Today we’d like to introduce you to Melinda Calandrello.
Hi Melinda, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I feel like everything I’ve done up to this point in my life including being a working actress and building a career in the wine industry while living in Los Angeles, has lead to the idea for our show, ‘An EVERYDAY SOMMELIER’… which ultimately came about in our Savannah home. As a child, I loved everything about the arts, and found myself dancing, drawing, painting, and acting from a very young age. After college, I knew I wanted to move to Los Angeles and go for it; the dream of becoming an actress. I moved across the country by myself without a job or place to live, and shortly after arriving in Hollywood, I earned my Screen Actors Guild card with my first gig playing a Time Cop on the Power Rangers! When I started acting, I was doing a lot of extra work, stand-in and photo doubling; and then I got my first speaking role on an FX show called ‘LUCKY’ playing a poker player opposite John Corbett. It was surreal and very exciting. That opened the door to more commercial work, hosting gigs, and TV appearances. It truly felt like I was living the dream. I loved every minute of driving around town & auditioning. I even kept a spare wardrobe in my car just in case I needed a quick change for a last minute audition (which happened a lot). I didn’t have a backup plan, this was it, so I put everything I had into these incredible opportunities, and along the way took many acting classes with a variety of teachers to learn as much as I could. It was truly a magical time in my life where I would wake up and pinch myself that I was actually living the life of a working actress.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, definitely not. The path wasn’t always glamorous. Early on, there were stretches when I couldn’t book even background work. I was new to the city, didn’t know many people, and took a weekend job selling cell phones just to make ends meet. Eventually, I started booking commercials consistently, which became my bread and butter. Then came roles in movies like ‘KNOCKED UP’, and TV shows like ‘PUSHING DAISIES’ & ‘DEXTER’. I was finally able to support myself as a full-time actress; until… the SAG strike hit. We all thought it would last a few months at most, but then the writers went on strike too and the entire ordeal lasted over a year. That meant no more auditioning for me, and once the national commercials I had on the air stopped running; so did the residuals. Big problem!! I had a friend suggest that I try to get into the wine business because she was making a good living in that world. To be honest, the only thing I wanted to do was continue acting, but since that wasn’t an option, I looked into it. I knew a little about wine; basically that I liked red wine and champagne, LOL. That was about it though! So I used my acting resume, to apply for a job on a wine website. A couple months later, I had an interview with a French wine company. Somehow, I got the job. Mind you, the SAG strike was still in full effect, so I had plenty of time to start learning the foundational aspects of wine. It was pretty fascinating to me and I found myself really enjoying learning more about wine and the winemaking process. It really is another art form to me. Plus, I got to work with some the most high-end restaurants, hotels, and wine shops in Los Angeles. As time went on and the Hollywood strikes ended, I began booking acting jobs again, but I also continued working in the wine business. I had found another passion very unexpectedly. Now, at this point, I’m hooked on both! I took many wine classes, trainings, received certifications and immersed myself in the foundational aspects of wine… which is my favorite part. That foundational knowledge would later become the heart of our show. I spent several years pursuing both of my passions, and along the way, I met my now husband, Tim. The two of us and my puppy Jax lived it up and made some wonderful memories in Los Angeles over the next 5 years. Then in 2020, the world changed. We are both originally from the East Coast and all of our family still lived there, so we decided to leave LA at the end of 2021 to be closer to our families. We had visited Savannah previously and absolutely fell in love with this historic and creative city, and we knew that we not only wanted to make our new home here, but we chose to get married in front of the Forsyth Park Fountain in November 2022, even before we could find a home here. The wedding was so special and it just enforced our desire to move to this magical city. It took a minute, but by the end of 2023 we finally got all moved into our Savannah home.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My husband is a very accomplished artist and filmmaker. He’s worked with Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, artists like Shepard Fairey and Mr. Brainwash, athletes from the NBA and MLB, and literally hundreds of musicians from Foo Fighters to Hans Zimmer. Last year we decided to combine all of our experiences and creativity together; and our show, ‘An EVERYDAY SOMMELIER’ came to life! For me, this combined everything I learned and accomplished during my time in California as an actress, host and working in the wine business. The goal we have for ‘An EVERYDAY SOMMELIER’ is to give people a short, well-produced, high-end, weekly show that takes the intimidation out of wine without breaking the bank, and make the entire experience more approachable, enjoyable & fun! I just put myself back into that place where I’d walk into a wine shop or grocery store and feel completely overwhelmed by the the entire experience. What wine do I bring to a party? How do I know if the wine is good? What food do I pair it with? What part of the world makes good wine? Where do I even start? I’ve had so many people along the way ask me for wine recommendations for everything from a nice dinner pairing, to gift giving, to simply finding something they might like for themselves for wine Wednesday. Each week on our show, I introduce a new wine varietal, give the audience some fun facts, quick tips, food pairings, tasting notes and where you can buy it, all under $25. We have a small studio set up in our home, so the show is made right here in Savannah! My talented husband puts it all together and we release the weekly episodes on all major social media platforms, YouTube and our website. It’s really fun to create and share these episodes each week with everyone. We just launched the show in April, so we’re in the early stages of building our audience. We’re also seeking out brand sponsorships and looking to pair up with some amazing local companies to help each other grow our businesses and share the joy of wine. With the beautiful city of Savannah as our new home, I guess you could say that we are building our empire one grape at a time!
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Well, in addition to everything we discussed about my career, I also work with Aflac providing supplemental benefits to businesses, as I am a licensed insurance agent in 5 states. Plus, I make a mean lavender champagne cocktail that I call the ‘Mel E Vegas’.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://aneverydaysommelier.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aneverydaysommelier/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnEverydaySommelier
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aneverydaysommelier
- Twitter: https://x.com/AnEverydaySomm
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AnEverydaySommelier
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@aneverydaysommelier?lang=en
Image Credits
Wedding photo by Three Lines Creative
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