Today we’d like to introduce you to Brendan Megowan.
Hi Brendan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’ve worked in the service industry my whole life. I have had many different bosses, but the few who I actually respected shared one thing in common: they genuinely care about their employees. Outside of work, there would be no reason for us not to sit, chat, and have a beer as friends.
The vast majority of employers I have worked with view employees as resources- Human Resources. The term itself makes me cringe. I imagine corporate HR teams cutting staff with an efficient smile as an overworked team gets stretched ever thinner. Humans can be great resources but also can be great liabilities if they are not taken care of. Overworked employees are prone to health problems, absences, accidents, poor morale, poor performance and employee turnover.
The question begs, why are so many employees overworked when the companies they work for are very often taking in record profits? The employers will usually answer with some excuse involving a temporary condition, very often involving the company’s growth. Businesses tend to be growth-oriented and many believe if your business isn’t growing, it’s dying. Does this have to be true? Why does a business have to grow large, and while it does, when does it pause to take care of the people who helped it grow? Why make billions when you can make…millions?
All too often, the employees who grew the business become dissatisfied and leave, creating a revolving door of humans powering an unsustainable growth spiral. Most importantly, the company has by this time, lost its soul and will slowly die anyways.
My goal is to build a sustainable business which cares deeply and equally for customers, employees, suppliers and the environment, as well as the profits which make the whole wheel turn.
During 2020, I was working as the Brewery Production Manager for a regional brewery in SoCal. I watched as ownership cut staffing while our distributor stopped ordering. Other breweries with food were allowed to remain open while our tasting room was shuttered indefinitely.
A few years prior, this brewery had invested in a large expansion which left much of the growth dependent on a regional sales and distribution effort. At the same time, not much investment was made toward the customer experience. The seating, the bathrooms, the ingredients, and the quality all seemed to take a backseat to the “urgency” of running a large production.
This type of story is not unique in the beer industry, in fact it’s more common than not. The companies who have had the slowest growth seem to be the most stable. Riip Beer Co. in Huntington Beach is a good example. They have invested in an excellent brewer who they have retained and created a food program with some of the best pizzas around. Foregoing the traditional distribution growth model, Riip has created a series of venues with neighborhood appeal.
The vision for Whale Face Beer is to create a space to nurture our community with art, music, beer, and food. We are currently looking for a location to build a beer garden, but in the meantime, I am creating the food program through pop-ups at other local venues. By offering island-style comfort foods such as SPAM Musubi, Mac salad with handmade noodles, sunomono, and egg-fried rice, we hope to create a unique but familiar experience. By starting slow and planning with care, we will create a sustainable work environment to build not just a team but a family.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My original investor lied about his access to money and didn’t confess until other minority investors had contributed their startup buy-in, leaving us critically underfunded. We were high school friends and he had been committed to the project for over ten years.
Whale Face Beer in 2020 had an agreement to produce our beer in a shared facility which ultimately closed due to covid.
Whale Face Beer signed a purchase agreement in the summer of 2021 for a restaurant space in Long Beach which the owners did not honor and they sold the place to a higher competing offer, breaking our contract.
In 2021, my father had a stroke and slowly passed away over the next ten months. We could not visit him for the first 30 days due to covid so nobody could advocate for him in the hospital. When we finally could visit him, he was non-communicative.
The vision of Whale Face Beer is to gather community around four elements of celebration: beer, art, music, and food. Our beer is ingredient focused while scientifically driven to bring classic styles to their peak and create some new styles altogether. While we search for our dream beer garden, we have been popping up at venues from Long Beach to Inglewood with a proof of concept for our food program called “Whale Face Musubi.” Our musubi are served with our own roasted furikake as well as our house fermented sriracha with fresno chiles, garlic, and brown sugar. Doing all the prep and service myself has allowed me to learn and optimize the operation in a way that would be difficult with employees involved. Hopefully the hard work will pay off as we grow more organized and delegate more often. Until then, it’s fun to stay small and enjoy the ride.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I brew beer, design breweries, sell brewery equipment, cook food, build teams, and inspire entrepreneurs.
Happiness for me is about having a purpose and feeling connection. I love serving food for people. Cooking and serving food is a place where purpose and connection come together. Happiness should not be reserved for weekends. I expect of myself to be happy all the time, especially while working. It’s not always possible to be permanently stoked, but if I find myself without that certain spark, I know it’s time to take a break. More often than not, my stress is directly related to poor planning on my part so staying organized is a potent source of my happiness. At home, my amazing wife and our spunky Chihuahua, Ahsoka are a never ending source of joy.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
My Wife, Kristen and our dog, Ahsoka. I’m happy being around other happy people. Happiness is contagious.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.whalefacebeer.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/whalefacebeer?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whalefacebeer?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
Art by Jimmy D’Amico @futurehaircut
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