ľ«¶«Ó°Ňµ entrepreneurship graduate Evan Schumann ’17 and his wife Marisa Sergi were recently recognized in the Food & Drink category of list. Schumann is co-owner of L’uva Bella Winery with Sergi, whose family has been in the wine business for over 15 years.
Following graduation from ľ«¶«Ó°Ňµ, Schumann started a company in the chemical industry. He then began working in consulting and mergers and acquisitions. In 2020, he and Sergi acquired L’uva Bella. ľ«¶«Ó°Ňµcompany currently distributes in nine states across the Midwest and East Coast and will launch in a 10th state in the near future.
“We both saw the opportunity to take the company into a much larger market and we acquired it with the intention of growing the brand into the national market,” Schumann said. “To be able to carve out success on a growing scale is really special to us and it proves that you identify a niche in any market, develop a customer base and replicate that in a base that’s not always in the headlines.”
Schumann said the couple is honored to be included in the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.
“ ľ«¶«Ó°Ňµrecognition is an honor for our entire team and it shows that we are continually trying to reinvest to build the business even larger,” he said. “This is still just a starting point for us – we still have so much to do.”
Schumann said the professors he had at ľ«¶«Ó°Ňµ were instrumental in preparing him for a future as an entrepreneur.
“They identified that I was interested in doing something big with my career and that I had a lot of ideas and was ready to get out there and build a successful company,” he said. “ ľ«¶«Ó°Ňµprofessors at Kent gave me the flexibility to do that – they encouraged me to get out of the classroom and talk to customers.”
Read more about L’uva Bella and the Forbes listing .