Real Women Drink Craft Beer
And We're Not Afraid To Admit It.
When I first started writing for the blog, I kinda had a hard time deciding what to write about. There’s a plethora of blogs out there about beer in all shapes and sizes, and what else could I offer that was “new” and “different”?
Probably not much, really.
So, I decided to keep it simple and write about what I know and things I think as a female, share some recipes, and maybe what it's like being in a male-dominated industry… and since I have a lot of experience in AV and IT, I’ve dealt with a lot of males!
Let's be honest, I am not trying to start some woman-led craft beer revolution, but I do love craft beer. Also, there are a lot of amazing women in this craft beer industry, and we've all got some pretty interesting stories about how we got here.
Who Am I?
OK, so who am I? Well, first let me tell you who I am NOT.
I am not a wallflower or easy to push over. I am not helpless, unable or uninformed. I am not quiet. I am not afraid of being alone. I am not flawless, and I certainly am not even close to being perfect. I am not patient at all, and I’m not OK with people who think they “can’t”.
I am a fighter.I am a fighter, in the best sense of the word. I am fully capable of handling whatever comes my way, good or bad. I am smart and fun and I cuss – a lot. Many times I make bad choices that make great stories. I am so very, very lucky and I know it. I feel that the older I get, the more I realize how much I have taken for granted in my life and how fast it all went by.
So I guess I’m really just a chick like so many others and that’s OK, because we all are awesome in our own little ways!
Not My First Rodeo!
I’ve owned 2 companies with my husband. The first was an AV integration company and we installed full AV systems in commercial locations but mostly conference rooms, training rooms, restaurants and churches. We even did several installations at the Dallas Zoo, which was very cool. When we started our second company, Cory stepped away to run that and I stepped up and ran the integration company by myself. This meant a lot of project management and dealing with people, both customers and my own crews.
Pretty soon the second company, wePresent, grew very large (globally, even!) and we decided that we needed to focus all of our resources there. So I have spent the last 6 years as the VP of Marketing for this global technology brand. This meant we got to travel to so many different places that many people never get to go – The Netherlands, UK, France, Italy, Belgium, Taiwan, Czech Republic, and even South Africa, as well as coast to coast across the US. We had a lot of fun and worked really, really hard, and in fall of 2017 the company was acquired by a large AV manufacturer out of Belgium.
Marketing Beer
Anywho, so now Cory and I are BUILDING A BREWERY. I still can’t believe we are doing this, but I will tell you this, there is no way I would’ve ever believed it were possible if not for Cory. He has this amazing knack to make things happen and have it all seem so…. Effortless. But it’s more than just believing something is possible.. he knows it as fact, as if there is no other option, and then you find yourself knowing it too.
If you had asked me 10 years ago that all this would have happened, I would have laughed in your face. So much was different back then and I’ve come a long way both personally and professionally. Today I am the VP of marketing for SIREN ROCK BREWING COMPANY. We are a soon-to-open brewery being built from the ground up in Rockwall, Texas.
Why a Brewery?
So many reasons, but what it basically boils down to is we want to create something that is ours, that we can share with the community, that we can watch others get enjoyment from, that has a purpose and meaning, and that we can do for the rest of our lives. We want to be a kid-friendly, dog-friendly, community supported brewery, where you just want to hang out with friends and family. It’s a big, scary undertaking and at times I find myself so overwhelmed by the sheer hugeness of it that I just kind of shut it out and do something else for awhile.
Ultimately though, you have to put in the work for something to succeed, so here I am, writing a blog.