We recently connected with Stacia Familo-Hopek and have shared our conversation below.

Stacia, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

There are several ways that The Lost Druid is different than the industry standard. The first and most evident way is that the brewery is 100% woman-owned. Despite women being the original brewers several hundred years ago, women make up a very small percentage of staff in today’s craft breweries, with even fewer being owners. Second, The Lost Druid is a taproom focused brewery. This means that we distribute a very small percentage of our beer to retail establishments like restaurants and bars. We focus on creating an inviting atmosphere for our local community to enjoy with family and friends. In addition, we don’t produce any flagship beers. Flagship beers are those that are known to be on-tap all of the time at a brewery. Instead, we regularly change the beer selections available in the taproom depending on the the season and drinking preferences of our customers. If a beer is very popular it will come back to the taps, but not necessarily immediately. In addition, we offer a range of styles of beers and hard seltzers for our customers to choose from. Many breweries are known for focusing on IPAs or sours or lagers. We are known for offering a wide range of styles, many of which are more traditional European styles that you won’t see regularly at other breweries.

Unlike most breweries, we also serve food from our own kitchen and have an award-winning chef that loves to explore different flavor profiles. He often works with our master brewer to discuss flavor combinations and pairings with the beers that are being produced. Finally, we were the first ground-up construction brewery in Dekalb County that has added solar power to our facility. Solar is just one of the ways that we work to take care of Mother Nature, as the Druids would have.

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 earned a Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology in the late nineties and began working in consulting and then within large corporations like UPS, NCR and First Data to build strategies for hiring and developing the talent within the organization. I worked with executives on things like developing a succession planning strategy, developing leadership skills in the management ranks and hiring profiles for sales and operations roles which tended to be critical positions within the organization. After doing this for two decades, I decided that I needed a new challenge and that I needed to leave the corporate environments that I had been working in for so long. My husband and I began discussing opening a brewpub to marry his brewing talents alongside my talent development background. When it became evident that the law in GA was going to change in 2017 to allow a brewery to sell direct to a beer lover vs having to sell them a tour with “free” tastings, we began to plan to build a taproom-focused brewery. Deciding to build a new business from the ground up, in an industry that I’ve never worked in before on our own has been challenging, exciting and at times nerve-wracking. We had only been open 8 months when COVID came along and shook up the world. The past couple years has been an exercise in resilience and a celebration of our loyal customers who helped us through the worst of it and continue to visit us and enjoy what we have to offer.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I know that COVID has had it’s effect on everyone in the world in many different ways. Even before the initial shut-down where we had to transition from in-person service to take-out only we experienced obstacles that we had to find a way around, over or under. Our opening weekend in June of 2019 was overwhelming and what made it even more challenging was a malfunction with our chiller that leaked coolant all over the brewery floor and resulted in warm, foamy beer coming out of our taps! This was followed shortly after by an electrical short in our brew kettle which meant we couldn’t brew beer for several weeks until the problem could be diagnosed and fixed. Then our brand new walk-in cooler had mechanical issues! As you can imagine, this was not a smooth start to this new business and my nerves were fried! During my first full-time job out of graduate school my boss gave me a framed inspirational quote that read: “Perseverance: In the confrontation between the river and the rock, the river always wins…not through strength but by perseverance.” This embodies who I am and how I approach challenges that I face. Despite a series of hurdles, we didn’t give up. We problem solved, we investigated, we asked for help when needed and we solved the problem to get back up and running again.

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

I believe our reputation has been built in several ways. First, as an owner, I believe in being integrally involved in the business. When the taproom is open to the public I am typically there greeting customers, taking orders, pouring beers, cleaning up, etc. I work alongside my staff. I believe that being present and working with my staff helps me to build relationships with my customers and my staff knows that there isn’t anything that I would ask them to do that I wouldn’t expect of myself. Customers see the owner present and know that they will be taken care of.

Second, the beers that my husband brews are flavorful and creative. They range from being true to style to being packed with fruity flavor that can woo even an avid wine drinker. No doubt, we had our issues in the beginning as we dialed in our equipment and processes. Our beers today represent our learning and evolution over the last three years. Finally, the staff we have sets us apart. They are friendly, welcoming to whom ever walks through the door and helpful. They take the time to ask about preferences and will offer suggestions or samples to help someone pick out what they’d like to drink. They also take the time to get to know our customers and build a relationship with them. In addition, our chef is creative and asks for feedback. He takes the time to think about which dishes are selling (or not) and why so that he can make adjustments. When time allows you’ll see him walking around to talk with customers to get feedback personally. All of these things create a positive experience, word of mouth and an interest in returning to try something new.

Contact Info:

• Website: thelostdruid.com
• Instagram: @thelostdruid
• Facebook: @thelostdruid

Image Credits
Photos taken myself