Women and the Drinks Biz

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I’d like to jump into a production story that has stuck with all of us after almost 6 years in business. That is the story of our first batch ever, where pretty much everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, how we dealt with it and the magic that came out of it. It just shows that even on the worst of days, you can always find a way though. Have you started a...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode, we’re still talking sales but we’re switching it up a bit! To help me with that is Virginia Vaughn who for several years has been a Bay Area sales rep for Original Pattern Brewing Company located on Oakland. I pick her brain about the beer world and how she manages the challenges and celebrates the successes of sales.  Follow Virginia to hear more about her life...

Send us Fan Mail Sales series continues! This time I dive into showcasing the cider community as a whole. It is one divided by core beliefs in what makes a proper cider. And stemming from this cultural schism, bad behavior by some of those in our community keeps us divided at the state and local level. While most of us are boots on the ground, making relationships, and building the category in a p...

Send us Fan Mail I continue my journey on the sales beat - sharing lessons learned, successes, and failures, the female experience. You know, all the things! Joining me to add her perspective is Cathy Gabel of Blindwood Cider Company who, along with her husband and sister-in-law have bootstrapped a small hard cider company across the Bay in San Leandro and are making great ciders from locally and...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I venture back through the years to relive the lessons I have learned slinging cider in the Bay Area and trying to build a cider brand from scratch in a market I knew nothing about. It’s been a rough journey but all the cider you sell along the way and the relationships you build makes all the pain worth it. Most days... Are you still on the sales beat even during...

Send us Fan Mail In this slightly longer episode I try my hand at my first interview with our wonderful production manager, Alisha Blue, who joined South City Ciderworks last year. She will share how she got into beer in the first place, help me break down the similarities and differences between beer and cider, and share her experiences being a woman in the brewery. Are you a woman looking to sta...

Send us Fan Mail For this episode I jump into the details of the market research we had to do before starting the business AND walk through how we answered all of those business plan questions in order to build the foundation for our cider company. So do you have any concerns as you’re building out your business plan? Any crazy business ideas you’d love to get off the ground? Send me your story at...

Send us Fan Mail Now on to the beginning of our start-up story. I jump into the details of why we wanted to make cider in the first place, why we decided to build it into a business, and why we chose to call our company South City Ciderworks. I go into a little detail about myself and my background and then share our Cider Origin Story that started it all. Sometimes it really does come down to an...

Send us Fan Mail What a crazy year it has been! As small business owners, we’re feeling the impacts of this global health crisis on several fronts, BUT we’re hanging in there. Join me as I share how COVID-19 has affected both the alcohol market and our cider company AND how we’re keeping the cider flowing during these trying times. I feel like this will be an incredible outlet for me to share thos...

Send us Fan Mail OK! It’s time for some REAL TALK. I’ve been in the alcohol business for more than five years now and there’s something that everyone knows and not many talk about. That there are NOT ENOUGH women owning businesses, running them, or generally working in this industry. And being in this industry is FUCKING HARD.  Hi, I’m Jenn. And along with my husband Alex (Hello!) I run a small ha...