Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrew Ross. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Andrew, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

When trying to decide a name for a business, there are so many avenues and options, and everyone of them can be anxiety ridden. Choosing the wrong name could be an immediate death sentence for your goals, dreams, and ultimately your brand. When we were thinking of names, we obviously went through 1 million different options, but when we did find one that was memorable, tongue-in-cheek, and applicable to what we do we knew it immediately. In beer trading terms, whales are considered highly sought-after or coveted beers. They can come an extreme cost depending on rarity and brand. There’s a whole secondary market of high-end beers that exist and we wanted to tongue in cheek touch on it. We try to provide the most unique and top tier selection of beer that we can possibly bring. This is taking years of industry, connections, personal networking, and a lot of good times and Turing them into a thoughtfully curated draft and package list. The next attribute of a good brand name to touch on is making it memorable. If a bar name has a bunch of words in it sometimes it’s harder for the consumer to remember it or at least remember the full name. I like bars that have single syllable names. Like what’s more iconic than Tom’s Restaurant? And as it relates to what we do as a brand, we continue to build the brand as a pod, where each whale has its own individual identity, but the mission is the same at all locations . Every location carries different beer but all the same caliber and tier. While each location has a different aesthetic, we always keep the experience elevated. This is why I think our name represents really what we do.

Andrew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Andrew Ross and Jesse Van Note both worked for Wicked Weed Brewing and were both selected to help open a second location, The Funkatorium, in Summer of 2014. It was during this time that Ross and Van Note began making intimate connections with breweries traveling from all over the world that were coming to see the largest Mixed Fermentation brewery in the country at the time. Ross, behind the bar, would pour the first few drinks, followed by Van Note leading the visitors through the barrels and explaining the process of wood inoculated beers from start to finish. One night after work, over a few cold ones, came to the conclusion that Asheville had a great representation of local craft beer but was lacking in world beer or things that were trending from around the country. This is when The Whale was created. After a bit of very hard work, the first Whale opened in West Asheville in 2017. The Whale now has four locations, two in Asheville, one in Greenville SC and another in Charleston SC. It’s a dream come true to be able to do this.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

We worked together at Wicked Weed’s Funkatorium. We became friends over good beers but both ran in different social circles. Coming together for something were both extremely passionate about has been a great combination.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

This one is short and simple. Never cave under pressure to satisfy others. Stick to the mission and see it through.

Contact Info:

• Website: TheWhaleCollective.com
• Instagram: @thewhaleavl / @thewhalegvl / @thewhalechs / @thewhaleoutpost

Image Credits
Stephan Pruit