We were lucky to catch up with Nathan Schneider recently and have shared our conversation below.
Nathan, appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?
Being a business owner has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. I remember the arbitrary question posed to me in school, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. When I was a kid, I could never find the answer. It was never a concern of me not wanting to do anything, it was that I was still young and had no experience to help guide my decision. How am I going to know what I enjoy if the only thing I had done with my life was go to school?
I found later, after enlisting in the Army National Guard, serving eight years, and also bouncing through several different, monotonous, entry-level jobs, that the only thing I truly wanted for a career path was to be autonomous; independent. I found that calling when a small business owner, a brewery owner, coincidentally met me at a liquor store, where I was the on-site Wine Expert. He was kind, friendly, and after a fair amount of conversation, willing to disclose that he was looking for a Salesperson to help him and his brewery. He seemed to like the way I held myself and how easy I was to talk to because a few weeks later I started working as a sales rep for Saint Paul’s Flat Earth Brewing Company.
On my first day, I was to shadow an existing Sales Rep to see how they handled business, organized their day, and to learn more about the product that I would be selling. It was a shock to me when I found out that I was shadowing a 23-year-old kid in a tattered white hoodie, scruffy/patchy facial hair, who wreaked of cigarettes. We made it to a bar in a popular river town around 10am. When we entered, we were greeted by a very direct, heavily tattooed bartender who asked who I was, and after a few minutes of conversation, said that if a new guy was entering the business, we would all have to take a shot of vodka and I would have to give them my best sales pitch. Doing my best, I fumbled over my sales sheets, not really knowing much about the beer that I was selling, and after my voice cracking several times and my nerves fully showing, the bartender and the other salesperson laughed, said I did a halfway decent job and let me relax. To my surprise they bought a keg; and as we were walking back to our rusted-out company car, I asked if this was a normal day for him. His response, “each day brings something new”. I was hooked. And it wasn’t about being in the alcohol industry or being able to drink during the day. It was about the freedom to do whatever I wanted and whatever made sense for me to be successful.
I took that day and that feeling and turned it into where I am today. Now I am the Vice President of a mid-sized brewery (Invictus Brewing Co), I am part owner of a brand-new brewery that I am incredibly proud of (Trove Brewing Company), I am the Director of Communications for the Minnesota Craft Brewer’s Guild, and I am an active member for a local non-profit that makes and delivers medically tailored meals to terminally ill people in the twin cities. With all of these things going on, I am constantly busy, but I am also able to do the things that I want to do, without the oversight of some nonsensical corporate supervisor or construction foreman. Do I think that I could have a regular job? Absolutely not.
Nathan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am the Vice President of Invictus Brewing Company as well as part owner of Trove Brewing Company, both in Minnesota but on two different sides of the Twin Cities.
At Invictus, we are a Family oriented brewery, built across the street from a major sports complex that hosts people and teams from all over the world. We have a distribution license that allows us to package our products for outside sales to bars/restaurants and liquor stores. For the first several years we operated under a self-distribution model, reaching roughly four hundred different accounts across the state. This is something that I built that I am consistently proud of. Recently adjusting that model by signing with our first distributor, we have goals of producing fifty percent more volume this year as compared to last. At our core, we are a small group of people that are passionate about brewing quality beer, being part of a great local community, and using the resources we have to give back where we can, both philanthropically as well as environmentally. We strive to be a self-sustainable brewery with a mission statement of environmental stewardship. We donate our spent grain to local farmers to use as food for their animals, we have solar panels covering our roof to generate clean energy, we have car chargers in the front of building that are free of charge to anyone needing them to encourage driving electric, and so much more.
As far as products, you can find true to form, approachable beers, cider ales, seltzers, and thc beverages at our taproom as well as out in the market. At Invictus we believe that there is something for everyone, and we will be the ones to provide the absolute best version of whatever that is. Our flagship Listening Through Static Hazy Pale Ale is our forerunner to showcase a delicious style of beer that is flavorful, balanced, and interesting. Our Appleshine line is our unique answer to a brewery making Hard Cider. While still considered to be a beer, it is brewed with dextrose as a neutral grain and apple juice for a beverage that tastes identical to Hard Cider that is still produced with gluten free ingredients.
At Trove Brewing, we are industry veterans who wanted a space with identity. We have a taproom license which allows us to provide excellent service in our own taproom in our local community. Crafted with brewing in mind, there is a production space that is easily traversable and modular, ready to be added on to as we continue to grow. Our beers are made with careful thought, expertise, and creativity. A new Cherry Vanilla Porter has been great in the winter months as well as a recently tapped Blackberry and Blood Orange Sour. Our ambiance is one of antiquity and comfort with a touch of obscurity, feeling like you are visiting a relative’s home down the street filled with nicknacks. We host all sorts of events to keep the crowd entertained and give people a reason to go out; from trivia nights to puzzle league, making handmade earrings, or even adopting a new furry friend. At Trove, you are invited to have a fun experience while also sipping on a fantastically made beer.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I met my business partner years before we had the idea of starting a brewery. At the time, I was still a sales representative for the first brewery I had ever worked for, Flat Earth Brewing. In my route there was a chain of local brewpubs that I would visit to try and procure a guest line. I met my business partner there for the first time as he was the Regional Brew Master for the chain and had the ultimate say in what else was put on tap that wasn’t his beer. The conversations we had were very one-directional; “Do you like this beer? What do you see fitting in your rotation?”, things like that. It was until years late, and after I had built up quite a bit of industry experience and reputation myself, that I would run into him at the Brewer’s Association, Craft Beer Conference, that at the time, was in Denver, Colorado.
We bumped into each other, had a few short catching up conversations, and he finally told me that a big goal of his at this conference was to gain some insight and start planning for him and his wife to open up their own brewery. Jokingly, I responded quickly by saying, “you let me know when, and I’ll be your first investor”. Honestly, I hadn’t put any weight into the conversation because I didn’t see it being a real thing for either of us at the time.
Later in the conference week, at a networking event, I had run into him again. This time, the conversation was with intention. Talking about what the concept could be, and the location; Discussing what beer styles we were passionate about and what the ultimate business model would look like. In just a few short coincidental days, I was actively planning and beginning what would ultimately become Trove Brewing Company.
Months and years went by as plans were put together, money was collected and spent, buildings were leased, and equipment was put on order. October of 2023, we opened our doors for the first time, and we haven’t been happier. We have a great location with amazing customers, in a city that wants us to succeed. The beers we produce our creative, made with quality, and true brewing passion, and it shows.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
A story I have that relates to resilience would be in the same vein of a motivational story, tough it out, work hard for what you want, and if you keep putting in one hundred percent of your effort, you will succeed.
When I first started in this industry at Flat Earth Brewing, I was in my early twenties and was just beginning to see what running a brewery and being a part of a brewery truly entailed. It was still a business, and that part absolutely came first, but it was more interesting, it was social, it was a celebration. I realized that we sold something that when someone had a bad day, a beer could make them feel a little bit better; and when they had a great day, a beer could only enhance that feeling. I was enthralled with the culture of comradery and community. But I was at a place that had suffered a blend of bad business practices, and declining sales and support. When I started, I was paid thirteen dollars an hour with no commission on sales. I wasn’t allowed to work more than forty hours a week as there was no extra money in the budget for overtime. My company car was a rusted out, Plymouth Voyageur-type minivan with a large crack in the windshield and expired tabs. I knew early on that this place could never be my forever job, and it had to be a steppingstone to something greater. I had no idea what the greater thing might be, but I was sure that there were other opportunities out there that would show themselves to me if I could only commit my time and all of my effort and doing the best job for this initial place.
There were weeks where I would sneak off to the local plasma donation center in the middle of the day, just to get enough money so I could pay my rent. It was difficult (especially considering my fear of needles), but it got me by. I would take evening bartender shifts every once in a while, for the tip money because having a little extra cash didn’t make me feel like I was completely broke. After months of grinding it out, and also building an incredible book of business in the twin cities area, I was promoted to Sales Manager. The raise was two more dollars an hour. I stayed at that brewery for two years before I finally got my first ever salary. That came right in the midst of severe ownership changes and re-structuring. I stayed for a few more months until one of those opportunities I was looking for, showed itself to me, a new job, launching the sales program for a local distillery.
That first job was incredibly challenging, but I knew that if I wanted to be in the movies, I had to be in the movies. I still see myself as incredibly lucky to have worked there, because if I hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t be where I am now and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity that Flat Earth gave me.
With my final thought, I would like to encourage everyone who reads this to continue to support local and independent businesses. A small purchase can go a long way, and something as simple as a facebook like or an Instagram follow can be immensely impactful.
Cheers.
Contact Info:
- Website: invictusbrewingco.com Trovebrewing.com
- Instagram: @stpaulnate
- Linkedin: Nate Schneider