Barbara is a born and bred New Yorker who from an early age knew fate would lead her somewhere very special. She landed her dream job at Doubleday, the top publishing company of the era, but Barbara wasn't ready to settle into a career path just yet.

So she went to Lake Tahoe Nevada, stopping along the way to complete a bachelor's degree in writing, then Scottsdale Arizona and finally Southern California. While in California Barbara re-invigorated a worn out Hot Springs Spa business and for ten years she co-managed the business, building it into a thriving day resort with 9 pools and a 1000 person capacity.

It was there that fate intervened when Brian Storey arrived with a group of Australian travel agents on a familiarisation tour. The rest, as they say, is history. Hausler became Storey and they moved to Adelaide and soon after the couple settle in the Barossa.

In the Barossa, Barbara lectured in tourism at TAFE and ran customer service and sales workshops for wineries and hospitality staff. She and Brian began a conference and event business, and she commuted t Adelaide for work until fate again intervened - a manager for the region's landmark event was needed. She managed the Barossa Vintage Festival for 7 years - 3 Festivals and loved every minute of it.

Barbara also managed the first two Barossa Slow events and continued to work with the Barossa, wine, food and tourism industries. She has been an invited speaker at wine tourism conferences in Spain, Margaret River and Queensland and was appointed to the SA Food and Wine Tourism Strategy Group.

Currently, she is the manager - communications and promotions for Barossa Grape & Wine Association. And five years ago, on a sunny Winter's day in June, Barbara celebrated becoming an Australian Citizen with 50 or so friends, family and a glass or two of Barossa Shiraz.