October 13, 2026
A Winery Built to Create Jobs for Adults With Disabilities | Episode 253: Tyler & Kelly Mullman
with Tyler & Kelly Mullman, Founders, Cana Ranch Wines
36 min
A Winery Built to Create Jobs for Adults With Disabilities | Episode 253: Tyler & Kelly Mullman
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In this episode
In this episode I sit down with Tyler and Kelly Mullman, who happen to be two of the best neighbors I ever had in Tulsa. They've since moved to Houston, and somewhere in the middle of all that life change they started asking the question so many of us carried through COVID: what are we really living for? Out of that question came Cana Ranch Wines, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit winery built to create meaningful jobs and job training for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
What I love about their story is that they didn't wait until they were experts. A friend asked Tyler point-blank what he knew about running a nonprofit or making wine, and the honest answer was "not much." So he enrolled in the UC Davis online winemaking program, and they rolled up their sleeves volunteering at Belong Kitchen in Houston to learn how a nonprofit actually runs. They let the IDD community imprint on their hearts, and they kept figuring it out one step at a time.
Today they're celebrating a big first: the release of their 2024 Napa Valley Cabernet, 165 cases, with a Houston release party on November 13. Every $200 donation returns a bottle and funds their two partner organizations while they work toward the pie-in-the-sky dream of a Napa vineyard with a job for adults with disabilities at every level. If you've been sitting on a dream that feels too big, let this one encourage you. As Tyler put it, you're smarter than you think you are. Keep going.
Key takeaways
- You don't have to be an expert to start — Tyler knew little about nonprofits or winemaking, so he enrolled in the UC Davis online winemaking program and they volunteered to learn the rest.
- Volunteer where you want to serve. Working at Belong Kitchen in Houston is what put the IDD community on their hearts and clarified their mission.
- Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities want meaningful work and dignity, and it's a massive unmet need — a vineyard offers jobs at every level, from picking grapes to packing bottles to the tasting room.
- Seek wise counsel. Kelly's guiding voice through the whole journey was to never do it alone — always ask questions and lean on people further down the road.
- The structure is simple and generous: every $200 donation returns a bottle of the 2024 Napa Cabernet and funds their two partner programs — Belong Kitchen and United Cerebral Palsy of the North Bay's Wine Bev program.
- Start small. They launched with just 165 cases, proof that a big vision can begin with a modest, doable first step.
- Making the wine is the easy part — selling it is the work. Community, relationships and word of mouth are what carry a mission forward.
Chapters
- 0:00Coming up
- 0:36Welcome to Sharing Passion and Purpose
- 0:54Meet Tyler and Kelly Mullman
- 3:08The question they asked during COVID
- 4:40Why open a winery?
- 6:06What do you know about nonprofits or wine?
- 7:04Volunteering at Belong Kitchen
- 9:12Parents, adult children and a massive unmet need
- 12:48What's in the name Cana Ranch
- 15:34A word from our sponsor
- 16:44The first vintage: a 2024 Napa Cabernet
- 19:15How community has carried them
- 21:37The hard part is selling the wine
- 22:05How to get involved: a bottle for every $200
- 24:45The pie in the sky: a Napa vineyard for IDD adults
- 27:27Rapid fire
- 32:16Solve one problem forever
- 34:54Start small — you're smarter than you think
- 36:16Outro
“We've kind of summed that down to make great wine and do good.”
“You're smarter than you think you are. Keep trying, keep figuring it out.”
“We don't do this by ourselves. We always ask questions and ask around and find the answer.”
“Let's take something very ordinary and make it really special and do it with wine.”
Resources mentioned
About Tyler
Founders, Cana Ranch Wines
Tyler and Kelly Mullman are the founders of Cana Ranch Wines, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit winery built to make great wine and do good. Their 2024 Napa Valley Cabernet funds jobs and job training for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, on the way to a Napa vineyard and winery of their own. Tyler learned winemaking through the UC Davis online program; Kelly is a physician assistant. They live in Houston with their three children.
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