One night when we were expecting another bombing raid over a nearby town, a British army officer called Captain May took me up to the top of our house and said we could watch the bombing. I decided another story might help to answer her question. I asked the children if they had any questions and it was then that my little eight-year-old friend immediately spoke up: “How do you keep calm?” Many years later, we learned that in light of the expected invasion and our inadequate defenses, the British government had ordered the printing of large posters, which bore the emblem of the Crown and the words “Keep Calm and Carry On!” During the long days of blackout and bombing, rationing and uncertainty, death and destruction, we had repeatedly been encouraged to “Keep Calm and Carry On!” And we heard rousing speeches from the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, telling us how to be brave and resist and to pray that God would save our country.īut the enemy never came the church bells did not ring. We were told we would be alerted to the enemy’s attack by the ringing of the church bells - they had been silenced from the beginning of the war. I shared about friends and neighbors going off to war and how some of them were killed and others were captured and held prisoner until the war ended. I told them about rationing, which restricted how much food we could buy or even which clothes we could purchase. We could hear the roar of the engines as the planes flew over our town, the crash of bombs exploding, and the barking sound of the anti-aircraft guns. I explained about the bombing and how we would go to the cellar when the sirens woke us in the middle of the night with their eerie wailing. It was the most frightening thing I had ever seen. It flew so low overhead that it seemed to block out the sun. I told them about the day the Zeppelin flew over my home in broad daylight. I had been invited to talk to a group of a few hundred homeschooled children about “growing up” in wartime England. I explained how World War I had been called “the war to end all wars,” but World War II started little more than twenty years later. The question was not the only surprise of the morning. “How do I keep calm?” I responded, scrambling for an answer, wondering how I explain in language that an eight year old can grasp. But it was her eyes! They held me with the kind of searching wondering, unblinking gaze known only to children in innocence. Lastly, I am biased but I believe we have the best company culture, and it's unlike any other.The question startled me. Our brew team wins the medals, but all of us earn them together. We're now an award winning brewery with 6 medals in the last 2 years from major professional competitions. We have made significant improvements, if somebody hasn't had our beer within the last few years we would love for them to try it again. Tell your friends about us, when you're out somewhere and they don't have us on tap, tell them your favorite Epidemic beer. When we first signed the lease to our space, we kind of said let's just see who shows up. For those of you reading this, we can't thank you enough for being supporters and fans. The rest of this year and the upcoming 2023 year are going to be extremely important for all small businesses since we rarely have the capital to battle sustained hardships. The cost to do business is sky high (inflation) but retail prices have to be kept low (slowing economy). Inflation is still high in a slowing economy, a phenomenon that hasn't happened since the 70's. We can only reap the benefits of our work if all of us are able to fully contribute. Being an owner means I get to speak directly from the heart without anything held back, and that has afforded me the ability to not have to read off a piece of paper.Įvery day we’re having to do better, for ourselves and for each other. My time in finance I’ve realized the work itself isn’t the most difficult, the most difficult is my ability to communicate reasoning and urgency so that we are cohesive as a group. I usually give a tidbit about showing gratitude or self-betterment, maybe a quote, maybe a story I saw. I say things from the knowledge that I have from studying the brewery's data almost every day, I say it the way I understand it with no filters. Sometimes I may have a few phrases or cues on my phone as a reminder. I will not read from a piece of paper simply because – I’m unable to, I never found a fix to my issue. Not because I think finance is the most important, but because often I just need to gather my thoughts while others talked. Every Monday morning we have a meeting with select staff to go over updates and set the tone for the week.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |