Director Position 4: Western Michael Polenske

Michael Polenske

Age as of March 1, 2026:     64

Residence Location: Napa, California

Place of Operation: Napa, California

Business Experience:  My Primary focus and main source of income is as a Napa Valley grape grower. In addition, I spent the last 4 years consulting in C level positions with Napa Valley Film Festival and with The Vines of Mendoza. After 25 years of building and leading teams as a player/coach in private client financial services for American Express Financial Advisors, Running the west coast private bank for JP Morgan and rising to the role of President & CEO for Chase Manhattan Bank & Trust Co, N.A., I turned my attention to the business of leisure…and have spent the last 15+ years focused on building a portfolio of lifestyle brands based in the Napa Valley. I successfully sold Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley to Restoration Hardware (publicly traded: RH) in 2014 which has become the heart of their lifestyle/hospitality expansion. I remain the sole owner of Bespoke Collection, ÆRENA Galleries & Gardens and one of the two biggest owners of Blackbird Vineyards.

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance

Current Boards: 

• Blackbird Vineyards 
• Bespoke Collection LLC
• Atelier LLC dba ÆRENA Galleries & Gardens  
• Art Tech Holdings
• Festival Napa Valley

Nominating Committee Slated: No

Strategic & Visionary Thinking: I have a unique background with 20+ years in leadership in banking (JP Morgan and Chase H&Q) and, as a grape grower & winery owner in Napa Valley (Blackbird Vineyards) with a focus on marketing & relationships. I approach every project through a lens of a strong financial background, an entrepreneurial spirit with an obsessive eye for the details. Through my leadership, I was able to establish JP Morgan and Blackbird as standouts in their respective fields in a very competitive marketplace. 

Corporate Governance: I have been in senior and C-Level leadership roles for 30+ years building and leading teams of people for American Express Financial Advisors, JP Morgan, Chase H&Q, Restoration Hardware, Napa Valley Film Festival, The Vines Global as well as the business’s that I founded including Blackbird Vineyards, ÆRENA Galleries & Gardens and Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley which was sold to RH. In addition, I have been sitting on or leading nonprofit boards for 30+ years in SF and Napa Valley. 

Financial Expertise: I have been in senior and C-Level leadership roles for 30+ years building and leading teams of people for American Express Financial Advisors, JP Morgan, Chase H&Q, Restoration Hardware, Napa Valley Film Festival, The Vines Global as well as the business that I founded including Blackbird Vineyards, ÆRENA Galleries & Gardens and Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley which was sold to RH. MOST OF THESE POSITIONS INCLUDED P&L RESPONSIBILITY INCLUDING THE BUSINESS’S THAT I FOUNDED BEING BUILT OFF OF MY PERSONAL BALANCE SHEET.

Communication: INTERNALLY, one of our core values for my businesses is that of “Straight Talk”, encouraging direct and constructive communication between members on the team and the availability of the Leadership Team to help immediately if and when needed. EXTERNALLY, I am comfortable with public speaking having done hundreds of presentations over my career and comfortable with helping draft formal communications like press releases as well as informal communications for emails and /or social media. 

Technology: I was an early adopter of technology when I began my financial services career in 1983 (The very first investment I made while I was in college was in Apple Computer in May of 1982…). I rely on technology to run all of my businesses including all of the basic MS Office & Google systems and have used Salesforce since its inception. 

Human Resource Management: I have hired hundreds of people over my career and I have dealt with every imaginable HR opportunity, issue and challenges…I have been in senior and C-Level leadership roles for 30+ years building and leading teams of people for American Express Financial Advisors, JP Morgan, Chase H&Q, Restoration Hardware, Napa Valley Film Festival, The Vines Global as well as the business that I founded including Blackbird Vineyards, ÆRENA Galleries & Gardens and Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley which was sold to RH.

Risk Management: In addition to my senior and C-Level leadership roles with well run, risk averse businesses like American Express Financial Advisors, JP Morgan and Chase H&Q. I spent 6 years working in the Hedge Fund, Fund of Funds industry with two different firms who were leaders in proprietary risk management at the highest level in a field that is littered with fraud and broken business models. This experience taught me the foundational skill set of finding opportunities with asymmetric risk (unlimited upside with limited or zero downside) and how to establish transaction level transparency to mitigate risk.

Leadership: I have been in leadership roles my entire life starting when I was a busboy at 16 years old and was promoted to be the head busboy, then head waiter, then manager of the restaurant that I worked for in high school and college… Same experience when I graduated from college after being hired as a Financial Advisor for American Express Financial Advisors and elevated into a leadership role by the end of my first year. JP Morgan hired me as a Banker and elevated me to Head of the Western Region by the end of my first year. I was then recruited to the role of President & CEO for Chase Manhattan Bank & Trust Co, N.A. before turning my focus to building and leading my business.