Hello Pink Booters! I’m Melissa, your newest board member.
I started at the bottom of this industry the way a lot of us do — cleaning tanks, scrubbing kegs, taking bar shifts nobody else wanted — and I climbed every part of it in rooms where I was almost always the only woman. Once I went from the four walls of the brewery and taproom to outside sales, I learned early that I'd have to be twice as good as my male counterparts to get half the credit. I fought for a spot on the tap list when I was questioned about my beer knowledge. I fought for a seat at the table when decisions were being made about the brewery I helped define. I fought for the titles, pay, and every ounce of respect I have earned in this industry along the way.
Through my 20 years in this industry thus far, Pink Boots always made sure I never fought alone. This organization put me in rooms with women and non-binary folks who'd already fought the same fights and were willing to hand me what they'd learned — from how to properly open a bag of grain, to how to hold your ground in a meeting full of men who assumed you were there to take notes. Scholarship by scholarship, workshop by workshop, chapter meeting by chapter meeting, connection by connection, this organization turned a lonely climb up the industry totem pole into one I didn't have to make by myself.
The Pink Boots Society has proven that it’s magic – as long as you’re willing to look for it.
As the first board member to be from a wholesale distributor, I'm carrying with me the belief that access is the whole point. Access to education, to funding, to rooms where decisions get made, and most importantly – access to each other – which reaches far beyond beer. Our industry is stronger, more interesting, and frankly makes better beverages when the people making them come from everywhere and look like everyone. That's not a slogan for me — it's what I've experienced firsthand - and something I am very passionate about.
During my board tenure I'm here to listen first. I want to know what your chapter needs, what's working, what isn't, and where Pink Boots can show up better for you. If you see me at a conference, over a virtual call, or having a pint, please come say hello — or better yet, tell me what you think we're missing.
I’m grateful to be walking beside you all in these boots. Strength in numbers. In solidarity and suds.
