 years business-to-business sales and sales management experience in software-as-a-service and logistics. Before joining WineDirect, Jim held positions with WineAccess, ShipCompliant and FedEx Services. At Fedex, he was Subject Matter Expert at Fedex field sales and earned recognition as a top performer and leader (President’s Club and Five Star). He also created the landmark affinity relationship between the Wine Institute and Fedex. Jim was responsible for sales at ShipCompliant, a leading regulatory compliance SAAS provider. He played an integral part during the early years of their explosive growth. 

Jim and his family live in Napa. He loves being a Dad and all things outdoors.

Justina has over 20 years of success in driving product growth, customer lifetime value, and operational efficiencies in ecommerce and mobile endeavors. As the VP of Product and Customer Success at WineDirect, she oversees all product innovation and client support services. Prior to joining WineDirect Justina was an executive at Legalzoom, Inc for over fifteen years where she was a key player in transforming the company from a small start up to the global leader of online legal solutions. During her tenure at Legalzoom, Justina had roles of increasing responsibility in product development, marketing, sales, customer success, and operations. Her career history also includes managing full-scale start up growth at Xceed, Inc. and Fusient Media Ventures.

Justina believes that a strong organizational culture is crucial for a company’s success and is passionate about employee engagement, coaching and development. She holds a BA from San Francisco State University and an MBA from UCLA.

Karin is the Senior VP of Fulfillment Operations.  She is responsible for all aspects of our fulfillment operations at our three facilities.  Karin brings 20 years of diversified customer service, operations, marketing, and technology experience to WineDirect, a background which has enabled her to build a team capable of delivering a “best in class” experience to our customers.  She has the ability to champion change and has experience with project management, process development, partner and client relationships.

Before joining WineDirect, Karin spent 16 years at marketing agency 360 Group, in roles which included customer service, Technical Services Manager, and liaison between sales, marketing, and development.  Among her many areas of interest and expertise are eCommerce and customer relationship management (CRM) technology.

In her free time, Karin enjoys entertaining, taking long walks with her dog, weekend getaways, and spending time at the lake with her family.

A San Francisco Bay Area native with over 20 years’ experience in sales, Jena leads the WineDirect sales team. She has won multiple national awards for sales performance in the skin care and aesthetics industries.

With a passion for wine, especially sparkling, Jena brings best practices to direct-to-consumer sales.  Jena loves sports and was a professional cheerleader for Oakland Raiders. 

Bio coming soon.

Sheri brings more than 20 years of experience in finance and online marketing to WineDirect, with 11 years of that in the wine industry.  Her roles at WineDirect have included partner relations, product development, VP of Marketing, and most recently CFO. Before joining WineDirect in 2008, Sheri was a co-founder of eWinery Solutions where, as VP of Client Services and Controller, she helped grow the company from startup to one of the major players in winery eCommerce. She was also a member of the management team at Custom Wine Source, an online retailer of personalized wine.

Prior to entering the wine industry, Sheri started her own company, a clicks and mortar retail company which specialized in luxury European décor. Founded in 1997, her company was one of the original online retailers in that business market.

Sheri began her career as a CPA with a regional public accounting firm, later moving to Wall Street, where she worked in the Securities Industry Division of The Bank of New York. She holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Iowa, and an MBA in Finance from Duke University.

In her free time, Sheri enjoys hiking in the Bay Area or the Sierras with her family, taking in the spectacular views with a little wine and cheese.

An expert in beverage alcohol law, Matt manages WineDirect’s business and operational legal matters and provides the company with regulatory counsel. In addition, he acts as liaison to the Wine Institute and the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators (NCSLA). 

Prior to joining WineDirect in 2007, Matt spent thirteen years as a winery General Manager in the Central Coast, including ten years at Presidio Vineyard and Winery in Lompoc, CA. During this time he oversaw all administrative, financial and compliance operations, including applying for and maintaining all federal and state licenses. As a result, Matt has a deep and practical understanding of the legal and compliance challenges wineries face when selling direct-to-consumer.

Matt holds a JD from the University of Oregon and has been a member of the State Bar of California since 1992.