This is the longest write up I’ve ever done, and hopefully you’ll take a few minutes to learn why. We’re turning our 2.3 debacle into an opportunity, folks, cause there’s a story behind it and we wanna share that with you, our amazing community. First, let me start by apologizing profusely to all you insanely kind and understanding people who braved the coldest night of the year to come out to our 2.3 Schmooze Time event only to discover that our meeting place was closed. As I suspected, there was something other than the weather behind our being caught unawares that night and that’s why we’re giving HoneyMoon Brewery co-founder Ayla Bystrom-Williams the stage for our next Story Time.
You see, while I was gutted and embarrassed to be standing out in the cold apologizing to all you beautiful people who came out, my mind racing with all sorts of could haves and should haves, I still kept thinking, I hope Ayla’s ok, cause this isn’t like her at all. The thing is, I was lucky enough to have met Ayla back in 2017, before she and her partners opened their beautiful Kombucha beer brewery. I’d been such a fan of hers, as not just a kick-ass business woman – I mean, she and her biz and life partner James Hill (in the pic) pitched their way to winning $200K as part of the national 2016 Miller Lite Tap the Future Business Plan Competition – but as a wonderful human and such a generous presence in our entrepreneur community. I was thrilled to have helped organize an event for the Santa Fe Business Incubator (SFBI) at HoneyMoon Brewery back in December 2018 that doubled as the brewery’s soft launch (as HoneyMoon had been an SFBI client) and was followed by Ayla and James sharing their story with KAESF for the 1st time. Fast forward 3+ years and 4 other various events I’ve worked with Ayla on since then, and you develop a place in your heart for the person and team behind the business, including their bartender+, Bill, who’s been on the team since day 1. With so many folks new to Santa Fe and KAESF, I want you to be able to feel what I feel for them.
Ayla has such a huge heart and has apologized a million times over for leaving us out in the cold (I couldn’t resist the pun). But all joking aside, there was very real, human stuff happening with Ayla and her team, so she’ll fill you in on some of that, as I think it’s helpful for us, as a community, to remember that every business has people just like you and me behind it that have real issues and tragedies and challenges and fuck ups and failures and it can take a real toll on our hearts, souls, and will to keep pushing forward. But we do, so along with sharing some of that, Ayla will also take us back in time to share some of HoneyMoon’s spectacular startup story and some reflections on how doing business in the present world differs from what she and the HoneyMoon team envisioned when they opened the doors back in 2018.
Now, Ayla and the team were insisting on providing free drinks to show their gratitude for our return, but the fabulous founder of HatchForm economic development firm and incredible educator and supporter of entrepreneurs near and far, Sean O’Shea, just didn’t feel right about that. I mean, we’re about supporting a business, not trying to wipe away their profits, so let’s give three cheers to Sean and HatchForm for happily sponsoring free drink tickets for all who showed up on 2.3 and didn’t get to grab a drink and schmooze at HoneyMoon that night.
And since the fabulous Chris Van Dyne of Cosmic Pie Pizza won’t be able to join us on 3.3, I’m gonna fill you in on some of what it’s like to run a pop up in this town and how it impacts him and his bottom line when the show doesn’t go on as planned, as happened on 2.3, as he’s already prepped and paid for the kitchen space and the friendly face to take your orders. And if that wasn’t enough sharing for you, I’m also gonna fill you in on what it was like being in my shoes that night and multiple days after, as while events are meant to be fun for all, when things go wrong it’s not much fun at all ruminating over all the could haves and should haves and implications and just feeling flat out bad that while you’re trying to do good, sometimes you’re left just feeling down right awful.
Events just aren’t as simple as when I’d started this – let’s face it, nothing is as easy these days – and to be 100% honest, it’s brought me to tears recently. I just keep thinking that it has to start to get better. It has to start to get easier. Yet, somehow, it’s only gotten harder and added up to more work for the same or even less reward. If I didn’t still love supporting our local business owners, hearing our entrepreneurs’ stories or standing back looking at all the smiling, laughing, chatting and connecting faces, YOUR faces, I’d walk away from this in a heartbeat.
That’s what it’s like (for many of us) to be an entrepreneur these days, and that’s why I am so happy to have this opportunity to right the wrong of 2.3, something I take 100% responsibility for, and see you at 6:30 PM on the 2nd, where you’ll have about a ½ hour to schmooze and grab a drink before we kick off Story Time around 7 PM, followed by time for more schmoozing. Thanks for understanding and can’t wait to see you on 3.3!
Pic courtesy of Rollingout.com’s article Startup HoneyMoon Brewery’s Ayla Bystrom-Williams talks craft beer and capital