This Is Not Your Hobby

Margins are tight, shelves are crowded, and being “busy” isn’t the same thing as being profitable. In this episode of This Is Not Your Hobby, Julie kicks off a two‑part series on profitability by tackling the first — and often most uncomfortable — lever: cutting expenses.This isn’t about panic cuts or slashing things that actually drive revenue. It’s about identifying the expensive habits that have quietly become “normal” in taprooms and distribution businesses — and stopping them on purpose.Julie breaks down where beverage brands tend to overspend, how those decisions show up differently in taprooms vs. wholesale, and what not to cut if you want your business to survive (and grow) into 2026. The episode wraps with a practical 90‑day framework, The Q1 Stop Doing Expensive Shit System, to help you clean up your cost structure before pushing harder on sales growth.What you’ll learn in this episode:Why profitability only has two levers — and why cost-cutting usually needs to come firstThe most common taproom cost traps, including labor scheduled on vibes, untracked comps, menu bloat, and events that don’t payThe most common distribution cost traps, including SKU overload, packaging creep, rush freight, unmeasured trade spend, and sampling without a planWhen long‑term vendor contracts can lower costs — and when they turn into a financial ankle monitorWhy cutting quality, maintenance, sales support, brand clarity, or education often backfiresHow to apply the Q1 Stop Doing Expensive Shit System to clean up expenses without breaking the businessSubmit your bottlenecks here.Links:Contact Form - Not Your Hobby Marketing SolutionsBook A CallBuy A Punch CardLet's Work TogetherSmall Batch Standard

Branding isn’t “make it pretty and pray.” It’s how consumers decide what to grab in a 3-second cooler scan— and how buyers decide if you’re worth the shelf space. In this episode of This Is Not Your Hobby, Julie sits down with Amanda DeVries, Creative Director + Founder of Eye Candy Design, to talk about branding from a bigger-than-your-local-market perspective: what works globally, what drives consumer behavior, and how to make your brand clearer (and more profitable) even if your budget is… limited.What you'll learn in this episode:Why “branding” is way more than your logo (and why that misconception costs founders real money)What consumers actually respond to on shelf: clarity, cues, and emotional decision-makingThe difference between design that’s cool and design that convertsHow to tighten up your branding on a budget (without doing a full-blown redesign)Practical brand alignment: how packaging, messaging, and your sales story need to match— or you’ll confuse buyers and shoppersBest for: Independent beverage brands (beer, cider, spirits, kombucha, THC/hemp, NA) who are prepping for wholesale/distribution; OR already on shelf and not seeing the velocity they expected; OR feeling like their packaging is “fine” but not doing enough heavy lifting.Submit your bottlenecks here.Links:Eye Candy DesignStart With Why by Simon SinekNot Your Hobby Marketing Solutions

Discover how to stand out in the crowded beverage market with just three seconds to make an impression. Learn the critical distinction between product and brand in wholesale. Julie reveals the importance of crafting compelling unique selling propositions that resonate with buyers. Explore why emotional packaging design matters and how visual stories can captivate customers. Plus, find out what value-added supports can make your brand more attractive to retailers. It’s all about making a memorable impact in distribution!

Discover the crucial importance of differentiation in the craft beverage industry. Julie highlights the challenges brands face when they all claim to be local and friendly. She provides insights on auditing your taproom to enhance the customer experience. Learn to craft compelling unique selling propositions (USPs) tailored specifically for your brand. Julie emphasizes aligning your physical space with your brand identity and effectively communicating your USPs to ensure customers remember you in a crowded market.

In this discussion, Michelle Forster, Director of Sales at Black Tooth Brewing with a rich background in field sales, shares valuable insights for beverage brands. She emphasizes the need for both soft and hard sales skills and highlights the importance of active listening. Michelle advocates for respectful curiosity in managing distributor relationships and simplifying pricing for better communication. The conversation also touches on effective tools for streamlining distributor interactions and practical advice on avoiding burnout.

Transform your website from a digital brochure into a 24/7 salesperson that actively drives sales. Discover essential strategies like emotional targeting and clarity that connect with customers. Learn why showcasing lifestyle visuals beats production images and why mobile optimization is a must. Find out how to implement SEO for visibility and keep your site's design simple yet effective. With practical checklists and insights, maximize your brand’s online presence to avoid leaving money on the table.

Sales down? That’s not your wholesaler’s problem. Julie tackles this episode’s bottlenecks with two specific scenarios in mind: an owner-driven sales approach scrappy— but not in a good way— and, having a sales representative but not a sales plan. Both lack strategy, and you can’t sell anything without strategy.Tune in for a dose of Julie’s tough love and sound advice on training your sales team, a non negotiable. Instead of sitting around and commiserating about the beverage alcohol category down, let’s get to work on sales training! What you’ll learn in this episode:Julie's 20 hour a week rule of thumbThe value of engagement with accounts that fosters relationships and promotes reordering Tactics for identifying and building relationships with key accountsA checklist of quick wins for your sales department Best For: Owners and operators of beer, cider, seltzer, kombucha, spirits, THC, and non-alc brands who want to drive revenue... so, every one of them.Submit your bottlenecks here.

Beverage marketers increasingly need to do more with less. Not to mention every department in the company relies on the materials they create. In this first interview episode of This Is Not Your Hobby, Reuben’s Brews Marketing Director Hunter Oetinger schools Julie’s listeners with digestible, easy to implement marketing strategies for small teams to make bigger impacts. What you’ll learn in this episode:Tools and SOPs for automation and streamlined communication within your marketing team, with your external vendors, and across the entire companySuggestions for gauging and maximizing marketing ROIAdvice for ballin’ digital marketing on a budget Reminders about the power of outsourcing Best for:Owners and operators of beer, cider, seltzer, kombucha, spirits, THC, and non-alc brands who want to optimize the capacity of their small team without burnout.Submit your bottlenecks here.

If you’ve been ghosting your email list (or haven’t even started one), it’s time for a wake-up call.Welcome back to This Is Not Your Hobby, the podcast for beverage business owners who are done guessing and ready to grow. In this second episode, host Julie Rhodes gets into another massively underutilized— but wildly effective— sales tool: email marketing.Julie breaks down how to use her 3 R’s of Great Email Marketing—Relevance, Rhythm, and Relationship—to build an email strategy that actually sells… without annoying your audience or spamming their inboxes.Whether you’re starting from scratch or trying to level up your current newsletter game, this episode delivers a smart, actionable framework to help you grow your list, create better content, and build brand trust through email.💡 Spoiler alert: Email still has the highest ROI of any marketing channel. Yes, really.Let’s stop winging it. Let’s get to work.What you’ll learn in this episode:Why email marketing isn’t dead—it’s just been misusedThe 3 R’s of Great Email Marketing: Relevance, Rhythm, and RelationshipHow to start building and maintaining your recipient list (no shady tactics)Ways to use email as a sales tool, not just a megaphoneBest for:Owners and operators of beer, cider, seltzer, kombucha, spirits, THC, and non-alc brands who want to grow a loyal audience and drive real sales through email—without sounding like a robot.Submit your bottlenecks here.

If you're a small beverage brand stuck in a love-hate cycle with social media, you’re not alone, and you’re in the right place.Welcome to the first episode of This Is Not Your Hobby, the podcast for beverage business owners who are done guessing and ready to grow. In this kickoff episode, host Julie Rhodes tackles one of the most common marketing bottlenecks: building a social media content strategy that actually works.She breaks down why the algorithm isn’t your enemy (even if it feels that way), and how her 3C Rule—Clarity, Consistency, and Connection—can help you create engaging, ongoing content without the burnout.Let’s stop winging it. Let’s get to work.What you’ll learn in this episode:Why social media feels overwhelming—and how to make it manageableThe 3C Rule for creating a content strategy that drives resultsHow to build connection without chasing trendsWhy social media is a business tool, not a personal diaryBest for: owners and operators of beer, cider, seltzer, kombucha, spirits, THC, and non-alc brands who want to stop spinning their wheels on social media and start getting traction.Submit your bottlenecks here.