We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Montabone. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.

Amanda, appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I come from a large family that is very close! We love exploring new places and traveling together whenever possible. When we would go to new cities, my dad and I would love to try new breweries, but since half of my family didn’t like beer, or only liked Coors/Bud Light, we often did not go. When my dad and I discussed opening a brewery, we knew it had to be a brewery where anyone and everyone would be sure to find something they love. We pride ourselves on carrying our beer on tap, having a full bar to craft cocktails, wine, gluten free options, and plenty of N/A options as well. We even carry Coors Light and Bud Light in our cooler! We truly believe anyone who walks through our doors will be sure to find a beverage they will enjoy.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I worked for one restaurant company for almost 12 years, where I found a passion and excelled at managing and leading people in the hospitality industry. I started as a line server and over the years moved into a district manager position. While it was a great company and I learned so much about hard work, drive, dedication, and an admiration for leading people, I knew it was not where I wanted to be long-term. While working for this company, my dad had started homebrewing and found that family and friends were truly enjoying his beer! We decided to put our two passions and our 2 skills together and create Sky Bear Brewery & Pub. We believe we have created an environment where our love for people and beer comes together in a special place. We have hired a team that also has a passion for these too, and we believe our guests can feel that when they walk in the door.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Since the building we are leasing is over 100 years old, we had to put a lot of love and work into the space. We did a complete gut and remodel, that a lot of my family helped out with! While working on it, we were still feeling the effect of Covid and faced endless amounts of supply chain issues. While it was frustrating at times, we managed to get creative, not give up, and stay positive knowing we would reach our end goal. Although it was tough, we were resilient and not giving up was completely worth at the end of the day!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I did not have a large social media presence on my personal account before starting Sky Bear Brewery & Pub. I will be the first to admit it is a lot of work and at times feels like a second job! However, it is worth all the effort you put into it because I do feel it is one of the best ways to market your business. We use it to promote events, new products, what we’re doing in the community, share stories about our teams, and more. My advice would be to set a goal on how often you want to post things, and when you have free time use the tools, such as scheduling things in advance, to make it easier on yourself! Also, when you have a team below you, you can almost always find someone who enjoys helping. Don’t be afraid to use the extra help, especially if you find someone who is passionate about using social media!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.skybearbrewery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skybearbreweryandpub/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Skybearbreweryandpub/