Meet Chris Schaefer

We recently connected with Chris Schaefer and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I had a good upbringing as a kid to do my chores and save my allowance, do extra chores around the house or neighborhood to make money I wanted for toys or candy. I enjoyed the process of saving and achieving my goals. But my current work ethic came from working on a fire crew for the Forrest Service for 4 years. The team atmosphere and comradery amongst 23 guys and gals enforced pulling your weight and doing your part. If one member was slacking at their task it made it harder for everyone. There was always something needing done and we never had idle hands. There was an atmosphere of ‘calling people out” for doing less than others, but in a way that was meant to bolster individual and crew pride in being a Type 1 Hotshot crew. Everyone was very supportive of each other and if someone was struggling with something the crew stepped in as a whole to hold them up.
This work ethic has sometimes proved problematic outside the Forest Service as I tend to expect everything from my staff even though its not a fire were fighting but an evening cocktail rush. I always want more from the people I work with and sometimes have unrealistic expectations for the people in my bartending “crew”.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I started distilling as a hobby with my dad. Over a few years this hobby snowballed into Dry Point Distillers, a micro-distillery and cocktail bar. I never expected to open a business of my own, much less a craft beverage business. Once we tsarted construction on our space the business took on a life of its own and even after 6 years of operation Im running to keep up. Some days its crazy fun and interesting (meeting new peple from the community, sampling new spirits, solving production issues, landing big deals) and others I truley earn my paycheck (Federal, state and local paperwork, staff issues, tedious book keeping).
I take pride in the bisuness Ive grown. When we started i had a couple years at the hobby level of distilling. I had never worked behind a bar and knew nothing about supply chains. I have a “how hard can it be” mentality that has helped me figure out thorugh trial and error (expensive in both time and money, but a good way to learn) all sorts of puzzles from staff management to the most efficient way to fill whiskey bottles.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

-How hard can it be- I didnt know what Iwas doing when we first opened, I still have way too much to learn about my industry. I had the interest and want to own a line of spirits and run a successful bar and I work every day to keep making it better. No one cares as much about your business than you
-Dont buy something till you know you need it- I wasted so much money early on
-Hire a team to give you the time to grow your business. I started out distilling all day then working the cocktail bar all night. I was burning out and it was a major revelation when I was told by someone to hire a bartender. No joke, that idea blew my mind. So i hired a couple people and that opened up my bandwidth to explore opportunities to grow

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

TIME. As a obsessive busy body I struggle every day with time management. I love working at maintaining and growing my business. I also love working on my house and yard. I also love building motorcycles. I also love spending time and adventuring with my 2 kids and wife. And I want, and sometimes need, to do all of these things all at once. The ball is rolling at my business and sometimes I cant stop it. Things need to get done by very specific timelines that usually get in the way of family obligations and fun. Work can be a drag alot of times and while I enjoy my work I also spend alot of time daydreaming about not working. I struggle everyday with juggling what needs to get done, what Id like to get done and what I can realistically get done. Im still working on how to overcome these challenges

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.drypointdistillersnm.com
• Instagram: drypointdistillers