Vida Valiente
Austin Johnson brings a rich background in hospitality, operations, and luxury wine sales to her role as Director of Sales at Vida Valiente.
Growing up on the Napa–Solano County line and raised with Midwest values of hard work and determination, Austin studied both biology and communications at CSUS earning a B.A. in Communications before pursuing a vocational degree as a registered nurse. She began her career in healthcare working in hematology and oncology.
After several meaningful years in that demanding field, she sought a new chapter, one that blended her attention to detail with her innate sense of care. This led her to the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group in Yountville, where she spent four years, ending as their Private Dining and Events Manager, creating exceptional events, activations and weddings while honing her creativity and leadership.
Her path in wine began at Realm Cellars, where she served as Operations Manager. To escape her desk, Austin would often explore the lab or trail winemaker Benoit Touquette through the cellar—absorbing the science and artistry of winemaking. Those one-on-one experiences became a joyful extension of her love of biology and process. Inspired by this connection, she later left Realm to work directly with Benoit, gaining invaluable experience in brand building, logistics, and sales while contributing to the growth of Teeter-Totter and Fait-Main.
Most recently, Austin spent seven years at Dakota Shy, where she became immersed in every aspect of the business, from national sales and event strategy to marketing, communications, and membership growth she helped shape the brand into one of Napa Valley’s most compelling stories.
At Vida Valiente, Austin is inspired by the vision of winemaker Sam Kaplan, whose wines she first discovered through winemaker Tom Garrett, a longtime colleague and champion of innovation in Napa Valley. She is particularly excited to share these wines because they are the kind that stop you in your tracks. Wines that challenge you to think while simultaneously revealing the essence of their origins. Deeply reflective of the terroir of each site, they speak in a language of geography, weather, topography, and soils, elements that Austin has always loved exploring. For her, Vida Valiente’s wines don’t just tell a story; they deliver the code to truly understanding place.
Beyond her professional life, Austin is a searcher of meaning and belief. She loves people and community and believes that sharing wine is one of the best ways to truly connect. Together with her husband, Erik, she has enjoyed countless memorable bottles and conversations, proof of how wine can deepen connection and spark discovery. She often says she is on a personal crusade to get more people drinking together, not for the sake of the wine alone, but for the joy of the dialogue it inspires. She also finds fulfillment in reading novels and leadership books, exploring different cultures, yoga, Pilates and pursuing a deeper understanding of the world. Her greatest curiosity, however, lies in her daughters, Cameron and Charlotte…just a year apart, wildly different from one another, and her most inspiring teachers.