A thirst for sustainable brewing led Jessica Stewart on a path to Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. “I did my undergraduate degree at Georgetown and had done a lot of community service activities during my time there,” says the entrepreneur, who set-up Sustainable Beer in November last year.
The business operates as a consultancy, and advises breweries on the topic of sustainability. “It was always my plan to have a career in that space and I decided it was time to do that,” says Jessica, who began her MBA in 2012.
She ran Sustainable Beer alongside the program before graduating in May this year. “I haven’t had to do fundraising yet. I’ve had some time since I graduated and I’m trying to get things going,” she says.
Jessica first got into brewing through her grandfather, a Scotsman who brewed his own brand of beer. “When I was younger he used to let me help with the bottling,” she says. He eventually passed the brewing equipment onto her father. “Once I moved out, I got my own kit,” says Jessica. “It's a really unique industry because you can do it on your own, in your bathroom. Beer fascinated me – and it's delicious.”
She began her business school program after a five-year career at GEP Worldwide, a specialist procurement consulting firm. She joined as an associate in 2007, and rose through the ranks to senior manager before leaving in May 2012.
“I decided that I was ready to make a career transition into a more socially impactful role,” says Jessica. She was drawn to Fuqua’s focus on sustainability in the energy industries. “Business school was a good way to make that transition.”
She did not stop brewing while on the MBA. “At school, there was a good community of home brewers. We did some home-brew contests,” she says.
Jessica became co-president of the Fuqua Beer Club. “We did everything from beer-101 to tasting panels,” she enthuses. “We do a lot of educational things through the brewing process, and we have our own brewing kit as part of the club.”
Once or twice a quarter, they brew a club batch of beer – and drink the batch they made during the previous quarter. There is more to it than drinking, however. Jessica says: “It’s a small but dedicated group, who work in the beer industry, who have come back to do some recruiting and act as a network.”
She had three internships during her two-year MBA program. The first was at Fullsteam Brewery, a brewing start-up based nearby in Durham.
After a stint as a sustainability consultant at Domtar, a pulp and paper distributor, she spent four months interning at Allagash Brewing Company in Portland. “It was immensely valuable for me,” says Jessica, who brokered the internship after meeting the company’s owner at a craft beer conference.
“They had never had an intern before or anybody with an MBA, so it was hugely valuable for me to be able to demonstrate that there was a need for what I wanted to do,” she adds. “They gave me the foundations.”
Despite running her own consultancy, Jessica did not fancy herself as an entrepreneur when she began the MBA. “I was definitely looking for more of a corporate role,” she laughs.
But sustainability in the brewing industry is not a developed topic in the United States. “It’s a fairly new field and I think Europe’s doing a lot better in this space – there’s a lot of pioneering research on my end.”
She is not sure where the business will take her. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in something more concrete within the brewing industry, doing sustainability work – but at same time there’s definitely a need and an opportunity here,” says Jessica, who has been running Sustainable Beer for nine months.
Her end goal is hard to define because she believes that her ultimate role, related to sustainability, has not yet been created within companies.
She just wants to create “impact”. “With Fuqua and the opportunities I had with those three internships… The network that I have made will be immensely helpful to me,” adds Jessica.