| News & Events | |
|
Summer 2000 Newsletter
General Winery News Special Report Our Featured Restaurant Personnel Corner |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Personnel Corner:
Ana Gonzalez: Joseph Phelps Vineyard's
Ana Gonzalez is a very determined woman. When she came to this country in 1983 for the first time, her goal was to get a job, save some money and buy a house."Unfortunately," she relates, "I spent all the money I earned on presents for people back home. I think I had 14 shopping bags with me on that return trip." 
After four years she managed to save up enough for a downpayment, and in 1992 bought a house in Napa where her son Julio and daughter-in-law Karina currently live.When asked how she'd managed to save up the money, she explains, "That's what my kids used to ask me. 'How are you going to buy a house? You're always saying you never have any money.' 'Well, I know that's what I told you,' I'd say. 'But that's because I knew I'd give it to you if you asked, and then I really wouldn't have any!'" Her thriftiness has served her well. In March of this year Ana moved into a second house which she bought in partnership with her daughter Gabriella and son-in-law Antonio. Ana was born in Guadalajara in 1956. Her father worked as a laborer in a warehouse and her mother stayed home with their children, 8 daughters and one son in all. Ana was married at the age of 14 and had 3 children. (Today, her sons David and Julio work in the cellar at JPV and she lives with Gabriella and Antonio, and her 5-year old daughter Daniella.) Despite the demands that 3 children must have made on the young girl, Ana attended a private nursing school for 2 years and worked as a registered nurse in a hospital in Guadalajara. She's taken additional nursing courses at Napa Valley college, but has not taken the test to obtain her nurse's license here. "I need to be 100% bilingual to take that test," she worries. "And anyway, I've changed my vocation since coming to this country. I like cooking more than nursing -- probably because I love to eat!" Ana has been working for JPV since 1989 and currently cooks for occasional trade and social events, as well as supervises the housekeeping staff.  Back
to News & Events
|
| The Winery | Wines | Shopping | News and Events | Links | Phelps Preferred | Contact us | Home |