#57 Gretta Barnwell
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Gretta Barnwell: [00:00:00] we took a very old, very beat up, Very dilapidated building and started peeling back the layers of it to reach the heritage brick and people would drive by and honk their horns and say, Thank you, because we were not only providing what they knew was going to be a great space with great beer.
Gretta Barnwell: We were taking a building that had been unloved for many a year and bringing back a little bit of the history of that building into the downtown as well. So those combination of things meant, I'm not kidding, there was never a day when we weren't working on the outside of the building where somebody didn't honk and wave and, you know, do the thumbs up.
Gretta Barnwell: Yeah,
Claire: Hello. [00:01:00] Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the small town entrepreneur podcast. I'm your host Claire Bouvier and we have one of the owners for Myers Creek Brewing Company with us today. And we're talking all small town entrepreneurs. And we have one right in the flesh here with us today. And I'd love to introduce you.
Claire: To one of the founders of Myers Creek Brewing, Greta, Greta Barnwell, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. I'm very excited to dive in, especially talking to business owners that launched and built something during one of the hardest times in the last decade. A couple of decades, I'm going through not only we call it the fourth revolution of AI has brought to us, changing the way we work and on top of it, a pandemic.
Claire: So first of all, can you share a little bit with our listeners what's going on? [00:02:00] When you realize this is something you were really passionate about, it was a hobby, you were building it and you were like, we have something here. This is a full fledged business model. What were some of the things that you knew both at a practical level and a gut feeling level being like, okay, it's time to go beg to put it all out there and start and run a full time business.
Gretta Barnwell: I'm going to say peer pressure to start with, in all honesty. One of the things that happens as you start getting into brewing and you're enjoying that process, you become more involved with it and you really embrace the learning of what it takes to make beer. And in so doing, you make a lot of beer.
Gretta Barnwell: Far more than would be sensible to try and consume yourself. So, in that scenario, we became everybody's favorite person to invite to a party because we'd show up with a keg, because that's what you do. You take it out there, you give it to your friends. And over the course [00:03:00] of about a year or so, as Bill and I, who Bill is one of the other owners, were brewing at home, we were talking about, Hey, this is a lot of fun.
Gretta Barnwell: We're enjoying this. Maybe this is something that we have the opportunity to sort of leave our corporate jobs and move into something that we're more passionate about. And we were taking beer to visit friends and family and you think your stuff is good. But the measure of it is when you've had a few beers and somebody still tells you it's good.
Gretta Barnwell: And that's what was happening. We were having our friends and our family say, you know, guys, this is fantastic. I don't like beer, but this I like, this is fantastic. So it sort of moved into this, maybe this is something for real. And we were actually at Rick, who's our third partner's house. Having a potluck among friends and family and Bill and I kind of said it out loud for the first time that maybe this Is something that we want to pursue [00:04:00] and Rick who's an industrial electrician in the middle, right?
Gretta Barnwell: he kind of did a real fast head turn and said I might be interested in that and We kind of had this very surreal moment where we looked at each other and Knowing each other for many years at that point, obviously, and realized the skill sets that were in the room at that moment. And how those skill sets could work together to create something very cohesive.
Gretta Barnwell: So that was that moment where it went from a hazy much in the future, future moment to wait a second, this could become a reality. It was a really cool moment. It's, it's literally ingrained into the fiber of my brain. And I, I will never forget that moment. It was the most bizarre, surreal, very cool, scary.
Gretta Barnwell: Yes. Moment, all in one shot, .
Claire: Well, and it's, exciting because all the pieces were leading to this moment and I can't help it, but you were saying, [00:05:00] you know, there's this hazy moment. It was ingrained and . Now talking to someone in the brewing world, I think, of the hazy pale ale and the long grain.
Claire: I was like thinking, I'm like, oh my gosh, there's so many good punts in here. Greta . You go, you
Gretta Barnwell: pun girl, you pun.
Claire: But it's just really cool because, a lot of people have passions and, and, and hobbies, but they, they're not willing to take the leap, which is totally fine to just be like, I'm going to leave a corporate job and I'm going to do this.
Claire: What were from very practical levels, like you have family and friends and they were liking it. And like, we really know something is scalable when a stranger Tries something or experience something or buy something from you and loves it and talks about it.
Claire: Can you think of a moment where that became really solidified? Because we all know, can't build big businesses just off, trying to get our friends and family to keep buying in. I've tried that many times with my other businesses. It's not sustainable. Could [00:06:00] you speak to when you knew there was that moment that you were going to take the leap because you had that solid foundation built?
Gretta Barnwell: I wish, in a perfect world, in the movies, the beautiful happy stories, it's always a moment. It's not a moment. It's a whole crap ton of hard work. I mean, we knew we had something that people liked, but making it scalable, making it something that it was business worthy in terms of creating an opportunity to, Get some money it took looking at creating a business plan and sitting down and figuring out, well, what's sustainable within our location, how many breweries are already here, what is the population, what is my summer vacation people, all of those factors, all of that came together.
Gretta Barnwell: And that was a lot of work. That was a year and a half of work.
Gretta Barnwell: but [00:07:00] that work is what sustains you when everything goes to heck because you know you put in that work.
Gretta Barnwell: Bye. You know, you take this great moment where you're like, yeah, we could do this sitting in the kitchen. Everybody's a little bit, in a great mood because everybody's had a beer and hanging out with friends and family, then you do the work, which enforces the opportunity. And then you have this moment where you're like, wow, all the pieces are here.
Gretta Barnwell: There's the opportunity exists within the business space. We have the passion. Maybe we do this now. And so it starts as a spark and you have to build a fire. Then you decide you got something going on here and that's, what it was. So,
Claire: and it's true. I, I love that. It's not a moment.
Claire: It's many moments bled into the, into the hard work. Now you talked about where you settled the community. Now for our listeners, you are in a small town, what we call Belleville. Now Belleville. It's very [00:08:00] charming for many reasons. Can you speak to what it's like building in a smaller community and how the community really played a part in the building of the brewing company?
Gretta Barnwell: Absolutely. Belleville, at the time when we began our process within the community itself of building the brewery, there wasn't a brewery in Belleville downtown. There wasn't within the city limits. We have a brewery slightly north of us that's still considered part of Belleville, but you're looking at about half an hour drive to get to them and or into the county.
Gretta Barnwell: So Prince Edward County, and there's All kinds of breweries out there. I think we're up to 10, 12
Claire: now,
Gretta Barnwell: 40 wineries, three distilleries. It's a Mecca of amazing spirits and beers and wines and, you know, beautiful beaches and great places, but there was nothing in Belleville. [00:09:00] And Belleville is the gateway to that County.
Gretta Barnwell: Belleville is the stop that you make when you're moving from Toronto to Ottawa or Ottawa to Toronto and you're like, I gotta get off the 401 right now and just have a minute where I'm not on something with wheels. So we were not only the gatekeeper to this great community that's, you know, part of our world with the county.
Gretta Barnwell: We're also that stop in between, and it was something that was missing. So, for us, living within Belleville, part of it was also creating a space, not only that provided that opportunity for a brewery, for people who lived in Belleville, for those folks that are stopping on the 401, but also for us. There was a space in the market where, I'm not 19 anymore.
Gretta Barnwell: So, my idea, Nor, nor am I. Our joy doesn't come quite the same way as it was when we were 19, 20, and we could recover real fast from a whole lot of stuff. [00:10:00] And we really wanted a place for us who were working professionals, you know, had kids, our kids are, semi grown at that point.
Gretta Barnwell: We wanted a place where we could go and hang out with people who, you know, it wasn't about clubbing all night anymore. It wasn't about, it was about sharing. It's gone. It's gone. I know really, right? It was about sharing time with each other, creating this environment where we could hang out and enjoy talking and enjoy good food and good beer in our case, and a place like that didn't exist.
Gretta Barnwell: So for us, we saw that there was this hole and then the idea of this brewery comes in and it's like, hey, this can create this space that we don't have here in Belleville. And as soon as people realized what we were doing. Man, the whole community was behind that because it was something that was missing.
Gretta Barnwell: There was no brewery in Belleville proper at the time. There was no, there were very few places where somebody who was in their 30s, 40s, [00:11:00] whatever, could go and sit and chat, hang out. So, As I said, when they, when folks realized what we were doing, it, the swell of, positive was there. And as we started to build the, you know, work on the building that we purchased for the brewery we took a very old, very beat up, Very dilapidated building and started peeling back the layers of it to reach the heritage brick and people would drive by and honk their horns and say, Thank you, because we were not only providing what they knew was going to be a great space with great beer.
Gretta Barnwell: We were taking a building that had been unloved for many a year and bringing back a little bit of the history of that building into the downtown as well. So those combination of things meant, I'm not kidding, there was never a day when we weren't working on the outside of the building where somebody didn't honk and wave and, you know, do the thumbs up.
Gretta Barnwell: Yeah, guys, we're here for you. those moments during the middle of COVID because that's when we were doing it.
[00:12:00]
Claire: Perfect segue to what I was curious because, and this is a thing, and this is why the small town entrepreneur podcast exists is that shedding light on the individuals like you seeing there's so much opportunity, these little beautiful, charming nooks and crannies of the world.
Claire: And as we come together, that's, that's where people are traveling. That's where people want to work. They want to have these new lifestyles. [00:13:00] The big city isn't always an option for people. And also. Not their first option, not what they want. And so it's the individuals like you that take the risk for all of us and build something and the communities there to support.
Claire: So it's so nice to hear that because I think for other listeners that are in a small town is to really think about. where are these gaps because if there's nothing a half an hour away, another brewery, like that is such a great opportunity and it's so exciting. And then here we are, all of a sudden you're building and ban the world shuts down.
Claire: How did that impact? Your decision making the marketing of it. How did you navigate that chapter?
Gretta Barnwell: I think
Gretta Barnwell: first and foremost when you start a business venture of any kind, there's a whole lot of scary involved in doing that. And when you throw COVID and the worry that came with all of [00:14:00] that, those two things together, what helped us navigate it was each other.
Claire: Right.
Gretta Barnwell: If I was having a crappy day Bill and Rick probably weren't.
Gretta Barnwell: And if Rick was having a crappy day, I probably wasn't. Very few were the days when all three of us were having a crappy day at the same time. And having the each other to rely on to help motivate us. Because basically what, in our scenario By the time we got our building permit, which was a challenge because of our building, which is a really unique building it was a lengthy process.
Gretta Barnwell: The front half of our building is, was built in 1884. Then the middle edition was built significantly later. And then the third edition, which is where is the brewhouse space was completed in 1999. So no such thing as a building code, sort of a building code and then a code. [00:15:00]
Claire: Okay. So the very different iterations of, yeah, it
Gretta Barnwell: it was, it was a beef, but.
Gretta Barnwell: What it did, that space itself provided us the opportunity to start brewing even while we're under construction. The city worked with us, which was really fantastic. We got our building permit in December and then COVID hit March. That was literally like, we had just like, okay, we got through Christmas. It's like, we're going to get into it. We're demoing. And then it's like, and
Claire: wow.
Gretta Barnwell: So We were working on the building because the three of us could be in the building, you know, the building is ours we did a lot of blood sweat and tears in that building and tearing it down and doing all those things But and I'm never gonna say COVID was a good thing because I'm not insane But what it did was Gave us two years without the pressure of our taproom to get really [00:16:00] really good at brewing beer You And we never had to lay anybody off, we never had to fire anybody, we never had to do that.
Gretta Barnwell: We were able, between the three of us, to do a lot of the work ourselves. So, being able to have that space to leave our house and go to work. Yeah. To work, to do something, to feel like something was happening, to have each other to help. And then those people drive in by honking the horn because, you know, saying, Hey guys.
Gretta Barnwell: Yeah. They need some hope
Claire: too for when the world opens again too, that there's a something to go to.
Gretta Barnwell: And that's exactly it. So when things didn't start to open up, the city worked with us, allowed us to start brewing in the back, even though we were still renowing, because after that period of time when things could open up, then there was all the shortages, all the building equipment, I, you know, gyprock, you know, wood, forget all of it.
Gretta Barnwell: And that's all stuff you need when you're renovating. That's how that works. So, ultimately, all of those things together allowed [00:17:00] us to keep going to, working together as a group and taking the opportunity to appreciate, and more so now as looking back at it, that we were able to get really good at brewing.
Gretta Barnwell: What used to take us 18 hours to do, takes us maybe 10. Six to 10, you know, like, wow, we got really good at our processes. So when we did open our tap or when it was completed and that portion was open to us, we were able to open the doors with 16 beers on tap.
Claire: Wow. Wow. Wow. That's a lot.
Gretta Barnwell: It's a lot. So we were able to do that because we had two years to get good at it.
Gretta Barnwell: Yeah. To build our processes to know what we were doing to do those things. So silver linings.
Claire: A hundred percent. And I think a lot of people I do have the conversations with, especially the entrepreneurs. It was a time of reset to really focus on your craft. But also to just really narrow in [00:18:00] and what.
Claire: the purpose is, the direction. And I, hear that a lot in resetting people. And it's interesting because you were able to come up with 16 beers and something that when you go through your website, when you hear about your brewery, there's a huge emphasis with your beers on the element of sustainability.
Claire: because you hear the world the word eco friendly, sustainable, but then it's like, okay, it's a word that's commonly used, but I want to hear from you how you adopted it. What are the implementations for this idea of eco friendly sustainability? And I know this really plays into the process and whatnot, but could you speak to what makes you're so special with leaning into the sustainable practices.
Gretta Barnwell: So when we were looking at starting a brewery way back at the beginning, you kind of have a choice when you're building breweries, depending on, what your end game is. You can be a big brewer. So your, business [00:19:00] plan is built around the idea of producing mass volume and pushing it way out.
Gretta Barnwell: So it's about making pennies on lots as opposed to making small more pennies,
Claire: right?
Gretta Barnwell: Or. You choose to be that smaller brewery and you become a destination, you become a location. And that means that you need to put yourself in a place where people want to get to you and can get to you. And for us in Belleville, we wanted to be in the east end of Belleville, which is where we live.
Gretta Barnwell: But we wanted to be where there was a regular large group of where ultimately our target market was. In order to do that, we were putting ourselves in a position where we needed to be in a part of a city that was not industrial.
Claire: So
Gretta Barnwell: space is the premium. And when we started looking at the different brewing systems available to us, a traditional brewing system is quite large.
Gretta Barnwell: It has a variety of tanks as you move through the different stages of making [00:20:00] beer. Our system does not function like that. Our system is called, it's Brouhaha, is the name of the system. It's a patented Canadian system out of D. C.
Claire: Awesome.
Gretta Barnwell: yeah, and it's an all in one, single tank system.
Claire: Wow.
Gretta Barnwell: So, my beer never moves.
Gretta Barnwell: It doesn't move from a kettle to a mash tun to a bright tank. It doesn't move through all of those tanks. I have six tanks in our brewery. All six tanks are completely functioning by themselves, all processed in that single tank. So six tanks means six different beers at one time. Okay, now we really looked at that initially because we space was a huge constraint for us Within where we wanted to be but as we look more into the system, it's more reminiscent of a homebrewing system So if you brewed as a homebrewer You're used to putting the grain in a bag and the bag goes in the kettle and then you pull it out and and that's how You work and that's this system reflects that and that's how it was built [00:21:00] in so doing though You That system becomes incredibly environmentally friendly because every time your beer or your ward or your liquid Moves from one vessel to another vessel.
Gretta Barnwell: That means you're cleaning that vessel. It means you're, yeah, you're looking at energy. You're looking at water. You're looking at chemicals to ensure that, one beer doesn't infect another beer. So by having everything in a single tank, I'm not going through that process of needing to clean and sanitize and using those chemicals.
Gretta Barnwell: I'm also using less water. Because I don't need to. I'm using less CO2 because that's how you move beer or liquid from one tank to another, you're pushing it with CO2. I'm not using it the same way because I don't need to. So the system itself creates an environment in which we are [00:22:00] using less energy, less water, less chemicals, less, less, less.
Gretta Barnwell: To the point where we don't actually have floor drains in our brewery. We don't need them because we don't create the messes and there's nothing, it works for us at the size we're at, there's a point where this sort of system isn't necessarily sustainable as you get larger, and you need to go to a traditional green system.
Gretta Barnwell: You know, as you expand, the reality is I have to lift a kettle or I have to lift a colander rather out of a tank. And that colander, by the time I'm lifting it, it's literally thousands of pounds. So realistically, yeah, so realistically, at the size I'm at, it's very sustainable and it makes perfect sense for where we are.
Gretta Barnwell: If we go bigger. Then it's something that we would have to, but because we knew where we were going to be, size was going to be a premium because for us, it's all about lots of different styles of beer, a turnover, different things, [00:23:00] trying new things, as opposed to creating necessarily a core product. And that's all you do.
Gretta Barnwell: And again, it's just about who you are and who you want to be, where you choose to be within the industry itself. But for us, that made sense. So we are incredibly sustainable. Cool. Incredibly efficient I was going
Claire: to say the efficiency is awesome. It's like those washers in, you know, the European, you throw clothes in wash dries comes out.
Claire: I mean, it takes longer, but it is all very compact. I love it.
Gretta Barnwell: Yeah. And I mean, we're fortunate in that brick, our other partner is an industrial electrician. So
Claire: I was going to say that's the, yeah,
Gretta Barnwell: yeah, so if there's, if there's a way to make something Efficient as humanly possible. Rick will figure it out and he will do so.
Gretta Barnwell: And so, and I mean, we've done those things throughout, you know, the course of, of not just a brewing process, but in the when we first kind of opened our doors and it was just COVID and we were able to do some outdoor [00:24:00] patio space. One of the choices we made is to, I mean, we had to use plastic. But we were able to work with the city.
Gretta Barnwell: We found a supplier that was able to provide us with plastic glassware that was actually fully compostable. And it's made of corn, cost us a little bit more, but I love those, the straws,
Claire: they really nice density on those. Yeah. Yeah. I really like the corn pot. Yeah. That's awesome. Now through all of this, Greta, coming back to you, coming back to your experience and looking at all these moving parts, you've left a corporate job, you're up to your eyeballs in beer and reno's and we're out of the pandemic for the most part was there something that. Was very interesting for you to learn about yourself during this process.
Claire: Was there something that you noticed that surprised you about you [00:25:00] and through this process?
Gretta Barnwell: I don't know if it was so much of learning something about myself as it was affirmation about who I was. The job that I held where I was I had been at for many, many years and over time, because of sort of the things I was doing and the seniority at where I was at, I wasn't doing necessarily the same things I started out doing when I first got into the position.
Gretta Barnwell: And there are things that I had sort of lost along the way. That walking away from that, that job reconnected me with those things that I enjoyed, that I loved, that I was good at. And dammit, I still am good at them. And it
Claire: was such a good
Gretta Barnwell: feeling, you know, your life takes a turn where you weren't expecting it and you get [00:26:00] disconnected from those things that you value and disconnected from those things that you.
Gretta Barnwell: It's not a question of being good at one thing versus another, but the things that you're good at that you love, not being able to connect to those things, walking away, coming back in to the brewery and working for the brewery reconnected me with a lot of of those skill sets that I loved, that I used to use, that I didn't get to use.
Gretta Barnwell: And it was nice to know that those things were still there.
Claire: And it's funny how it can be so subtle, the changes in, another world and in your corporate job. I think everyone can relate in some capacity. That over time, whether it's age or, you know, length of being in a position, those things, yeah, they change.
Claire: And I think that's probably why you, me, the people that are dancing entrepreneurial circles is because we get to wear lots of hats and keep our fingers dipped into all the different [00:27:00] roles that we enjoy. And it's really cool. Now, obviously. There were days and you have, you know, lightly mentioned that you're, you know, there's a team of three of you and you have a bad day.
Claire: What always like for me, I really, really look up and admire people like you that can sit in a space for two years. Not getting any affirmation from public because you can't really open it up in the capacity. But how did you manage your expectations and keep being patient, optimistic about when the doors were opening?
Claire: How did you maintain that? Because you had to just wait. I mean, you were working and building, but what pushed you through those moments, those days, those weeks, and ultimately years? Yes.
Gretta Barnwell: part of that was that the challenge that I was facing within the business itself was, although not the same. The entire [00:28:00] country was facing that same reality right then it was COVID you don't have the support of the people around you you've been distanced from you don't have contact from so everybody felt the same way at a time when I was feeling like that.
Gretta Barnwell: And, As time went through with COVID, you know, people took the time to connect, took the time to reconnect and In a very digital way, in a way that was sustainable for somebody that was all over the place and running around with the business because people were stuck at home, they were reaching out.
Gretta Barnwell: So I'm not, again, I'm never going to say COVID was a good thing, but it created an environment where the people around me were reaching out on a regular basis because we were all doing it just to maintain everybody else's sanity, just to have those moments of real human contact that might not have happened if COVID hadn't happened.
Gretta Barnwell: So at a time [00:29:00] when we were in kind of a stressful situation, my family is not anywhere super nearby. You know, we were, we were reaching out because of that. And I mean, our household and Rick's household basically became one household. So it had to for a whole bunch of reasons.
Gretta Barnwell: So we got to see, People outside, like we had each other to bounce around on and against and that made a huge difference as well. But one of the things that, you know, I often get asked about entrepreneurship. Is, you know, kind of the advice you would give and that sort of things. And the first thing I tell people is being an entrepreneur is a team sport, doesn't matter what you're doing.
Gretta Barnwell: Because the people around you, your support people, are the same people that you're going to have to have the conversation and say, Hey, I really love you, but I'm about to miss every Christmas, birthday, Thanksgiving, all of it. I'm going to miss [00:30:00] all of it, but I love you. And We'll find ways to connect. I promise.
Gretta Barnwell: And that sort of that synthesis of people who are around you, who have create that support, that's what gets you through COVID. That's what gets you through, you know, starting a business and whether. You know, whoever those people are, whether they're your family or your found family, you know, you talk to them ahead of time.
Gretta Barnwell: And I remember having this conversation with my family saying, you know what, I love y'all, but I'm not going to see y'all for next little while. And it's still happening. we had a family barbecue this last weekend. We were supposed to be there at like one o'clock in the afternoon. I'm texting my mother in law going well, I'm hoping to make it for food at five.
Gretta Barnwell: And we pulled in at five 30 because That's just the reality, but the support group of people around you, they sustain you, they understand, they reach out, they connect. So, long story short, it's the people around you. It really is, because you can't, you don't do this in a [00:31:00] vacuum.
Claire: Oh my goodness. No, and I applaud people like you.
Claire: I knew, and there's a lot of us that know, and someone like you going physically showing up in a space every day. I don't know how people like you do it. It's admiring. I live in the virtual world on my own schedule because I could never do what you're doing. And, but it's so needed. And we're so grateful for the Gretas and the small.
Claire: Communities in, around the world, what would you. Like to leave with our audience that there is that itch, that scratch. I can't get over how many people I talk to. And they're like, it's so deep within them, their passion. They know they're good at, they like it, but it sometimes just takes one person and tell them you're really good at this.
Claire: Go for it. What can you tell all the entrepreneurs listening to this that are living, growing, raising families, or have moved to smaller communities, rural communities. What would be the ultimate number one [00:32:00] thing you would tell them to wrap up today's episode?
Gretta Barnwell: Cut yourself some slack. Honestly, again, it's, I think I said this earlier, it's not the movies. It doesn't, you know, you don't go from an idea to a multi million dollar business in an hour and a half. It doesn't work like that.
Claire: If only, that would be scary. It would. It's
Gretta Barnwell: so good. So good.
Claire: I don't know. I don't know how many lessons we've learned in that time period.
Gretta Barnwell: And that's the thing. Like I, especially, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, entrepreneurs will know this and understand this, that it's a process and it takes time. And that's okay. But when you haven't started something before, when you've never done this before, it's that Expectation that you put on yourself to go from zero to 60.
Gretta Barnwell: do not do that to yourself. you will burn out so flipping fast. Take time. It's okay if it takes a [00:33:00] year or two years or three years. It's okay if it takes that time because if you're passionate about it, if you do the work, if the interest is there, it will come.
Claire: I agree.
Gretta Barnwell: Really, you know, don't work in a vacuum either, like talk to the people around you, connect with people around you, there's a whole, you know, so much more than you think, you know, give yourself time to, to build that and in a space where it's safe to do that, have your family support you, whoever that family is, whether they're, you know, digital family or found family, or, you know, Agreed.
Gretta Barnwell: Mom or brother or whoever, it doesn't matter. So cut yourself some slack. Just keep working and give yourself the time. If you have a crappy day and you wake up and you don't feel like posting anything, for the love of God, don't. you know, it's okay to take that [00:34:00] time to give yourself the best option.
Gretta Barnwell: So take your time and persevere. And the one last thing I would put with. It's okay to walk away. You can start something, you can build something, but there can be a point where you're like, yeah, this was my dream. This is great. But you know what? Right now, right here in this place, in this time, there isn't a need for this.
Gretta Barnwell: There was, this isn't maybe what I should be doing right now. Take it as a learning opportunity and build something else. It's okay to walk away as well. You don't have to dig yourself so deep that, you know, you bury yourself.
Claire: I love that. I think sometimes that's part of cutting this, you know, give yourself some slack or give yourself the freedom.
Claire: To walk away, we, there's so much pressure. And I love that. Greta, you have been such a breath of fresh air on the pod here. I know our listeners will now be furiously Googling when they can make their [00:35:00] stop coming from Toronto, whether you're coming from Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston to hop on. And you will still see me very soon.
Claire: Ordering a beer. I cannot wait. So thank you Greta for being with us today on the small town entrepreneur podcast. For those listening, everything will be in the show notes where you can stop to grab a beer, a drink and check out all the fabulous different flavors at Byros Creek Brewing Company. And thank you again, Greta, for being with us and to our listeners.
Claire: You'll hear from me next week.
Gretta Barnwell: Thank you. It was lovely. Much appreciated.
