Women Of Influence

Becca Apfelstadt, the CEO of Treetree, knew that she needed to make a change. In 2009, after her marketing agency closed, she and a colleague decided to co-found their own special projects company – in the middle of a recession. "But it felt almost less risky to go out on our own," said Apfelstadt. "Somehow we landed, even though it was really hard. Starting a business in the recession is no joke...

Becca Apfelstadt, the co-founder and CEO of Treetree, is a woman at the top – but unlike many others, she isn't alone. In fact, all of the leadership team at the special projects company are female. "We have an all female leaderships team," she said. "And its not that we decided upfront that thats how it should be – it's just how it happened to be...

You want fries with that? While it’s a common refrain at your local drive-through, it isn’t often necessarily associated with beer. And by associated, I don’t mean accompanying, I mean in the beer, like in the recipe for the beer. That brings us to this week’s docket for News & Brews where we cracked open a few cold cans of Drop the Fries, yet another quirky creation from the hooligans at Hoof Hearted Brewing Co...

For Rachel Friedman, being an entrepreneur is a lot like being on a trapeze without a net – and knowing you don't have a net. "But that's part of the exhilaration," she said. "The highs are really high, and the lows are really low." Friedman, the founder and CEO of Tenfold, knows a lot about the highs – she's successfully launched and scaled a business that recently made the Inc. 500 Companies List – and the business itself is only five years old. But she's no stranger to the lows, either...

Hot days and high temps demand a light, refreshing beer. Pouring this week at the News & Brews bar is Bubbles — a Rosé wine inspired cider/beer thingamajig from Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist Brewery. This intriguing creation is a big seller for Rhinegeist, accounting for an estimated 20 percent of sales, or about 12,000 barrels a year, which alone is larger than most craft breweries...

Lacey Picazo, the founder and principal of local digital design agency ZoCo Design, said she had to stop waiting for opportunities to show up in her career. "Typically you aren't given opportunities you don't ask for," she said. "But if you're not willing to raise your hand and say 'I want this, what do I need to do to get it?' ... I think when you show that initiative, it almost never goes unnoticed." Picazo calls it "setting the table for yourself" in your career...

The News & Brews podcast is back and our discussion this week centers around Special Hoperations, a collaboration IPA between Akron's Fat Head's Brewery and Barley Brown’s Beer of Baker City, Oregon.

Women Of Influence: Tasha Booker Fowler of City Year Columbus by Columbus Business First

Women of Influence preview with TashaBooker Fowler by Columbus Business First

After a post-Columbus Craft Beer Week/Memorial Day hiatus, the News & Brews podcast is back this week with something not from Columbus, but certainly memorable. With the summer coming soon (did spring ever really arrive?), I ventured out to secure a light and refreshing brew that could slake the people’s thirst on those hot days of yard work or backyard recreation. I failed. Miserably...