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Entrepreneurial Spirits: Tyler Lewis’ vison for Jackworth Ginger Beer
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Join us for a deep dive into the entrepreneurial journey of Tyler Lewis, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer of Jackworth Ginger Beer—Pennsylvania's first ginger beer brewery. After relocating from New York City to Pittsburgh, Tyler has been dedicated to building Jackworth Ginger Beer into a standout brand with aspirations for nationwide distribution. Founded in collaboration with Pittsburgh native and head brewer Jackworth Smith, their company is one of the few breweries in the U.S. specializing in alcoholic ginger beer, while also catering to all tastes with non-alcoholic options.
Before his venture into the craft beverage world, Tyler co-founded the art gallery My Pet Ram and contributed to groundbreaking research at Neuro-Insight, a leading neuromarketing firm with clients like Anheuser-Busch, Samsung, and Facebook. Tune in to hear Tyler’s inspiring story of moving from NYC to Pittsburgh, merging creativity with business savvy, and building a unique brand with broad appeal.
Our Podcast is proudly sponsored by Jet Creative and UrbanStems! Jet Creative is a women-owned marketing firm committed to community and empowerment. If you are looking to build a website or start a podcast--visit JetCreative.com/Podcast to kickstart your journey. UrbanStems is your go-to source for fresh gorgeous bouquets flowers and gifts delivered coast-to-coast! USE: BLOOMBIG20 to save 20%! Subscribe to this podcast and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @rebloom.podcast
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Transcript
Introduction to Creativity and Passion
00:00:01
Speaker
Do you have a dream that is a small seed of an idea and it's ready to sprout? Or are you in the workplace, weeds, and you need to bloom in a new creative way? Perhaps you're ready to embrace and grow a more vibrant, joyful, and authentic life. If you answered yes to any of these, you are ready to re-bloom.
00:00:24
Speaker
Welcome to the podcast where we have enlightening chats with nature lovers, makers, and artisans as they share inspiring stories about pivoting to a heart-centered passion. Hello, I'm Lori Siebert, and I am very curious to hear from friends and artisans about the creativity that blooms when you follow your heart. And I'm Jamie Jamison, and I want to dig deep into the why behind each courageous leap of faith and walk through new heart-centered gardens.
00:00:54
Speaker
Each episode of Rebloom will be an in-depth conversation with guests who through self-discovery shifted to share their passions with the world. Get ready to find your creative joy as we plant the seeds for you to Rebloom.
00:01:10
Speaker
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the next episode of Rebloom.
Tyler's Career Journey: From Neuroscience to Entrepreneurship
00:01:15
Speaker
We are super excited today to have a guest that hails from my neck of the woods from Pittsburgh. And Lori, do you want to do the introductions? Hi. Hi, Jamie. um So I heard about Tyler through my friend Courtney Miner, who we've also had on the podcast. And I was at a residency with her and I was sharing the theme of our podcast, which is people who have pivoted in their lives. And she right away said, oh, you need to talk to my friend Tyler, who she said he he was a neuroscientist and now he's brewing ginger beer. I'm like, that's a big pivot. So welcome, Tyler. Glad to be here, guys. Thank you. And a great, great introduction. I've pivoted. I have in my career um and happy to share my story.
00:02:06
Speaker
Well, awesome. Okay, so wait, let's start with maybe college. You decide to be a neuroscientist, is that correct? Yeah. Well, um I went to Oberlin College in ah Oberlin, Ohio, and not too far from here in Pittsburgh and wanted to study neuroscience with the intention of becoming a doctor. um Well,
00:02:28
Speaker
ah about three years into my college career, ah pivot time already, I was shadowing some doctors that I knew from my hometown in Monroe, Michigan. And ah they gave me some advice telling me that you know I really would not enjoy the medical profession. And you know, I truly didn't enjoy it when I was shadowing these doctors either. um You know, I think when I was, you know, pursuing the medical field, I had a different idea of what it would be. um Where, you know, I've always been a little bit more of an entrepreneurial spirit. um So, you know, it just didn't really fit what I was looking for. I'm always, I've always been kind of a
00:03:11
Speaker
a little bit more of a treat free thinker, free spirit. You know, um going to Oberlin College, you could assume how freely I would i would think. So, um you know, pivoted then to just focus on neuroscience and research itself.
Exploring Neuroscience and Neuromarketing
00:03:28
Speaker
So if you've always been an entrepreneur and a free thinker, why did you decide going to that path in the first place? Like what made you think that was where you wanted to be? Like most young Midwestern smart kids. I was always told you know straight A's and you know valedictorian of my high school, I would be a doctor. you know yeah And I think it was it was you know ingrained into my mind from a very young age that you know I'm a smart guy, so i'm going to I should go into the medical world. um So I think I was trying to convince myself that that was what I wanted to do um and also trying to make my family proud as well in doing so, um where
00:04:11
Speaker
you know, truly deep, deep, deep down. um That's not actually what I truly wanted i to do. That's interesting. It's interesting. But you took something that you enjoyed and clearly you graduated with that degree. So you must have enjoyed the neuro the parts of the neuroscience anyway, throughout your college career.
00:04:30
Speaker
I did, yeah. I really found ah the field of neuroscience fascinating because you know it focused on how people think and I think it was very meta in how I was experiencing my life. you know I was thinking about the way I was thinking and I was learning about how people thought as well.
00:04:48
Speaker
um So I was very fascinating in learning how the brain works and learning how, you know, we ah learn about information, how we process information, how we apply that information and how we communicate to people. ah And, you know, really started digging into ah finding the passion in how that drives who I am and how I communicate with people as well. I i truly and love just unpacking ah you know people at their core. So you know that that's what really drove me through to my neuroscience degree.
00:05:26
Speaker
so i So you went from the neuroscience to, I know you were working for a neuroscience marketing firm, which yeah I had to ask what that was about, but I think you might have just explained it. Yeah, or yeah it's it was a very fascinating place to work. it's So technically, it was working in the field of neuromarketing, ah working for a company called NeuroInsight.
00:05:53
Speaker
And ah the company had a modified form of um EEG called study state topography that measures the surface of the brain to understand what parts of the brain are active as people are interacting with advertisements or different types of media.
00:06:12
Speaker
um So, based off of the different parts of the brain that are lighting up with certain people, you can tell whether or not people are remembering certain types of information. You can tell what is emotionally stimulating, ah what certain types of ah information are engaging, or what certain types of people like or dislike certain types of things.
00:06:33
Speaker
Okay. So I imagine you are doing testing where you have people in a room and you're showing them things and you have them all hooked up to something. Is that right? So traditionally wow most most market research would be completed by bringing people into a room and having them answer questions.
00:06:52
Speaker
And truly, in that setting, you don't get the answers that you're looking for because you know when you're asking people questions, they may feel like they're on the spot and won't give you the answers that they truly feel. A lot of times people don't actually know how they feel about things. um The brain is so highly advanced. We just act on things or process information without actually stopping to think about why we do it.
00:07:18
Speaker
So we would conduct these research studies by hooking people up to caps that would measure the activity in their brain um and see you know what parts of the brain where we're lighting up at certain times. And then we can make um we can make ah conclusions or or draw conclusions based off of you know larger sample sizes of people um and seeing ah different trends in different parts of the brain lighting up ah at certain times with certain groups of people.
00:07:49
Speaker
fascinating Fascinating. That is fascinating. I know. You know, I remember reading something about marketing years ago. i i My background's in marketing as well and about the stop and stare tables that they put in stores because people walk into a store and they are a little afraid when they first walk into a store. So they stop and stare.
00:08:14
Speaker
And that's why in most major retailers, they would put a table right in the entranceway. And then I also remember them saying, well, most and 90 percent of people go right. And so that so it's understanding the way how people behave and act that's.
00:08:30
Speaker
Fascinating though. That is fascinating. I also wonder if that's correlated to, and not to go too far off topic. I wonder if that's also correlated to, you know, the amount of people who are right handed. Yes. Exactly. And, and, and, but it, but just to understand how people behave and respond certainly is more factual to me than, okay, well, did you like this? I mean, you get to know the why.
00:08:57
Speaker
And the Y is, yeah, I mean, no, they really responded to the color red versus blue because they may not even be able to articulate that, um but that you can see it lighting up based on, well, I know I respond. I'm thinking of my own self and why I buy so many things on Instagram because I'm My brain lights up. I'm like, I must have that wrinkle cream. I must. The classic example would be the Pepsi Coke challenge. um you You know, with the the foundations of neuromarketing usually start with this. i Looking back into the the old Pepsi Coke challenge of the late 70s, you know, most people, I think it was 75% of people um chose Pepsi over Coke in a blind taste test.
00:09:45
Speaker
But when they were informed um which was which in a retest a retrial of this test um in the early 90s, um people chose Coke over Pepsi knowing which was which um at a 75 to 25% level because of the brand affiliation that they have with Coke. Wow, that's interesting. And they further pursued the whys with this in in measuring brain response to the people who changed responses from how strongly parts of the brain um responded to or lit up ah when people were shown imagery affiliated with Coca-Cola. And a lot of the imagery would be um lighting up parts of the brain that are linked to like you know deep childhood memories. Also you know it's closely linked to like know parts of the brain that are linked to religious beliefs or um wow you know other deeply hadi deeply rooted affiliations.
00:10:50
Speaker
Oh my gosh. so So how long did you work for the marketing firm and then were what was what was next in the yeah ah poet life of
Pandemic Pivot: Art, Comedy, and Brewing
00:10:59
Speaker
Tyler? sure ah So I worked with the neuro marketing firm for about nine years. um There was an obvious time where you know it was It was pretty tough in that industry when um you know we were in the pandemic. Obviously, that type of research ah required in-person interactions. So, you know business was really tough at that time. yeah yeah um At that time, I had ah i been working on my current project.
00:11:31
Speaker
for about five years, but that was always kind of a side project. Still hadn't gotten any funding for it. um So I did a quick pivot and um opened an art gallery in New York City. ah um And ran some comedy shows with some friends in New York City as well. I was really ah trying to live live the New York life and and really trying to to grasp the ah the the beauty of of New York and you know the kind of the hustle and bustle of it at that time before or to open the brewery. Yeah. But opening and a gallery during pandemic time is that when you did that's probably tricky as well. Yeah it was yeah at a time when things were opening up so it was when people were so we were building out the gallery um as things were starting to you know slowly open up at a limited scale.
00:12:25
Speaker
okay Okay. So was lucky enough to find a space that a friend of mine had yeah a really great deal on and I couldn't pass it up and that went into business with ah a partner who had been wanting to open up a gallery for a while and you know explored the art world. um Had no gallery experience prior. My friend um who I went into business with he was you know an avid um our curator and yeah it wanted to open a gallery for a very long time. and yeah I learned a lot from him. i I brought a lot of my marketing expertise ah to that space um and also brought a lot of my expertise in just understanding how to communicate to people, um how how to bring people together. um
00:13:11
Speaker
in that space, um you know, really, really kind of helped as well. And I learned a lot. I mean, honestly, I think the year that I owned that art gallery and was immersed in in that world ah taught me a lot about myself and taught me a lot about, you know, how to appreciate beautiful things.
00:13:25
Speaker
Let's take a quick minute and thank our amazing sponsors. Our podcast is proudly brought to you today by Jet Creative and Urban Stems. Jet Creative is a women-owned marketing firm committed to community and empowerment since 2013. Are you ready to rebloom and build a website or start a podcast? Visit jetcreative dot.com backslash podcast to kickstart your journey.
00:13:52
Speaker
They will help you bloom in ways you never imagined. And bonus, our listeners get an exclusive discount when you mention Rebloom. And a huge thanks to Urban Stems, your go-to and our go-to source for fresh, gorgeous bouquets and gifts delivered coast to coast. Use Bloom Big 20 and save 20% on your next order.
00:14:16
Speaker
And don't forget to subscribe to this podcast and follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Rebloom Podcast. Thanks to our sponsors and thanks to you for joining us today. So a year, year's not a long, long time. What made you kind of pivot now again?
00:14:36
Speaker
So we had finally at the end of that year secured enough funding to open up our brewery to at least acquire our space. So that was on the back burner the whole time?
Founding a Ginger Beer Brewery
00:14:49
Speaker
The brewery was always on the back burner. The brewery was always on the back burner. So you were making recipes and doing fermentations and things? I can't take any credit for the fermentations or recipes, but my business partner was.
00:15:03
Speaker
so So, my business partner Jack and I went to college at Oberlin College. He was a religion major. ah um science you know We get into the brewing world. on ah Makes perfect sense. He and I had this plan for a very long time and you know he was he was bouncing around bouncing around working at different breweries um throughout the U.S., kind of learning to brew um while I was living in New York. ah Go ahead. yeah was he Was he brewing beer? or was he Because we should also let our listeners know, Jackworth is a ginger beer company, so was he brewing beer or was he brewing something else? ah he He was working with breweries, yeah. Okay. So he he wasn't he was working alongside brewers, he was never brewing beer himself.
00:15:48
Speaker
He was getting experience within the brewing space. So um after that year of ah running the gallery, and we had raised enough money to get our building um that we have here in Pittsburgh to start the build out of our ginger beer brewery.
00:16:07
Speaker
um So at that time I packed up my bags and moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, um knowing only Jack um well you know with this dream of of opening Pennsylvania's first ginger beer brewery. Wow. um And it was a ah long built build out. It was about a two year build out. Wow. Learning along the way, um you know,
00:16:32
Speaker
dealing with city politics. Yeah, I'm sure. Trying to, you know. It's a good thing you're a neuroscience major. You probably knew how to handle them. Patients with cancer in that regard. But, you know, we, you know, we had all Moving here was was a big opportunity for us to you know really drive home what we had always really wanted to do. um you know The brewery was always a dream of ours, um and it finally opened up in May of this year. And it's we've hit the ground running. it's How has it been received?
00:17:10
Speaker
it's It's been incredible. um you know We are one of only a handful of breweries in the United States that are brewing alcoholic ginger beer. um So we create a 5% ABV ginger beer.
00:17:26
Speaker
um that is gluten-free, vegan, and it is made with four ingredients. So it's very simple, very easy, very refreshing, um made with organic ginger from Peru, um lime, water, and pure cane sugar.
00:17:45
Speaker
um In addition to that, one of the things that we kind of discovered earlier this year was, you know, it's a little bit more ah difficult to create alcoholic ginger beer than it is non-alcoholic ginger beer. So, you know, we were going for the alcoholic ginger beer as a our main flagship product, as the thing that, you know, we're going to focus on. home But there's a big sober curious market right now and um yeah know we realized that you know it's we should start making non-alcoholic ginger beer as well because you don't have to ferment it as long. um There's a big market for it and there's it's easier to get it into stores. So we also create i have some non-alcoholic ginger beer out of our brewery as well.
00:18:29
Speaker
So do you go to Peru ever? Not yet, no. We are planning on taking a field trip. um Our ginger that we do bring in is is by far some of the best ginger in in the region. um You stuff it and you can even smell how pure and fresh I love ginger. It's one of my favorites. Well, it's delicious. So you started in May of this year. Is it a full, is it a bar? And do you have food? sir I mean, is it everything? Restaurant bar or is it just bar? So weve we focus on the things that we're good at, which is good brewing brewing the beer, brewing the ginger beer. um But we do have a tasting room. um So as a ah Pennsylvania brewer with a brewer's license,
00:19:14
Speaker
ah we can have a full bar in our brewery, ah which allows us to have a ah full bar that serves Pennsylvania-based libations, beers, wines, and spirits. So ah for a fraction of the cost of a liquor license, ah we can you know run run a full but run and operate a full bar. um When it comes to food, we let the experts do it, and we work with local chefs and food trucks that come in and cook for us and cooks for our guests.
00:19:42
Speaker
um that know we we We treat our space as, you know, it is it is it's it's in in a neighborhood that is new,
00:19:54
Speaker
ah up and coming is, you know, a lot of people saying a lot of new neighborhoods and in ah in their cities. but you know it's It's a developing neighborhood um with a lot of potential, and you know we we really we don't lose sight of the fact of where we are. um So sweet we treat it as a community center, reaching out to a lot of the local businesses, local startups that are doing the same thing that we're doing, um trying to partner with as many creators um
00:20:27
Speaker
as possible to to build like a tight-knit community of entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh that that can work together out of our space. Because a lot of the people that we work with don't have a space. A lot of the chefs that we bring in don't have a kitchen. They work out of a shared kitchen. So we bring them in to share their food ah from our space.
00:20:49
Speaker
That's great. That's amazing. Alright, so let's go back to your neuroscience background. What lights you up in this new project? What's lighting up your brain in all of this?
Managing ADHD and Marketing Creativity
00:21:01
Speaker
I enjoy every day not being the same. home yeah you know And every hour having a new set of challenges. um i think I think that caters to my ADHD quite a bit. yeah if If I don't want to complete one task right now, I can move on to the next one. And then if I don't want to complete that next task, I can just move on to the next one. And then I'll just tie them all up at the end of the day.
00:21:26
Speaker
I could so relate to this. Welcome to the ADHD club. Well, I've been noticing because I did a little dive into your your branding and I think it's lovely. Thank you. I love the branding and I love some of the things you're doing on your Instagram feed. It looks like you're having some fun with that. Oh, yeah. So I'm i'm assuming coming from a marketing background, that part of it's fun.
00:21:55
Speaker
Yeah, i so everything that we do is, and I love that you bring that up, from branding to our Instagram to, um you know, the space itself, we wanted to feel welcoming, um personal, um you know, something that is is not, you know, we don't want to feel stuffy.
00:22:15
Speaker
um And we want to have fun with it. You see so many products, Instagram feeds just filled with pictures of their products, filled with pictures of like, you know, people fake laughing, holding their their stuff. And, you know, it doesn't feel, it doesn't feel genuine. Whereas everything that we do, it's fun, it's funs funny, um it's it ah feel it's with our friends.
00:22:40
Speaker
um We want it to be true to who we are and we want to communicate ah who we are as a brand. We don't, a picture of our ginger beer, a picture of our branding is not going to move the needle. And that's something that I learned in my days of neuromarketing. What sells is a lifestyle. What sells is, you know, who you are. People want to be a part of a group. They want to be a part of a movement. They don't want to, you know,
00:23:07
Speaker
buy something you know that that is just a pretty picture on Instagram. they want to be connected They want to be connected to the soul of a brand and you and your partner are the souls of a brand. And that is what people, in my opinion, my marketing background, I mean, you can put up all the pretty pictures you want, but if they don't know the person or the story behind it,
00:23:29
Speaker
then they won't connect with it. And I'm sure that that is part of what has driven people through your doors and yeah and getting to know you both. And that's that's the thing I've always truly wanted. um um And everything that I've done this is just the opportunity to share a piece of myself with people. And you know that's that another thing outside of just being able to um you know, cure my ADHD on a daily basis. I really enjoy being able to, you know, put my, put everything that I am and who I am into this business to, you know, leave a piece of myself, um you know, for, you know, the next generation, but also share with a little bit of, ah you know, with everybody who sees it.
00:24:15
Speaker
I feel like that feeling or that wish is a very entrepreneurial um mindset. So take us back to Tyler as a little boy. and were you were you ah Were you a little entrepreneur as a kid? Oh my goodness. um Yeah, it's it's very funny. i I grew up on Lake Erie in Monroe, Michigan. And my first job was at a hot dog stand, ah just dressing hot dogs with you know ketchup and mustard. And they had this really great chili. It was phenomenal. Monroe's original hot dog.
00:24:54
Speaker
um And I quit that job because I was also an athlete and wanted to focus on you getting ready for um my first year of varsity football. And I had also recently gotten my license at the time. And, you know, me being a car enthusiast, growing up in a car family, I ah got but a speeding ticket that yeah right after I quit my job. And I owed a lot of money. ah so Because you were a 16-year-old boy. I had to think of my feet. So yeah, as a 16-year-old boy, I got a pretty bad speeding ticket. So I had to think of my feet. And you know growing up near the water, um I saw a need and for
00:25:40
Speaker
ah people's beaches to be groomed, to be taken care of, beach
Entrepreneurial Beginnings and Business Challenges
00:25:47
Speaker
landscaping. Nobody was doing it. Everybody would go go out and you know grumble about having to pick up like zebra mussels or you know washed up logs. Of course, it's Lake Erie. You never know what's going to be washing up on your beach that day. yeah um So, I started a ah oh beach landscaping business when I was 16 years old and hired my friends and you know charged a pretty penny for me to yo go clean up vlogs and debris every Saturday and you know Sunday morning ah when people wanted to use their beaches.
00:26:22
Speaker
That's awesome. Yeah. I love that. And it was it was it was it was a great business too because you know stuff keeps washing up. perfect Yeah. Yeah. There's always a need. The job's not going to wash up. Exactly. Oh, that's awesome. so So you've pivoted. Tell us about your partnership with Jack, um which I happen to like that name because I have a grandson named Jack, who's pretty awesome. yeah so So Jack and I um went so went to college together, as I had mentioned.
00:26:56
Speaker
And um we were really good friends in college. And you know after college, we kind of went our separate ways. And we came to this idea of Jackworth Gingerbeer, Jack being short for Jackworth. That's his first name. i Came to this idea of Jackworth Gingerbeer when he was living in Stamford, Connecticut while I was living in New York.
00:27:18
Speaker
and so While he was living in Stanford, he was working at a brewery called Half Full Brewing. He was running events for them. and I would escape the hustle and bustle of New York to go visit him in Stanford um about once a month. and you know We'd hang out, catch up. um you know Him being a dear friend of mine, it was always great to see him. Him and I once had great rapport. and At that time, he was doing ginger beer as a home brew.
00:27:40
Speaker
and ah We were just sitting around sipping it one day and you know we were just looking at the the beer market and I also at the time happened to be consulting with Anheuser-Busch while I was at NeuroInsight and I was kind of getting a little bit of an insider scoop of you know what was being acquired, what were some of the trends in the alcovev space. And we looked at each other and we're like, this this there's something here. And this was nine years ago.
00:28:09
Speaker
There's still not many alcoholic ginger beer companies out there. we've seen Since then, we've seen alcoholic seltzer proliferate. We've seen cider grow and plateau and now is is on the decline. But you know nine years ago, we said, we're we're onto something and we got to create a company out of this.
00:28:30
Speaker
And you know we filed the LLC at that time, um and you know we both still had jobs to do. you know like We still had to support ourselves. So it was it wasn't always of a full-fledged i It wasn't a full fledged job for us until you know the pandemic really until we were forced to you know hustle and you know it was put up or shut up time for us. um you know we We built our business plans and like kicked around the idea of starting the company in different cities outside of Pittsburgh, like maybe Detroit, maybe outside of New York.
00:29:08
Speaker
um But, you know, it it was always just kind of um something that was on the back burner until, you know, we experienced a taste of having to, you know, cut our teeth a little bit. What a cool thing. Yeah, it is cool. Is Jack from Pittsburgh? Is that what brought you guys to Pittsburgh? Yeah, so job Jack's from Pittsburgh. He's named after ah his great, great grandfather, Howard Jackworth, who was a old streetcar driver.
00:29:37
Speaker
And um he grew up in Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, and his dad owned a pretty well-known bar and restaurant here called Dunning's. And Jack started bartending at the age of 17, which is illegal. Don't tell anybody. We won't tell anybody. We won't tell anyone. He started bartending at the age of 17 and had always wanted to run a bar. and You know, he has a lot of, you know, he kind of grew up in this space and sees, saw the value that it brought to people. I think outside of anything else, the service industry and, you know, where there's a bar, a restaurant, whatever, you bring a certain type of short-term joy to people.
00:30:19
Speaker
all right right And you know that's something that he always wanted to bring to people. And ah now we get to do that through i spreading the joy through ginger beer. And have fun to work with one of your best friends. That's amazing.
00:30:35
Speaker
we So, Beth and Jerry are also from Oberlin, so we like to call ourselves the next guy. Oh, wow. Beth, the Tyler and Jack. Well, and you know there's a couple things that you mentioned, and we've heard this from some of our guests, and I think it's important to share and to sort of reiterate for our listeners, too. You kept your day job. yeah i talked I talked with one of my students this past week, and she wants to make a pivot. And I said, you know, please don't quit your day job. that's paying your bills, you know, but but explore this other thing that she wants to do. And I said, do it, ah do in the evening, do it on the weekends, really see if there's a market there. I think that's so important. But the other
00:31:15
Speaker
piece, and I think this is really important too, is that Jack had experience in the restaurant world or the bar world, which is very difficult. It's a very difficult business. And just to say, I want to open a restaurant. I open, oh my goodness. And so it's good that he had that experience and that, and you know, then you in turn had to have that experience now where you had a whole different set of experiences, but well, I guess the hot dog business probably. I like complimentary, probably yeah complimentary skills that when put together make a really strong team. We balance each other out very, very well. um he's He's very creative in his own right. um When it comes sir to coming up with ginger beer, obviously, and and you know brewing different types of ginger beer and and you know from
00:32:10
Speaker
um ah running a bar and ah coming up with drinks. And you know I'm creative from a different perspective when it comes to marketing and how to communicate with people and and you know um in taking risks in communicating with people as well.
00:32:27
Speaker
So I'm imagining maybe next steps will be more distribution?
Expansion and Market Opportunities
00:32:31
Speaker
Absolutely. is So right now we are in 19 spots outside of our own. The goal right now is to ramp up distribution in the local area.
00:32:43
Speaker
Long-term goals are to start producing outside of our own brewery and co-packing and distributing outside of Pittsburgh. Long-term goal is to build our ginger beer into the ginger beer of note, um given that there's there's not much competition out there. ah We see ourselves being somebody that could be considered as being acquired by um one of the big Brewing companies. Big boys. Yeah. yeah we've we've seen we've We've seen it happen with companies like Ranch Water, Spike Seltzer back in the day. um We think that ginger beer is on the horizon.
00:33:26
Speaker
people love it here. um so So in our smaller sample size that we have going back to the market research world, ah we've seen a you know we've seen positive reviews. So we certainly think that it it is the next big thing in the low ABV
00:33:46
Speaker
alquebev wrote um So we we would like to increase distribution as soon as possible and we're we're putting everything into place to do so. And you know hopefully hopefully you'll be hearing hearing ah about us outside of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania here pretty soon. That's exciting. So you mentioned when you went down the neuroscience path, part of it was wanting to make your family proud. yeah how How do they feel about what you're doing now?
00:34:13
Speaker
they're They're very happy. i Turns out if I'm happy, they're happy. yeah Very true. I think part of it was, you know, hi my dad would always joke. He's like, you got to make sure that we're putting putting your expensive education, your expensive neuroscience degree to use. um And, you know, I feel like I'm doing so.
00:34:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think you are in a lot of ways. I think it's it's so cool that like you're not only building a business but you're building it with a friend and then I think you're the benefits to the community around you and the collaborations you're doing with chefs and you know building up that little part of where you you landed. I think all of that's really cool too. Did you always like community building?
00:35:02
Speaker
Absolutely. I think from a marketing perspective, I am a big, big, big, big, big believer in you know building things together with other companies. I love collaborations. I think you know together um you can communicate to so many more people. um you know I think You know even from an events perspective from things that we do at the brewery like you know, I mentioned chefs and I mentioned um mentioned other other Brands that we've worked with but like, you know, where're where're we're we look to do collaborations with artists and with you know ah Vintage vendors and like bo just any business under the Sun like anybody who wants to to do something together
00:35:54
Speaker
um We're all for it because it just expands our network and expands our community and strengthens our community that much more. That's cool. You can have a little gallery in your space. It's definitely something that has been discussed. yeah i very too it's It's funny if you just look at, if you go into the the convenience store and and look at what's going on. ah We'll say beef jerky, for example. I saw recently that, you know, the Jack Lynx is doing collaborations with Doritos and Fritos.
00:36:25
Speaker
ah And all these big brands are picking up on it too. It's it's again, it's I think the amount that audiences have been ah segmented and kind of severed um means that you got to bring people back together by collaborating with with different brands. and of you Have you ah partnered or collaborated with any distilleries like, you know, bourbon or the companies that make the the Moscow mules, the Kentucky mules. I love that you bring that up. I think, well, it depends, when it when is this going to be airing? A few weeks. A few weeks? Perfect. We can cut it out, too, if it's... So we are, we're collaborating with one of our favorite local distilleries, Maggie's Farm Rum.
00:37:13
Speaker
Oh, that's great. yeah And this is our first, it's it was one it was a dream come true for us. We're just over the moon about this because it's a brand that weve we respect wholeheartedly. They're consistently ranked and awarded as as one of Pittsburgh or one one of America's best runs and that they reach out to us to do a collaboration. Oh my god that's amazing. We're doing a holiday collaboration with them um which weight which includes their spiced and dark rum with our ginger beer we're calling it the fireside mule. Oh yeah I love it.
00:37:50
Speaker
and we're going to be releasing it on October 21st of this year. um So, that's that's our first big collab, but down the line because we're seeing such a big uptick in the RTD market and there have been some- What's RTD? What's RTD? I'm ready to drink, sorry. Okay. RTD, but we're canned cocktails. I got you.
00:38:11
Speaker
in layman's terms, um because we've seen such a big uptick in in the RTDs um and some some recent ah legislation changes in Pennsylvania now allowing ah these canned cocktails to be sold outside of liquor stores and beer stores and in gas stations.
00:38:28
Speaker
um Everybody's kind of chomping at the bit to do some sort of canned cocktail. So down the line, we do have some more plans to collaborate with other distilleries, because our ginger beer goes well with yeah so many types of liquors. Will this first collaboration be ready to drink? or okay that's so ready that It's it's ready to train ready to drink canned cocktail um that will be available in the Pittsburgh area.
00:38:54
Speaker
ah in about a month. Oh, that's exciting. That is so cool. Tyler, can people buy um not that the non-alcoholic ginger beer from your web website or do we have to come to Pittsburgh? We have to come to Pittsburgh at the moment. Okay.
00:39:08
Speaker
now If you, we could work something out, but shipping is very expensive for yeah yeah for our canned products right now. um Not to say that is not, that's pretty soon, that that's within a few months we're gonna be starting to um roll out some of our non-alcoholic products to other states. So the branding for the ready to drink, is it is it branded? with Like who did the branding for that canned?
00:39:38
Speaker
Yeah, so we we're working with the the person who does all of our artwork. His name is Miller McCormick. And he is it's going to be branded as a Jackworth ginger beer, um Maggie's farm, rum collaboration. OK, so it's going to be both of our names ah at the top with the same amount of the same hierarchy um presenting this fireside mule. It's ah almost a ah brand duet is what we like to call it.
00:40:06
Speaker
I love that. So is it the non-alcoholic ginger beer that goes into that? but it's some Yes, it is. It's an alcoholic ginger beer that goes into it with their own. Otherwise, we'd be really buzzed. but Then then if you if you put the alcoholic ginger beer into a meal, we call it a super meal.
00:40:24
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Yeah. You probably can't have too many of them. Exactly. Exactly. but Well, of this latest pivot, what has surprised you or what has excited you? um I have been the most surprised by how receptive people are, honestly. I i saw it, I mean,
00:40:51
Speaker
i I thought it'd be a lot harder. it And granted, it is very, very difficult. But um you know i i people really seem to love what we're doing. And I think that's part of the hump that you have to get over. is like you know it's It's tough to take a risk. It's tough to really put all of your effort into what you're doing because you are scared it's easy to be scared to fail. It's really hard to put yourself out there.
00:41:22
Speaker
But once we've done it, it feels really good to see how much people like it. i mean That's amazing. That's surprising to me. and i Sure, I had confidence going into it, but you know so, so newly into it, it's seeing people come together at the bar all the time. We're seeing how people frequently come back to the brewery to pick up four packs.
00:41:44
Speaker
is it's incredible. I don't think it's surprising because I think you know everything you learned as a neuroscientist, neuromarketer, you have such a beautiful story but in there's it's genuine, it's authentic, there's a lot of passion behind it.
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
00:42:03
Speaker
Those are all the things that people respond to and they want to support that.
00:42:07
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that. But I mean, at the same point, i've I'm kind of I'm kind of humble. I'm always I rarely take time to ah sit back and reflect because I'm always looking toward the next thing. And yeah that's always nice like that is the a it's always times like these that kind of forced me to it's it. So it's podcast therapy. or therapy absolutely absolutely exciting it well We'll tell you how great you are you are. You are doing great. And you know, it's also the foundations. I love the the strong foundation you had both as friends, but also the foundation that Jack had as an expert brewer. I mean, it sounds like from your recipe that you're sharing with us,
00:42:46
Speaker
um It's really the quality and you're really putting forth I mean, I think if you put the quality the friendship the story the branding all of that combined That is a recipe for success. That is and Kudos to you guys. That's amazing. Thank you. I truly can't wait for you guys to try it either. it's so oh well i was yeah I will be there sooner than Lori. I will we yeah definitely will be be over visiting. um Tyler, is there anything you would like to leave our listeners with? We always ask for a little bit of advice, maybe something you've learned. Now you are the neuroscience major, so you probably got some good advice. sure um Something that you would like to help our
00:43:30
Speaker
potential re-bloomers in this journey and their journey. Absolutely. I mean, there were a couple points that were brought up during this interview that I would like to revisit. I think, you know, one is if you have an idea and if if you're pursuing something, um you know, take the time to actually, you know, put that your additional time, your extra time into focusing on it, right? You have to sacrifice to get to where I am um to open your own business. I think that was the biggest thing that I've had to do. You know, I ah sacrificed so much time in my 20s in New York City, but here I am. I'm very happy because of it. And I think another thing too is is, you know, don't be afraid to put your full force into what you're doing. um I think that was the last point that we were talking about too. It was just like, you know, um put my dad put my true self into everything that we do. and
00:44:28
Speaker
really shows in what we do and how we communicate ourselves to um the the masses or whoever is watching. so Amazing. Amazing. li I'm so glad Courtney introduced us. I'll have to send her a text and tell her thanks. Yes. Yes. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today. Your story is incredible. I hope everybody um can make their way or find their way to Pittsburgh. And if not, I hope that your brand is out in everyone's hands very soon. And I have a feeling it will be. It will be. Thank you, Tyler. Thank you so much.
00:45:07
Speaker
Absolutely. Cheers. Lori, another amazing interview. I am in awe of our guests, each and every one of them. And Tyler is no exception. What an unbelievable journey he's been on already. I always love seeing and this has been kind of a common thing where Even when people make a pivot, there still remains this thread where I i envision them like just picking up different skills at different places, and maybe that's not where they're ultimately going to end up, but they take those skills that they've learned at each place and applied it to where they go next and where they go next.
00:45:48
Speaker
So I think his background in neuroscience and neuromarketing and then the gallery and yeah what he's doing now, like all of that expertise he can take forward and and apply it to this new venture. And one builds on the other and I love, love that and I i so i tend to see this having taught for many years.
00:46:11
Speaker
And he's in his, I'm guessing, early 30s. But I love that the late 20s or the 20s and the 30-year-olds now are not taking a traditional path. They're saying, wait, no, I want to do something a little different. And I loved that he pivoted starting in college and said, no, I don't want to go into medicine. I want to follow my heart.
00:46:32
Speaker
And he has, and he, at a very young age, is going to be as going to find a lot more fulfillment doing what he loves for the rest of you know for the rest of his career, which is fabulous. and And we've touched on this before in other interviews where, as as horrible as COVID was in a lot of ways,
00:46:53
Speaker
yeah It seemed to be an impetus or a push for a lot of people to make a switch in their lives too towards something that maybe is more fulfilling and more joyful. I would agree. Well, cheers to Tyler. Cheers to our guests. Thank you all for joining us and peace, love, and re-blue.
00:47:13
Speaker
Life is too short not to follow your passions, so go out there and let your heart plant you where you are meant to be and grow your joy. We will be right here sharing more incredible stories of reinvention with you. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode of Rebloom. Until next time, I'm Jamie Jamison. And I'm Lori Siebert. Peace, love, and Rebloom, dear friends.