#2-008: Brewing Resilience - Prayer and Beer with Beny Ashburn

In our latest episode of the Mother Tree Network podcast, Aminata Desert Rose engages in a thought-provoking conversation with the inspiring Beny Ashburn. The discussion covers a wide array of topics, from personal reflections to the innovative world of craft beer, offering a deep dive into black culture, resilience, and the pursuit of one's passion.

Aminata Desert Rose and Beny Ashburn touch on the importance of prayer in guiding their lives and the powerful impact of self-reflection and spirituality. Beny Ashburn shares her personal journey, which includes uncovering her family's rich history and her steadfast commitment to honoring her late father's legacy in both business and character.

The conversation transitions to the significance of historically black spaces, such as Martha's Vineyard, and the feeling of safety, community, and belonging they provide. Beny Ashburn's experiences from her visit to Martha's Vineyard underscore the emotional connection she established with her father's legacy, bringing to light the unique strength found in reclaiming familial ties and personal history.

As the CEO of Crowns and Hops Brewing Company, Beny Ashburn delves into the world of craft beer and her mission to create inclusive, community-focused spaces within the industry. She shares her experiences as a CEO, from the challenges she has faced to the profound impact her company aims to make in preserving culture and expanding palates.

Despite the hurdles of entrepreneurship, Beny Ashburn's drive and determination are unmistakable, as evidenced in the company's groundbreaking achievement of raising over $1,000,000 in equity crowdfunding with 1400 invested individuals. Her commitment to establishing a taproom in Inglewood further illustrates her dedication to fostering a sense of community and connection through her business endeavors.

The episode with Beny Ashburn is a testament to the power of resilience, the pursuit of purpose, and the impact of creating spaces that honor and celebrate culture. We invite you to listen to this enriching conversation and join the vibrant dialogue within the Mother Tree Network community.

TRANSCRIPT

Aminata Desert Rose:
Welcome, Benny Ashburn junior, to the Mother Tree Network podcast. How are you?

Beny Ashburn:
I am good. It's Friday, which is very exciting. It's a little cold in California, but as usual, in about a hour or 2, it will be 72 and sunny. So can't complain at all.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Okay. Because we are on the east I'm on the East Coast, and we were having, like, 29 degree weather this morning when we woke up.

Beny Ashburn:
But wasn't it, like, 80 degrees last weekend or something crazy?

Aminata Desert Rose:
Fall is mutable. Fall is mutable. 100%. And yes. And if you know anything about your astrology or your your your sun sign or your rising sign, I'm I'm a just say it out loud. I am a fall baby. So, you know, I'm alright with the mutability, but I have lived in Southern California, and I did love it there.

Beny Ashburn:
Yep.

Aminata Desert Rose:
So, I wanted to start off the conversation by asking you, you know, what is good? What are you seeing that's good in your life or good in the world?

Beny Ashburn:
It's good to you. It's funny you should say that because I was having that conversation with myself last night. So September 1st, I turned 45, and I've committed myself to making this year be about doing all the things that make me happy. Not just, you know, having being a boss running a company, which also makes me happy, but really finding those pieces that with if the business goes away, and I stopped and took a look around, am I happy? And in doing that, which surprisingly is very, very hard when you're you've dedicated yourself to your work and to other people. You never really look internally to see you know, gut check for yourself. So the way I've been doing that is I take moments and I just pray. And, you know, I could be anywhere driving in my car or cooking dinner or just sitting in my house, and I'm like, alright. Let me pray because I'm feeling like a negativity come over me.

Beny Ashburn:
And, I know today was a good day, but all I can think about are all the things that didn't go right instead of thinking about all the things that went so well. And, I think right now, we have a new, leadership team that has come on to assist us in our business, and, it has it has lifted the weight off of me and my business partner, Tio, and, you know, we can't be everything. We can't be visionaries. We can't be the bosses. We can't be creatives. We can't be salespeople. Like, you know, you just need help. So I'm grateful today for the future of where our business is going and knowing that this weight is slowly lifting off of the both of us day by day so that I can get back to self.

Beny Ashburn:
Because for 7 years, this is all that I've done. And for 7 years, sacrifices have been made, and I think it's time to, like, get back to Benny a little bit. And so I'm very grateful for the partnership and the support that we've been receiving as of late. Even being on this podcast, like, very rarely do you get a an ask to be on a podcast that is not just about your business, but spirituality and healing and health and men you know? So this is this is right on time. Apparently, I needed this just as much as you wanted to have me, so I am grateful for that.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Well, thank you for saying yes.

Beny Ashburn:
Of course.

Aminata Desert Rose:
And you and and there was so much in your conversation, so I wanna go back to prayer. Right. Tell me when you pray, tell me a little bit more about, like, how you pray.

Beny Ashburn:
So I've never been a person who prayed. It's funny. I I used to be the person a lot most of my friends are extremely spiritual. And when we have, like, girls' dinners or whatever, basically, let's pray before we eat or let oh, girl. Let's have a moment and pray. And I'm always like, oh my god. Why do I have to be forced into this prayer circle? I don't pray. Like, this feels like you're forcing an army.

Beny Ashburn:
So it's tough to say that I pray now is hysterical. My friends are like, your prayer because, you know and it's my prayers or conversations. I always start with dear God, and then I just talk. So there's no real rhyme or reason, and I say whatever I wanna say, and I ask and have conversations as if I'm talking to you or anybody else. So, prayer to me is just acknowledgment of the higher being and and sharing my innermost personal thoughts in the moment to hopefully be heard, to hopefully be provided some guidance or some clarity or some simple grounding to keep me, focused and staying positive. I do it mainly to stay positive because slipping into negativity is extremely easy at any given moment. Yeah. So

Aminata Desert Rose:
Oh, yeah. I mean, maybe at any moment, but especially now. You know? I just wanna acknowledge where yes. Here we are in November 2023, you know, intense violence happening in that part of the world we call the Middle East, so much suffering. So I think there's yes. So I appreciate that you turn to prayer as a way to recover what is good and to, you know, to get yourself together.

Beny Ashburn:
Yeah. Basically.

Aminata Desert Rose:
And I also wanna, acknowledge that yeah. Just the conversation, like, you know, dear god Is that what you said, how you begin? Or

Beny Ashburn:
Dear God, just to because, again, I wasn't raised in prayer, so the only thing you know when you think about prayers, you start with dear God and you end with amen. Whatever else happens in the middle is kind of whatever, you know, it's either scripture or, you know, it's whatever you want it to be. But I know that oh, I do know. It starts with dear God, and it ends with amen. So I'm gonna start with my my bookmarks. I'm gonna Yes. Go to kinda be whatever whatever I need it to be in that particular moment, but I will end it with the amen. So

Aminata Desert Rose:
Yes. Yes. I end mine almost always with thank you. You know? Because somehow and and I don't know if you've ever tried this or any of our listeners have tried this, but actually, I I can talk myself in and out of things. And so sometimes the best prayer for me is to write.

Beny Ashburn:
Mhmm.

Aminata Desert Rose:
You know? And to, light a candle Mhmm. Put a timer on and ask sometimes I'll say, dear heart, what do you want from me? Mhmm. You know? God, your tree. You know? I'm trying to get beyond my ego.

Beny Ashburn:
Mhmm. Mhmm. I like that. Dear heart. Yeah. We should probably talk to our heart more too. That's a that's a really good point. Nobody really the heart, and we should.

Beny Ashburn:
Jeez.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Beny Ashburn:
So much to say. It's so it's like, why are you ignoring me?

Aminata Desert Rose:
Well and there's so much in your background that I I'm inspired by or I'm interested in, Denny. So one of the things I said to you was, like, I wanna talk about the junior because I I noticed in your Instagram, you're Benny Ashburn Junior. So can you tell us about that? Like, is that an ancestral recognition, or where is that coming from?

Beny Ashburn:
It is it is I am my father's I am my father's daughter, literally. His so my full name is actually Benevette Robinson, and my my dad named me. My dad's name is Ben. My mother's name is Yvette. So Benevette. So I'm literally the sum of 2 parts, but you know, basically, But my dad's name was Benny Ashburn. And everyone calls me Benny because Benevette is just way too complicated for people to remember. And, he was the manager and founder of the group, the Commodores.

Beny Ashburn:
Very, 6 he was very successful in business, but more importantly, you know, he he died when I was very, very young, so I didn't really know him. But the only things I've ever heard about him were very positive, enlightening kind of man, you know, helped everyone, was very supportive, was very grounded, you know, would give you the coat off his back kind of a person. And so I think in saying junior, it's 1, you know, carrying the legacy of what he did in business and all the success he had there because I am creating my own legacy in the the beer industry, which is what we'll get into later. But I think calling myself junior also allows me to carry the the honor of who he was as a person. You know? He was a great person and very caring. I'd like to believe, you know, I'm that I mean, I don't think I'm as caring as he was from what I've heard, but I do think there's a lot of giving and a lot of that same similarities in our personalities, so I've been told that he has. So I carry it to carry everything that he was, not just the business and the the nepotism of it all, but really to just be Benny Ashburn in the female, you know, form of what he was and and who he was. So it's kind of an honor to be able to say that and to meet people who knew him, and say that name.

Beny Ashburn:
People are, like, floored and like, oh, my god, you're his daughter. That's amazing. And, you know, I think it's very, it's, it's very admirable and very exciting to be a part of what he's created, even in his passing. So

Aminata Desert Rose:
Yeah. To be part of his legacy.

Beny Ashburn:
Yes.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Mhmm. And we met because I was at the filming of Othello. Yes. Right? Othello, there's a there's a film version of the play Othello, that features Benny's father. Yes. And it was I didn't think it was done in the sixties. Right? It's 19 feet. Mhmm.

Beny Ashburn:
Yaffe Yaffe Yaffe Koto, was the star. I think it was his first starring role. You know, it's funny. I don't I myself don't even know as much about that film as I probably should have. Dad was one of the producers on it, but it was directed, by Liz White. And her granddaughter was there, and their family knows a lot more about it than I do. Sadly, when I was very young, and my dad passed, his family disowned me, you know, believe it or not. There was a lot of there was a lot of money back then.

Beny Ashburn:
There was a lot of, you know, things that that were going on back then, so I don't know a lot about my dad's, history. And that trip that I met you was really an uncovering of a lot. It was the first time I saw that film in its entirety. It was the first time I met Cher. It was the first time I realized my relationship to, Cher Cottage, on the Vineyard to find out those are my great great those are my great grandparents. She did not know that. What? That was that was daddy's grandparents. I know.

Beny Ashburn:
Isn't that crazy?

Aminata Desert Rose:
Oh my goodness. So this was a cottage that would have appeared in the green book of the day. Yes. You know, the guide for African American travelers in Martha's Vineyards saying you need to go to this cottage when you go to Martha's Vineyard.

Beny Ashburn:
They were the first, in to house, blacks back in the back in the time on the on the Vineyard. So Mhmm. And then that weekend, I was in the Vineyard. I was staying at the Martin Luther King House, which is, the that main house right off of, the main road. So it kind of felt like I was just living in this history and, you know, nostalgia of black excellence and, like, black culture all weekend. And it's always amazing when you stumble into stuff like that because you don't even you're not expecting it. And Mhmm. Then it happens, and it surrounds you, and it's overwhelming, but it's also very, you know, delightful at the same time.

Beny Ashburn:
And, you know, I got to meet people like you and your husband, and it was just I mean, it was great. It was it was I was very emotional watching that film. You know, when having my dad pass at 3, there are very few moments I've ever got to hear his voice or see him. You people don't really think about that. Like, back in the day, we didn't have camera phones and, you know, maybe we had to VHS tapes, but who knows where those may or may not be. So watching him on the big screen walk, I've never seen my father walk. You know. It's like, oh my god.

Beny Ashburn:
Like, look at how he talks. Look how his posture is. Do I do any of those things? Do I make any of those facial expressions? So it was very cool. It it was it was very cool to be able to be to be a part of that and to see that.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Is that your first time in Martha's Vineyard?

Beny Ashburn:
No. No. No. I've been there a few times. Dad is also actually buried on the Vineyard. But I think coming as a young kid is different than coming now as a, like, a grown adult with purpose and a mission to discover and unpack my my own, history and ancestry. So, it was a little different today. I actually had space to take all of it in versus kind of popping in and popping out like I've done over the years.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Mhmm. Mhmm. Wow. Wow. I don't know because you're you're a little younger than me. But do you know B. B. Moore Campbell, the novelist?

Beny Ashburn:
Yeah. I know the name.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Yeah. So she wrote a book called brothers and sisters.

Beny Ashburn:
Mhmm.

Aminata Desert Rose:
And the reason why I brought her up is because I remember she was on a panel long time ago, and she was talking about starting. She was planning to go to Martha's Vineyard. But she was from LA. And I know at the start of the show, we talked about, you know, LA and Southern California. And so there's a whole different there's a history on the east and then some place like Martha's Vineyard that, black people who live in other places, if you haven't been there, you really you kinda you physically have to go.

Beny Ashburn:
Yeah. It's a it's a feeling.

Aminata Desert Rose:
And make some space. You know?

Beny Ashburn:
Definitely. It is it is a world. This is the first time I've gone during the busy season, And it was like I'm like, is this what the world would be like if there were no white people? And we all just lived in this euphoria of, you know, is this what Wakanda would be if we and it's not to exclude anyone. Mhmm. Because that's not really what it's about. It's just this feeling of everyone is not only the same. They're in the same headspace. They're at the same level.

Beny Ashburn:
They're they want the same things, and that's rare for black people to be in a moment in time where everybody's thinking the exact same thing and wants the same thing, and there's safety everywhere, and community everywhere. And you can walk on someone's porch and just walk into their house, sit down, and have a cup. I mean, that's what it used to be like. Right? You know, when Mhmm. We've never been able to experience that. I grew up in New York City. I mean, no. You could not walk into someone's house.

Beny Ashburn:
You lock your doors. You you never there's never been a moment where I've lived a life where the I can't lock I hack I don't have to lock my door, and I could I just feel safe all the time. And Martha's Vineyard gives you that very comforting feeling while also feeling connected and seeing yourself everywhere. And and it's not a hard thing to find, and I eve if only for a week or 2 weeks, I think every black person in the world should just be able to feel that one time and be inspired by what we could be if we just worked together. Yeah.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Yeah. I I it it was one of the things that struck me, and I may it's one of the things that made me come back, keep coming back every summer was for that experience of safety, of hospitality, and and there's a relaxation. I guess that comes from safety.

Beny Ashburn:
Yeah.

Aminata Desert Rose:
You know, it's like a a lowering of the guard and of the stress. You know? And the the the longer you stay, the more days on the island, you know, the it's just like the more and more, you know

Beny Ashburn:
Probably. Yeah. You really don't you almost cry when you leave. You're like, oh, god. I don't wanna leave this place.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Yes. Yes.

Beny Ashburn:
Leave here. Like, I just don't wanna leave here. So yeah.

Aminata Desert Rose:
So so you grew up in New York?

Beny Ashburn:
I did. I grew up in Harlem.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Did you? Okay. Alright. Yep. So I grew up in the Bronx.

Beny Ashburn:
Okay. Nice. Mhmm.

Aminata Desert Rose:
So, let's let's talk a little bit about, speaking of black spaces, Harlem, Martha's Vineyard, let's talk about Spellman because I know in your bio, you know, you are the dope CEO, and we're gonna get there. But you you you mentioned being a Spelman alum.

Beny Ashburn:
I am.

Aminata Desert Rose:
And yes. So and that's obviously important to you because, you know, in a short bite, you can only mention so many things. So tell me, what was that like for you to go to a a predominantly black women's college?

Beny Ashburn:
So I've always gone to private school. And growing up in New York, I went to high school at a very small private school on 80th Street in Central Park West. Before that, I was, like, a Montessori kid. So I think going to Spelman one, I'll be honest. The only reason I went to Spelman is because of The Different World. Like, literally, I could say the show A Different World probably, because I think Spellman was one of, like, the only I was like, I'm just gonna go there. Like, I don't understand. Why would I apply anywhere else? I'm just gonna go to Spellman.

Beny Ashburn:
No big deal. Because I wanna live like they do on a different world, and I wanna have a Dwayne Wayne, and I wanna I wanna be Denise, and I wanna do all these things because, you know, they came from The Cosby's, so this is what life is gonna be. And in but in my private school in New York, you know, it wasn't a lot of Black kids at all. So Spelman was also the place for the Black girls who went to school with white kids and where the Oreos, you know, grew up as the Oreos of the world. And for those who don't know, Oreo is Black on the outside, white on the inside. What, you know, you gotta live that life to understand what how that really felt and what that meant. And when you go to Spelman, it was like all these these young women who, just like you, went to private school, predominantly with white kids, and then went to Spelman, all female, black school, and found their, you know, sisters their sisterhood. And it was fun.

Beny Ashburn:
I loved it. I think I've I've to be honest, I felt more in love with the city of Atlanta than I did necessarily with Spellman. I think my relationships with my my fellow Spellmanites and my Morehouse men, our relationships and friendships I still have to this day. It is a community of amazing black men and women that stick with you forever. But the city of Atlanta is like the the the, you know, costarring character. When you go to a place like Spelman or Morehouse, because the city Atlanta is also very vibrant with black culture and just black excellence, and it it just blew my mind that I went from this world of just everything white to now everything black, and they got me. They understood me. They they you know? And I think saying that I went to Spelman, you know, is is kinda like putting a stamp in the ground.

Beny Ashburn:
Like, I did this. I'm part of this community of strong black women that can literally do anything because we are taught when we go to HBCUs that there is absolutely nothing you can't do. And so here I am, the CEO of a beer company because there's literally nothing I can't do because that's how I was that's how I was taught. That's how I was told.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Yeah. That is so interesting because I really encouraged my daughter to apply to Spelman. And, and she went to a predominantly white high school Mhmm. Private Quaker school. And one of the things that she said was she was worried that she wouldn't be black enough. And I said to her, I'm sure there's plenty of girls just like you. Just like you as Spellman.

Beny Ashburn:
So of all the the HBCUs, Spellman is definitely the place where she is not alone for sure.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Right. But Spellman is also super hard to get into.

Beny Ashburn:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I got provision, so I don't even I was lucky because I just got in, But it is hard to get into for sure. Mhmm. Mhmm.

Aminata Desert Rose:
So, yeah. Yeah. So that's beautiful that your experience there led you to to to be in the headspace of there's nothing I can't do. Yeah. So so let's get to the dope CEO. Let's get to the dope CEO. So why beer?

Beny Ashburn:
You know, I ask myself that same question all the time. So beer, it's it's not even it's not beer. Right? When you say beer, you think Heineken, you think Corona, you think, you know IPAs. Yeah. No. Or no. Most people most people saw IPAs as craft, and craft is what when you say beer, the average person just goes to what we know. And what we know is the most marketed cheapest beer in the market, which again is the Budweiser, the Heineggins, the Coronas, you know, whatever.

Beny Ashburn:
That's what we know when we think about beer. Budweiser, you know, Super Bowl commercials and stuff like that. What we what we are is we're in the craft beer space, which is a little bit more nuanced, little bit more innovative, a little bit more creative.

Aminata Desert Rose:
And your beer is great. I've had your beer, by the way. It is well crafted.

Beny Ashburn:
It is yes. It's well crafted. And craft is also a a it's a subculture too. Right? Like, it's when I first my my business partner first introduced me to to the the culture of craft, I didn't necessarily fall in love with just the products. You know, I wasn't really a big beer drinker 7, 8 years ago. I fell in love with the the community and all that was happening around craft beer. When you go to a brewery, you know, there are people there with their families. They're hanging out.

Beny Ashburn:
They're playing games. You know, it's not an abusive space when it comes to alcohol. It's not like drinking tequila. We are you know, you're not getting necessarily drunk. I mean, yes. Mind you, there are some people out there getting drunk, but it's it's more about savoring the the quality of what you're drinking. And the varieties of craft are so complex, and there's so much there's something for everyone. It's not it's not just the one.

Beny Ashburn:
If you don't like a stout, you can have a tardale. If you don't like a tardale, you can have a hazy. If you like a hazy, you can have a pilston or an Italian pilston. I mean, it's like endless opportunities to find the space that you feel the most comfortable in. I think that's the the reason we were able to start our business is because if that's the the foundation of what craft and craft beer and craft beer culture is about, why wasn't it diverse? Why why wasn't it diverse? If it's a if it's a very welcoming space for everyone, you walk into breweries, and you only see white people, and you don't see yourself. You don't hear music that feels like you. You don't see people that look like you. You don't see art on the wall that makes you feel comfortable.

Beny Ashburn:
And it's mainly because the people that the ownership in these spaces are white, and they're they're they're just creating space that they know. They're not expected to create something that they don't. So we we, you know, took it upon ourselves to solve that problem. If it's an ownership thing, then we need to become owners, and we need to create more owners so that we can create more spaces that reflect the actual community that most of these breweries are in. You go to most of these neighborhoods. You know? Where do you get the cheapest property? In, you know, poor impoverished neighborhoods. Where who live in poor impoverished neighborhoods? Mainly Latinos and black people, and but then you have these breweries kinda right in the middle of it. And they always say, hey.

Beny Ashburn:
Like, the beginning of gentrification is when a brewery pops up or a yoga studio, which is kind of funny, but it's true. Because white people Or artists. Or art right. White people will go to the moon to go to a brewery. Mhmm. And I it's it's they do it because it's a safe space. It's a community space. It's a local space.

Beny Ashburn:
So for me, I fell in love with the culture and it and we saw the opportunity to create something that never has been done for done before. And, again, we're not the 1st black brewery to be clear. There are several before us, but we are definitely loudest and most audacious. And I think me and Tia, my business partner, because of the noise that we made, created this new lane for black craft beer brands to lead from the front with being black. You know, it's nothing to hide. It's nothing to be ashamed of. We are a minority in the industry. We are allowed to say we are a black beer brand.

Beny Ashburn:
We don't make black beer. That's not a thing. We don't make beer only for black people. That's ridiculous, But we are our culture and our fabric of who we are is black, so you're gonna it's gonna feel slightly different. And, you know, for example, you go to a hip hop concert. Most of the people at hip hop concerts are white. I know people think all the time, oh, they're black. No.

Beny Ashburn:
It's a mixed art for everyone, and that's what we're creating. We we're we're creating a space in the world of what we call dope. Hence, I'm the dope CEO. If you understand what the word dope means, then you understand the world in which we're building, and then you are also a welcome part of it, and that's for everybody.

Aminata Desert Rose:
So being a CEO, like, so we we talked about you, Spellman, and how that led you to believe you could do anything. And here you are as CEO. What's it like?

Beny Ashburn:
You know, I think to this day, I'm still googling what is a CEO. I mean, if we looked at my so my my job experience before this, I used to produce TV commercials for, like, 12, 15 years. I used to produce really large scale event activations for, like, Puma and Warner Brothers, and so my my background is definitely marketing creative advertising. But, you know, I'm smart. Right? So, you know, also project managed and, ran teams and stuff like that. So it's kind of like putting all that together to start a business. But I think if I were to submit my resume for a CEO position, I probably wouldn't have gotten hired because what is a CEO? You know? It's like we're building a brand a brand, basically, building the plane as we're flying it and learning go. And I'm learning how to be a CEO in real time.

Beny Ashburn:
I think being a CEO is being an innovator. It's it's caring about your business. It's being strategic. It's being creative. It's thinking 10 years ahead and and making sure you're grounded in what you want to be for 10 years from now and partnering with the right people. And, I mean, it's kinda endless what what a CEO could be. I think I'm kinda redefining it a little bit because I'm probably not your traditional CEO. I don't think anybody is anymore.

Beny Ashburn:
I mean, traditional CEOs, it's it's not quite as stuffy as it used to be. And these and businesses aren't just one thing anymore. They're not just linear. They're they're very rounded. And we do merch. We do content. We do events. We do beer.

Beny Ashburn:
We do we do a little bit of everything. So I have to know all of that. And then I work with my business partner, and together, you know, we're almost co CEOs to a certain extent, and we are figuring it out together.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Mhmm.

Beny Ashburn:
And I'm now just getting CEO training to really understand what that means because when I go in rooms with other CEOs, CEOs who maybe are more traditional, I don't wanna be intimidated by them. I wanna know maybe some basics of what they are expecting me to know and what the things I should be saying. But it's it's it's hard to to sit above all of that when you're also running the day to day operations of it, because the CEO is supposed to be a little higher above to focus on the big picture and not get in the weeds. And when you're a small business, you're kinda you're you gotta be both. So

Aminata Desert Rose:
Yes.

Beny Ashburn:
That's the world. I'm I'm learning how to ladder above the weeds to give me Yeah. To be the dope CEO that I know that I can truly be.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Mhmm. I was just thinking about when you said that it was your 7 years in. You know? And 7 years is well, first of all, congratulations.

Beny Ashburn:
Thank you.

Aminata Desert Rose:
You know, how many how many business don't make it after a year or don't make it past 5 years?

Beny Ashburn:
Right.

Aminata Desert Rose:
So but 7 years to me is like a a tender point because that's a that's a completion cycle.

Beny Ashburn:
You know?

Aminata Desert Rose:
A lot of people take sabbaticals after 7 years if they're in, you know, professions where that can happen. Because there's something about when you're a founder and you and you get to that 7th year, there is a certain amount of, what do we wanna call it, fatigue. You've been burning it. You've been visionary, operations, spokesperson.

Beny Ashburn:
Understatement. The burn is very real.

Aminata Desert Rose:
But you

Beny Ashburn:
keep doing it. I mean, I tell entrepreneurs all the time. If you if you do not love this, you will not make it. Mhmm. It is being entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. It is you are gonna fail way more times than you're gonna win. And it's they these aren't the things they tell you that. Right? Because when you look at businesses and people owning businesses, you only see the end.

Beny Ashburn:
You see the success because that's when everybody sees it. You get that phone like, oh, I can do that. I wanna do that. But did you really sit down and ask them the hell that they went through to get it? What did they sacrifice? What did they have to lose? Did they always have money? You know? There's been days where I've been flat broke, negative in my account, and I'm like, well, don't go out the house for a couple days. I've got food in the house. Yeah. I need to figure it out. You know, do I need anything? Sure don't.

Beny Ashburn:
My bills are paid. My, you know, watch TV and, you know, home office. It's nothing to do, but you get up and you do it every time. And I I think I tell everybody we we tell everybody all the time. Crowns and Hops, which I've never said the name of the my company is called Crowns and Hops Brewing Company based out of Inglewood, California. We're the first, black owned woman owned and veteran owned brewery out of Inglewood, California. And we tell people all the time we're bigger than beer because we're so our mission is to preserve culture, build community, and expand palates. We have a nonprofit organization where we give funding to other black owned craft beer brands to help them, with some of the struggles and stuff that we've been through.

Beny Ashburn:
2 years ago, we did a equity crowdfunding where we welcome the community to invest in, Crowns and Hops Brewing Company. We were the first, black owned brewery to raise over $1,000,000 in equity crowdfunding. We have 1400 people who have invested in what we are doing. Thank you. And that's that's 1400 people who believe not just in a beer brand, but in a brand that's literally changing the fabric of an entire industry. I mean, entire beer industry. Time Magazine cited us as changing the face of beer. Time Magazine.

Beny Ashburn:
It's like and that was before we had a single product on shelves. That was just based on our mission and our efforts to to create and drive racial equity equity inside of the industry.

Aminata Desert Rose:
And your great storytelling.

Beny Ashburn:
Yeah. Yeah.

Aminata Desert Rose:
I mean, you know Yeah. You made a lot of noise.

Beny Ashburn:
We continue we continue to make make a lot of noise, but we're founders that put ourselves at the front lines of Mhmm. Conversation. And in the beginning, we were at the front lines to take the hits and the beatings, and now we're at the front lines to take the wins and continue to take take, you know, the beatings. But I think people have watched us over the years, and the one thing they can say about me and to you is we have stuck to our work. We have been consistent. We have shown up for whatever we said we were gonna show up for, regardless if we're tired, regardless if we're you know, it's gonna affect us in the long run. If we say we're gonna do it, we're gonna do it. If we promise our community, we're gonna deliver.

Beny Ashburn:
This is what we deliver. And we've been very, you know, honest. When it's been good, it's been good. When it's been bad, we'll tell you it's bad. And I think people appreciate that in the brands that they support. You know? The the world's a different place. Mhmm. We're not just, you know, gonna buy into capitalism without reason anymore.

Beny Ashburn:
Mhmm. And, I'd like to believe our brand gives you some reason. If you look at the cans, we have a message on all of our cans that tells you our why, gives you a why, and lets you decide. Do you wanna support us? You don't have to. 1, it's delicious. But here's a reason why you should care because we care, and we want other we want the world to care. So

Aminata Desert Rose:
Mhmm. Mhmm. Yeah. I'm thinking about those. Did you say 1400 investors?

Beny Ashburn:
1400 people.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Wow. Because how how I first encountered your your product was on Martha's Vineyard because one of your investors, as she handed the can to me, she said, we invest in this black woman river known brewery in Los Angeles. And I was like, really? Okay.

Beny Ashburn:
Can you but did you hear the the the the pride?

Aminata Desert Rose:
Yeah. Oh, a 100. We we invested. It was like a place to put your values.

Beny Ashburn:
People coach us all the time. I mean, so our investors are called OGFCs, original gangster founders crew. And when we meet, they're like, hey. I'm an OGFC. I'm an OGFC. And it's like, they're so excited. They go to a store, and they're like, look. I know that I invested in that brand.

Beny Ashburn:
I know that brand. I know those people. I know who they are. And it's it's I mean, we've had people cry, literally cry when they've met us and been so inspired and excited and be like, I believe in what you guys are doing. And it's it's it's those people. It's that feeling that even when it gets as hard as it can possibly get, you can't let those people down. And and it's so much bigger than me and Tio. And the space that we're building right now, we're in the process of building a 1400, square foot, our first taproom in the city of Englewood.

Beny Ashburn:
And we've been promising this space for 2 years, you know, permitting and leasing. That's a whole another conversation. But we're determined to open this space for the community. The community needs it. They want it, and they've been standing by our side waiting for us, to build it. So we we're gonna do that. And from hell of high water, we're getting that space open. So yeah.

Aminata Desert Rose:
Alright. Well, let's take a a a a sponsor break right now, and we'll be right back.