Meet Stacey.
Location | Boston, MA
Happy Juneteenth eve! I’m back with another story grounded in celebratory gems and honestly, there’s no better time for one. Juneteenth is about freedom, but it’s also about joy, gathering, and honoring the people who are quietly building something meaningful in their own communities. That feels like the perfect frame for today’s feature.
There are people who have been in your orbit for years before you realize just how much you have in common. Stacey is one of those people. We share mutual friends, move in overlapping circles, and it wasn’t until wine came up in conversation one day that everything clicked into place. Ever since, we’ve had a running habit of sliding into each other’s DMs whenever a cool wine opportunity crosses our feeds, and the occasional run-in at events around Boston never hurts either. She is a Brand Builder by profession, a sommelier by passion, and someone who is quietly doing meaningful work to make wine feel like it belongs to all of us. I have been a fan ever since our first IRL conversation, and I am so glad she said yes to being featured on TFLUXÈ.
Storytime.
For Stacey Mukasa, wine was never really about the wine. It was about the table, the gathering, and the way a room shifts when people are truly present with one another. She has always been someone who gravitates toward connection through hosting, storytelling and through the kind of hospitality that makes guests feel like they were expected and wanted. Wine, when she finally found her way into it, simply gave that instinct a new language.
Professionally, Stacey is a Brand Builder. Someone who thinks deeply about how products create emotional resonance with the people who love them. Wine offered a richer layer to that work: terroir, tradition, craftsmanship, and the quiet art of making something that tells the story of a place and the people who tend it. What began as curiosity evolved into serious study, eventually leading her to earn her Level 1 Sommelier certification and take the WSET Level 3 in Wines course!
A moment that changed everything.
There is a particular memory that Stacey returns to when she talks about why wine matters to her. It was her first trip to Napa Valley. She was standing in a vineyard, listening to a winemaker describe how climate, soil, and generations of family tradition shape a single bottle. She realized that reading about wine in books is one thing however standing in the middle of it is something else entirely.
After that trip, she never saw the glass the same way again. Wine became, in her words, an artistic expression of place and people. Every bottle a story of a region, a family, a season, and a set of decisions made by someone who cared deeply about the outcome.
On representation, and showing up anyway.
As a first generation Ugandan American, Stacey has always been conscious of who gets to occupy spaces and who has been quietly discouraged from entering them. Growing up, she didn’t see many people who looked like her in certain rooms and that absence stayed with her.
Today, she honors her heritage by showing up authentically and creating visibility wherever she goes. Whether she’s sharing wine knowledge with friends, hosting tastings, or documenting her experiences and travels, the message underneath it all is simple: this space belongs to you, too. She draws a direct line between the hospitality she grew up experiencing from the African tradition of gathering around food, drink, and conversation to the work that she does now. Wine is her way of continuing that tradition while opening doors into new cultures and new stories.
She also has a project quietly in the works, one that brings her heritage and her passion for wine into direct conversation with each other. More on that soon but knowing Stacey, it will be worth the wait!
What she wants you to know.
If Stacey could pull back the curtain on the wine industry, she’d start with: wine was made to feel intimidating but that was a choice, not a truth. For a long time, wine knowledge was treated as something reserved for people with access, wealth, or specialized training. The reality is simpler and more generous than that. Wine is a product that is meant to be enjoyed. You don’t need to memorize regions or vintages to participate. You just need a glass and a little curiosity (note: something we’ve been hearing a lot about from past featured contributors to TFLUXÈ).
The TFLUXÈ table is set, and Stacey’s vision is something to behold.
Her guest list is carefully chosen: Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey, Issa Rae, and Trevor Noah. The setting is a vineyard estate in the rolling hills of Tuscany, at golden hour, overlooking rows of vines just before harvest. On the table: Ugandan inspired appetizers, handmade pasta, grilled meats, and a curated wine pairing featuring bottles from Italy, South Africa, and emerging African wine regions. In the background, a playlist that moves from jazz to soul to Afrobeat to amapiano. Warm enough to set the mood, open enough to let the conversation breathe.
The conversation itself would center on leadership, creativity, resilience, and the responsibility that comes with influence. She’d want to know how each guests navigated uncertainty while staying true to themselves and she’d leave the table, she says, with new perspectives, deeper wisdom, and a renewed commitment to building something that lasts.
That tells you everything about how Stacey Mukasa moves through the world. With intention, with curiosity, and always with a seat at the table for whoever is ready to pull up a chair.
Find Stacey on Instagram at @staceymukasa
xoxo,
Ty-Juana L. Flores