{"id":6509,"date":"2021-03-25T09:50:57","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T09:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/?p=6509"},"modified":"2024-04-11T08:04:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T08:04:32","slug":"brewing-up-a-storm-sarah-john-is-bossing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/2021\/03\/25\/brewing-up-a-storm-sarah-john-is-bossing-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewing up a storm: Sarah John is Bossing It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sarah John (BA 2011), founder and director of Boss Brewing, is a woman on a mission to achieve her goals and break barriers along the way. Here, she describes a rollercoaster ride of business successes, battling corporate giants, bringing her newborn to meetings, and generally shaking up the status quo.<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start-ups take all your blood, sweat and tears. Looking back, I don\u2019t know how I did it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d worked in sales while studying at university and at some point, I had that classic entrepreneurial moment when I realised that I wanted to do this for myself. I wanted to build something and take destiny into my own hands.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brewing was a hobby; my business partner and I started as home brewers and then our passion turned into a business.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I liked the fact it was a male-dominated industry. I knew we could be different, unique, and a bit disruptive.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real turning point for me was when we went on a course on how to start a brewery, hoping to pick up some tips. There were three speakers and their resounding message was: don\u2019t do it, you won\u2019t succeed! It was the most negative thing I had been to, but it also motivated me. I wanted to do it right and I wanted to do it better. I\u2019m always up for a challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it\u2019s your business, it<\/strong>\u2019s your <\/strong>baby<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We launched Boss Brewing in 2015 and it was a big learning curve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m the sales and marketing director, but I discovered that in your own business, you end up wearing many hats. I\u2019ve gained so many practical skills that no matter what happens now, I\u2019ve got an excellent education in running a business.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve learned about developing a brand and the importance of creating an identity and sense of community. It\u2019s not easy! We\u2019re in a market that\u2019s very saturated – there\u2019s so many craft beers out there, you need to stand out and be different. So, in 2017 we developed our comic book universe; all the characters on our beers are based on people at the brewery.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a personal level, I\u2019ve learnt so much about myself. There\u2019s nothing quite like the challenge of running a business! When it\u2019s your own business, it\u2019s your baby and it feels much more personal. I\u2019ve learned how resilient I am at overcoming challenges. It\u2019s definitely developed my strength of character.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People say that doing something you love takes the fun out of it, but for me, it\u2019s helped to keep me going when times are tough. My business is my hobby. Six years on, I still love what I do.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to shout about <\/strong>it<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When I initially started out, people would assume I was the salesgirl or the promo girl, those kinds of stereotypical roles.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I explained I was the owner they would often be very surprised. It was never malicious or intentional, but simply ignorant. I\u2019ve always put myself out there and not thought too much about being a woman or being different. If I\u2019d been a little less confident at the beginning it might have wobbled me. It took strength of character to overcome the ignorance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the flipside of the coin, , I am aware that being a woman does make us a different kind of brewing company. I was always happy to use that to our advantage. We had lots of PR, news stories and awards because it was different \u2013 it was a story people didn\u2019t come across very often. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a woman going into a male-dominated field, don\u2019t be afraid to shout about it because it\u2019s what makes you stand out. It can be the unique selling point that makes you different and makes you stand out in a crowded market.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women CAN have it <\/strong>all<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I was pregnant when we launched and that was unusual \u2013 you don\u2019t see a lot of pregnant women in beer but I didn\u2019t see why that should stop me.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having said that, it was very challenging with a new-born baby. I took her to a meeting when she was seven days old! I took her to all my meetings because I didn\u2019t want to be apart from her and I was breastfeeding, but I also had a lot of support with childcare from my mum.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They say that women can\u2019t have it all, but they absolutely can, they just need that support system.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing the hand you’re dealt<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before the pandemic, 80% of our business was with pubs and restaurants. When the announcement about lockdown was made in March last year, it was devastating. But we soon pivoted and focussed on growing our already existing relationships with big retailers. We launched our web shop and developed new services. We have our own brew kit and canning and bottling lines, so we picked up lots of business packaging for other breweries. It turned into a successful year and massively surpassed our expectations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was all about adapting, and we\u2019re not the only ones. There are so many stories of businesses being creative. It has shown us how resilient and resourceful we all are.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re dealt a hand, you deal with it, and so many businesses have just dealt with it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brewing is quite collaborative and it\u2019s a very helpful industry. We\u2019ve collaborated with other Welsh companies and people love it because they like to see two locals come together and they want local businesses to do well.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve had so many messages of support coming through with our orders. People really are kind and want to see others succeed. It\u2019s brought out the community spirit in all of us.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big boss, little boss –<\/strong> i<\/strong>t\u2019s all in the <\/strong>name<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In (2018) we put in an application for a trademark which was supposed to cost \u00a3300, but a letter came through from Hugo Boss\u2019s solicitor opposing our application.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My initial reaction was a sense of pride that we were even on their radar, but this was shortly followed by complete shock. It was an awful time with lots of sleepless nights. We thought we were going to lose everything we had worked for. Even the solicitors were telling us to consider changing our name. We had worked so hard on our rebrand and the name had nothing to do with Hugo Boss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name \u2018Boss\u2019 is based on ancient Egyptian history. Traditionally, brewing was a female domain, and it was a kitchen task. The first ever brewers were female, but as it became a product you could sell, men took over. It then became very male dominated. Our name is a play on the fact that the original bosses of brewing were women.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were advised to back down, but I wanted to fight it, so we kept pushing back. In the end we came to a settlement so we could keep the name Boss but had to change the name of two of our beers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole process was exhausting. It should have been \u00a3300 but cost \u00a310,000 in legal fees. When we settled, I decided to tell our story and I went to Wales Online. It quickly became a David vs Goliath story and it gained momentum.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got a call from the Joe Lycett show. The show is about Joe challenging the \u2018big guys\u2019 on behalf of the \u2018little guys\u2019. He changed his name by deed poll to Hugo Boss and it went viral. It was mental.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a brand-awareness piece, it\u2019s the first thing that people know about us now. They ask if we\u2019re the Hugo Boss brand. Our supermarket sales went up 50%, and customers were requesting it in pubs. A company in France saw the story and started ordering from us and our social media went through the roof. It\u2019s taken our brand to a whole new level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned so much from this experience. It was a rubbish situation but I\u2019m proud of the fact we turned it into a positive story and gained the followers and the sales. It was real example that even when something seems awful, you can find something positive in it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

T<\/strong>ake the <\/strong>plunge<\/strong> <\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is a difficult moment in time to be graduating. The job market might not be there, but what COVID-19 has shown us is that there are opportunities for people to develop their own businesses if they\u2019re entrepreneurial and creative.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve seen so many different businesses come out from the mess that is COVID-19. People who have had a dream for a long time are now putting it into action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I were a student now, I\u2019d be thinking about what I could go out and create. The safe jobs aren\u2019t necessarily there, so why not take that risk? Create something new for yourself, from scratch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no guarantees, so maybe now is the time to take the plunge? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sarah John (BA 2011), founder and director of Boss Brewing, is a woman on a mission to achieve her goals and break barriers along the way. Here, she describes a rollercoaster ride of business successes, battling corporate giants, bringing her newborn to meetings, and generally shaking up the status quo. ","protected":false},"author":1811,"featured_media":6510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,39,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-stories","category-cardiff-connect","category-news"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1811"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6509"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9688,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6509\/revisions\/9688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}