Origin stories.

Triple Bottom was born from a “wouldn’t it be amazing if…” kind of conversation over a steak dinner in South America. As all great ideas do, right?

Bill and I had just left Washington, DC, where we had been working in community and economic development for several years, and were very fortunate to be able to take a trip before beginning graduate school. (It may be worth noting here that Bill and I are married, so we hang out a lot.)

While in DC, we had become excited about craft breweries. We were not remotely nerdy about our beers, but we did really appreciate the experience of visiting a brewery. We liked learning about how beer was made while holding that beer in our hands. And we liked the sense of connection we felt with other people visiting the brewery, too. People come to breweries looking for a story, not just a drink, and in searching for that story they often turn to each other. At breweries, we felt a sense of community that we didn’t experience with strangers anywhere else.

And so, while in South America, we sought out a local brewery — and there, too, we found that strangers were eager to talk with each other about what had brought them there, where they were heading, what memories were jogged by the experience of being at this brewery. It was pretty special to find that — across continents — breweries were places of community and connection.

Our conversation over dinner a few days later took us back to that experience. “Wouldn’t a brewery be an incredible place to work?” “What if we opened our own?” But we also knew that we wouldn’t be satisfied working in a place that didn’t have an explicit social mission. We were both going back to grad school with the hopes we’d become better equipped to have a positive impact on the world. At that dinner table, we decided on the name “Triple Bottom Brewing Company” to represent the good we hoped to do through this business. We sketched out a jobs program to give people who have been excluded from the mainstream economy a chance to get back on their feet with dignity. And we decided that Philadelphia, my hometown, would be the perfect place to bring this idea to life.

For almost two years, Bill and I added more layers to our idea here and there. Bored in accounting, I would doodle a marketing strategy. In our kitchen, Billy set up a home-brewing kit. Not until I had the opportunity to pitch a social enterprise to my classmates did we decide to really see if we could do this. After lots of research and brainstorming, it became clear that craft breweries and inclusive community development really could — and should — go hand in hand. I’m really excited to share more on the blog about the progress we’ve made in connecting our craft brewery with community development — and the incredible organizations that are helping make that connection possible.

Here we go

(Please pretend you are reading this on March 6, 2018, which is when it was actually written. Turns out that building a website to host a blog takes more time than writing one.)

I’m sitting at my window, waiting for this next Nor’Easter to hit, feeling all sorts of confused because last week it was 70 degrees and then this weekend we got pummeled with snow, our tree fell across the street and broke all our neighbor’s windows, and my family went three days without power.

And you know? That’s kind of what it’s like to start a business. This time of year, my front door is crowded with an array of different jackets and footwear to prepare me for any weather. And for the last two years, my brain (and if I’m honest, really my spirit)* has had to be my all-weather gear, to help me pivot from exhilarating, bright moments of clarity and connection and progress to foggy periods of logistical hurdles and uncertainty to surprise storms of setbacks and “is this going to work!?” crises. It’s been a ride, and we haven’t even opened our doors.

But here’s what I believe: this is going to work. And more than that, it’s going to be beautiful and powerful and really fun.

We can’t wait to share the output of these years of learning and planning and building with you. In the meantime, we thought we’d invite you behind the scenes. As much as bringing Triple Bottom to life has had its challenges and frustrations, for the most part it has been remarkably fulfilling. We’ve gotten to know some truly incredible, strong, and hardworking people and organizations in Philadelphia. We’ve brewed some exceptional beers that have made us glance at each other with that eyebrow-raised kind of joy and relief that our beers are really delicious. (It wasn’t actually a surprise, given our brewer, Kyle’s, experience—but each new recipe is a happy confirmation.) And—oh so thrilling—we’ve learned way more than we ever could have imagined about leases and licenses and loans. This blog is a little bit about all of that, though it will be light on the paperwork and heavy on the people. It’ll mostly be me (hi, it’s Tess!) writing but we may have a few guest posts here and there. We’re still figuring this out (and by this I mean all of this, not just the blog), so we welcome your ideas and support and constructive feedback. Just give us a shout at hello@triplebottombrewing.com.

Okay? Here we go.

*And if I’m even more honest, the thoughtful brains and uplifting spirits of our partners and friends and champions are the real all-weather gear.