Listening comprehension 5/24

I like the public interaction the most. I enjoy speaking with engaged, intelligent, interested people who really want to talk about the minutiae of beer: how it’s created, the industry, the brewing process, glassware, beer- and food-pairing, various yeasts for fermentation, the fermentation process, all of that. What I despise about the company-driven side of this part of the industry is sales, marketing, advertising, making people aware that I exist and what I do. I have a hard time doing it for myself. I don’t know how people do it for other companies. I really don’t. They’re a special breed of very talented, skilled people, because I just have a really hard time doing that. And the fact is, doing it to a real, full extent takes money, as well. Advertising is expensive, whether it’s for my main company, the Beer Sommelier, or my main product, BeerAID, it’s expensive. Advertising is expensive if you want to do it properly. There’s a reason that I’m not on every shelf in the world right now, at Walmart’s and CVS’s and, you know, all the drug stores and beer stores. It’s because it’s expensive making that happen. There are specific processes that need to happen in order to have companies pick up your product. And it’s tough. It’s really, really a challenging part of what I do.