Townrootz

#020 - Today we talk with Oakland resident and entrepreneur Aram Cretan of Federation Brewing, a producer of award winning craft beer.  Aram created Federation with his childhood friend and then roped in his retired “banker” dad to keep the books.

What started as a home brewing project over 10 years ago grew into brewing for friends' weddings.  I asked Aram when he thought he had business:

“You start to realize that you have the germ of a business here when all of a sudden you're spending every weekend on something.  That's not, you know, more than a hobby, but less than a profession.”

Before the pandemic, Federation was selling kegs to restaurants and pints to customers in their Jack London tasting room.  When the pandemic hit, they lost 95% of their business.  The pandemic required Federation to pivot to a manufacturing and canning business, selling through distributors - a much different business.  The result was they grew 3x.

"When COVID started, we were just driving our kegs around Alameda and Contra Costa. That's what we were doing. We were a little East Bay brewery.  Now you can get our beer in cans from Paso Robles up to Redding.  We signed on with two distributors. We produced three times more beer by volume in 2021 than we did in 2020.”

You can visit the brewery and tasting room at 420 3rd St. in the heart of Oakland’s Jack London Square district.  This is NOT your neighborhood sports bar, however.  When you visit, be prepared to put your phone away and engage with other patrons.

Be sure to stick around until the end to hear how Federation’s mascot “Keg Bot” is fighting to keep the Town safe for independent beers. 

#019 - Today we talked to Brady Bellis from Oakland’s Rocky’s Market. The original store is located in the Oakmore neighborhood (440 Leimert Blvd, Oakland). Rocky’s is more than a local independent grocery store, it is a community fixture.

"we know so many people on a first name basis”.

AND

“we provide a lot of local food and we've worked with farmers to bring produce in and try to maintain that feel of being a neighborhood place and we generally get that feedback from our customers that that's why they shop there because they like the people that work there”.

Brady and his Oakland native partner Corinne Kinczel bought the Oakmore store in 2016 from the original owner, Rocky, who tried to rescue the store from a series of unsuccessful ownerships.  They opened a 2nd store in the new Brooklyn Basin development (288 9th Avenue, Oakland) at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020.  Brady credits Corrine’s Oakland roots for the company’s success.

“Corrine is a native Oakland person and she's lived here basically her whole life and she's very dialed into the community and so she was the one who had the vision of making it more than just a grocery store”.

The pandemic boosted their business by about 50% overnight and for a while they were running at 250%.  It leveled off, however, but today they are performing beyond their pre-pandemic levels.  They used safety protocols as a competitive advantage.

Be sure to listen to the whole interview to hear how Brady and Corrine’s first date set them on this entrepreneurial course.

#018 - Today we talk to Imani Glove from The Lemonade Bar.  The Lemonade Bar specializes in fresh squeezed lemonade and organic handcrafted frozen lemonades.  She and her husband Cedric started off with a hot dog cart, but the business did not do so well.  When they incorporated fresh squeezed lemonade, the business took off.  The lemonade began outselling the hotdogs, so they ditched the dogs and The Lemonade Bar was formed.

In reflecting on her journey, Imani shares:

“I just knew that we could take this to the top. The feedback from the community is they are telling us that we have something that they want and they come and they purchase at the farmer's markets and fairs and festivals. So I knew we were onto something.”

After the pandemic hit, The Lemonade Bar embraced partnering with like minded businesses to get through it.  When some shied away from being out in public during the pandemic, they ran towards it.  They said yes to what a lot of other folks said no to.

Be sure to stick around ‘til the end to hear about their Kiva campaign.

#017 - Today we talked to Maria Fernandez from Red Bay Coffee Roaster. Red Bay was founded in 2014 by Keba Konte, a renowned artist and successful food entrepreneur with deep roots in the Bay Area specialty coffee and hospitality industry.

In reflecting on why Keba started Red Bay, Maria said:

“I think what really resonated with him as far as the coffee business is that there was an opportunity to open up.  When you look at some of the old cafes, people gather to be creative and there's artists and activists and this whole wonderful community and place to feel included.”

Before the Pandemic, Red Bay’s office coffee program was about 60% of their business.  Those accounts stopped ordering within a couple of days.  What came next was a pivot to e-commerce.  Once they were selected for Oprah’s Favorite Things, business took off.

#016 - Today we talk to Tina Wolfe and David Dranitzke from Much Better Butter.  Tina has been roasting seeds for some time.  After working through nut allergies in her kids’ classrooms, she began experimenting on sunflower seed spreads and Much Better Butter was born.  In talking about their target customer, they say....

“It's been interesting to see that it's actually quite a range of people. I always thought it was going to be moms as our target audience, but we're finding vegans are really excited about our two flavors.”

“we really thought it was moms and dads of elementary and younger kids who needed a peanut-free school.  AND while that definitely is a good part of our customer base and our market, what we found during the farmer's markets and going out and tasting when we could and talking to people about it, it is really a wide variety of people.”

Tina launched the business in January 2020, just before the pandemic forced us all into lock down.  Listen to the episode to hear what happened next and how they had to pivot.

#015 - Today we talk to Raquel Navarro and Susan Eggett from Oakland Cocktail Week.  They started Oakland Cocktail Week in 2018 to celebrate the “watering holes and mixologists” in Oakland.  After being thrown a curve-ball by COVID, they hope to return with an in-person Oakland Cocktail Week in the spring of 2022.

"We wanted to give an opportunity to shine a light on the bar tenders, the bar owners, and those who identify themselves as mixologists, the people who are serving our cocktails and really making a mark and bringing some really beautiful drinks to our community”.

#014 - Today we talk to Ari Takata-Vasquez, the Executive Director of the Oakland Indie Alliance (“OIA”).  OIA is a member-lead nonprofit organization made up of and operated by 400+ local independent business owners who have united to preserve Oakland’s variety, energy, and social fabric.

Its motto is “We Exist to Keep Oakland Local and Independent”.

OIA supports local businesses in 4 key ways:

1 Camaraderie: at the heart of the small business community is connection.  OIA creates the space for indie owners to connect and share resources.

2 Marketing: Their #KeepitOakland Campaign brings awareness to our amazing local small business so residents can support them.

3 Advocacy:  OIA works closely with BIDs, the City of Oakland, and other nonprofits.

4 Fundraising:  OIA works with partners and community donations to provide direct aid to our small business community with our initiatives such as the Repair Fund, Covid-19 Fund and the Parklet Program.

Be sure to listen to the entire interview to learn about the #KeepitOakland Campaign.

#013 - Fall 2021 Oakland Real Estate Round-up Series (Episode 3 of 3).  This is the third episode of the Fall '21 Oakland Real Estate Round-up.  Today we talk to June Mc Daniels who is a top producer with the Better Homes and Gardens Reliance Partners Real Estate and Brenda Wyatt who is an Oakland native and top producer at All California Mortgage.

June says - “2022 is going to be a diluted version of 2021… Prices will remain high… Tight supply will continue to fuel the market.”

Brenda says - “rates are increasing due to the taper tantrum… Rates are historically low, but we have seen an increase since July… You want a highly regarded local lender so buyers will have confidence in your ability to close”.

Be sure to listen to the entirety of each interview to hear June’s and Brenda’s advice to buyers and sellers.

#012 - Fall 2021 Oakland Real Estate Round-up Series (Episode 2 of 3). This is the second episode of the Fall '21 Oakland real estate market.  Today we talk to Shawneequa Badger of The Badger Real Estate Group of Corcoran Global Living and Rouvaun Walker of Phinance US Mortgage Company.

Shawneequa says - “Be coachable - if there is something that needs to be adjusted in your offer, make sure you have a thorough and transparent conversation with your agent”.

Rouvaun says - “Getting a mortgage is one of the more complicated processes.. you can get information overload… you really need a professional to guide you through this process”.

Be sure to listen to the entirety of each interview to hear Shawneequa’s and Rouvaun’s advice to buyers.

#011 - Fall 2021 Oakland Real Estate Round-up Series (Episode 1 of 3).  This is the first edition of what we plan to be a recurring series on the Oakland real estate market.  Each of the next 3 episodes will present views of the Oakland real estate market from a local real estate agent and mortgage broker.   Today we talk to Deidre Joyner of Red Oak Realty and Brady Thomas of LaSalle Mortgage Mortgage Services.

Deidre says - “buy smart…. buy something that you really love and will be excited about if your offer is accepted and you’ll be happy with… something you’ll be excited about for 7-10 years.”

Brady says - if you raised your hand for COVID mortgage forgiveness or forbearance, “if you did that, even though the banks allowed for it, it is then difficult to get another bank to turn around and get a bank to lend to you.”

Be sure to listen to the entirety of each interview to hear Deidre’s and Brady’s advice to buyers.