Vicky Farrow
Vicky Farrow is the CEO of Amista Vineyards, a 3,000-case, direct-to-consumer winery in Healdsburg, California, which she co-founded with her husband in 2004. She entered the wine business after a career in the technology sector. As a senior executive, Vicky played pivotal roles in major organizational transformations, including the launch of a renewable energy research organization, the turnaround of a company during Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the maturation of a Silicon Valley high-tech firm, and the spin-off of a communications company from a former regulated monopoly. She served as a vice president and officer at Lucent Technologies, where she led a global team of 800 people.
In 2000, Vicky launched a second career as an executive coach and change-management advisor. She has worked with numerous world-class organizations, including Hewlett-Packard, Stanford University, Cisco Systems, Williams-Sonoma, Levi Strauss, Adobe, Sun Microsystems, Duty Free Shops, and Sephora USA. She also spent three years as a partner at Scion Advisors, where she worked with family-owned wine businesses in Napa and Sonoma and co-led two CEO Roundtables comprising leading executives from wine companies across Northern California.
Vicky has long been committed to community service. She has done pro bono work and served on several boards, including the Center for Effectiveness in Non-profits, Camp Kesem, Career Technical Foundation, the Dry Creek Valley Citizens Advisory Council, and the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University.
Born and raised in Colorado, Vicky earned a B.S. in Psychology and an M.S. in Human Development from Colorado State University. She met her husband, Michael, in Boulder, and after several moves across the country, they made their home in Healdsburg. Mike died in 2023, and Vicky continues to live on their estate vineyards with her two shelties, Dylan and Torin.