Inside a Gluten-Free Brewery

Speaker 1: [Music] hi I'm Melanie bar welcome to the she builted experience with Melanie you're here because you want to experience the life and business that you crave join me as I talk to women who have successfully built it a career and business that they love we dive into the topic of how they built it and talk about everything from Having the courage to make career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech innovation magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so let's dive in Karen herris is a founder of holily Brewing Company the largest gluten-free Brewery in the country they have been named a top 10 women-owned Brewery in the world and have been featured in National Publications such as pop sugar Food and Wine magazine and Men's Journal to name a few thank you for joining us Karen you are the founder of holid Brewing Company the largest gluten-free Brewery in the country what gave you the courage to create and launch your business and why are you so passionate about creating gluten-free beer I came up with the idea and ran it by a lot of trusted advisers mentors friends and was highly encouraged to do it I had a network of people behind me that were supportive including a spouse and my family the reason I'm so passionate about it and really the reason that I started it was I was working in the Brewing industry I had been working at Kors for about 10 years and Colorado and beer is a huge part of really Colorado's social life whether it's sporting events or Opera ski or after a mountain bike ride and the craft beer scene here similar to Southern California is really big had an MBA in entrepreneurial studies so I had the education and I had the work experience at Kors and then I ran into health issues I am a two-time cancer survivor when pregnant with twins was diagnosed with melanoma and had surgery and radiation and then when the Twins were a year old I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and an autoimmune thyroid disease and both thyroid issues and skin issues are related to celiac disease so at that point doctors were telling me you are done consuming gluten so I loved beer I worked in the industry I had this degree and had to be gluten-free and tried the gluten-free beer that was out there I'm not a big seltzer cider Drinker and wanted to be part of that beer Community I felt like there had to be other people that wanted a gluten-free beer and it brings them back into a piece of their social life so much bigger than a beer it actually gives people the freedom to have beer with their friends or go to events and drink a beer at a baseball game or any of those things that is almost normaly to people it brings it back for them you've been through a lot and it's so great that you took all of that knowledge and everything that you experienced and turned it into such a great and wonderful thing for other people that are also going through similar things that like like you are it's true whether it's celiac disease or gluten sensitivity or cancer or Ms Crohn's they are starting to find that a gluten-free diet helps them and it's so great to find that something can help but you're sacrificing something else for it and it it just is not it's not very fun to feel that part so to be able to remove that pain from people is really rewarding and holid can you tell us the premise behind your name yes within the group of people I was working with someone said holid daily and ultimately it came out to be an awesome brand name for us it it means every day is a holiday or make the most of every single day and that's based on my history and background but also we're providing beer to people that they could have every day if they want if they're gluten-free which really they haven't gotten to do before and the brand is fun every beer we name underneath it it's a wide open space where it's we get to send a positive message all the colors in on all of our cans are really bright the designs are fun everything to the paint in our tap rooms is bright and cheerful it gives a bright message to people and hopefully puts a smile on people's face we go through so much in a day and we can go through so much in our lives that it's so important to remember to celebrate the small moments absolutely and just be grateful for for what we have we also never know what will happen I mean I am a very healthy human I have been my whole life and at 30 I was diagnosed with cancer twice in a year and it was a very big eye opener for me in terms of you just never know so make the most of what we've got is the message that I like to send how have you felt after going on a gluten-free diet and why do you think some should consider it I've started eating more gluten-free and I feel lighter I have more energy it's interesting to try different things and see how your body responds and how you feel I agree any attorneys would tell me make sure you state that you are not a doctor I'm not a doctor so I I'm not allowed to give medical advice however humans have a hard time digesting gluten gluten is a protein it's found in barley wheat Rye primarily and and very hard for humans to digest so if you think of a cow who might eat a lot of that they have four stomachs humans have a so they just have a better process for digesting some of these proteins than humans do gluten is scientifically been proven to cause inflammation in our bodies so things like feeling full feeling bloated even joint pain can be related to gluten and they're finding more and more symptoms that people have related to it for me man the biggest things were brain fog and fatigue I was making mistakes at work that I just I make mistakes every single day but bigger ones than I make yeah probably more than most big mistakes just weird formulas on spreadsheets or different things that I was like what is going on and then other things once I cut it out other things that I didn't know were related to it were clearing up monster allergy symptoms for me seasonal allergies and another big one for me was eczema I had eczema on my legs and I just thought I played soccer my whole life I'm like oh it's like where I wore shinguards and I didn't really know or when I go hot tubbing when we go to the mountains it seems to flare up and I don't get any of that anymore so there were other things going on that never in a million years would I have related it to that but I definitely think it has influenced a a whole bunch of different portions of my life that I had no idea that was the trigger it's so interesting how we can eliminate things that are happening with our body based on our diet changes at times and it is so good I have my can right here I have the the blonde it is so light and The Taste is so good it is so good thank you yes love it that's our favorite blonde and that one's our biggest seller Grandpa called me his favorite blonde and he was an eye doctor so there's an eye chart on on that can and looks like a little eye doctor's office on the can every brand is a fun story bright color and that's the favorite blond I see and love that tribute to him yeah you Googled gluten-free grains and came across the owner of the only gluten-free molting company in the us at the time you mentioned that it was fate because she happened to be 50 miles away and that you were also able to support another woman-owned business tell us about that business relationship and how you Source your grain we talked about the you get and I decided to make the leap and then a couple really amazing miraculous things happened that was reinforcement that I was doing the right thing I can talk about in the corporate world it felt like I was always Up Against the Wind and then the wind started going with me when I made this decision and this is the best example of it what I found out when I was trying gluten free beers in the very beginning and thinking there's got to be something better what was happening at the time is these gluten-free beers and this still happens sometimes we're being made with syrups sorghum syrup or rice syrup and beer has grain in it has barley and wheat and that's why it has gluten in it so I was looking to replace grain with gluten-free grain and ultimately to your point on the internet Googling glutenfree grain or gluten-free malt once you once you treat it for beer it's called malt but these are gluten-free grains that are being treated the only place in the world at the time that was open that was a gluten-free Malt House was in Colorado so you're Point 50 miles away from my front door a woman-owned company that had opened just a year before us it's called Grouse Malt House This Woman's name is twia souls and she is a genius all her grains are sourced relatively locally in Colorado and Nebraska she had picked the grains that we utilize which are Millet and buck s in each of our beers because they are locally farmed she's certified gluten-free so everything we buy from her is certified as well I can't imagine doing this without her our beer would not be the same we have the same dream ultimately being able to provide beer to people that are gluten-free and want to have a beer when you think of Brewing you think of what holid does you know mix the Grain and liquid and add the Hops and package it and we get to do the sexy shiny stuff but really when Brewing starts is in the field they malt it and roast it so we can make any style we sent you really a variety pack so you'll see we have a stout in there we have different ipas in there and that's how really due to what she does with the grain before it even makes it to us that process is really from her phase all the way through to pouring it in a glass we have to be a team in those things to really understand these are the flavors I want to brew this is the grain we're going to need all the way to we're growing like crazy are you can you grow like crazy and we work on projections and how we can help support each other every single beer we make is made out of her grain and we're a team for sure and and she supplies other breweries whether it's competitors or not but ultimately my relationship with her is key to the success of my business and she's very fun and a good friend too so that's a bonus isn't it so interesting that when you're on the right track the right people come into your life and things start to fall into place it's not always easy yes but the opportunities start to show up you have to look for those too because there's a lot that I could dwell on it's a a bad sign you know there's a pandemic and there's all these other things that you can dwell on as oh this is a sign I shouldn't do it but I guess I choose to find especially the really crazy ones like that where something happens that you're like this has to be F like I have to be doing the right thing or this would have never worked out this way I think I'm an optimist in that perspective how does it feel to be named top 10 women-owned breweries in the world and what advice do you have for women growing a business when they experience the wins and when they experience the challenging days oh to be named that is insane it's Unique so only 3% of breweries are owned by women so we've got some work to do in this space and I love being a leader of it I love inspiring other women and encouraging other women the more and more I see women in the Brewing industry the more other people see women in the Brewing industry and then the more consumers female consumers in particular are like it's great to drink beer even if you're a woman so being a face and being someone that helps people get used to that site I love that piece of it and to be honored like that is Indescribable honestly in terms of women it wins in challenging days so I have found I tell my kids this too my very worst days are often followed by some of my very best days I've seen a pattern where I have a really bad day and then I have a really great day I think it's a matter of expectations and attitude it's hard to explain but I've seen this pattern a lot so I talked to my girls about it when they have a bad day at school or with friends or whatever it might be look for that pattern because it happens a lot so I tend to lean into that and and sometimes it may be just get me through this day just get me through this hard day because I'm optimistic that tomorrow will be better I've seen this pattern before in terms of celebrations and great things I try and celebrate every good thing that happens because there's so much that's difficult about starting a company creating a culture selling things keeping customers dealing with investors we have Distributors we deal with too so I've got stuff coming at me all day and if any of it's a win I try and really take that in stay positive in terms of what could happen versus what is happening and be an optimist as as much as I can be you're so right because when we take the time to really feel our WIS it makes us want to keep going it's true and I mean it is beer so I'm pretty good at celebrating if I have to right I love it we talked about both of us are twin moms and I have said on the podcast before although my organization and multitasking skills were good before that the twins took it to an entirely new level and I see it in my work life every day share with us your experience as a working twin mom and how you were able to grow your business for anyone managing a busy lifestyle I started the business in 2016 so at that point my kids they were nine the age worked out pretty good for us I don't think I could have done this when they were probably zero to five because we were in the thick of it no doubt timing helps a lot I have a insanely supportive husband who also has a good career and we took a calculated risk we talked about what our options were where we were at with the kids they were getting a little more independent so so it felt like a good time multitasking and one of my strengths is really taking in the moment that I'm in in particular when my I know my company's taken care of like I have a great leadership team at work and I know my kids are taking care of once I have that in order I'm good at putting things into buckets so when I'm at work I'm very focused at work and when I'm at home or at a soccer game I let work go and I'm very focused on that one thing that's let me feel like I could be good at both versus trying to be I don't know mediocre at everything and do it all at the same time I have to block out those pieces of time for those different individual things there's two steps in it one is making sure the things I feel like when I'm not there the things are taken care of and then the other is when I'm in there I'm fully engaged with what I'm doing that's how I've been able to pull it off so far that's really good advice and I don't know if it has to do with twins but I remember thinking okay this is my downtime and I have to fully engage in taking downtime or you know if I'm at work I have to fully focus on work just because you don't have those added times of putting one down for a nap and walking away because when you put one down you're picking up the other one and thank you for being so honest about a lot of working moms when you have kids you're kind of forced to take a step back and that can leave us wondering who we are are we still who we were and that can be a really challenging time but it it doesn't mean never and so thank you for saying what you said yeah it's hard that age is very challenging and and I do think we made so many strides in women being able to work in workplaces helping with that but so much the majority of the time even though you're trying and your spouse is helping we're not even to necessarily A 5050 deal at home yet like it's still some much falls on the mom and I'll be honest I want it to fall on me I want to be an active mom and an Engaged mom too so you have to be so careful what you wish for in all of it but I knew there was no way I had an MBA I had a great job I was moving up and building this career I I have to take a timeout for a little while and that's exactly what it was it was a timeout and Not only was it a timeout but I changed directions did something even better having the kids that just helped motivate me to do it to show that you can do anything I love that sitting in the nursery I don't know if if you had the same thought but I was probably not going to have any more kids since I had two at once correct yes this is my one shot to have the baby moments you know and for you for thinking about inspiring your girls and you know and having them see a mom who works and is doing something that they love I'm sure we're all screwing them up in one way or another but I hoping at least I Inspire no matter what we do yeah inevitable magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy what is one way that you make sure to find and live your joy each day other than drinking holiday that's exactly the message that we're sending we talked about buckets for me too it's just taking care of myself back to other buckets I have I get exercise a minimum of six days a week if not more I make sure to cut out that time rest if I need it focus on friendships so I think the things that fulfill you I mean holid daily is it's not just about beer but it's doing what makes you happy every single day and we have a cool logo one of those postcard logos it'll say Los Angeles and it's filled with all the different sites in Los Angeles we did that but it's filled with things that people would do every single day to make them happy and that's the message that I'm trying to send and beer can make people happy and if I get to be a part of that then that's fantastic so fill your life with something that really does make you happy every day well I love your Innovation and congrats for all that you have built it's amazing and and overcome can you please tell our listeners where they can find Holiday holid we you know we're open here in our Tap Room in Golden Colorado colado we have a second Tap Room in the Denver Tech Center in Colorado we distribute to eight states Colorado all of Arizona Kansas Missouri Oklahoma Texas Wyoming and Southern California Total Wines Whole Foods Safeways in Southern California really St Louis abiso down and we will keep growing until world domination occurs because that's really the end goal I love it thank you so much for joining us today thank you for having me thank you for joining us today I'd love to hear from you reach out to me at hello shea.com on our Sheil it website or @ Sheil it on social thank you to my editor Rich draino who always makes us sound good until next time let nothing stop you from experiencing the life and business that you crave