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A Good Story
I think that I may be hardwired to love a good story. Maybe it’s the way I was brought up, with a story every night before bed, sometimes (when we were extra good) two or three. Maybe it’s because reading a good story has always been my way to relax. At any rate, I’ve long been fascinated by the stories of the people I meet. I’m curious about what brings them to where they are today, and captivated by their hopes for the future.
When John and I decided to turn our lives upside down and follow this dream of opening Trek, I was extremely worried about what would happen with our family life, and how we could possibly make it all work. I scoured breweries’ blogs looking for clues about what this life really looked like. I was looking for someone to tell me their story. I desperately wanted to collect those happy endings. I found a few online, but, I needed more. And so, we talked with numerous brewers before we decided to jump in with both feet. Despite everyone telling us that you just can’t know until you’re in it, we felt like we knew what we were doing.
Spoiler alert. We didn’t know what we were doing. In fact, we’re still pretty much making it up every single day.
Most of you know how the journey to Trek began. We’ve shared that part of our story before, and it’s a really good intro.
But now, we are living it, and we’re getting into a routine, and I feel like I owe it to others thinking about following their dreams to spend a post talking about how we’re balancing it all. Just in case there’s another me out there somewhere, fascinated by the stories.
There is much more than we ever thought possible that goes into owning and operating your own business. It’s most definitely our passion, and so the vast majority of the time, we’re very truly LIVING THE DREAM. John works more (and way harder) now than he ever has in his life, easily putting in 90 hour weeks.
Our oldest child (6yrs) hates sleep. He wakes EARLY in the am, but is allowed to come get John and I up and moving at 6:30. John usually drinks his coffee while taking care of the accounting for the brewery and answering emails or scheduling contractors or deliveries. After that, he’ll head to Trek where he works in the brewery for most of the day, tending to the fermenting beer, or doing one of a thousand weekly tasks. John is the brewer, janitor, accountant, contractor, etc. He does it ALL. He’ll usually come home for lunch and take our dog for a walk up to the bank. (Tuke loves the bank). John then heads back into Trek, and works on whatever needs doing, and he closes the taproom most nights. About once a week, John is at the brewery by 5am to brew on the big 15bbl system. He works every single day, but, I know he loves what he’s doing. Somehow, he’s also still an incredible (and very present) dad and husband. The boys love Sunday afternoons (dude’s day), and John makes a point to spend time with us all daily. We attempt to eat dinner together most nights, although that isn’t always a possibility.
Pretty much. 
Ben getting some daddy time 
Tuke. Official Brew dog of Trek 
Dudes Day! 
Family at Fireworks! 
Lunch dates with Charlie 
Early morning visits with Daddy 
Working together to make the dream a reality
I hold down a full time job that I love as a preschool director at the YMCA. I’m a teacher by trade, and spent many years teaching special education before staying home with our boys. When we decided to start Trek, I wasn’t quite ready to give up being with the boys all the time, and being at the Y is the perfect fit for me. Both boys started there with me a couple of years ago, and Ben (4) is still with me for one more school year. I love that the YMCA is where community happens, and I get to meet all kinds of amazing people. When I’m not at the Y I work on the social media, marketing, and event planning at Trek. I post daily to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I write a weekly blog post. I coordinate with food trucks and musicians. I answer emails. I hang out with the kids at the taproom as often as we can, and I bartend on Sunday afternoons. Occasionally, I bartend either Friday or Saturday nights as well.
This schedule is definitely different than our life pre-Trek. It truly is a family business, and the boys LOVE to help us get ready to open on the weekends, and they are some of our very best promoters.
We couldn’t do it without the help from our incredible family support system, as well as our team at Trek. We’ve truly got the most amazing people surrounding us and encouraging us every step of the way.
If you’re thinking about starting a brewery, or even just starting your own business, and we can help in any way, please don’t hesitate to send us an email, or talk to us across the bar.
The way I see it, we’re all writing our own stories. At Trek, we’re living out a grand adventure, and we’re still in the very beginning. We can’t wait to see what happens next.
Cheers friends, we’ll see you soon.