Being Cheryl: Social Media Marketing Strategist from Columbus, Ohio.

Cheryl: I recall working with you for a whole 5 days at People to My Site. I just remember that you sat on a giant bouncy ball in liue of a chair. Where’d you go?

Ashley: Whore-land-Oh, Floreeeeeduh

Cheryl: Fitting So what do you do now for cash flow?

Ashley: I am the Online Editor for Mutineer Magazine - a fine beverage publication, target towards the Millennial Generation, with a heavy focus on beer, wine and spirits

Cheryl: New publication, right? Or did I just invent that?

Ashley: 2 years old – launched nationally in March of 2009

Cheryl: This confirms that I just make up stuff when I do interviews. WTF is fact checking?

Cheryl: What started your passion for beer?

Ashley: Ahhh my passion from beer stemmed from my love for wine. After I graduated college, I had no idea what to do with my life so, like most lost souls, I found myself dabbling in the restaurant industry. I fell in love with wine instantly and began pursuing sommelier certification. I landed a job managing a swank restaurant in Columbus, OH. The owners put me in charge of all things beverage — from coffee, tea and juices to wine and beer. We only carried craft beer, which was foreign to me. But like any good student, I started studying about beer. And the rest is history. Well, sort of.

Cheryl: Not doubt a blurry history. How did you become “The Beer Wench” online?

Ashley: Being the quintessential example of the ADHD constant-stimulation-seeking Millennial Generation, I left my job at the restaurant to get experience in another industry — marketing and advertising. This is where I first started blogging, but not about beer. Ultimately, I decided that my random and slightly unfocused blog was not “doing it” for me. I needed a topic blog, something that I was really passionate about and could focus all my energy towards.

Ashley: Truth be told, I was originally going to start a wine blog. But I found wine writing to be very intimidating, so I veered towards my other passion — beer. However, I was still very new to the world of beer. Because I was working at a marketing and advertising company (with two brilliant bosses and an office full of some of the most talented and creative minds I have ever met), I understood the importance of developing a brand. So I set out with the mission to develop a beer personality that was 1. true to myself 2. unpretentious 3. very playful and witty. And one night, naturally after a couple of beers, The Beer Wench was born.

Cheryl: On your site you post a wide variety of content types – interviews, beer reviews, industry news, events, videos, etc… is there a certain type of content you find draws in more readers? What about comments?

Ashley: There are two types of posts that have done really well at driving traffic to my site (or should I say People To My Site)

Cheryl: Hyo!

Ashley: The first is extremely passion driven, highly controversial material. I am known to be a loud evangelist and advocate for both craft beer and human rights. My intensely emotional, spitfire posts have definitely gotten attention. Secondly, I have found that the support and promotion of others within the community, whether it be fellow bloggers or brewers, has had a positive effect on site traffic. I love my craft beer community and I want everyone to love and embrace them as well. It sound cheesy, but I’m not in it to “win it” or to become famous or to make money. My purpose, my mission, is to advance the craft beer (and fine beverage industry) as a whole. And the more you support them, the more they support you. It’s a beautiful circle of love.

Cheryl: Your blog and social media feeds are almost entirely related to craft beer and adult beverages. Do you think that very clear focus has helped you build such an engaged following?

Ashley: Undoubtedly, yes. My following is extremely niche. Sure, there are a handful of friends from school or from my “past life” that I engage with on Twitter. But for the most part, my social media communication is extremely fine beverage fueled. After all, it is my life. It is my work, and my play.

Cheryl: If you knew someone wanted to get started in blogging, would you tell them their focus had to be just as niche?

Ashley: It all depends on what one’s goals are for developing a blog. For me, my blog has served as a platform for connecting and developing relationships within the fine beverage, specifically the craft beer, industry. It was not created to be a means to an ends, i.e.: a career. Instead, it has served as a launching pad for developing my personality, my brand, and my presence in the industry. My goals were to 1. educate myself 2. educate and engage others and 3. advocate and promote the industry. Blogging about one subject very passionately has allowed me to focus all my energy in one direction, which has gotten me places faster than I would have if I had divided my focus.

Ashley: I decided in the very early stages of my blog that I wanted to be the “modern-day female version” of Michael Jackson — aka the most well-known beer writer to have ever lived. This goal has helped me streamline my energy and has driven me to seek out the best mentors in the craft beer industry. A combination of mentorship, passion, drive and evangelistic approach has taken my brand to where I am today.

Ashley: Oh, and I have a very very loud mouth. (And loud hair). It can be very hard not to notice me.

Cheryl: Haha. Well your well-knownness goal seems to be paying off - you’re the official Chief Blogger for the first ever Beer Bloggers conference, right?

Ashley: Yes! That was a real shocker. There are so many beer bloggers that are more talented, more experienced and more “tenured” than I, so I am extremely honored. At the moment, I am running the Twitter account and I’m in charge of promoting the event, initiating conversation, informing the blogosphere about updates, and overall rallying up the troops and pumping everyone up for the event. At the conference, I foresee myself filling more of a camp counselor role. I will be emceeing throughout and most likely help maintain the flow of the conference. (I have attended the past two Wine Blogger Conferences, which means I have a good understanding of the organization and execution of the event). I am curious to see how the beer conference differs from the wine … the wine kids actually spit, unlike the beer peeps.

Cheryl: Oh we swallow all right.

Ashley: Why are the ladies of craft beer “better” than the ladies of wine? They spit, we swallow. BOOYA!

Cheryl: I bet we could make some serious bank if we printed that on a t-shirt.

Cheryl: If you can bring yourself to make the decision - much like a parent asked which child they love most – what’s your favorite beer?

Ashley: I could easily do the easy copout “the beer in my glass” answer. But no, I couldn’t do that to you.

Ashley: I would have to say it might be the collaboration beer that Mutineer Magazine just brewed with New Holland Brewing Company. We co-designed and co-brewed a really crazy and different beer to be released exclusively during the Great American Beer Festival, with proceeds going to water relief. But that beer technically does not exist yet, though. BUT, it definitely holds a special place in my heart.