It’s not weird anymore.
I had an idea (and I’m certainly not the first woman to think of this) that I could help create a space for women to come together and talk about something that we love. Thanks to other trailblazing women in the craft beer scene in Los Angeles, there have been groups like this going on for years.
My question was “what’s next?”
Now that the LA beer scene is starting to gain more and more momentum, how do we as women work together within this still male dominated industry? We’re at a point where our little community is growing and we are lucky to have so much diversity in our breweries and taprooms. However, we still have a LONG way to go.
If you look at the big picture, LA is still so new to the craft beer scene. It was only about 3 years ago when Angel City was the only brewery in DTLA. Now we have about 10. This provides us a unique chance to make a real difference in an already established and maturing industry.
I want to express my gratitude for everyone that helped to make the Indie-Pendent Women’s Club happen. I couldn’t have done it without the support and guidance of Morgan Keller, Breeze Galindo and everyone else at Indie Brewing Company. What started as an “Indie pun” evolved into a idea and goal for me to be able to bring women together to make something happen!
On March 8th we had our kickoff event for the IPWC and I was overwhelmed with the positive response I received from both the people within the beer industry as well as women who just like to drink good beer.
We started the meeting with talks from myself and Indie’s Assistant Brewer Breeze about our involvement with the craft beer community and shared our personal experiences as women in this industry. Afterwards we opened up the floor to a round table discussion with the attendees. This was definitely the highlight of the evening, because everyone was allowed to contribute and tell their own stories about how they came to love craft beer. It was also a safe space to talk about times that we as women felt discriminated against in our careers and just as customers at bars and breweries.
At the end of the night, I asked everyone to write down some feedback for me- any questions, comments, or concerns they might have. I have taken everyone’s notes to heart and will use them as a tool and resource for the next meeting, as well as any events moving forward. I will continue to listen to the women (and men) involved to keep moving this club forward.
I’m so thankful that I was able to bring some really amazing women together and can’t wait for the future of the Indie-Pendent Women’s Club! The next meeting will be Tuesday, April 3rd in the Hop City Room at Indie Brewing Company. We are also releasing our Pink Boots Society collab beer on March 27th on tap and in cans, so I hope you can all make it out for that.
Cheers!
Nina Rocca
Founder of the Indie-Pendent Women’s Club
