We were lucky to catch up with Joe Groenhof recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joe, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I was raised on the family blueberry farm, so from an early age my parent instilled me with a mentality of working hard and getting the job done. Farming is not a 9-5 job. There is no 1st, 2nd, or 3rd shift. It’s a do what needs done when it needs to be done. The hours can be utterly bizarre. The farm isn’t going to work around your schedule. One emample is spraying for insects during harvest time. I have to spray every 5-7 days. If you wait til 8 days; you could lose that picking. If there is a rain event in between the 5-7 days; you have respray because it was washed off. I’ve had to go out quite often and respray some of the same fields several times in a week because of rain. It’s not something the should be done; it MUST be done.
Thankfully I grew up with others that worked just as hard if not harder. It cultivated the idea that working long odd hours is normal. That created the mindset that I couldn’t complain or brag about working the hours I do.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My focus is primarily locked in on Kittywampus Soda. I started experimenting with soda brewing in 2013 on a work trip to Florida. My brother who had done some beer brewing encouraged me to look into sodas since I was under 21. While in florida I started reading book on herbs and spices, and how there were used in flavors and medicinal remedies. By the time I returned home the forced carbonation system was at my front door. From there I started crafting soda flavors with the real flavors. Our Rootbeer alone contains 7 types herbs and spices and 2 types of sugars that yield its uniquely bold backwoods flavor. Also its not just using those herbs and spices, but also how the flavors are extracted. Several other of the sodas contain 30-50% fruit juice that yield that real flavor and color. The tart cherry soda is real cherry juice! The idea of real flavors is so askew from the mainstream idea of soda; it’s exciting and absolutely kittywampus!
Moving forward we will start to focus on building a bigger fanbase for the sodas. In the past, creating the main soda flavors and building the process was the goal, and we will still continue to perfect certain flavors. But our focus will start to pivot to giving people more opportunities experience Kittywampus Soda. Farther down the road, Kittywampus would love to start creating seasonal and special edition sodas. What would happen if we blended some of the soda flavors? What would we experience if we added and oak barrel flavor or certain herbs? There is a big adventure moving forward, and who knows there could be energy style drink in Kittywampus’s future as well to aid the adventurous life style
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Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
First off when I attended Toastmasters someone mentioned that communication is the jet engine to success. Communication is something that I continue to work on. If you are interested in learning more on communication join a local Toastmasters club, and also theses are 2 books I would recommend. How to Win Friends and Influence People- by Dale Carnegie
How to Talk to Anyone- by Leil Lowndes
Next is work ethic and mindset. some thoughts that often go through my head is “Train harder than you fight”. Also “the more I do today, is the less I do tomorrow”; it’s opposite idea of putting it off till later. I listen to a lot of biographies as well; I get to hear about their struggles and how they worked through them. It help me see that my struggles don’t stack up to others, so keep going.
Finally. I touched upon this in the previous things. Continue to learn and read. You don’t have to study stuff in your field of work either. Listen to several subjects, there will be something that applies to what you are working on. The book “Range” by David Epstein is a great example of this idea.
Those are 3 things that are important but they are not the only things. A hammer is a fantastic tool to hit a nail, break something free, or take something apart, but it won’t turn a screw, measure a wall, or cut a board. We need to have a toolbox of tools to build a house. The same goes for life, 3 tools won’t get the job done; keep building and learning new skills and qualities.
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?
This past Summer was one of the biggest setbacks we have had. Several of the sodas contracted a wild yeast which caused the cans to explode. We dumped 1000’s of cans over the Summer. It was quite a depressing few months. Thankfully the yeast wasn’t a health concern, but making the call to stores and informing them of the situation was the worst feeling. several of them were new customers and had menus made up with the sodas on them. Everyone was very understanding and supportive through the whole ordeal. It makes me overly grateful to be working with so many awesome people. We believe that the root cause of the problem was due to the lack of sufficient preservatives. The amounts we were using wasn’t enough to keep the soda stable at room temperature. In addition to that we also started using a stronger sanitizer and higher temperatures for cleaning tanks. We also pinpointed some hard to clean areas, and we changed some fittings and will keep an eye on those areas moving forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kittywampussoda.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070118195912
Image Credits
Tanner Menghini
