A Vintage Perspective: Gary Mortensen Shares His Journey, Wisdom, and Wine Recommendations
Our conversation with Gary Mortensen, President of Stoller Wine Group, was a gift on multiple levels. Gary’s humble recounting of his various experiences in business leadership could easily be made into a movie. From his early beginnings in the wine industry, multiple pivots in the fast-paced world of tech start-ups, and his eventual leap into leadership at Stoller, Gary exemplifies the idea that a wide range of experience fosters agility and vision in organizational leaders. Gary is passionate about growth, creatively approaching challenges, and learning from the past. In fact, his fascination with military history led to passion projects that have become additional endeavors professionally. He is President of Lucky Forward Films, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, and the founder and President of the National Combat History Archive, an organization that collects, preserves, and shares the individual stories of our veterans. At Stoller, Gary has been a pivotal leader overseeing the company’s exponential growth, through and beyond the pandemic. We left our interview with Gary having only scratched the surface of his wisdom and generosity. This episode was a joy to record from start to finish, and we need to get Gary back in the studio because we know you’ll want to hear more from him, just as we do!
Gary’s Bio
As president, Gary brings to Stoller Family Estate thirteen years of senior leadership in the Oregon wine industry. As a start-up veteran he brings a passion for bleeding-edge technology and pushing boundaries. In 2022, Gary was named one of the Portland Business Journal’s Executives of the Year.
As a devoted historian, he is committed to preserving and sharing our nation’s diversity and heritage. He is also an active foundation board member of the Technology Association of Oregon, and is helping to found “Innovation Academies” for kids. Gary is an award-winning director of two documentary films telling the stories of Oregonians who served in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.