Living in Napa Valley has many advantages, but one of the best is that friends always want to visit! Verve was born out of T Beller's legendary hospitality and knack for connecting guests with the parts of Napa Valley they’d love the most.
Meet our team
Mary T Beller, Owner and Curator-in-Chief
T Beller brought her own personal verve to wine country when she moved to the area more than 20 years ago. Originally from Montgomery, Alabama, T has been shaking things up as a connector and community leader since she got here. She founded Verve Napa Valley in 2012 as the natural intersection of her passions for sharing art, wine, and the Napa Valley lifestyle.
T holds a B.A. in Psychology and Art from Stanford University, with advanced degrees in the fields of Counseling, Education, and Design. Her professional history includes stints as a marketing and outreach consultant, interior and graphic designer, event planner, art concierge, and co-founder of Napa Valley Arts and Lectures, as well as the Napa Valley Film Society.
She thrives on the challenges of identifying community needs, and working collaboratively in order to transform a vision into a reality. In 1994, she co-founded Napa County’s first charter school—the innovative, award-winning River School. She also testified before Congress on the benefits and challenges of alternative education models. As a lifelong advocate of the arts, she served as an appointed member of the Napa County Commission for Arts and Culture for five years. While participating in Leadership Napa Valley, she and her small-group practicum initiated the first-ever Napa County Visitor Profile Study & Napa County Economic Impact Study.
When she’s not wielding her saber, T maintains a vast garden bursting with seasonal vegetables and the most vibrant dahlia varieties she can get her hands on. She also collects art, particularly out-of-the-box mixed media works with plenty of color and pizzazz.
T’s artistic flair and legendary Southern hospitality are the soul of our company, evident in every trip we create. Her dynamic energy, style and attention to detail truly put the verve in Verve.
Rob Roy, Director of Operations
As a man who grew up with three brothers and raised two sons, Rob is thoroughly immersed in the world of sports, biking, and outdoor adventure of every kind.
He graduated from the University of Michigan, and started his career in hospitality as a city tour guide in San Francisco. He led his first Napa wine tour in the late ‘70s, and over the years witnessed firsthand the number of local wineries skyrocket from about 20 to more than 500. Rob then moved up into the luxury travel industry, where he spent the next decade guiding groups around the world.
Rob ran his own company for many years, designing and implementing content-driven travel programs for the most discerning travelers. Among the myriad of programs he developed are wine-centric tours in Italy, France, Spain, South Africa, Argentina, Australia, and, of course, our legendary Napa Valley. He also acted as Director of Sales at Bauer's Intelligent Transportation in San Francisco for a time, rounding out his 360-degree understanding of industry operations.
Rob’s love for wine country doesn't stop at leading tours, though. In the late '80s, he bought his first ton of Zinfandel grapes and started making his own wine. Since then, he's learned a lot about the art and science behind winemaking through hands-on experimentation. More than anything else, this hobby made him appreciate those who really do it well.
Rob's passion is education through experience, and he finds it deeply gratifying to be able to share his favorite places, extensive knowledge, and firsthand stories with guests. His attention to detail and ceaseless efforts to enhance the visitor experience are what brought him success in his own business, and what make him such an invaluable pillar of the Verve team.
jean-pierre jodoin, guest experience Manager
Jean-Pierre grew up next door to Napa Valley in Fairfield, so has enjoyed wine country’s many pleasures from a very young age. After excelling in soccer, football, basketball and track during high school, he went on to play collegiate football at Saint Mary’s College while earning his B.S. in Business Administration and Economics.
After graduation JP explored several different industries, but wine country kept pulling him back. He first worked for a beverage logistics firm, helping all types of breweries, spirit makers, and wineries across the United States. Then he dove deep into hospitality with a prestigious winery to gain even more inside knowledge about the industry’s inner workings.
Jean-Pierre likes to spend his off time with his wife and daughter exploring everything California and neighboring states have to offer – nature, culture, hiking, food, wine, and our own unique brand of west coast hospitality.