MEET THE WOMEN OF MYRIAD
MEET THE TWO WOMEN PIONEERING THE PATH WITH CRAFT BEER...
Once upon a time back in 2015, Jamie was on a honeymoon in Florida with her new husband Jason. "The idea of opening a brewery was born on my honeymoon," co-owner, Jamie Elliott said. Together they asked each other what talents do they each have to make into a cool business. "Jason had a brewery background with the operating side and I had a marketing background. When the vacation ended, we hit the ground running." At that point, the idea of opening a brewery was put into action as they began touring building after building. At one point, they were eyeing one particular building in Newburgh which they fell in love with so they put in an offer. Unfortunately, much to their disappointment, the offer was turned down.
DUMPING STATION CONVERTED INTO A MICRO-BREWERY
Disappointment over the Newburgh building was tangible for Jamie and she started questioning if this honeymoon idea wasn't going to work out afterall. She picked up her crown and began the exhausting building search once again. Fast forward to a lot of no's later, in 2018, a different space became available located in Evansville just off Riverside. It was in a historic building known as the McCurdy, which formerly served as a Sears and Roebuck retail space for 50 years and now as of current houses both commercial and residential space. However, at the time, Jamie said, "it was a dumping station turned brewery," filled with "dry wall, hammers, sinks, boxes and trash." A casual offer was made and to their surprise, they got it. The Elliotts went to work turning this space into what Myriad Brewing Company is today, a completely transformed micro-brewery with an impressive rotating tap list.
COMMUNITY-CENTRIC CRAFT BEER
Devon joined the crew as Myriad's brewer in 2020, bringing the passion she acquired for beer. "I fell in love with beer when I was 25. I decided from that moment forward that I wanted to do something at a brewery. I moved here from Washington state. I just wanted to work in beer. I got a job working for a beer distributor." When she was at Tin Man, she realized that she wanted to actually make beer. I sat down with Jamie and Devon for our feature to learn more about their passion behind the brew. Of course other than the beer itself, when asked what they love most about running a brewery, it was crystal clear that community and creativity were at the heart of their operation.
What Jamie loves most is "that we get to collaborate with all these other local businesses. Tons of food trucks, small businesses and events. We can dream up something like the '11th Hour Holiday Shop n' Sip' event to showcase others in the community. It’s a community and not just us." Her heart for rallying other small businesses is evident. Fun fact: Her brewery co-hosted our Launch Party for our natural, handcrafted beard oil in 2019.
"I GET TO DO WEIRD SHIT."
Devon said, "Jason and Jamie give me so much creative control. I get to do weird shit." That peaked my curiosity so she continued, "I had a style of beer that I wanted to make that people don’t know around here. It had 66 lbs. of honey and it’s an expensive beer to make. They said to do it and I did. It was a really great beer to make." Jamie chimed in at that point in our conversation with pride saying that since Devon joined Myriad, "Her variety is unmatched. Our tap list is revolving all the time because she works so hard always cranking out quality." The two are a female force to be reckoned with and their passion is electric.
NOT ALL SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS
Apparently, you have to have a pretty tough backbone to make your mark in this industry since it's very male-dominated. Jamie explained, "First off, women are super underrepresented in the food and beverage industry and more specifically in the craft beer world. There needs to be more of us." She made it clear that it's not all sunshine and rainbows, "There has been more coming out about harassment from men in the industry. Women having to take extra measures. That’s a huge problem." She believes that if this wasn't as much of a factor, having more women brought into the craft beer industry would mean that "we would see more innovation and creativity."
Ultimately, if you're a woman looking to get into a male-dominated field, the two have some advice for you, "Just keep going," Jamie encourages. "Some male vendors tend to only want to talk to my husband and it's super frustrating. I raise my voice. I take up space. And that's what I think about every day. I don't have to be nice to you because I am a woman. You can't walk all over me." Devon also added, "Don't be intimidated. It is very intimidating, this industry, especially being male-dominated but just do it and go for it. If you're passionate about it, it shows."
HOPE WAS NOT LOST FOR NEWBURGH
The passion that comes from everyone at Myriad has been the heartbeat of their mission statement. And that dream of getting into Newburgh? Well, it's alive and well. With their growing success over the years in Evansville from brewing to canning their own beers, they held onto their hopes of having a brewery in Newburgh and exciting news are upon the horizon. Recently, they took on the venture of acquiring land in Newburgh and are currently in the exciting process of building their second location set to open Spring of 2022. This space will be a family-friendly atmosphere complete with a coffee shop in the mornings overlapping to a brewery in the afternoon/evenings. If you're looking for a cozy spot as your home to drink craft brews, this is where it's at. Their outdoor seating capacity will be massive and it will still have the same food truck features that many have come to love from the Evansville location.
"I AM A COMPLETE BADASS..."
As I do in all my sit-downs, I always encourage my featured guests to proudly brag on themselves because we can all be too hard on ourselves and the things we are accomplishing are truly amazing. "I am complete badass, mom of twins, owner of 2 businesses, keeping it all together," Jamie proudly said. As for Devon? Well she's got pride over the accomplishment that "for someone who this is their first brewing job, to have people tell me that my beer is the best in the city, it's a pretty big deal." And I think we all can agree that their pioneering tenacity brings so much hope to women everywhere to break through societal norms and choose leadership that is based out of passion, even if other people have something else to say about it.
XO, SHANNON
Visit The Lil’ Miss Mason jar website here!
“An intentional shop of handcrafted products and curated boutique pieces with a vision to inspire, uplift and encourage.”
