Richard Tevlin of Fishtown on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Richard Tevlin and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Richard, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What is a normal day like for you right now?
Every day is different as a small business owner, especially when you are in an early growth phase, but this is a fairly typical one. I wake up around 8am, work out, shower, eat breakfast, and then spend about two hours answering emails. After that I go over my schedule and map out which accounts I’m going to hit that day. Our territory is pretty large, so I try to focus each day on a specific town or region to cut down on commute time and stay efficient. There’s a lot of ground to cover, so planning is critical.

I usually get to my first account around 11:30am. My goal is to get in front of 12 to 15 managers per day. Depending on how far I am from home, I’ll bring sampling equipment with me like a table, cups, extra beer, signage, and of course the astronaut suit, and I’ll do four to five tastings per week. These tastings are for customers at accounts that are already selling my beer. Even in an age of social media and AI, the best way to really make an impact is to get face to face with people, have them taste the beer, and tell them about the product, the brand, and my story.

I usually get home around 8pm, shower, then answer more emails and start working on upcoming beers, marketing, business development, and other backend tasks. I’ll wrap up around midnight and then rinse and repeat. Once a week we record our podcast, The BrewedAt Podcast, and at this point that’s pretty much my social life. The life of a startup entrepreneur can be a lonely one, but there’s really only one way through it, and that’s forward.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Richie Tevlin, the founder and owner of Space Cadet Brewing Company, a fast growing, independent brewery focused on making approachable, high quality beer with a strong sense of personality and story behind it. Due to limited start-up capital, we launched as a contract brewer, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it allows us to stay flexible, grow intentionally, and spend most of my time out in the market building real relationships with accounts and customers.

We’re building this company very intentionally. My co-founder and fiancée, Monica Godefroy, and I are both 32, and we see this as a long term journey. I’m a classically trained brewer with over a decade of professional brewing experience and have worked at some of the best breweries in the country. Monica is an award winning photographer from Mexico, and together we’re creating a brand with a lot of personality that people will hopefully feel proud to support.

Alongside the beer, I co-host The BrewedAt Podcast, where we sit down with brewers, bar owners, social media influencers , and anyone interesting that touches the alcohol industry to hear their stories and discuss where we want the industry to head. Right now, everything we’re working on is about growth, awareness, and laying a strong foundation for the future. We want our customers to connect with us as people, not just a product, and come along for the ride as we build this company and our life together, one beer at a time.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was a nobody. I spent a long time waiting for someone else to tell me who to be or what to do, until I finally realized that someone was me.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear of rejection has held me back the most. For a long time, I struggled to take action or even attempt things because I would focus on all the reasons I shouldn’t do them or everything that could go wrong, to the point where I almost willed those outcomes into existence. I’ve learned that simply making a genuine effort to do something you want to do is about 90% of the battle. Momentum and energy are very real, both in life and in business.

It’s still a constant fight to push through anxiety and fear and keep moving forward, but I’ve learned that it’s always easier to keep going than it is to start. Too much self introspection can sometimes be a bad thing, and action is often the best way to break through it.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
One of the biggest lies the industry tells itself is that craft beer’s struggles are someone else’s fault. I hear brewery owners and sales reps all the time blaming this or that, or even blaming the consumer for not drinking “craft” beer anymore. Beer is no different from any other consumer product. If people aren’t buying it, that’s on us. We need to be actively selling to consumers and clearly explaining why they should be drinking our product.

Over the past decade we’ve seen the rise of seltzers, teas, RTDs, and other low alcohol products, and those categories didn’t grow by accident. Brands in those spaces go out and sell, constantly, focusing on benefits, differentiation, and why their product fits into someone’s life. BeatBox selling for $450 million to Anheuser Busch didn’t happen because they waited for consumers to come to them. It happened because they told a compelling story and pushed it aggressively.

A lot of the marketing and sales in craft beer has become stale. Too many people are resting on the laurels built by the titans of the industry like Jim Koch, Sam Calagione, Ken Grossman, and so many others, instead of building something new on top of that foundation. That mindset is lazy and uncreative. If we want this industry to thrive, we need to take control of it, push it forward, and start thinking like startups again instead of clinging to the old guard.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. When have you had to bet the company?
We’ve had to bet the company from the very beginning. We sunk everything we had into our first batch of beer. In wholesale, it’s a pure numbers game. You either produce at scale or there’s essentially no margin, so going all in wasn’t really optional. Every time we’ve scaled since then, we’ve effectively bet the house again.

As we’ve grown, things have gotten more manageable and we’ve earned a little breathing room, but the risk never really goes away. Each new step forward comes with real stakes. Opening our taproom will be the next major gamble, but it’s a calculated one. We have a strong understanding of the industry, the economics, and what it takes to execute. Growth has made the process less chaotic, but we’re always aware that building something meaningful requires taking risks, and every stage of growth is its own version of betting the company.

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Image Credits
Monica Godefroy

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