Women work in all aspects of the beer industry from brewery owners, to packaging, to sales and marketing. The Pink Boots Society was established for female beer professionals with the goal to support and educate it’s members.
Lead by Tara Carr, President and Caroline Wallace, Co-President, the Central Texas chapter participates in national events like Big Boots Brew Day and will be the highlighted charity at this weekend’s Ladies Craft Beer Community.
I sat down with Tara Carr to get an inside look at the Central Texas chapter.
What is the mission of Pink Boots Society?
“We are here to ASSIST, INSPIRE, and ENCOURAGE women beer professionals through EDUCATION.”
In your own words, describe the group and what it means to be part of it.
A group of industry women who are all interested in advancing their careers in one way or another. Whether that is by ‘moving up’ from their current position, or honing skills to become better at it. To me, being part of the group brings a sense of camaraderie. The networking and social aspect of it is just as valuable as the educational … I enjoy being surrounded by like minded ladies who enjoy craft beer and are working hard to make a career out of it.
What makes this group unique?
I think we are unique because we have women from all facets of the beer world involved. Wether they are working in the brewery (brewing, quality control, packaging, etc…) women who are working in retail and bar service- curating the amazing craft beer menus you see all over Austin and distribution as well. We all have something to learn from one another and we get together to figure out what that is and how we can help one another.
What type of events do you have and how often do you have them?
We try to hold at least one fundraising event a year to raise money for our national chapter’s scholarship fund. Other then that, we hold monthly meetings on the the third Wednesday that have some sort of educational element to them. We highly encourage any women working in Central Texas to join us!
How many members do you have to date? What do beer loving ladies need to do to join?
Pink Boots Central Texas has about 160 members. To join, all you need to do it sign up on the national website (there is a $35 due fee that goes toward the scholarship fund) after that’s taken care of – check out our Facebook group to keep up to date on where monthly meetings are, what the scholarship is currently, job postings etc.
Where do you see this group in one year? Five?
Hopefully alive and active! Caroline and I have busted out butts to keep this running and make the meetings something of value for the women who are attending. I hope we see both women who are new to the industry along with industry veterans joining and adding value.
Where can we find more information about the group and keep up with the latest goings on?
