Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Melhorn

Hi Jason, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

I had no real idea what I wanted to do with my life. There were no subjects that really sparked my interest in school, and continuing education didn’t seem to spark any passion whatsoever. At the age of 16, my uncles owned a family restaurant which also offered catering’s. I remember getting some calls from them when they were short dishwashers for their off site catering jobs, and asked if I would be willing to step in when they were in a bind. From there, I developed a real interest in the hospitality industry. I started food running, serving, bartending, and then transitioning into the kitchen to learn cooking. I developed a passion for food, people, and now as of late, a burning desire for leadership.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

My journey has been anything but smooth. I would say my biggest struggle was inside of myself, but back then I had no idea about the terrible damage I was doing to myself. I can now look back and say I wish I was taught basic human skills like communication, not holding things in, that it was ok to feel sad, what I should do with my emotions, and empathy for others. I struggled majorly with just being ok with who I was as a person. I felt like my job and title was what made me who I was. MY family grew up not having much and struggling. We weren’t able to afford the “nice things”. Now I see that those “nice things” are not important. I look back now and I have everything I’ve ever needed; not wanted, just needed. I would often dream of working so hard and being wealthy, and I thought that was going to bring happiness. Looking back, I was so wrong. I was so afraid of people not liking me or accepting me. That fear of rejection, not feeling like I was good enough. I realized I blamed a lot of things on growing up not having much when in reality it was really me not liking myself, I carried those thoughts with me for many years, taking me deeper and deeper into a massive depression. I would mask my feelings, so no one knew I was struggling on the inside. I finally got to a point in my life where I had struggled, so bad that I couldn’t keep living my life that way. I had isolated myself, and convinced myself I was alone, and I had nothing. I was promoted into a general manager position right before I turned 21 years old. I had outworked and out-performed everyone. I was able to look at people, with what I know now, to be a false sense of confidence because of the title I was awarded. Most of my friends were still in college. This was the start to becoming a monster because of my insecurities. I will say this, I never realized how powerful my thoughts really were and the way I talk to myself can make all the difference in how I handle any situation.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Hops and Barleys & Beerded Goat Brewing co?

Both of these business’s are restaurants as you can most likely figure out from the names. We are a family, and dog friendly place that pride ourselves on going out of our way to make people feel welcome. Each place has its own personality and feel to it. We also have a non-profit called Hops Kids. Our non-profit has built two food pantries in local elementary schools, supports positive behavior incentive programs (PBIS) in local elementary schools, supports Operation Wildcat (another local non-profit), and we donate 100 turkeys every year to local families for Thanksgiving.

With our restaurants, we do a lot of fundraisers to support local school programs which include offering to provide food donations to help schools raise money for their cause. I stepped out on my own after working in this industry for 17 years. I did this with the goal of giving back to the communities that supported us. I was told on many occasions that my goal was an amazing dream, but not something that was realistic if I was going to make it. I am proud to say we are going on our 8th year, and I have never stopped giving back to the community that supports us! Even when COVID hit and we were closed down, I was terrified and had the team calling me saying “what are we going to do?” I told them I had no idea, but I knew what we weren’t going to stop. Every Saturday for the shutdown, we fed families in need for free. We were averaging 220 to 250 people every Saturday. I also enlisted the help of my wife Keli, and we would put together baskets of different items each week, to give families something they could do together. We did things like movie night baskets, cookie night, brownie night, game nights, and for Easter provided easter baskets and all the supplies needed for a family easter egg hunt. I think just that is just enough to set us apart from the rest! That in and of itself should answer what I am most proud of within offerings and services.

There is another I am incredibly proud of as well, and it’s the willingness to teach leadership to my entire team. I don’t feel there is a lack of people willing to work, or that this generation is “lazy”. I honestly believe there is a lack in great leader’s. I spend countless hours learning how to be better for the team, not only to help them be better leaders at work, but also at home and in their everyday lives. I want to pour the value into the team that I have learned through the pain I caused myself. I am working on sharing with them, my story of all those insecurities and negative thoughts. I am leading from my pain and trying to help others know that they aren’t alone and there are better ways to lead. Leadership starts and ends with you, so the main focus is helping the team with empathy, communicating, and being selfless.

How do you think about luck?

I am not sure I would use luck as either good or bad. I would replace that word with Faith, because that has played a major role in my life. The saying that “Jesus will leave the 99 to come for the 1” is a very true statement. I was in a place of hopelessness and darkness. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of that place. I will say this, having Faith doesn’t mean you won’t struggle. The last three years of my life have been the hardest that I have ever experienced. The industry I am in is struggling with the way things are right now. Without my Faith, I wouldn’t have the foundation to know how to handle these times, and still be bold enough to pour into the team. It just doesn’t feel right to use the word luck, good or bad, in my journey because I have had both good times and bad times.

I have learned to be grateful for these hard times, because it really forced me to lean in more to my Faith, helping me gain a lot of wisdom over the past year and a half that I don’t think I would’ve learned otherwise. This also has given me a chance to practice what I preach to the team. I feel like my words don’t have the same effect unless my actions are saying more than my words.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.beerdedgoatbrewing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beerdedgoatbrewingco?igsh=dHZ3YWk2bGM3a2Ey&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/100089659968285/
• Other: [email protected]