Hey everyone, welcome back to Buzzworthy. I'm
your host, Shalicia Harris. I dive into the rare
stories entrepreneurs tell about building their
businesses, but most importantly, themselves.
Let's get into it. Hello everyone, welcome back
to Buzzworthy. I'm your host, Shalicia Harris.
And today in our Buzzworthy studio, we have...
Tej Sandhu from Merritt Brewing. Such a good
Hamilton staple, especially if you've been here
in the past, let's say just around seven, eight
years. You could not have not heard of Merritt
Brewing and you hopefully would have been there
through an art crawl. through networking events,
and just to have fun and have a good local craft
beer in the city. Tej, so happy to have you here.
Met you at a networking event for, you know,
international entrepreneurs. And that was fantastic.
And I heard your story for the very first time.
And to come from you, I think, is even more special
to hear that. And so I'm even more elated to
dive into that a little bit here because that
was just like a 10 minute powwow. And now we
get to like go into the real story and talk about
your journey. Yeah, that's great. No, thank you
so much. First of all, for for having me here.
This is, you know, really special to be have
to be having, you know, conversations like this.
This is, you know, an important thing that you're
doing here. I love what you're doing with the
buzzworthy podcast and now grateful to be here
for the chat. I'm so happy. I'm so happy. You're
happy to be here. And you're so open and warm.
And so I look forward to like such a good, rich
conversation. And so many of the positive things
that you've said. said and just like words of
wisdom people will get coming out of you because
your story took like wines through different
industries and I think anyone that's thinking
about entrepreneurship shouldn't be fearful that
they don't know about something but your approach
has been fantastic and I think that is what really
stands out to me about you and it ultimately
led to so many of the successes that you've had
so far but before we get into that we got to
go way way back way back um what do you think
set you up in your life so far to be an entrepreneur
so i was very lucky to be almost blissfully ignorant
about entrepreneurship from a very young age.
Entrepreneurship is in my family's DNA at the
end of the day. So my grandfather, he immigrated
here to Canada when he was very young. had some
jobs in steel mills and in kitchens and in places
that he didn't necessarily love the work, but
were places that he was able to land as an immigrant
and as a young person coming to Canada in the
early 1900s. What he found out about himself
was that he loved talking to people. He loved
finding something that people needed and filling
that need. So he was a natural salesperson. So
he decided one day to start knocking doors, selling
blue jeans. Blue jeans were all the rage. They
were new. They weren't slacks. They were this
amazing casual thing that folks could buy apparently
from the door. Yeah, he basically helped start
the... you know. What is it called? The Canadian
Tuxedo? The Canadian Tuxedo. Yeah, he might have
been wearing one himself. So he started selling
things door -to -door. First jeans, then his
cousin in the UK said, hey, pantyhose are all
the rage. You've got to start selling pantyhose
for the women that you're meeting door -to -door
as well. He started doing that. Then he moved
into electronics. So the television became popularized
and more accessible to more households. He started
selling TVs. He had a brilliant approach to selling
TVs. he would. offer to set up the satellite
dish and the TV in someone's house for free.
And hey, I'll come back in a week. If you don't
like it, I'll take it away for you. And once
it was in the house, families, kids especially,
didn't want that TV to go. And people saw how
much effort it was to put that satellite on the
roof that they didn't want to have him have to
go through that effort again. So he sold a lot
of TVs. And at one point, there was a contest
nationwide. One of the suppliers said, who can
sell the most TV? And he ended up winning. And
the prize for that was a Cadillac. So you've
got this young immigrant kid all of a sudden
with a brand new Caddy, really realizing what
opportunity entrepreneurship can provide. And
so he took that as an opportunity to open up
a shop. And so he sold electronics and he sold
furniture. And over the years, He built a company
called Merritt Furniture that at one point had
22 stores across British Columbia, small towns
mostly. My dad and his family hopped from small
town to small town, Prince Rupert to Prince George
to the Okanagan and everywhere around the province.
What they were really doing, the real purpose
for them growing these stores was so that they
could actually bring folks from our village in
India to Canada. My grandparents had that opportunity
very early on. They were grateful for that opportunity.
They were able to use some of the money they
were earning very early on in their time in Canada
to send it back to the village to make sure that
the rest of their family and the rest of the
village had some support and felt some support
from them. even though they weren't there anymore.
But they realized they could really multiply
that effect if they brought more folks over to
Canada, housed them, clothed them, employed them,
fed them, made sure that they had the same opportunity
that they did, and they could also send money
back to the village. So really kind of ensuring
financial security and a financial future for
the people that either weren't or didn't want
to necessarily come to Canada. So it really became
this purpose -driven venture for my grandparents.
They were good at selling furniture and electronics.
They didn't care that much about furniture and
electronics, though. That wasn't the point. The
point was community impact. And at the end of
the day, what they did was build a community
across BC of Punjabi folks. That are, you know,
now multiplied, you know, with multiple generations
since then. And that really is their legacy.
So I grew up seeing that and I grew up understanding
that. I, you know, love the summers that I flew
to B .C. to help deliver furniture in vans and,
you know, take trips with my uncles, air quotes,
you know, to get furniture into people's house
and see that firsthand. And so, you know, really
when it came to, you know, being an entrepreneur.
There was almost a sense of, well, a poor immigrant
kid from India in the 1920s could do this. Why
can't I? I have an idea. I have the will. I have
the work ethic that I've learned. I want to earn
money. So this is what I'm going to do. Yeah.
absolutely love that story and I love that you
told it in so much detail because one of the
very first things you started the story with
was he did something that he did not necessarily
like and I think today a lot of people struggle
and they really look at what is my purpose right
now and I think that becomes that becomes like
a barrier for them to actually just taken action
and doing something because he started with jeans,
then pantyhose, then TVs and then a furniture
store. But the real purpose of his entire life
and his story that he probably wanted was to
ensure that his community, his people, the people
he cared about the most were actually taken care
of. while delivering exceptional value to other
people. So it's not necessarily about the direct
thing in front of him, but it's really about
the bigger picture for him. And that's what he
was really chasing. And I think that could be
such a good lesson for people that are. that
are stuck and it sort of takes me back to when
i first graduated university it was just like
go get a corporate gig climb the corporate ladder
and that was it but that didn't actually happen
for me i ended up working at a small sign shop
which i had no idea where this would go. But
I was just like, let's take it. Let's start.
We're going to build some skills here and we're
going to eventually get to where we are. And
I think that approach definitely very similar
to your grandfather has gotten me to where I
am today and allowed me to get to a place where
I can sit, have conversations with people that
I like and talk about their great businesses
and what inspires them. And, you know, it's just
like, just start somewhere, start somewhere,
do something. and keep an open mind. And I think
your grandfather like exemplified that very,
very much in that story. And and you saw it your
whole life growing up. You even got to participate
in it. And I think that that really builds, you
know, confidence and grit and risk taking sort
of, like you said, right into your DNA. Yeah.
Yeah. No, he he. evolved his, his business. Um,
you know, as, as it grew, as a, you know, as
he saw what people needed, um, you know, he went
through the, you know, the same stages that any
entrepreneur that very strategically thinks about,
you know, what they need to do and want to do
to grow their business. Um, he did that without,
you know, a grand, you know, a grand plan without,
you know, literally any education. He, when he
came, he was, um, He should have been in a grade
six or seven classroom. He was put into a kindergarten
classroom because of his language and was basically
ridiculed out of school. So he didn't have the
opportunity like we did to go to business school
and have this background that taught him what
the prescribed kind of steps to building a business
were. But he was able to figure it out. And again,
that kind of led to this blissful ignorance of
like. okay i want to do something i'm going to
go get it and hey i was only 16 at the time um
i hadn't yet you know gone to business school
but um let's go yeah yeah that's incredible and
i mean you sort of started your own ventures
um very early as well you know um starting with
sort of And maybe you did something before this,
but like your music career. Right. So tell us
tell us about that and how that sort of built
you from, you know, that industry, because you
were in university at the time when it sort of
started. Take us through that story. Sure. Yeah.
I mean, from a from a pretty young age, I actually
love to work. You know, I really liked participating
in a business, whether it was my first job was
Quiznos. And I loved going to Quiznos and making
subs. But I also knew that. you know, going to
Quiznos and making subs wasn't the only thing
that I, you know, wanted to do. So, you know,
very quickly I kind of turned my attention to,
you know, what do I love to do and can I turn
that into something that I, you know, at the
time, you know, want to do for the rest of my
life as a career. I was making music as a hobby,
so producing music, specifically kind of in the
hip -hop and R &B genre in Toronto. And, you
know, I enjoyed making music. I, you know, really
loved the... kind of connection with artists
and the creative process of working with artists
in a studio. I had a great knack for meeting
the right people, getting into the right rooms.
I was pretty good at making music, but I was
pretty great at that other side of it. My network,
my music went farther than it probably should
have. So that basically made me realize, hey,
I'm really good at this one thing and I'm okay.
know at this other there are people that are
great at making music that maybe aren't so great
at connecting and you know having that um having
that network that i did so i approached a few
producers uh in toronto that i knew and you know
really loved their music but i kind of thought
it was you know under recognized and under uh
you know distributed um said hey i wanna i wanna
kind of manage your careers i wanna see if i
can tap into what i've been doing but but put
you in these rooms and because i think it can
go farther Yeah. And, you know, with their trust,
you know, and we were all 16. So this wasn't
something where, you know, we were I was having
to approach, you know, folks that were a decade
older than me yet. But, you know, we as, you
know, a group of young folks, you know, approach
this kind of shared goal of building something
together. And I had all these producers working
together. in studios not necessarily you know
this producer works on project a this producer
works on project b we built um the organization
around you know, the shared goal for everybody.
Um, so that, uh, spun off into, you know, from
two producers to four and then in Canada and
then eventually four producers and an artist
in, uh, the, uh, Europe, um, that we, that we
met through, through a network. And, um, this
group was, you know, working together on some
amazing projects. We were lucky enough to kind
of catch the early Drake wave, um, and, uh, work
on some stuff, uh, his early projects, a lot
of, yeah, a lot of large artists in the U S that
we got to spend time in studio. in New York and
Miami and LA. It started to become this dream
realized as a pretty young kid. I went to McMaster
University a couple of years after I started
doing this. And, you know, with the goal of,
you know, having a bit of a baseline or, you
know, set of skills that I could learn at business
school that would help me grow that business.
I took a few less courses every semester so I
could kind of manage the business as well. I
took some time away from school to go work in
Miami and New York on like larger projects that
we were involved in. And yeah, it was really
kind of back. balanced this goal and vision that
I had for working in the music industry while
kind of trying to get this little baseline going
as well. And it was really cool. You know, again,
we had some great experiences. It certainly went
farther than it would have had I kind of pursued
a creative career myself. But at the end of the
day, I also knew that I was pretty limited as
an entrepreneur as well. I was really having
to make this up as I was going along, which is
OK. You know, that's a way to that's a really
important way to learn it. I was making a lot
of mistakes. I was, you know, really, you know,
realizing where I needed to, you know, increase
my experience and knowledge base and what that
kind of ended up shifting. You know, my mindset,
too, was, OK, you know, now coming up to the
end of university, I've been building this business
for five years without, you know, bringing either
more folks on or, you know, basically where I'm
at with. my experience i don't know how much
i how much bigger i can build this okay i think
i need to learn from someone else yeah um so
i ended up making sure that the producers and
artists that i was representing had you know
good homes to go to with other agencies and decided
to kind of pivot my experience in the music industry
towards the live side of the industry. So I got
a job as an agent in Toronto. So booking tours
and, you know, the strategy around an artist's
live career. Big change and a big, you know,
big pivot for me. But that was that was that
was the brief pause in the entrepreneurial ventures
before before I continued on. But I think that's
so necessary, right? Because sometimes when I
had someone say this to me the other day, when
you're too close to a tree, you can't actually
see the forest. So I think recognizing that you
do need that pause in order to, you know. go
to that bigger thing that you have. And something
we talked about once upon a time was a North
Star. Like, how did your North Star develop as
you went through all of these experiences? Because
first of all, I didn't realize you started at
16. Most 16 year olds are just hanging out in
the parks, you know, riding bikes. You're building
a home. I was probably doing that too. You're
building a whole business and to have people
trust you at such a pivotal age. What do you
think that actually was? You know, I think. for
the artists i think there was a lot of trust
because i had you know come from that creative
background as well i i i really understood their
world and i understood their role um but i also
had a set of you know skills and experiences
that were different enough for them that they
knew they didn't have and i think that you know
we were very complimentary yeah um you know even
with the the producers and the artists you know
i was still contributing to the creative process
we were you know with the artists in europe we
were still on the time it was skype We were still
on Skype calls, you know, making music together,
you know. So, you know, being able to kind of
earn their trust through the creative process
was a big part of that for sure. And that's just
a way to simply even showcase your skills. Right.
Yeah. Yeah. And for me to, you know, still scratch
that creative itch every once in a while as well,
too, because I, you know, it was it was kind
of difficult stepping away from that, you know,
more fully. And, you know, sometimes still is,
you know, I miss that sometimes. But that was
able that was it kind of enabled me to, you know,
stay connected to that a little bit, too. Is
your creative itch being fulfilled in another
way now? I think so, yeah. I think that's a bit
of a constant work in progress. I actually think
I've always tried to have... creativity at the
root of any business that I've been involved
in. So naturally through the course of business
operations, there's the opportunity to be creative.
Beer is very creative, for example. So when we
went into opening the brewery, I knew that I
wanted to root that business in its creativity.
Everything from being able to design the space
myself to... guide the branding and be the creative
director for any, you know, visual part of the
brewery to, you know, designing and creating
beers to, you know, all of those things are creative
pieces of the business that, you know, still
still scratch that. Yeah. So would you say creativity
to some degree is your North Star? I wouldn't
say it's the North Star. Okay. I think it's certainly
something that, you know, I root. my interests
in, but I don't think it's the thing that I drive
towards in every decision. I think that goes
further back and back to my grandparents' story,
really. They built their business with purpose.
And to me, that led to a really strong, resilient...
you know business operation for them because
they had that that route and you know every tough
decision going through you know recessions you
know that were you know depressions right like
they had to go through some of those times but
you know they we're able to navigate that a little
bit easier because of that North Star. You know,
so for me, you know, understanding that a business
can have a purpose and what that purpose looks
like for me, which is, you know, impacting community.
And while, you know, I haven't been able to bring
thousands of people over from, you know, India
to Canada, I've always looked at what difference
can I make in my community as an individual first,
but also, you know, as a business, you know,
with our voice, with our dollars, you know. with
our space with our products how can we use that
for you know for for something greater than just
the idea of making something and telling something
yeah and I love that you mentioned your space
because if you've never been to Merritt Brewing
I'm sure their photos online as well too it really
is open concept with picnic table type structure
and that in itself says Because if two people
go in, then another two people can go and share
the same table. And there's no real separation.
And it just makes it so much easier to build
that bridge with someone else. And that truly
is community building. So I absolutely see like
community, you know, very similar to your grandparents
being your North Star and really being able to
pull people together, even at a super young age
at 16. pulling the team together, that's still
a community in itself that has different skills,
that has different talents and can achieve something
together and have fun at the same time. No, all
of that with Merit, that communal space and those
tables were so purposeful from the beginning.
That was really reflective of what we wanted
people's experience to be with Merit. beer to
people is fizzy yellow water. It is not that
for us at all. It is an opportunity to be creative
with the flavors. That is obviously different
than fizzy yellow water. But really for us, what
beer is about is the experience you have with
beer at the end of the day. Beer is a great facilitator
of experience. It is a great opportunity to sit
down with a friend and have a chat. It is a great
opportunity to sit down at one of our tables
and meet someone brand new. And if you sit down
at that table and someone's next to you, you
probably have a couple things in common. First
and foremost, you're at Merritt, so you must
like beer, you must like food. You're in Hamilton.
Hey, it's really easy to say, have you been here
before? What are you drinking? Are you from Hamilton?
There's so many kind of jumping off points that
conversation can have around a table and the
type of table that we set at Merritt that is
really the experience we want people to have
while they're there. I wonder when you look back
at the really early beginnings of Merritt, what
made you think there was space in a city like
Hamilton, southern Ontario, for... I don't want
to say another brewing company, but there are
quite a few that people know already. But what
did you see that was just like, I fit right into
this fabric while being an extension of this
bigger community? Yeah, so we opened in 2017
and planning started about three years earlier.
So in 2014, the industry was quite small. There
were probably 130, 140 breweries in the province,
which might sound big, but we got up to 420 rather
recently before there has been, unfortunately,
some retraction. But at the time, we weren't
saturated breweries. We had Collective Arts in
Hamilton, had opened up a few years prior, and
they were embodying this great creative spirit
that existed around beer, especially with their
focus on music. It was pretty incredible. see
them kind of reigniting the craft beer scene
in Hamilton. But otherwise, no one had opened
up. So strictly from a numbers perspective, we
saw, okay, there's opportunity in Hamilton for
sure. But more than anything, we saw the type
of brewery that we wanted to open. only working
in Hamilton. We knew we wanted to root it in
Hamilton. I mentioned I went to McMaster. I'd
been in the US and in Toronto for about five
years. between that time. But, you know, coming
back to Hamilton, visit friends and, you know,
visit the university, you know, I saw, you know,
how creativity was really driving this, you know,
renaissance of the downtown core, which, you
know, just a few years prior when I was in school,
we didn't really go to. And I, you know, loved
seeing the city come alive around these creative
businesses. There, you know, were, you know,
storefront after storefront of entrepreneurs,
you know, with the proverbial dollar and a dream.
You know, folks that were making something, creating
something in our city and offering it to the
public. And, you know, such a special thing about
Hamilton is people love something that is made
here. That's, you know, that is, you know, owned
by a person that they're seeing behind the counter.
They can talk to. They love that connection and
appreciate, you know, why that's so special.
It's a small enough city that that you can actually
have that that real connection with. whether
you're the owner with the customer or with the
customer to the owner. And we knew that we wanted
our entire business model to really revolve around
that kind of connection and community connectivity.
as the core of it, not just, you know, at our
tables, but with like what merit and, you know,
what we as a group of, you know, team members
that merit were able to do to participate in
the city, too. So we also knew that we really
wanted to, you know, wave the flag for Hamilton
and be really proud of being in Hamilton. It
has, you know, historically and maybe still does,
you know, doesn't always have the shiniest reputation
with everyone. But, hey, one of the things that,
you know, we find connectivity to in the in the
name merit for Hamilton is that we know what's
great about it. We know that it is, you know,
a place that is worthy. We know that this is
a good place to be. And we actually care about.
our perception of the city more than what other
people's perceptions of the city is. And I really
like that. I really like the way that this city
lifts itself up and doesn't rely on others to
lift it up. So we thought our brewery and our
values really fit well with what people were
supporting and what people could... build a relationship
with when it comes to a business, because more
than, you know, just creating something and selling
it, we wanted to have a business that was rooted
in relationship with its with with the city.
Yeah. And exactly what you said is one of the
biggest reasons for this podcast even coming
together was. i i went to high school here in
hamilton and then i left for university went
to the bigger cities um for job opportunities
and things like that but once i came back and
started to look at what was happening in hamilton
with the entrepreneurs and like the creativity
the quality the ambition um the grit um that
actually existed in the city i was just like
why don't we know more successful entrepreneurs.
And I like one of my goals for this podcast is
that Hamilton households have Hamilton household
names within them. Like, you know, Merritt is
one collective arts is one. You talk about, you
know, both breweries that exist here in Hamilton.
And people know them and they are household names.
And so why aren't the entrepreneurs also sort
of these household names of like inspiration?
So like kids know that they don't necessarily
have to go to like the big shiny cities like
New York or even Toronto to get the inspiration
that they need, because that actually exists
right here. And I think storytelling has always
been such an important part of life. community
building and um just like historical and just
stories carry and they permeate right and so
that's that's one of the big reasons exactly
why i started this podcast because i think a
high schooler should know your story from being
someone in hamilton and know that they can build
a big life here they can dream big here and they
can do whatever they want with whatever goals
they have. Yeah, no, I think that's, you know,
a real, you know, missing, you know, piece of
the entrepreneurship ecosystem, you know, here
in Hamilton a little bit where, and I think it's
actually rooted in the fact that so many entrepreneurs
in our city are so busy doing the work. Yeah.
You know, we are, you know. generally you know
so hands -on with our work we um you know again
the folks behind the counter you know might be
the you know the owner of that coffee shop of
that brewery of it you know etc etc does you
know not even just uh limited to you know retail
and physical storefronts necessarily um and you
know i know for myself you know i'd i'd almost
you know rather be you know going and doing the
work than going out and waving my own flag. I
have other flags to wave, and I enjoy doing those.
This conversation is obviously so amazing to
have, but I wouldn't be going out otherwise and
saying, look at me, look what I'm doing, without
the invitation and opportunity that folks like
yourself provide. I think it's well needed, and
sometimes we need to be pulled out. out, you
know, to tell our stories. Yeah. And you know
what? I actually appreciate that more than anything
because someone that's, you know, there is something
about waving your own flag and knowing that you're
good at what you're doing. But it's really the
untold stories that have so much, I think, depth
and root and real purpose because you're so driven
by what you're driven by that you don't have
time to go and like, shout it from the rooftop
over here and over here, because that takes away
from doing the real work. And that's where that's
where meaning comes from for you as an entrepreneur.
That's where you get your fulfillment at the
end of the day. So I absolutely understand that.
And even on our website, we're just like, we
want to hear the stories that nobody, nobody's
telling, you know, like, let's let's dig those
types of entrepreneurs out. For sure. Well, thank
you for pulling us out. Yeah, yeah. And I want
to go back to sort of, we talked about your North
Star being the community and creativity sort
of, you know, like adjacent to that and still
a core driver. As you went through from business
to university, then working in... you know, live
entertainment and now the brewery. How did like
Taj evolve himself through this? Because you
have to overcome a lot of fears as an entrepreneur
and as someone going from like one industry to
the next industry and Having that confidence
to say that I'm relevant here and my opinion
and my thoughts and my vision for this is...
it does matter and it is important like how did
you like manage yourself as an individual going
through because you have the business north star
um and your personal north star which could be
the same thing um but how did you eventually
manage yourself through that and what north start
were you working towards personally as well yeah
no so i think My transition out of the music
industry into the beer industry, first of all,
it certainly was a surprise to a lot of people,
especially colleagues in the music industry that
at the time had gotten to a point that 16 -year
-old Paige dreamed about being at, working with
the biggest artists in the world. and it was
yeah it was certainly a surprise that hey i think
i want to try something else but It wasn't a
spur of the moment decision. It was something
that actually helped me align more with that
North Star of community. At the end of the day,
where I was able to get to and land in the music
industry, it was fulfilling a lot of things.
Financially, it was fulfilling a lot of things
from a personal goal standpoint in terms of the
artists that I was working with and that kind
of thing. But I actually felt like I was removing
myself more. away from that, you know, North
Star and, you know, from that community, from
even from the end user, you know, of this creative
thing that was supposed to be kind of rooting
my interest and excitement and really, you know,
my beginning in the music industry. So I, you
know, had the opportunity to start spending a
lot more time with my grandparents again as their
health wasn't doing very well. And so I, you
know, being pretty flexible with where I could
work from. started spending a lot more time in
BC again. And it was a really important kind
of reminder to me about their venture and their
lives, the way they spent it. And that kind of
kicked off this real reflective process for me
to kind of understand, hey, am I actually an
entrepreneur like they were entrepreneurs? And
the answer was no at the end of the day. And
so for me, it really became this opportunity
to look at how do I get closer to that you know
um and you know i'm i'm someone who's you know
pretty easily excited uh around you know opportunity
around something new around you know um especially
something that is you know creative um and you
know what i saw happening in the craft beer industry
especially in the states spending a lot more
time there at that point um you know, looked
like this like incredible, you know, platform
for creativity and connectivity. And so I started
to have this little seed in my head that said,
you know, okay, can we grow something that...
hits a little bit closer towards, you know, that
North Star. And, you know, the answer in my experience
has started to be yes. And so I really started
to plot out every aspect of what I wanted a brewery
to look like around around that direction. Yeah.
Yeah. I think that's really important that you
you took a pause and took inventory of like,
where am I? are the dreams yes some of the dreams
for myself have been sort of checked off but
is that deeper purpose actually there and am
i living that on a regular basis and one of the
one of the stories i remember you telling at
this networking event was you would sort of just
go to like bars and drink beer and talk to strangers
as sort of part of this process as you started
to cultivate this idea of jumping into this new
industry. What is it that you think someone should
do when they're looking to make a change that's
closer to where they think they might be, you
know? more connected to. Yeah, no, I think immersing
yourself in the worlds in which you want to participate
is so important. For me, I was very cognizant
of the fact that the craft beer industry is very
small. It's very close and a very tight -knit
community. Coming in as an outsider, saying,
hey, I've got this magic you should trust me
with. this new venture, you know, I knew that
that wasn't going to be something that was that
was well received. So before I did anything,
you know, publicly, you know, in terms of launching
Merritt Brewing, I knew I needed to, you know,
participate, you know, first and foremost. And,
you know, the nice thing about craft beers, you
participate as a customer first, you know, you
head to places that you see really exciting things
happening. And participation means having a beer
in your hand and, you know, a friendly conversation
with, you know, whether it's the staff there
or, you know, another customer. And there are
a few places that really, you know, hit home
with me that, you know, this is something different.
This is something really special. A brewery in
New York City that's now, you know, one of the
most highly regarded breweries in the world called
Other Half. Their brewery in Brooklyn is like
under a bridge. It's tiny. It's not that much
bigger than this podcast studio. But I could
walk in. you know, in this gigantic city, this
anonymous city, I could walk into this tavern
by myself and end up having a conversation with
someone that was meaningful and interesting and,
you know, brought ideas out. And that ability
to connect with someone, especially in a city
as anonymous as New York, was really special
and clicked with me. Another one, Leftfield Brewery
in Toronto, you know, they're in an alleyway
in the east end of Toronto in Leslieville. And
my wife and I were living in the beaches at the
time and being able to walk over to this brewery
that was, you know, tucked away and, you know,
was truly rooted in like bringing this small,
you know, part of the city together, you know,
just felt. incredibly special and um you know
to the point where i asked like hey can i just
work for you guys i want to learn this you know
crappy industry i want to you know full disclosure
i want to open up my own thing one day but like
i love what you're doing i want to participate
in helping you grow your business how can i you
know contribute to that and you know can i hang
around here a little bit more yeah um so being
um you know open to you know those kinds of experiences
and putting yourself out there a little bit like
that, I think is so important and, you know,
really gives you so much value, but also allows
you to provide value to someone else that may
not have your experiences or your perspective,
especially if you're, you know, pivoting industries.
I think that was, like, really interesting for
Mark and Mandy from Leftfield to, you know, have
someone who had not been in beer for a decade
to come in and, you know, talk to them about
their business and, you know, participate with
their, you know, staff and their customers. Yeah.
I think what you said just now, I think, is so
critical. And you make it sound really easy.
And I think for most folks it's not. It's, like,
just asking. just simply asking to be part of
something when it's just like what do i have
to contribute but like all of your past skills
are still relevant like skills are highly transferable
totally and so even though you didn't know about
the industry you had so many skills and insights
that cross over but the ability to ask for an
opportunity like that is often scary for people
and What is it that you think like over time
that made it easy for you to ask? I think it's
understanding that, you know, especially entrepreneurs,
they need help and they crave, you know, having,
you know, another perspective and another, you
know, another person to whether it's, you know,
go through the machinations of their of their
business operations with or, you know, simply
be a part of the team. You know, I think. we
need that oftentimes. Um, and while it might
seem like we're, you know, so busy, so why would
they have time for me? Maybe we're so busy and
we actually need you to help us, you know, free
up some time, right? You know, there's actually
opportunity in us being so busy. Um, so yeah,
I know. I think that's kind of often like a bit
of a common misper or, you know, misconception
that, uh, you know, it just kind of, it just
takes getting over that hurdle, which I know
is easier said than done. Um, but Small businesses,
entrepreneurs, startups, they want help. Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. And that's something that I
think hopefully people take away from this is
just like asking. If you don't ask, you'll never
know. Absolutely. Like no one's standing on the
street corner trying to hand out opportunities.
You got to just ask for them. And sometimes it's
not necessarily a chase. It's as simple as asking
a question. That's as simple as this podcast
started. I just started asking random people.
I said, want to be on podcast? Come tell your
story. And they're like, okay. So, so yeah, now
we're three seasons in. Yeah. Yeah. One of the
things I really wanted to sort of, you know,
talk to you about, but also congratulate you
on, cause this just happened a few months ago
is. You're recently acquired, which is such a
big deal for an entrepreneur because some entrepreneurs
build and they want to hold on to it forever.
This is my thing. But there's always that opportunity
to sell and give it that opportunity to take
a deeper breath so it can get even bigger than
it is. So with your recent acquisition, first
of all, very much congratulations on that. Thanks.
What made you say yes to it? And how did that
allow you to dream bigger for merit or even realize
that bigger dream? Yeah. So, you know, the funny
thing is, is that when I started merit, I absolutely.
had in my head that this is what i'll be doing
for the rest of my life you know this was the
business that i was going to spend i was 29 when
we opened up i will you know work here for the
next 30 years growing this business and you know
just like my grandparents you know spent their
life uh you know running their business and you
know that you know intention is amazing It didn't
necessarily mean right from the beginning that
if someone said, hey, we love what you built,
we want to help you grow it even bigger, that
I was going to say no either, though. confluences
of events that led to this acquisition were really
interesting because first and foremost, the craft
beer industry is going through significant change
right now. Coming out of the pandemic, there
was both opportunity and challenge in the pandemic
for breweries. Opportunity, people were drinking
more. For better or worse, people were drinking
more. And so we were able to continue to produce
quite a lot of beer. In the pandemic, we were
able to distribute beer in ways that we were
never able to before or never had as part of
our plan. To just take it back a little bit,
the whole business plan around Merritt was making
it on James Street, selling it on James Street.
Our Merritt... beer is the totality of the experience
you have at Merritt Brewing. It is our food.
It is our people. It's our tables. It's seeing
the brewery. It's talking to our staff, you know,
those kinds of things. But when the pandemic
comes and says you can't operate this space that
your entire business was evolving around, we
had to think very differently about our business.
First and foremost, we had to make sure that
the brewery. uh was producing you know that is
the machine that is the heart of what merit is
at the end of the day so we found you know a
lot of ways to get a lot of beer out um and completely
you know throughout our business plan and had
to figure it out from scratch but what that did
was enable us to add to our business you know
in my you know kind of directive to our team
which at one point at first it was three of us
you know we went from 25 to three because we
didn't know what was happening and that was you
know one of the worst um days of my life having
to you know talk to staff about um the fact that
we don't know what's happening and you know temporarily
everyone's gonna be laid off but um you know
our directive from the beginning was we're gonna
we're gonna have to try new things we're gonna
have to build new components to our business
um if we can and make sure that the things that
we are building are actually sustainable, that
is the most successful thing we can do for right
now. We can try things that we know are only
going to be around for a month or, you know,
however long this is happening. But most importantly,
let's try to build something that can last. And
so we built distribution. We built, you know,
our e -commerce platform to, you know, get beer
directly to people's homes, you know, sometimes
300 or 400 deliveries a week going out in a cargo
van that we had to buy because... we didn't have
a cargo van before and we had needed a way to
get a beard of people's doorsteps. That wasn't
my mom's 2004 mini. So, um, We used that really
difficult, challenging time to grow our business,
but at the same time, so many breweries, and
we weren't immune to this either, were taking
on additional debt to finance some of those activities.
The industry was not as profitable in terms of
where their margin was at, selling a pint directly
to you. is a lot more profitable to me than putting
it in a can, getting it into a delivery van,
and sending it to Ottawa. That's a whole different
ballgame, and there's a whole different scale
necessary to make that effort profitable. But
at the end of the day, we did, a couple years
later, return to having our core business, being
in the taproom, operable. but we'd also then
built this new channel we had you know home deliveries
which you know did kind of fall off after people
realized they can go out in the world and go
to stores again but we but we had that we also
had a network of restaurants and bars across
the province um around 200 of them that i built
relationships with as a you know i had to turn
myself into a salesperson and you know we got
to distribute beer to them so And we had that
kind of brand new component to the brewery too.
So what was interesting about Merritt and maybe
a little bit different than a lot of folks in
our industry at the time is that we were kind
of expanding our offerings and growing into new
areas while having this really solid base. That
was really interesting. And we still had areas
that were untapped as well, namely the LCBO.
Because we hadn't participated in that yet. That
was kind of the final frontier for us. But we
knew that that effort would necessitate a much
bigger staff, a different approach to production
at our brewery as well, and different resources
in many ways. So the conversations with Lake
of Bays, which is another brewery in Muskoka,
around an acquisition or a merger started. That
would have been fall of 2023, where, you know,
so Lake of Bays is a company, they've been around
for 15 years now. Okay. They've got a great big
production space in Muskoka. They are, they run.
two brew pubs up there as well. So they're in
the kind of hospitality game. They have a retail
space in their large production brewery and they
have an arena that they have the food and beverage
contract for in Muskoka too. So in some ways
they operate similar businesses to us with the
pubs. But in their main model, that production
brewery, where they make beer to distribute primarily
to the LCBO, that's their real bread and butter,
and that's the game that they've been incredibly
successful at. They saw that that was an untapped
part of our business. And while the LCBO has
been cutting craft beer SKUs pretty significantly
and pretty consistently over the last four or
five years, we knew that Merritt had a strong
enough reputation and a strong enough relationship
with the main stakeholders in the LCBO craft
beer department that there was an opportunity
for us to grow in that way. So Lake of Bays knew
that they could kind of take our brand and put
it into their, you know, into their bread and
butter system. And they knew what that was going
to look like in terms of, you know, first and
foremost, financial growth, then brand growth
for merit. And, you know, at the end of the day,
that was, you know, really interesting and really
attractive to them. And for me, you know, that
was an area in, you know, the LCBO where it's
such a monster that the, you know, the resources
and the ability to tackle that on. Our own? would
never have been able to be at the scale that
Lake of Bays would. So in terms of why from a
personal and a business standpoint, from a business
standpoint, what they can do and the team and
the infrastructure and resources that they have
around being able to get merit out even more
is pretty incredible. We ran so lean and so efficiently
getting as much beer out through our taproom
and into bars and restaurants as possible. multiplier
that comes with having you know dedicated sales
team internal and external sales team and marketing
efforts to support that you know insane channel
that is the LCBO you know really it became apparent
that that was going to be an opportunity that
was going to take merit farther than that I could
have myself which at the end of the day you know
for me merit the brewery You know, the most important
thing for me is that Merit the brewery stays
around forever. Yeah. Right. And what is going
to give it the best chance at, you know, financial
success at, you know, brand growth. That is,
you know, a partnership with with the brewery
that really has complementary skills to to what
we built and the strong, you know, brand and
identity and and focus that we've had here. And
the synergies, I think, like you talk about,
were absolutely there, which. I think works great
for you as well, too. It works great for them.
But also you have this strong sense of community.
They have these pubs that they already exist
in. And you could even take, you know, conceptually,
because now you're partners in this, and lend
some of that expertise in those areas depending
on how well they're doing. So there's such good
cross -pollination and such a good, a great match.
And I'm really happy to hear that, you know,
it's... It's worked out in such a way that you're
really happy with the opportunity that's there
to take your dream bigger than you might have
even imagined. Because taking on the LCBO is...
huge like going into retail with such high distribution
that's a lot of planning a lot of pipeline stuff
i come from the food and beverage world so i
definitely understand that um and what it would
take for your team to deliver that well in store
because you want like execution is everything
and if you're executing poorly in store then
you're not going to do as well as as you need
to. And you might unfortunately be a skew that
that gets removed. So that that's amazing that
you took that chance because sometimes it's scary
as an entrepreneur to let other people come into
your world because you have to like relinquish
some level of control. Right. Because that's
what a partnership means. For sure. Yeah. And
that, you know, the process of evaluating, you
know, the partnership was, uh, was lengthy, was
significant, was, was deep. You know, we really,
uh, you know, I needed to know that, uh, these
folks are going to be, you know, great shepherds
of, you know, what we built. And, you know, for
me, so much of the conversations that we had,
uh, over, you know, the year that we were talking
before we announced it was really getting to
know the people and really getting to know, you
know, where their, where their values were, where
they, you know, of course, where they thought
the opportunity was, but what are you going to
do with that opportunity? How are you going to
approach that opportunity? From a communication
standpoint, from a relationship standpoint, here's
what we've built with Merit. Is this aligned
with how you've built a base? And the answer
is yes, which is really nice. Getting to know
where they stood in terms of care for employees
was so important. And while the change is certainly...
you know a surprise and really big for our employees
at the end of the day i know that so many things
that you know are a result of this change are
actually going to, you know, very positively
impact them as well. Yeah. Because now potentially
our listeners around the world can have some
Merit beer in their household. At least across
Ontario for now. But yeah, hopefully even farther
one day. But you never know. People travel. They
bring gifts. Buy a gift. Buy a Merit brewing
packet. That's right. Take it for your friends.
Send me a picture of a Merit can in Osaka or
something. That's a challenge. Yes, that's a
challenge. I absolutely really love that. And
like, that's obviously such a big thing for you.
And, you know, going into such a big partnership,
there's a lot changing. You know, there's a lot
of good things happening there, you know. things
happen along the way and that's just part of
any kind of acquisition but you're you're smiling
through it all um i wish you guys could see his
face we're gonna go to video hopefully soon um
but i'm i'm absolutely so happy for you because
i see your entire journey has just been you know
following what interests you and before that
interest dies completely you decide to move on
to something else. um that really allows you
to hold so much integrity in every space that
you've been in and i think that's something that
people can learn from that you know the bridges
you build in one place may not directly lead
to another place but it allows you to you know
remain confident in yourself be able to speak
you know very openly and truthfully about you
know, things that have happened and move on to
something new. And I think you've done that really,
really well. And I feel like I have such a good
pleasure of like hearing your story so personally,
one -on -one and as we help tell the audience.
But before we wrap up, there are three questions
we're asking all of our entrepreneurs. So the
first one is, what is one thing you are leaving
behind in your entrepreneurial journey? And you
can answer however you feel, however you take
that question. You know, I think one thing that
I think with every... chapter that, that I've
gone to. And I really look at, you know, life
as having chapters and, you know, in a good book,
every chapter builds upon itself. You know, I
had a chapter where, you know, as a very young
person, you know, navigating the music industry
and my career through there, you know, in my
twenties and in my thirties, you know, building
a business in the craft beer industry and, you
know, going forward, you know, what's next, you
know, through all of that, I've really, you know,
just been taking steps that navigate me even
closer towards my North Star at the end of the
day. What I'm leaving behind is the opposite
of the North Star. It's the South Star. It's
the stuff that doesn't matter. At the end of
the day, there's so much noise in the world.
There's so much noise. As an entrepreneur, it
can be very hard to focus sometimes. And sometimes
you get distracted by what your competition is
doing. You get distracted by what people think
you should be doing. But I think if you have
a strong enough... enough pull from your North
Star, you don't need to look backwards. You don't
need to buy into the noise. So for me, it's increasing
my clarity and increasing my focus on that North
Star so that I can kind of forget about the rest
of it. That's a really good answer to come up
with on the fly. We're leaving the South Star
behind. I like that. We're going to have to memorialize
that in some way. And so our second question
is, what's the biggest thing you've learned?
So I think connectivity is so important. And
that's not just connectivity to your customers.
I think relationship with customers is so important.
One very special thing about the craft beer industry
that from, you know, talking to other entrepreneurs
and other industries doesn't always exist is
the way that that we connect with each other
within the craft beer industry as entrepreneurs.
There's this incredible, you know, closeness
and shared, you know, vision and shared, you
know, drive to build up the entire industry in
craft beer. That's truly incredible. You know,
that if Fairweather is out of a certain type
of hop and they didn't realize it and they don't
that inventory is not coming till tomorrow but
they were in today they call us and we drive
that hop over you know if collective arts has
a lab that no one else in the city has because
they're you know a larger organization that they
offer that lab to us uh to use if we need to
do some testing that we can't do ourselves you
know that that exists in in the city which is
pretty special and that exists you know in the
broader ontario craft beer community too um so
um you know understanding the value of that is
is so huge and you know no matter what industry
you're in you know i know you know everyone is
competition on some level, but everyone can also
add so much value and so much, you know, positive
impact to your business if you work together.
And, you know, yeah, I never like hearing stories
about how, you know, cutthroat some industries
are that, you know, you'd never see two CEOs
from XYZ industry having lunch together. yeah
that's been that's been a really special experience
uh to see and to learn in beer i think that is
actually that's quite special because in essence
like you really just have sort of unlimited partners
unofficially in so many ways and because you're
all just really good at what you do and how you
differentiate yourselves like I truly think that
is real competition versus just copying what
the quote unquote competition is doing, because
then you're really just getting the same products
to consumers. So like when you focus on yourself,
you really go deep and differentiate yourself.
And that allows you to build. some loose partnerships
within your industry. And I think that's exactly
what you're saying. Yeah, that's right. And these
folks are in the same shoes that we're in. And
as entrepreneurs, your role is often misunderstood
or it's often lonely. There's connection that
even put aside the making of beer that just as
human beings that you can have that really benefit.
folks mutually you know if you have those relationships
with the folks that are supposed to be your competition
yeah yeah that's amazing and the last one is
what is one thing you're taking into the future
with you yeah i am uh i'm really looking for
the opportunity that commerce and community can
have together more than ever. I think businesses
can have such a positive impact on their communities.
Again, that's me driving closer to that North
Star where I see, especially in a city like Hamilton,
where it's such a unique set of circumstances
that either bring people to the city or that
have people building a business in the city that
I think there is so much opportunity to have
your business so integrated with the community.
And so for me, that's going to continue to be
my North Star. That's going to continue to be
the thing that I'm always going to bring into
the future. Yeah. What a phenomenal conversation.
Thank you. I've learned. A lot about craft beer.
I've learned about your strategies on how you,
your approach is quite unique and I do like it.
I like how you chose to immerse yourself slowly
versus. just diving off a cliff into something
else and i think that's something we can all
do because we don't all have to be in the same
industries forever like the world has changed
our parents are no longer doing the exact same
jobs um forever and so even if you're not looking
to be an entrepreneur the way that you've approached
like your life and your entrepreneurial journey,
I think is applicable to so many other facets
of life. And I think it's such a good life lesson
that, you know, I'll take away and hopefully
our listeners can take away as well. But it's
such a pleasure having this conversation with
you. Absolutely. Likewise. Thank you. Yeah, you're
absolutely welcome. Tej does not do a humble
brag, so I will do a humble brag for you. tage
and merit brewing find your way down to james
street um and have yourself a nice cold beer
especially on a day as hot as we are recording
right now record break in and if you see merit
brewing anywhere in your lcbo have a beer buy
one for a friend buy one for a stranger and have
a good conversation and maybe maybe i'm just
gonna throw this out there Maybe Merritt Brewing
should have an event where everyone comes alone
without a friend. And there is no purpose other
than to have a beer with a stranger. I like that.
Beer with a stranger. Beer with a stranger. Make
it happen. I love it. Thank you. Alrighty. Thanks
so much, Tej. And we will see you next week for
our next Buzzworthy story. Thank you so much.
Thanks for tuning in, everyone. We're so glad
to have you as part of our Buzzworthy community
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