Episode 4
In Sickness and Health Start up
Christa Donofrio and Christy La Mountain of Beertooth Taproom/ C&C Endeavors LLC talk about creating a business after corporate career in science.
Transcript
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::Key peaked interest, KPI, entrepreneurial insight,
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::L-G-B-T-Q editions. Today's guest,
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::Krista Dino.
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::Kristi la Mountain of Beer, tooth taproom.
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::Welcome to the key peak interest, KPI, entrepreneurial
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::insights, L-G-B-T-Q edition.
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::We're here with Krista Rio
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::and Christie la Mountain of CNC Endeavors, LLC.
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::Hey y'all. Hey. Hey.
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::I found out about you guys by just looking up, uh, you know,
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::folks that are doing business, uh, in, in the area,
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::and that are L-G-B-T-Q.
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::Mm-hmm. We wanted to do this
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::and talk to entrepreneurs that are doing business together.
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::Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I realized
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::that everybody has a different sort of way it looks, right?
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::Mm-hmm. So how did you guys
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::start working together?
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::Oh, no, really? Yeah. Well, she's your brainchild.
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::Well, more interestingly, we worked together in our,
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::before the tap room,
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::we worked together in the pharmaceutical industry.
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::You met at That's how we data. Yeah. Okay.
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::Um, but yeah, so I got outta the pharmaceutical industry.
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::It just did not suit me very well.
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::And as, uh, my interest
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::and passion for beer grew, I found that
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::the two of us could probably make a company
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::and actually provide a service instead of just serving beer.
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::Be able to talk to people intelligently about beer
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::and help them order beers when they go out elsewhere.
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::And, you know, without her support, this would not happen.
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::Oh, absolutely, man.
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::I, you guys, okay,
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::so you're working together at your day jobs,
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::and then you decide you're gonna start this
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::side hustle, new endeavor.
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::Like how, how does that conversation even get started?
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::So, Krista was working at another tap room.
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::She was managing it, and she mentioned, you know,
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::queen Bee Syndrome all the way.
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::Yeah. Oh, I could you think. And so, um,
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::when she was ready to leave there, she mentioned,
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::she's like, you know, maybe I should open a tap room.
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::And I was like, that would be okay.
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::I amm like, sounds interesting. What do?
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::I was like, I was like, what? What?
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::I was like, I was like kind of hesitant. I'm like, okay.
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::I am like, so what do you think?
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::And so we kind of talked about it
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::and brainstormed what it would be.
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::But how long did that process go on? Ooh, a couple months.
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::Oh. Until we actually took the leap
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::and we were walking through the space
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::and found the phone number
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::and we're like, I was looking at a spot elsewhere in the
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::shopping center, but it turned out
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::to be way too big for what we needed.
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::Um, and so we said, Hey,
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::we're interested in moving a tap room into this, uh,
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::sub, uh, space shopping center.
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::Yeah. And she's like, well,
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::I don't have anything in your size right now.
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::She's like, but I'll put you on the list.
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::And we're like, okay. So we were waiting and waiting
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::and it happened much quicker than we expected.
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::We got a call that somebody that was in this spot was ready
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::to move to a smaller location.
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::They didn't need this much space.
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::And so she's like, would you guys like to come check it out?
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::We're like, sure. And so, um, the rest is history.
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::We were like, okay. So you took your, your knowledge
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::as an employee, a manager mm-hmm.
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::In another, uh, business, the same type,
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::and you were like, okay, you know, what to look for as far
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::as space goes and seats and taps, that sort of thing?
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::Or does that something that you learn
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::since you've been open?
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::That's definitely a learn on the fly. Yeah.
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::Um, being a manager, basically all I did was, well,
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::not all I did, but I ordered beer
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::and just kept things running in that sense.
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::I had no idea what business ownership looked like.
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::Um, Brian. Oh, you're laughing. We gotta get get back.
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::Come back at that. But,
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::but one thing to know, we hadn't worked together.
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::When did we leave in 2006?
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::I started 2005. I started 2005.
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::So we hadn't worked together since 2005.
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::Um, we went to different pharmaceutical companies
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::and then we both, we did it so we'd have more job security
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::because ours had a big layoff.
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::Yes. And we both got scared, but we both were lucky.
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::So we decided to go to two different companies. Okay.
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::And believe it or not, we both lost our jobs within a month
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::of each other at two different companies.
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::Wow. Yeah. Um, she ended up going back in the pharmaceutical
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::industry and I'm like, I'm so done with this.
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::It, it, again, it didn't suit me.
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::I'm a very transparent person
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::and I will tell you if something will not work.
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::And bosses don't wanna hear that.
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::So being my own boss is kind of important in that sense.
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::It's, well, I'm glad that's a great
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::thing to know about yourself.
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::You've got this, this definite like boundary.
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::It's like, I'm gonna tell you how it is
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::and if you're kind of chafe about that,
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::maybe I'm not the right employee for this organization.
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::Yeah, exactly. And, you know,
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::not to throw too much information out there,
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::but I ended up getting cancer.
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::Uh, I got breast cancer and Christie looked at me
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::and she said, and at the time I wasn't,
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::I was just doing volunteer work.
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::She looked at me, she goes, you
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::will never have to work again.
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::Just you do the work now and get through this. Yeah.
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::And little did I realize that, um, while I was getting
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::through it, I was learning more and more about beer.
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::And that's when I ended up getting into the, the industry.
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::Right. There's a certification, what was it?
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::What's it called? Um, I am a certified Cone. Cone. Yes.
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::It's through Sounds very Italian. It does, doesn't it?
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::And it's, and it's through cone.org.
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::There's, there's several different ways you can get
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::certified with your beer knowledge
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::and actually have the paperwork to show that you have that,
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::you know, it gives you credibility.
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::Right, right. And now that's,
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::and like how many folks get certified?
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::I'm just curious. The,
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::the certified just, well, there's four levels.
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::Um, I think maybe six a year become Master Cerone.
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::I'm definitely not there.
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::Um, the next level down is Advanced Cerone,
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::which I am actively studying for.
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::And by that I'm drinking a lot of beer
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::and trying to keep my knowledge fresh.
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::Um, and still learning more, more things
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::'cause there's all these hot varieties and so on.
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::So, um, the, the certified cone, which I am, uh,
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::you know, it's a, it's a five hour test
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::and there's a tasting and it, it, it, it's a lot.
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::I studied from the time I became a certified beer server,
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::which Christie is, until I became a certified cone.
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::I studied for five years. Wow. Wow.
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::You know, trying everything I get my hands on
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::and, you know, research was half the fun.
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::But, you know,
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::and during that time, you know, it was, it,
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::it, it was a lot.
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::And keeping it fresh in your mind
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::because it just builds each level.
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::And I find it interesting too that, um, you know, women tend
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::to overachieve with credibility, right?
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::Mm-hmm. Where there are, like the boss
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::or the other company, did they have their certification
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::or did, or did they just No.
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::Right. But the reason I wanted to have that, the paperwork
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::and the credibility behind me is
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::because one of the reasons of opening this place was
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::to be an educational tap room.
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::Which again, sounds almost like an oxymoron.
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::People tend to drink and get dumber.
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::And we, we are trying to drink
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::and get people, um, not necessarily smarter,
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::but to use the right words when they order at other places
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::so they can get what they want to drink.
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::Right. So we're, we're constantly like, when people come in
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::and say, I don't want it hoppy.
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::Well, you don't want bitter. What do you want? Yeah.
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::What is it you're really at? So
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::it's all about the adjectives.
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::We always joke about that. Unpack your adjectives. Yeah.
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::Good old schoolhouse rocks.
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::So I wanna circle back around to this idea that, you know,
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::you've got, you know, two incomes coming in, then you,
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::you have this very scary, I mean, I Piper
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::and I went through the same thing where I was diagnosed and,
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::and I'm, I, you know, we were already in business
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::and together together.
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::And this is our only income. And it's very scary.
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::'cause you hear cancer and you don't know.
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::I mean, they'll tell you, oh, you'll be fine.
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::But you don't know. It's still the big seed. Yeah.
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::You, you don't know.
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::And, you know, we, our our business was not set up
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::for me to be gone.
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::Mm-hmm. And we lost a lot of income. That was hard.
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::And so, in that situation, you know, where were you?
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::You hadn't started the business yet,
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::but you were still, I mean,
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::there's still a two income household not having, well,
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::I wasn't working when I, I was volunteering when, okay.
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::Well, I, yes, I was volunteering when, when I got diagnosed
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::and Christie was working, thank God, with great insurance.
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::Um, and then, you know,
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::after the chemo and the radiation
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::and the surgery, I started working for the other chap room.
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::And again, at that point I was using beer as a way
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::to not think about the cancer I was reading and studying.
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::I didn't know I was gonna go into the
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::beer industry at that point.
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::It was just a big passion that you were discovering. It was.
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::That's amazing. And so we, you know, we've,
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::we've talked about this, how cancer kind
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::of pushed me a little bit more towards beer than you would
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::think cancer would.
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::And then, you know, not to skip ahead,
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::but we were open a year
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::and two months when I got diagnosed with cancer again.
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::Oh, geez. And just like you were saying, with with
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::with your business, you weren't
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::anticipating doing it without her.
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::Imagine me being the face of this business.
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::And now I, I don't even have a sense of taste anymore.
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::I, I, you know, and that was a hard, that was hard.
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::That was really hard. It's really hard. Mm-hmm.
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::Because y you kind of,
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::it just gra gradually sneaks up and he was like, what's happening?
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::And you're like, trying to feed,
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::like I was eating incredibly hot food
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::and people around me like, what's going on?
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::Right. And I imagine that, you know, that's a, you know,
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::you can't do half the job.
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::Yeah. Right.
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::Well, what, and again, thank God I was a cone
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::because I could read the descriptions, know what
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::that beer was gonna taste like
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::and what hops were in it, how it would present itself.
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::Because everything tasted like pennies
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::that sat in the bottom of a pool for five years.
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::Everything without fail. I, uh, yeah.
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::I had the same great memories. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
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::Like, yeah. I can't taste anything. Yeah.
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::So, and again, so, so how did you get
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::through that with the business here?
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::Did you already have systems,
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::you had like employees going on here
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::that were, were taken care of?
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::We had two employees besides myself. Mm-hmm.
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::Um, but we hired wisely.
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::They were outrageously responsible.
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::Um, we had one
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::that is when I ended up hospitalized with Sepsis.
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::We called her and she's like, I, I'm there.
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::And just took over.
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::We also had a friend of ours that studied,
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::became a certified beer server without us asking.
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::So if I needed to be a way she could step behind the bar.
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::I know. That's beautiful. You know, you wanna cry?
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::I'm a big cry, baby. I'll cry.
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::We, we also had another friend that studied,
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::became a certified beer server.
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::So just so he had the credentials to be,
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::help me clean my draft lines.
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::'cause I do all that myself.
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::And for a full year, he was here every day that I was here,
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::wouldn't let me pick up furniture.
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::Wouldn't. 'cause I had a port and everything. Yes. So, yes.
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::It was amazing. Yeah. That's, that is really support.
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::You feel so blessed to have that sort
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::of support in your life.
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::Well, this community got me through the second cancer.
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::Like, so cancer drove me to beer
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::and the beer community got me through the second cancer.
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::That's beautiful. It's full circle to that. Oh yes. Cheers.
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::To, to you as well. Yes, yes.
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::You know, us, us stubborn survivors. That's right.
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::You know, I, um, I recognize how hard it is
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::and part of it is, you know, you're still here.
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::And like for me, in my business, what that pushed me
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::to standardize some things mm-hmm.
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::To allow me to be gone. Mm-hmm.
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::I don't know if that happened for you. Oh, it did.
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::All of a sudden there were, there were lists.
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::And because with me being here
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::before the second cancer, I was here
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::probably six days a week, six days a week.
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::I stayed on top of the cleaning, the ordering, everything.
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::And then it became like, okay,
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::every other week the bathrooms will get
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::thoroughly cleaned, you know?
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::Mm-hmm. Deep cleaned and all these lists came about.
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::And I think they're better. It
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::makes the training so much easier.
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::Yes, yes. Absolutely. Right. It makes it standardized.
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::It makes it easy to get people in
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::and make sure that the next person gets the same list.
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::Yep. All that.
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::Well, and Christie became a certified beer server
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::because she was going with the, well, I'm an owner.
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::I'll just be a bar back whenever you need me. Right.
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::And finally she's like, you know what, I'm gonna step up.
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::And she, her friendliness behind the bar.
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::We are such total opposites in that sense.
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::I'm, I'm the, I'm the snarky kind of smart alec.
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::And she's just warm and fuzzy
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::and, you know, it's,
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::you can't have two of the same, it never works.
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::So tell me a little bit about what your role is
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::with the CNC endeavors.
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::Okay. Which is the, I guess the umbrella for Yeah.
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::The beard tooth. The beer tooth. Yep. Tap room.
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::So I am actually behind the scenes.
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::I'm the one that helps with social media. Okay.
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::Um, all the communications.
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::So I'm the Chief Communications Officer. Okay.
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::So if we get press people ask for events,
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::I help coordinate getting events in.
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::Um, I try to keep up, like I said, with social media,
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::if we get something from North Carolina Department of Labor
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::or whatever, I'll forward it onto
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::our CPA, that kind of stuff.
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::So I was very behind the scenes.
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::I wasn't doing administrative Yeah.
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::Hr, all that kind of stuff.
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::And she ran the tap room, you know.
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::Um, so I was hesitant to step field
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::'cause I was a little nervous about,
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::I don't know the beers as well as her.
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::I can't taste the things that she does
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::'cause she's absolutely amazing with all that.
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::So I can also read a description
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::and let people know how something tastes.
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::So as I spent more time behind the bar,
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::I became more confident and I wasn't so nervous.
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::And I'm actually glad I did it.
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::'cause it, it's a lot of fun,
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::you know, interacting with people.
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::Yeah. You know, having fun at your business. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
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::I mean, do you, you really have to have that passion. Right?
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::Yeah. So, um, I wanna talk about
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::how you discovered each other's strengths.
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::Now, you, you'd been working together
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::and you've been together for a while
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::before you actually opened this.
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::Right. And, and I mean, it seems pretty obvious
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::that if you've gone and done the certification, that we know
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::that the b tooth in, in the family
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::is gonna be Kris Krista.
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::Yes, most definitely.
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::So how did you decide, like,
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::you're gonna stay in the background, just,
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::just your personalities, or it's just like,
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::or have you come across something you're doing
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::that you're like, I'm not gonna keep the books.
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::Um, but you're keeping the books. Right?
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::I think because I have the nine to five during the day,
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::it kind of made the most sense.
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::She's the beer, face of beer, tooth. It made more sense.
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::She's, she wanted to run the taproom. I have a nine to five.
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::So that's what I did. And I was like, well, I can still do
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::behind the scenes stuff to help out
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::so you don't have to do everything.
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::So that's kind of how it came about.
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::I got to stay behind and she got the step forward.
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::Did you have a background in, um,
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::small business, somebody in your family?
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::You know, no, it's on the fly. Okay.
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::No, that was also on the fly.
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::Did did you, have you gone to like, you know,
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::the small Businesses administration
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::or some of the, the Women's center
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::or anything to get training
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::or anything that would be really smart, but not, not at all.
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::No. So, you know, there are resources out out there
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::that are, uh,
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::that are great trainings for that sort of thing.
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::Okay. And, um, resources.
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::I can't remember when we, we had the business downtown.
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::Our office was downtown and,
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::and we were just like figuring out, I had, I had worked
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::for a bunch of small businesses, so I kind of knew
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::some stuff and then, and I understood billing and invoicing
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::and insurance and all that, that we needed.
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::But we didn't formally do anything until somebody discovered
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::that we were down the street and they were
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::just wanna make sure we're recording.
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::Oh, yeah. Yeah, we are. Okay. That would be important.
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::Um, uh, so they came down the street
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::and they were like, well, you guys are here.
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::How long have you been here? And we're like, two years,
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::I think at that point we've been down the street from them
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::and they were like, well, we have an institute
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::and we're having a course in two weeks.
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::You're going to it. Yeah. They're like, you.
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::And we were like, we, we can't get it.
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::We can't leave the office. We are the office.
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::And they were like, you can't afford not to.
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::We're going to pay for everything.
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::You're gonna go to this course, it's gonna be for four days.
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::Mm-hmm. And we're gonna even put up your hotel room.
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::You'll just have to come up with your dinner. Okay.
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::And they were like, and,
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::and we, we learned a lot about, oh my God,
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::like setting up a lot systems.
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::Like, you know, are you an owner or are you an operator?
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::It's like, does the business own you
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::or do you own the business?
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::And they were like, does somebody know how
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::to unlock the front door if you're not there?
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::And we're like, nobody has a key but us. Yeah.
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::So there, there are lots of things that, that,
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::that allowed us, you know, to get insight into.
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::And, you know, having those resources were great now.
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::We were busy doing the work. Right.
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::And so you get really good at doing the work, right? Mm-hmm.
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::But eventually, you know, I know that the specter
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::of cancer is always around,
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::and it might not be you getting sick.
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::And I bless, but don't want that to happen to anybody.
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::Right. Don't want that to happen that either one of us.
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::But, you know, part of it is, is, you know, there are things
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::that you can do to be up,
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::and I know that you want to do the tasting because mm-hmm.
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::Who doesn't enjoy beer, right?
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::I live to talk about beer, taste beer,
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::think beer all the time.
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::There you go. It's that bad. That's, and that's good.
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::You know, you know, Piper was, uh, worked for, uh,
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::Nancy Olson at the Quail Books.
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::At Quail Corners. It was books.
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::It was books at 12 Corners that had moved.
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::But she was one of the first employees.
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::I was the first employee. She was the first employee.
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::And so she, she watched, um, Nancy develop, you know, know
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::that, that model and go through that.
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::And Jim had a, her husband had a job.
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::He worked for state agricultural department.
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::But he would come at night
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::and he would be like, oh, I enjoy this.
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::He'd be like, you know, Nancy, go home. Go out. Right.
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::With your friends. And then, that sounds familiar, right?
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::So Exactly. When, yeah. So I was thinking, yeah.
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::So like, how do you guys come together
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::and make business decisions?
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::Do you do this formally or is it like you're brushing your
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::teeth and you're like, I have an idea.
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::Well, I will tell you, I am
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::at my most creative at about three o'clock in the morning.
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::So there, there was a lot of times I'd be like,
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::wake up, I have this idea.
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::She'd be like, are you kidding? But, um, yeah, I buy, yes.
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::Some of my better, better ideas. Yeah.
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::Um, but usually like when it comes
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::to the beer and everything like that, Christie
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::is not involved in that.
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::But when it comes to hiring
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::and, um, events, we like to talk it out,
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::like how it's gonna go.
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::I mean, our big events here are fundraisers that we do.
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::And to me, I get very anxious about it
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::because I wanna make as much money for those, the charities
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::that we're supporting as possible.
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::And a lot of times I need her to kind of go, okay,
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::well this is, these are what we need to get this going.
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::So we are, we,
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::we do compliment each other really well in that sense.
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::And, but the funny thing is, is both of us are introverts.
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::Now, I'm a very outgoing introvert,
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::but when I am peopled out, she'll step in.
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::'cause she'll see it in my face. I'm like, I Yep.
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::You just can't, you can't do it anymore.
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::And she'll know when I need downtime.
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::And, but again, 20 years together, she recognizes that.
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::Yeah. So, so right now there's no real mechanism to like,
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::get away and do like a business retreat to talk about, Hey,
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::what are we gonna, so what are your plans
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::for five years out?
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::Um, we'll still be here. Yes.
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::Right now, I mean, since we opened our doors in the middle
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::of Covid, we got the keys to this place the day
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::before the shutdown.
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::The shutdown the day before.
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::And we were, I'm not gonna say that we're optimists,
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::but we were both like, well, that'll give our builders time
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::to do the build out and no pressure
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::and everything, everything will come in
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::line and we'll be fine.
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::Well, nothing came in line
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::and everything quadrupled in cost.
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::And so all the money that we set, we had ready to go
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::to get us through the three years of growing pains.
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::Right, right. You spent right away. Yes.
526
::So we, so how, how's business now we know how
527
::to tread water very well.
528
::This January was, I will tell you, a lot
529
::of lost sleep on my part.
530
::So, so you, you, you're seeing a cycle then in, you're like,
531
::you got a seasonal cycle that, that kind of goes like this.
532
::Right. Okay. Yeah. And we did some good events in January
533
::that I think we had a, just talking to the beer reps, I know
534
::that we had a better JA January than most places.
535
::Uh, it was not profitable,
536
::but it was still a good, a decent January.
537
::Um, we did, we actually did an event
538
::with Mad Pop or two doors down.
539
::We did a beer and popcorn hearing
540
::and people liked to come out for that.
541
::Um, yeah. That, that's a nice people partnership for that.
542
::It is. They is very, yeah. Neighborhoody. Yeah.
543
::So, you know, right now we,
544
::we've exhausted all those funds, everything
545
::that we had stored up, and we did make the three year mark.
546
::However, that first year was a covid year.
547
::So does it really count? Right. Right.
548
::It's a different sort of accounting. Right.
549
::Couldn't, we couldn't grow our customer base. Right, right.
550
::Uh, that first year. So, you know, right now I think that
551
::that four year mark is gonna be that true.
552
::Will be the, the the former three year mark.
553
::So we're, are you're feeling com comfortable?
554
::Are you feeling optimistic? Um, Umhmm,
555
::I'm, I am a realist.
556
::Yeah. I know what I need to do.
557
::Um, you've got your numbers, you've got your keep Yeah.
558
::Performance indicators. Those, so whatcha you looking for?
559
::I mean, are you, do you have like your number of like,
560
::my imagination is like how many drinks sold
561
::or how many to go things, you know, that sort of thing.
562
::It, it is something like, honestly what we are,
563
::what I look at right now is how many more pints do I need
564
::to sell a week to break even.
565
::Right. And, you know, sometimes just,
566
::I don't, I don't like to be a pushy salesperson,
567
::but if I'm watching someone drink the same beer for an,
568
::like, have three of 'em, I'm gonna,
569
::I'm gonna make sure we're asking, do we do,
570
::would you like a crawler to take home with you?
571
::You know, things like that. So we're trying to,
572
::to make sure we upsell when we can.
573
::Right. But not become that. Right. Right. Yeah.
574
::No, I mean, he was car salesman mentality. Sure. Right.
575
::So what other things are like in the marketing here?
576
::I know that like, first year years, marketing
577
::and being consistent is really a big thing.
578
::Right. And so how are you finding your marketing KPIs?
579
::So we're still gaining followers.
580
::Um, I worked last night
581
::and I, there were six brand new couples that came in.
582
::They were like, we had no idea you were here.
583
::So we're still getting that. Oh yeah.
584
::Because we're kind of tucked in this little corner. Right.
585
::Um, so we are definitely growing our customer base
586
::and a lot of them are just finding us from word of mouth.
587
::It's not social media. Hmm.
588
::So we have a lot of really good regulars that talk about us.
589
::Mm-hmm. Um, they'll bring their friends in
590
::and their friends bring friends in.
591
::So we wanna talk about you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
592
::We want, we wanna, because part of it is like the, the,
593
::our community, meaning just Durham,
594
::but L-G-B-T-Q community, um, we have, uh,
595
::a lot invested in creating, uh,
596
::businesses that are sustainable.
597
::Mm-hmm. And that can help us, you know, do good works. Yeah.
598
::Right? Mm-hmm. And so I wanna help, uh, help y'all get
599
::more folks in the door if we can.
600
::And, and, uh, thank you.
601
::Looking at your, your marketing, uh,
602
::what other things are you trying to to,
603
::to cultivate, to get the word out?
604
::So we started with Facebook and Instagram.
605
::Like most people, we have a email. Mm-hmm.
606
::Um, but we had a couple friends who were like, Hey,
607
::what do you think about TikTok?
608
::And I'm like, I don't, because I have no idea.
609
::So we have a regular who's like,
610
::would you mind if I created a beer tooth TikTok account?
611
::And we're like, as long
612
::as you understand the kinds of things you need to post.
613
::She's like, oh yeah. She's like, I'm, I will, you know,
614
::if you have any concerns about what I post, let me know.
615
::So we have a regular that does TikTok for us.
616
::She comes in, if we do an event, um, if we have trivia,
617
::she posts stuff about it.
618
::And we have another friend that just, um,
619
::created a Discord account for beer tooth.
620
::So a way to reach, ask questions, people
621
::that we may not have reached through regular social media.
622
::'cause not everybody has Instagram and Facebook.
623
::So we're trying to find new ways to find people.
624
::And we're not the ones coming up with the ideas.
625
::Thank goodness we have such great customers Yeah.
626
::That want to help us succeed.
627
::Sore, like, Hey, what can I do? Yeah.
628
::Raving fans want you to succeed. Succeed.
629
::So we are very dependent it seems,
630
::because we don't have time to research new technology
631
::and what's going, you know, what's trending with people
632
::and more, not to call us old,
633
::but you know, we're gen, we're like, what?
634
::I don't know what to love's doing Snapchat, not gonna do it.
635
::So everyone's like, you should do YouTube.
636
::And we're like, yeah, we'll get there eventually. Yeah.
637
::I think, you know, so thinking about TikTok
638
::and the way you love to go on about beer and tasting
639
::and that sort of thing, I think, you know,
640
::those are fantastic.
641
::Uh, for TikTok where,
642
::or YouTube where you just go, okay, this one is this X, y,
643
::Z, that's it.
644
::In and out super fast. That was the suggestion.
645
::I'm like, I, but I have the knowledge,
646
::but I am not, I don't have a, that personality.
647
::I don't, it doesn't matter. Oh, okay.
648
::It's, it's about the knowledge.
649
::Maybe I'll give it a go then.
650
::It, it's, it's about the knowledge.
651
::And like, if you can just be deep into the knowledge,
652
::you're people will grab onto that
653
::because it's like, you know,
654
::'cause part of the shtick, the thing will be
655
::she loves it, but look, she's presenting it.
656
::It's like gold, right? Yeah.
657
::People just want to like, see how authentic it is
658
::and that, you know,
659
::you're gonna light up when you talk about your beard.
660
::You do. Yeah. That's true. You do.
661
::We, um, most definitely do, one
662
::of the things we do monthly is, uh,
663
::we call it flight school.
664
::Ah. Um, where we sit down, I curate a flight.
665
::I don't work that day. So we have the students come in
666
::and we drink a flight
667
::and we talk about what it, what the topic is.
668
::So last month it was, well,
669
::February was pucker up buttercup.
670
::We talked about, about sours, how they're made.
671
::And it was, it was a lot of fun.
672
::And when we started it,
673
::I think my first flight school, we had three people.
674
::And now we're maxing out at 12 every, every time.
675
::We don't want the classes too big. Right? Yeah.
676
::So they can't be more, you can't have
677
::that one-on-one interaction.
678
::So we were super excited. We had 12.
679
::There's a suggestion that we start doing it twice a month,
680
::you know, do a, a new topic, then go back
681
::and do an old topic that people missed.
682
::And I'm like, okay. You know? Well, it's more of your time.
683
::Yeah. Well, it's more of your time. But twist my arm.
684
::Talk about, talk about beer, talk and drink.
685
::Because, you know, when you work here, you can't drink. Ah.
686
::So drinking, it's nice having that time.
687
::So who do you, who would you say are your,
688
::like your raving fans
689
::or your ideal folks here that come through the door
690
::that you want to get more of in here?
691
::Certain age group.
692
::Certain, I mean, I know beer is for like, universal.
693
::Well, honestly, everybody, anybody that
694
::from the novice, I've never had craft beer before.
695
::To people that wanna sit down and talk about the hops
696
::and the beer, because you know, that, that whole range,
697
::you know, I like, I like the newcomers when,
698
::when you can like, start showing them.
699
::Like, you, you don't like, you know, people
700
::that come in, it's like, I'm gonna have a cider.
701
::I'm not a beer drinker.
702
::And then you have them try something and they're,
703
::and they drink like three glasses of it.
704
::And I'm like, well, you can't say that anymore. I love it.
705
::I love the conversion because,
706
::because like my mom, she was 70.
707
::It's a beer church. Yes. Beer church. I love it.
708
::Well, you know, you worship where you worship.
709
::But my mom used to say, I'm the only person
710
::of pure German descent.
711
::I'm 72 and I hate beer.
712
::Well, we finally sat down
713
::and I kept trying to give her something lighter and lighter
714
::because, you know, that tastes like
715
::beer and ooh, that tastes like beer.
716
::And finally, um, I'm like, what do you love?
717
::Like, you'll never turn down.
718
::She's like, chocolate ice cream.
719
::I'm like, let's try a chocolate milk stout.
720
::And now the woman's drinking bourbon barrel age Russian
721
::imperial stouts at 14.9%.
722
::And we also know not to give her more than two.
723
::But you know, I, I glance of sleepy, sleepy.
724
::But again, you know, if I can convert a 72-year-old
725
::that's determined not to drink a beer, I, I hope
726
::that I can do that for everybody.
727
::Because not being a beer drinker isn't a good thing
728
::because there's so many great styles
729
::and you pair it with so many different, you know, dishes.
730
::Mm-hmm. I mean, and you can sellar it
731
::and pop open a, a 6-year-old bottle of a great stout.
732
::And it's amazing.
733
::We, we did this, uh, segment with a chef,
734
::and he had was we were at, uh, Highwire
735
::and he, he bought some,
736
::some dark bears so that he could cook with it.
737
::He was making, um, barbecue. Mm-hmm.
738
::And, and it was, he talked about right,
739
::what the ingredients were mm-hmm.
740
::And how we picked the beer to use in the ingredients to make
741
::what was So I thought that was amazing.
742
::Mm-hmm. And I was like, that sounds so amazing,
743
::because I do like to be, uh, drink
744
::or cook with beer every once in a while.
745
::So that's, that's fun. You
746
::can't make chili without a porter.
747
::I mean, come on. Exactly.
748
::And Guinness Stew is Guinness Guin. Yeah.
749
::Or Guinness, probably.
750
::So what would you, um, advise people
751
::that are thinking about going into business together?
752
::If they're partners, if they're, what would you say to them?
753
::I would say do a little more research.
754
::Talk to people a little more.
755
::Don't just say, Hey, we could do this.
756
::And then just jump in.
757
::Um, I think we probably could have done a little more prep
758
::work and not hit some speed bumps that we have.
759
::Like, we had a little more knowledge ing like, like,
760
::you think you know what your bills are gonna be
761
::and you think you have the calculations figured out,
762
::and then you're like, that costs more than I expected.
763
::Or we didn't expect beer prices to go up.
764
::So we're like, how do, what do we do now?
765
::Do we raise our prices? Do we not raise our, so
766
::it was trying to, and setting KPIs.
767
::That's another thing. We're like, we had no idea.
768
::We're like, we're just gonna sell beer. It'll be great.
769
::And then you're like, oh wait, I didn't think about
770
::how many beers I had to actually sell.
771
::Because you have new expenses
772
::that come in that you didn't think about.
773
::You need, you need more than just beer to pour beer. Right.
774
::So. Right. Well there's also, you know,
775
::business laws are constantly changing.
776
::Um, we are very fortunate, a member
777
::of our run club is a, is a business lawyer.
778
::And he'll be like, Hey, did you submit this form?
779
::It's a new thing. And we're like, wait, what? Right. What?
780
::You know, but he's awesome and keeps us least updated.
781
::Um, you know, things we didn't realize.
782
::You know, we, we talked earlier
783
::before this that you,
784
::you trust your general contractor to do certain things.
785
::I didn't realize that I needed
786
::to be like the co-project manager
787
::and be here and double checking things.
788
::'cause coming back, you know, still right now,
789
::once while I'll look at something
790
::and be like, what was that?
791
::You know, it's, but,
792
::and you have to be, you have to be ready to not only be
793
::the owner or the beer orderer.
794
::You have to be the facility person.
795
::Like, 'cause I get calls, the, the TV won't turn on.
796
::It's not pleasant. The, the TV won't turn on
797
::or 10 o'clock at night, the water,
798
::the water's out, the bathroom's locked.
799
::Well, is there someone in there?
800
::You know, it's like crazy question.
801
::Watching the cooler temperature go up over the course
802
::of a day just going, oh, no.
803
::Oh, oh dear, dear.
804
::But, you know, I mean, there's all these things
805
::and I, I used to always love going
806
::to the mailbox personally.
807
::It's like, oh, let's see what's there.
808
::Because that was before I was an adult and Bills came.
809
::Now going to the business mailbox, I'm just like,
810
::opening the don, you have a different experience.
811
::That's where our checks come in. Yeah.
812
::I get excited because I'm
813
::like, oh, maybe something will be there.
814
::No, it's like depart. You see like, um, department
815
::of Revenue, I don't wanna see that.
816
::Department of Revenue, department of Labor.
817
::And it is, and you're like, oh, here comes a bill.
818
::Let's see. And then I have to remember how
819
::to write a check in my, in, in QuickBooks.
820
::I'm like, because now everything's
821
::done with electronic transfer.
822
::Every once in a while you're like,
823
::you got send, send a check to.
824
::I'm like, okay, learn how to do that again.
825
::I gotta learn QuickBooks again.
826
::So the question I always ask when couples are in business
827
::together is, uh, so how do you deal
828
::with dinner or meals?
829
::Like, do you eat out a lot?
830
::We, we don't, we get take out a lot.
831
::So if she's working in the morning
832
::and I'm coming in to close, I'll bring something so
833
::that we can eat together at the tap room
834
::before she goes home.
835
::So we have, so we have some overlap.
836
::Um, if I'm not coming into the tap
837
::room, I'll try to cook at home.
838
::She'll come home and we'll actually have a home cooked meal.
839
::But yeah, we have to do a lot of,
840
::a lot more eating out than we would like to.
841
::Right, right.
842
::And have you, um, delegated in any of the tasks at home
843
::that you were taking care of before?
844
::Like, you know, laundry, lawn, anything like that?
845
::Um, no.
846
::Um, we've now learned how to like just get our clothes out
847
::of the clean clothes basket
848
::because folding them is no longer an option.
849
::That is the dresser now. Yes, yes. Exactly. Yeah.
850
::No, typically I do the cooking.
851
::Um, and we share the responsibilities with our dogs.
852
::Like she'll go home, make sure they're fed.
853
::You made it sound like we shared cooking
854
::responsibility with dogs.
855
::With the dogs. No, we shared, we're making,
856
::I was wondering where that was going.
857
::We share cooking responsibilities
858
::and we also split up taking care of the dogs.
859
::The dogs come enough. Yes. Yeah.
860
::And we have a special needs dog that has to be fed, uh,
861
::by hand three times a day.
862
::So that is one of those things.
863
::And he, he doesn't mind eating here
864
::and we just have to keep him calm, but Yeah.
865
::Yeah. But, but our little dog is a little loud sometimes.
866
::So trying to balance that out. Yeah. So yeah.
867
::So like that balance there that, like you said,
868
::home life balance is, is is a tricky thing for, for us.
869
::Um, yeah.
870
::We've, we've asked all the couples,
871
::I don't know if you've had a chance
872
::to watch any of the other ones.
873
::Talk about how, you know, there's supposed to be a boundary
874
::and I, you know, boundaries are a big thing.
875
::Oh, right. Boundaries. Boundaries are a big
876
::thing to sort of set up.
877
::You know, after X we're not gonna talk,
878
::we're gonna just be a couple, which is no business talk
879
::after Yeah.
880
::After some time or whatever time. It is hard.
881
::We, we don't have a problem with that.
882
::I mean, honestly, usually comes in 20 years in,
883
::well, it comes in spurts.
884
::Like, we'll, we'll be drinking coffee on like a Sunday
885
::morning and it's like, just blah, blah blah about,
886
::about beer tooth.
887
::And then it's done.
888
::I mean, and again, we've gotten our roles down enough that
889
::if we have an event coming up,
890
::I'll ask her opinion on things.
891
::I'll ask her to make something in Canva
892
::or whatever, poster wise.
893
::But, you know, I try to let her know well in advance what,
894
::what events are coming so we're not doing the last minute
895
::thing because
896
::that puts too much stress on us to do it that way. Gotcha.
897
::I'm coming here because we had some tech issues with,
898
::uh, hyperized camera.
899
::So we're gonna let the audio roll with, um, the other shot.
900
::And you won't see us asking the questions and
901
::Income and revenue wise.
902
::Revenue wise, what are you, what are you shooting for?
903
::For the, uh, beard tooth, like dollar amount. Mm-hmm.
904
::Um, like, like wishes or fishes. Right.
905
::You gonna cast that big net.
906
::What, what are you looking for this to, to, to start making?
907
::Um, honestly, if we could just clear
908
::15 a month, 15,000 a month, 15,000 a month,
909
::we could break even.
910
::I never got into this business thinking we were gonna get
911
::rich or sell it, but not go broke.
912
::Exactly. Or go belly up.
913
::I mean, again, I am doing this because I love it.
914
::And also I need the job security
915
::of not firing myself 'cause of something I said.
916
::So I want a place to come where I can be comfortable and,
917
::and do what I do best.
918
::And that's, that's what, I just don't wanna lose this place,
919
::but you can only mark up beer so much.
920
::And I refuse to gouge our customers. Yeah, yeah. To survive.
921
::Yeah. That's not, uh,
922
::not a good business practice necessarily, but, uh, no.
923
::And also we wanna pay our, pay our employees well enough.
924
::Are there, uh, um, associate beer associations?
925
::I'm not really sure how that works.
926
::Like taproom associations
927
::or conferences and stuff like that.
928
::I'm just curious. Well,
929
::the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild has now opened up
930
::a retail side of it.
931
::It used to only be like the production side. Yes.
932
::And honestly, Christie and I went to one,
933
::'cause we were, when we started thinking about making this
934
::business, we were thinking about doing a brewery too, which
935
::thank God we did not, um, because of Covid.
936
::Yeah. Um, but we, we got to meet people in the industry.
937
::That's where we met our, our beer lawyer
938
::who keeps us legal in every way.
939
::Um, we, that's where we met our accountants.
940
::Those are things we knew we couldn't cover ourselves. Right.
941
::We just didn't have the know-how. Right.
942
::So we admitted where we had major weaknesses brought
943
::and hired who we needed to.
944
::But you know, there is the Craft Brewers Guild,
945
::and now that they're doing the retail portion,
946
::it's understanding, there's, um, pink boots, uh,
947
::association, and that is, uh,
948
::women in the craft beverage industry.
949
::So, uh, cries, metery breweries,
950
::tap rooms were women that like,
951
::obviously this was a very male dominated industry,
952
::even though beer brewing should be solely
953
::for the ill wives, but Yes.
954
::Um, and witches. Yes.
955
::But, but the thing is, is
956
::now there is a professional organization of women
957
::and it's all about encouraging and inspiring one another.
958
::And it, it's, and you
959
::belong to that and you've gone through that.
960
::That is so fantastic that you've found that. Yes.
961
::And you're part of that. So a really good group of people.
962
::The the funny thing is I always felt like an outsider
963
::because they were all in the brewing industry
964
::and I was in retail.
965
::But, um, I've, we've made some tremendous friends.
966
::We actually are hang out with some of them at hockey games.
967
::I mean, it's just a really, really good industry
968
::and organization to be a part of.
969
::Uh, that's awesome. I think that's a really great up note
970
::to, to end today.
971
::Much success. Thank you.
972
::I am rooting for you and I will do what I can to, uh,
973
::promote, uh, beer too.
974
::Yes. We appreciate let people know that you're here
975
::and open for Cheers.
976
::Cheer. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.
977
::We appreciate it. What a pleasure. I have fun. But
978
::I wanna say thank you to the folks, uh, Kristy
979
::and Krista over at oo at CNC Endeavors
980
::because they were a delight
981
::and for hosting us in their space
982
::and can't wait to have them on again, maybe in about a year.
983
::Key peaked interest. KPI, entrepreneurial insight,
984
::L-G-B-T-Q additions.
985
::Hey y'all. Hi y'all. I'm Piper.
986
::I'm Monique. As a woman
987
::and minority owned business, we're interested in talking
988
::to couples that look like us
989
::lesbian couples in a service business.
990
::That's why this podcast exists.
991
::I've been looking for a queer business podcast
992
::that showcased L-G-B-T-Q
993
::and Bipoc owners found the few in each category,
994
::but none that mixed the two.
995
::So we created Key Peaked Interest podcast.
996
::This show is looking to honestly connect
997
::with other successful L-G-B-T-Q couples in business.
998
::We hope you enjoyed this episode.
999
::We're open to nominations, introductions,
1000
::and suggestions for guests.
1001
::Hit us up in the comments and thanks for watching
1002
::and listening.
