[00:00:00.00]
- Well, prickly pear is kind of melon-y.

[00:00:03.05]
Like, really fresh melon-y.

[00:00:05.09]
We didn't set out to be the
first Native woman-owned brewery

[00:00:09.03]
in the United States, but I'm told we are.

[00:00:12.00]
[gentle acoustic guitar music]

[00:00:13.01]
I think our existence,

[00:00:15.07]
the thoughtfulness that we put into

[00:00:20.02]
the products we produce,

[00:00:21.06]
the way we tell our stories and
that connection to the land,

[00:00:26.04]
I think it surprises a lot of people.

[00:00:28.05]
[gentle acoustic guitar music]

[00:00:31.04]
We are inspired by the American Southwest,

[00:00:34.07]
the mesas, the special places,

[00:00:36.08]
the people, the history and the culture,

[00:00:39.00]
and that's reflected in the beers we make.

[00:00:43.09]
We self-distribute here in New Mexico.

[00:00:46.07]
[upbeat electronic music]

[00:00:48.07]
- [Speaker 1] The way we farm today

[00:00:50.02]
will not sustain human
civilization as we know it.

[00:00:55.03]
- [Speaker 2] There's
not gonna be enough water

[00:00:56.09]
and there's not gonna be enough land.

[00:00:59.07]
[music continues]

[00:01:01.02]
- [Speaker 1] We are
never going to replace

[00:01:03.05]
traditional agriculture,
but we sure can innovate.

[00:01:08.01]
- [Speaker 3] We can learn
how to at least pivot

[00:01:09.08]
and to work with this changing world.

[00:01:12.07]
[music continues]

[00:01:25.05]
[gentle bluegrass music]

[00:01:30.00]
I grew up on the prairies
of western North Dakota,

[00:01:33.01]
on the Fort Berthold Reservation,

[00:01:35.07]
home to the Mandan,
Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.

[00:01:38.04]
I have many fond memories.

[00:01:40.02]
I grew up running the
hills above the lake,

[00:01:44.06]
riding horses with my cousins.

[00:01:47.07]
It was primarily my mom and I growing up,

[00:01:50.01]
and I'm an only child but
I have a large family.

[00:01:53.04]
My grandma, Wanda Fox
Shepherd, was 1 of 15 children.

[00:01:58.00]
She would make our traditional foods.

[00:02:00.03]
She would educate others
on our traditions.

[00:02:04.07]
She would tell us about
her own grandmother

[00:02:06.09]
and the large garden that they kept.

[00:02:09.03]
[music continues]

[00:02:10.08]
She was very loving,

[00:02:12.00]
but at the same time she was a realist.

[00:02:15.02]
She would just tell us, you know,

[00:02:19.04]
"You're going to have to work harder

[00:02:21.01]
"than other people not
from the reservation

[00:02:25.02]
"because we're not on
a level playing field."

[00:02:27.03]
So when it came time for
me to go to high school,

[00:02:31.00]
the expectations of us, the
kids being bused from the rez,

[00:02:37.01]
they were very low.

[00:02:39.03]
[uplifting instrumental music]

[00:02:46.04]
I felt fortunate to be
at Stanford every day.

[00:02:50.02]
There's a Native American
community center.

[00:02:52.08]
There's a lot of commonality,

[00:02:54.03]
regardless of which
reservation you come from.

[00:02:57.07]
[music continues]

[00:03:01.07]
We actually met at the community
center in the computer lab.

[00:03:06.08]
We started dating.

[00:03:09.02]
We've been together ever since,

[00:03:10.06]
so it's been over 20 years.

[00:03:13.05]
[music continues]

[00:03:15.05]
Missy and I both kind of
connected on our appreciation

[00:03:19.08]
for craft beer, learning about
yeast and the ingredients,

[00:03:24.03]
the history, the geography,
the science of craft beer.

[00:03:27.09]
I think it really sparked
our interest and curiosity.

[00:03:33.06]
[driving country rock music]

[00:03:40.07]
I joined the founding team

[00:03:42.03]
of this social impact investing fund.

[00:03:46.00]
We focused on businesses whose services

[00:03:48.04]
or products were focused on greater good.

[00:03:51.03]
[music continues]

[00:03:57.00]
For the most part, craft beer,

[00:03:59.00]
it's pretty homogenous in terms of...

[00:04:03.02]
...yeah, white, bearded men [laughs].

[00:04:06.07]
That can make it challenging sometimes

[00:04:08.07]
to approach people and
build those relationships.

[00:04:14.00]
Even with my background and experience,

[00:04:16.02]
it was a very challenging
process to navigate.

[00:04:20.05]
I approached every bank in
Albuquerque and was told "No,"

[00:04:25.08]
even though I had equity,
I had a very detailed plan.

[00:04:31.00]
I could talk through it, but I was told

[00:04:33.01]
over and over and over,
"We don't do startups."

[00:04:35.07]
[gentle piano music]
[indistinct chatter]

[00:04:45.06]
All right, so, these shirts
are doing really well.

[00:04:53.08]
- I thought these shirts were really,

[00:04:55.04]
a lot of people like these shirts.

[00:04:57.00]
- Missy does the majority of,
like, concept development.

[00:05:00.09]
She's very artistic, too,

[00:05:02.05]
and so this has been her creative outlet.

[00:05:05.01]
- [Missy] Oh yeah, it was great....

[00:05:11.02]
[propulsive instrumental music]

[00:05:22.02]
- We now source our blue corn from Tamaya,

[00:05:26.03]
or the Santa Ana Pueblo.

[00:05:28.02]
We always highlight where
our corn comes from.

[00:05:30.09]
It means a lot to us that
we're also doing business

[00:05:33.03]
with another Native-owned
business, as well.

[00:05:36.05]
So that's something that really
aligns with our core values.

[00:05:39.05]
- So we do custom grinding.

[00:05:41.07]
We do all 23 tribes in
the state of New Mexico.

[00:05:45.06]
Every tribe is different, so every tribe

[00:05:48.02]
wants different textures
and different roasts.

[00:05:51.05]
So we do that, and that's
what we use this La Milpa for.

[00:05:55.01]
- So for our coarse grind,

[00:05:56.07]
does it run through just this one then?

[00:05:58.09]
- Yes, it does.

[00:05:59.09]
- It's super gritty, grittier
than what they normally

[00:06:04.05]
make for some of their other products.

[00:06:08.00]
So they roast it for us,
they crush the corn for us,

[00:06:13.04]
and we buy it from them in 50-pound bags,

[00:06:16.05]
500 pounds at a time.

[00:06:18.06]
[birds and insects chirping]

[00:06:24.08]
It's been just a lot of
fun when we are working

[00:06:28.02]
with unique ingredients
or introducing fruit.

[00:06:30.06]
We have an orchard at our home
that we've been tending to.

[00:06:35.04]
The peaches ultimately ended up

[00:06:37.07]
in a traditional golden sour beer

[00:06:40.07]
that's actually on draft right now.

[00:06:43.04]
It is a tap room exclusive, [laughs]

[00:06:46.02]
and one that we're very proud of.

[00:06:49.02]
[gentle acoustic guitar music]

[00:06:53.06]
We went out looking for
the wild Neomexicanus hop.

[00:06:57.00]
We know that it grows well
above a certain altitude.

[00:07:00.02]
We just kept driving,

[00:07:01.02]
and then we got off to
just, like, stretch.

[00:07:03.04]
I didn't walk very far,

[00:07:05.05]
and I spotted, like,
that very distinct leaf.

[00:07:11.04]
They were giant, lush green hops.

[00:07:14.07]
And it's funny with plants,
like, growing up,

[00:07:16.08]
my grandma, she said,
"You really have to be

[00:07:19.02]
"in a positive mindset

[00:07:21.03]
"when you're going out
and harvesting," she said.

[00:07:23.07]
"Because if you're not," she
said, "they'll hide from you."

[00:07:28.02]
[music continues]

[00:07:38.02]
We're revisiting and wanting
to learn how to carry forward

[00:07:43.00]
methods of Native agriculture
and growing practices.

[00:07:47.05]
What we realize now is it's
climate change and things.

[00:07:51.08]
A lot of that Native knowledge and history

[00:07:54.04]
was really rooted in science,

[00:07:56.08]
and I think we're now
rediscovering and relearning that.

[00:08:00.04]
And I think that's a really
exciting thing to see

[00:08:03.06]
and to be a part of.

[00:08:06.03]
[gentle instrumental music]

[00:08:13.00]
[driving country rock music]

[00:08:16.02]