Happy International Women’s Day!

In celebration of #InternationalWomensDay, we are proud to say that almost half of our employees are female and many hold leadership positions. So to celebrate International Women’s Day, we wanted to take a moment to recognize our badass, awesome-hungry female leaders here at Short’s!

 

Rachel Brege 

What is your position at Short’s and how long have you been with the company?
Controller – 4 years

What is your favorite memory from working at Short’s?
Working Short’s Fest. It’s usually always beautiful out, great music, and I get to work with everyone I don’t see on a regular basis.

What is your favorite Beer?
It constantly changes but at the moment Mosa!

What female leader do you look up to or admire?
My mom, my sisters, sister in laws. They are all teachers and to see the effort and dedication they have toward teaching and the betterment of their students is inspiring.

 

Pauline Knighton-Prueter 

What is your position at Short’s and how long have you been with the company?
I have worked at Short’s for 5 and a half years. I started in marketing and made my way to sales. I am currently the Sales Manager and work with our company’s sales team and our distributors across our seven states.

What is your favorite memory from working at Short’s?
My first day. After my HR intake, I went back to the cottage I lived in during my first year of employment and sat out on the dock overlooking Hanley Lake. In that moment I was anxious for taking a chance at a new beginning and opportunity, but also excited and ready to bring on new experiences. I had no idea at that moment that I would be working at Short’s 6 years later in a leadership position working side by side with fantastic people that all believe in creating something bigger than themselves and constantly up for adventure and challenge. It is my favorite memory because I didn’t know what I know now!

What is your favorite Beer?
This is the hardest question to answer! It depends on the time of day, the weather, the atmosphere etc… however, a couple of classic go-to beers that I thoroughly enjoy include Bellaire Brown, Anniversary Ale, and Pontius Road Pilsner. My favorite specialty we make and I look forward to each year is Psychedelic Cat Grass.

What female leader do you look up to or admire?
In the “celebrity” realm, Lady GaGa and Michelle Obama are two of my favorite kick-ass women leaders. I also want to give a shout out to the female leaders at Short’s. Not to be cheesy, but it is truly an honor to work with these intelligent, diligent women and I appreciate having them as my business partners everyday.  I appreciate that Short’s is a place that respects female leadership.

 

Erin Kuethe

What is your position at Short’s and how long have you been with the company?
General Manager at the Pub – 7 years in April.

What is your favorite memory from working at Short’s?
Just 1! Oh my gosh, I couldn’t pick one, there have been some really fun staff parties over the years and some really awesome pub parties with bands like Joe Hertler, Reggie, and more that really make the night and party memorable. There was also the time I was lucky enough to go to GABF, and in between pourings we explored Denver and a couple of us got hop leaf tattoos, and now its documented forever on the SBC Flickr page, but that trip was all kinds of fun! There are also those moments of chaos which seem unbelievable when you are in the middle of them, but looking back you feel proud of the hard work and resiliency your staff showed, like when we lost power for days over Christmas one year and had to save the food. Or when the entire area lost power one August, except us, and we sold so much food most of us didn’t leave our little corners of the kitchen for 15 hours that day, we ran out of to-go boxes and customers where sitting at tables next to buckets of water because the storm had tore apart our roof and rain was leaking into the pub. There are also those huge accomplishments that leave you feeling proud, the two that stand out are opening the new kitchen during the 4th of July and changing our service model from order at the counter to a full service restaurant. These were huge challenges but they gave me a huge sense of pride and satisfaction for the accomplishments.

What is your favorite Beer?
Top 5 maybe – Freedom of 78, Liberator, ControversiALEAnniversary Ale and, Machu Beechu.

What female leader do you look up to or admire?
I honestly have never really thought about this, but I admire any woman who follows her dreams and goals and does what makes her happy, fulfilled, and successful. I want to set a good example for my daughters for what a women can accomplish and show them the sky is the limit, but I also let them know I support any path they choose to take. We must spend out time supporting each other as women and celebrating our successes.

 

Leslie Nagy

What is your position at Short’s and how long have you been with the company?
Production Manager and Quality Lab Manager – 4 years.

What is your favorite memory from working at Short’s?
Summer shifties with everyone at Town Club (RIP, can’t wait for it to reopen!), Riverwalk, and Pearls.

What is your favorite Beer?
Huma Lupa Licious.

What female leader do you look up to or admire?
Mary Barra – CEO of GM: “Do every job you’re in like you’re going to do for the rest of your life, and demonstrate that ownership of it.”

 

Leah Short 

What is your position at Short’s and how long have you been with the company?
Owner & Visionary – 12 years

What is your favorite memory from working at Short’s?
After all of these years, there are simply too many memories to choose just one. But call me sentimental, I am nostalgic about the early years. I remember being in the deli, making food and hearing Joe singing while brewing downstairs, or when we were just buried and Joe put on a wig and apron to do all the dishes with an alter ego (Sam). Or when there was a stuck mash and Woj, Joe, and I stayed up playing cards all night while the grant filled ever so slowly. The list goes on, it’s been a wild ride for sure.

What is your favorite Beer?
Huma Lupa Licious.

 

Mindy Theis 

What is your position at Short’s and how long have you been with the company?
HR Director – 3 years

What is your favorite memory from working at Short’s?
Working Anni Party 14, I had a perfect view of Braxton Hicks & The Contractions performing on the draft trailer, and watching Joe fearlessly bike down the ramp was pretty sweet.

What is your favorite Beer?
It’s always changing because our portfolio is always changing. My current favorite is Mosa, but my all-time favorite is Soft Parade.

What female leader do you look up to or admire?
Lindsey Vonn because she is such a strong, fearless, badass skier.

 

Emily Torrence 

What is your position at Short’s and how long have you been with the company?
Creative Team Project Manager and I’ve been working for Short’s for over 4 years, and enjoying the beers even longer!

What is your favorite memory from working at Short’s?
It feels impossible to pick just one memory, but one standout would be last April when we kicked off the Shandy Ski Squad collaboration. After months of phone meetings and planning, the Radar Ski and Action Water Sports teams came up to Elk Rapids, and we got our first waterski session of the year in. It was a perfect 37 degree blue sky day, and it was one of those moments where a lot of hard work pays off into an awesome, unique moment. I feel lucky that we experience a lot of those moments at Short’s, so from Shandy Ski Squad, to Short’s Fest, to Psychedelic Cat Grass, those days are always my favorite.

What is your favorite Beer?
Bucktricutioner, but since that one isn’t made often Bellaire Brown is my go-to, with Juicy Brut becoming a popular addition to my fridge.

What female leader do you look up to or admire?
JK Rowling. Not only am I a huge fan of the Harry Potter series, but I feel like she has accomplished so much with her life. From inspiring a generation of children to read again, to creating an expansive and thoughtful fictional universe, to using her notoriety to create positive social change; she is a fearless woman who speaks her mind eloquently and her actions are admirable.

 


We are also excited to participate in International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day! This special brew day is meant to coincide with International Women’s Day to bring together women that are passionate about beer and brewing. The theme for this year’s brew is “forage,” so we collaborated with our neighbors and friends at Kings Orchards. Using cherries from the orchard and one of our favorite ingredients, spruce, we made a Belgian Dubbel. We’re really excited to be able to work with such strong women who support one another and share the same love for beer and Northern Michigan. Look for this brew to be on tap at the pub in the near future!