It was a beautiful summer day in 2017 and the property was abuzz with activity. Sod and flowers were being planted, vendors were in and out, and the smell of fermenting grapes drifted in the air. But Kathy Burks (B.S., ’84) was stressed. Not just because she and her husband, David, were about to put on the first wedding at their business, Sweet Heart Winery in Loveland, but because with the event only three days away, they still didn’t have their certificate of occupancy.

“I told the permitting agent he was going to have to call the bride himself and tell her the wedding was off,” Burks said.

Thankfully the permit came through and the wedding went off without a hitch, and even though the new venture was happening in the middle of Burks’ life at the end of a successful accounting career, she was excited for the start of her and her husband’s new venture that is still going strong today.

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Arriving at Colorado State University as a sophomore was a return home for Burks. One year at the University of New Mexico was enough, and she longed to get back to her home state.

“I was able to room with a childhood friend who I knew from second grade,” Burks said. “It was a dream come true to get back Colorado and be with friends.”

All she had to figure out was what to study.

“I thought I might become a social worker, but my stepdad talked to me about accounting,” she said. “I took a class and did well. It really made sense and clicked for me. I’m the type of person who wants everything to line up and make sense. Accounting brought that sense of balance to me.”

With a knack for balancing numbers, Burks earned a coveted spot in CSU’s College of Business and earned an accounting degree before securing a job with Deloitte as an auditor.

“I loved the fact that I got to work on so many different types of companies. Every two weeks I got to see something new,” Burks said. “I loved the camaraderie of auditing – being in a board room and talking and learning together with others. There was always someone more experienced who I could learn from, and I really loved the people at Deloitte.”

That’s what made the decision to leave the company so difficult but working 70-hour weeks while commuting from Fort Collins to Denver every day just wasn’t feasible. Over the next 10 years, Burks worked at local accounting firms before going back to Deloitte, this time as the audit scheduler.

“I went back to Deloitte because the manufacturing company I was working for was acquired by another company and there was a massive layoff that left me as the only accountant. I’m a collaborative person who likes the team and having someone to bounce ideas off of,” she explained.

After four more years at Deloitte, Burks made the decision to leave accounting and stay home. For someone who enjoyed and was used to constant movement, it was a challenge trying to be idle and very quickly Burks answered the call to become a substitute teacher and cheerleading coach at her daughter’s school. Of course, accounting came calling again in the form of a friend who needed an accountant at her business.

“A member of our bible study had mentioned she had to fire their controller. I never really told anyone I was an accountant because everyone always wants to ask you tax questions, which was not what I did as an accountant. I told her I would help her find someone to hire and wound up staying there for eight years managing their books, financial statements, and assisting their auditors,” she said.

It was also through the bible study that Burks and David began dabbling in winemaking as a hobby with some friends who dubbed themselves “The Six Fools.”

“That first batch was really terrible, but they were having fun,” Burks said with a laugh. “When David bought grapes from California, that’s when he began making really good wine.”

Even though his friends became less interested in winemaking, David kept at it and decided to make it a business.

“I never had that entrepreneurial spirit because as a CPA I was always pretty risk averse, but I thought if there was any business to get into, wine made sense because I love wine and how it brings people together,” she said.

When they were happy with the wine they were consistently producing, Burks and David attended a festival to see what the response to the wine would be. That very first festival resulted in the Loveland Chophouse and Liquor Max putting in orders. They named their business Sweet Heart Winery to represent how wine and romance go hand in hand while also paying homage to Loveland as its status as the “Sweetheart City.” They began holding events in their tasting room – the biggest one was always on Valentine’s Day – and as the business grew they spent three years building a timber-framed barn where they could hold tastings, weddings, and other events.

“The Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon is our flagship wine and even though I’m not much of a white wine drinker, our chardonnay is another one I really love,” she said.

Since that fateful day in 2017, Kathy, David, and now their daughter, have continued to pour themselves into Sweet Heart Winery, making it a place where wine, love, and fun all come together. They use all California grapes, ferment and bottle all of the wine at the winery, and have varieties ranging from red to white to sparkling. And even though Burks now refers to herself as a “recovering CPA,” she still enjoys managing the finances, payroll, office, and “a little bit of everything.”

“I feel really blessed because we have a fun, beautiful setting that means a lot to the community,” she concluded.