Inspiring Women Magazine May 2023

Excerpt from the original article.
My name is Bella Paola Guerrero de Cohen,
but my friends call me Paola! I am an active
member of the AWC Finland, where I attend
meetings, events and help with fundraising
activities. We live in Espoo, Finland, which is
about a thirty minute drive from Helsinki.
I was born in Ecuador to a working class family.
My parents grew up poor and had to work to
survive from a very early age; their lives were
not easy. My father had only finished
elementary school when he suffered the loss
of his mother in an earthquake. My mother
was born in the countryside and was sent to
the city to live with an older sibling, but did
not have the opportunity to finish elementary
school. As they set up a life together and had
children of their own, they wanted a better
future for them. They realized the importance
of education and worked very hard to make
that possible for us. Therefore, my siblings and
I were the first ones in our extended family to
attend university and in my case, the first one
to study at a university in the United States.
What I will always remember is that no
matter how much work my father had – and
he worked three different jobs at a time –
Sundays was our sacred day. We started our
mornings with some old-time classics my
mother used to play in her LP player. Our day
continued with a nice brunch of shrimp or clam
ceviche, and then off to the countryside to play
volleyball, basketball, tennis, swimming, etc.
My life was carefree through the end of high
school, when I moved to the United States.
I love my family, and having to be separated
from them took such a big toll on me that for
many years I resented my parents for having
sent me away. Of course, they knew what
they were doing. They were also hurt by my
absence, but nothing hurt them more than
when I said I would not be coming back, as I
had found the love of my life. A month and a
half after arriving in Boston, I met David. We
became friends and soon after, a couple. I
married him a year later.
2023 update
We have been growing organically since the
original story. We found the perfect location to
set up our own facilities about one hour north
from the capital.
Our wines have received more than 50 awards
internationally for quality. We have also
received recognition for advancing the level
of Finnish cuisine and for creating world class
wines using Nordic ingredients. Every year
more people discover our wines and fall in
love with them.
“Goodbyes and New Beginnings”
Of all the people and situations you have said
goodbye to in your life, tell us about two that
you miss the most. Why is that?
One of the things I miss the most is the time
spent with our young children when we first
moved to Finland. We enjoyed focusing solely
on them. Having come from the US, where our
life was pretty hectic, it was very refreshing to
be told it was okay to take time off from work to
focus on our growing family.
Family has always been very important to me
and being able to experience a new place, learn
a new culture and share this together as a unit
was the peak of fullness and happiness.
I also miss being near the rest of my family,
scores of them. While there is new technology
that connects us 24/7, nothing compares to the
live connection.
Of all the “new beginnings” in your life, tell
us about two that you really remember/that
turned out to be unexpectedly important.
Moving to Finland. I would have never imagined
that I would fall in love with a country in the
arctic – cold and dark. However, I fell in love with
the way of life, the balanced life that it provides
its citizens and the natural and clean
surroundings. It is no wonder that Finland tops
the charts in many categories: happiness,
education, safety, environmental, freedom of
the press and many other measures.
Setting up a winery. My love for wine started in
the US and while traveling with David on various
business trips, particularly in Europe. Our wine
making hobby started just over 20 years ago.
We were excited when we moved to Finland to
be able to make wines from European grapes.
However, since grapes were not available in
Finland and we did not want to give up our
wine making hobby, we decided to use local
ingredients instead. And boy were we amazed!
Finland has some of the best berries and, when
treated right, they can create some of the best
wines in the world.
Read more/rest of original article by clicking here:
www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/65829992/
inspiring-women-magazine-spring-2017/23
Checking the hives (above)
Boxing up the finished wine (right)
10 INSPIRING WOMEN INSPIRING WOMEN 11