Meet Karen Hoskin | Montanya Distillers Founder and Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Karen Hoskin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karen, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I have come to realize recently that taking risks is a privilege. When you know that there is some safety net beneath you, like supportive parents or generational, inherited wealth, it can be much easier to take the big risks that are inherent to successful entrepreneurship. While trying to grow Montanya through its first decade, I had two children of my own to raise and was helping financially support my mother after the premature death of my father. I didn’t have much money in the bank. So the risks I was taking seemed enormous, verging on irresponsible. But I had already said yes once to the soulless Fortune 500 job and just couldn’t hack it. I just kept pushing forward. I am not sure people really understand how the aptitude for risk is generationally taught and encouraged. Women and people of color often don’t have the privilege of long and heavy risk-taking. There is not the same safety net. I wasn’t taught by anyone before me how to navigate it. Because of my own “trial by fire”, I am now more dedicated than ever to providing mentoring and support to other upcoming entrepreneurs in the craft spirits industry. I want to be the person I needed twelve years ago, but for others.

What should our readers know about your business?
Montanya is an American craft rum distillery, based in Crested Butte, Colo., but what sets us apart is our deep, long-term and abiding commitment to using business as a force for good. We make rum and we love rum, but it is so important to us to do this all the right way. When I started almost thirteen years ago, we began conversations about sustainability and social responsibility that are only now starting to be more commonplace. I got here through stubborn relentlessness. On so many days, I could have thrown in the towel. It was so hard sometimes, so stressful to break down barriers, so exhausting to hustle for years on end. I felt responsible for the reputation of my entire gender, for working moms as entrepreneurs. If I failed, I failed all of us. So I put my nose back to the grindstone and kept going. It was never easy but it was almost always fun. I have had the privilege of working with so many incredible people. I overcame most challenges by being humble, getting help with what I wasn’t good at, speaking up on the hard conversations, and always putting self-care high on my priority list. I had to stand up for myself and speak my mind even when it was terrifying. I learned that one of the biggest factors in entrepreneurship is survival. It can take a long time, especially in the craft spirits industry, to start to grow. It can be terribly expensive and irrational to get to where we are and compete in a world of big brands. I learned that I needed to follow my instincts – they were usually right – and take deep breaths. It was usually on my hardest days that I was on the verge of my biggest breakthroughs. I want the world to know that, against all odds, a female-owned rum brand can grow sales 41% in a pandemic while being outspoken in supporting BLM, while making deep decisions to be environmentally responsible, and while challenging every basic assumption about rum.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would get us a cabin at Pioneer Guest Cabins in Cement Creek Canyon (Crested Butte). We would hike the many trails nearby before heading out for early cocktails on the patio at Montanya Distillers (of course). I would take them on a formal tour and tasting at the distillery. We’d go next door for dinner at The Sunflower. Then we’d head to The Center for the Arts for literally anything going on there from African Dance to film to literary events to live music. The next day we’d mountain bike on Snodgrass or the Lupine trail. Hopefully, while they were here, there would be a live concert in town (Alpenglow) or up the hill (Music on the Mountain). After that dinner at Soupçon. Paddleboarding on the Slate River. Trail running on Baxter Gulch trail. I could go on forever.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d love to dedicate this to my sons Nathaniel and Will Hoskin. They are budding entrepreneurs (Nathaniel at 22 with hoskincapital.com and Will at 20 doing freelance animation and visual effects (likewild_._ on Instagram). I wasn’t nearly so focused and capable at their ages. They educate and inspire me every day.

Website: https://www.montanyarum.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/montanyarum/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/montanya-distillers/mycompany/

Twitter: @montanyarum

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MontanyaDistillers

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/montanya-distillers-crested-butte

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcnND1YhQVl0LmKr9aMLA8w

Image Credits
Nathan Bilow – First three photos
Aaron Ingrao – rum bottles photo