Meet Natalie Jones of Beer Feelings

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Jones. 

Hi Natalie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I didn’t always like beer. As a matter of fact, I equated it to bread water after my first few sips. 

When I turned 21, I was working an internship that hosted events at breweries around the state. When you are that age, and someone offers you a free drink, you don’t say you don’t like it, you say thank you and figure it out. I saw everyone around me seemingly enjoying their beverages, and after a few ‘bleh’ drinks I was determined to figure this out for myself. 

My biggest fear in asking for help was to bruise my 21-year-old (very large) ego. What if I asked the wrong thing and the beertender thought of me as nothing more than a silly girl? After a few deep breaths, I swallowed my pride and asked the person behind the bar for some advice on what to order. The beertendender abandoned all exclusive vocabulary and industry-specific terminology and began a conversation with me about different flavors. Do I prefer espresso or drip coffee? Do I like smoothies that are really tart or more creamy? 

Together we found a beer that I actually enjoyed. It was a Hefeweizen for anyone out there wondering. 

From there, my curiosity grew. What started with one *safe* beer style, turned into two, then three, then all of them. 

Flash forward a few years to 2020. I ended up purchasing the business I interned for and was looking forward to a year full of in-person events at breweries. I’m sure you can imagine – I hit a few roadblocks starting in March. While trying to formulate a plan on what to do, I filled my days with tasting different beers (for research purposes, of course). 

I reviewed the brews I sipped on in the way that I learned how to taste and posted my thoughts on social media (as I was in desperate need of content to keep my participants engaged). 

What started with a post here and there, turned into a few videos, which turned into a couple of tasting classes, which turned into the Beer Feelings that we know and love. 

Now, my goal is to make craft beer more accessible so no one has to fear asking a “dumb” question. I specialize in connecting brews to flavor memories and take pride that I can always find someone at least one beer to love. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Ha – I feel like this answer would be shorter if I wanted to talk about what went according to plan instead of what was a little amiss. 

Playing the small business game is like living in the wild west. Add in a highly regulated industry (anything with alcohol) and throw in a dash of pandemic and it’s more like standing in the middle of a shootout. There is constant dodging, pivoting, and adjusting. 

Removing all of the current chaos – my personal biggest struggle is that I don’t know the things I don’t know. An example will help this make more sense. 

I know very little about accounting beyond the few intro courses I took as part of my business degree in college. I sell things which means I needed to learn about sales tax. While learning about that I realized I probably needed to be more organized with my bookkeeping, which pushed me to hire some help. In working with accountant, we uncovered a few more things that I needed to improve. One project leads to another leads to the next with the complexity increasing at each step. Sometimes what starts as a simple question, turns into 50 to-do list items. 

Some other examples where this is the case are insurance, general business contracts, hiring others, and the list goes on and on. 

Working for yourself means YOU need to figure all of this out. It’s not as easy as calling Janet from corporate. 

I do my best to break these projects into steps and set realistic goals. My thought is – as long as I’m moving in the right direction, I’ll get there. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Beer Feelings?
Beer Feelings is all about making the craft beer space more fun, flirty, and feminine. 

We have a weekly podcast that helps to demystify the beverage and answer all of the “dumb” questions out there. We host events at breweries around Colorado to help you learn how to taste beer with a flavor first approach AND THEN express what you like and don’t like more easily. 

But we are probably the MOST excited about are our Beer Feelings Boxes. These little guys help you to have the ULTIMATE boozy and bougie beer spa night at home. Each is built around a *feeling* and includes a glass, sugar, or salt to spice up your beer with, and two beer or hops infused spa products. 

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Shockingly, I’m an introvert. I love to chat and tell stories and be the face of the brand – but if I don’t have some solo recharge time… I become QUITE the terror. 

Pricing:

• Beer Feelings Boxes – $40

Contact Info:

• Email: info@beerfeelings.com
• Website: https://beerfeelings.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beerfeelings/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beerfeelings
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/5MCbnqKdTn4Lq7pJbFrRQ4?si=07fac34ccad9428e

Image Credits
Amanda Cleveland Photography