Liv & René

René: Liv and I were friends before we started Mama’s Brew Shop. We’ve both got two children each, and they’re the same ages. I actually met Liv’s husband, Dave, first. We had a conversation about kombucha at a wholefood store. I needed a new SCOBY and he said, “You should meet my wife, she’ll absolutely love you! She’ll give you a SCOBY and our kids can hang out together.” So that’s how we became friends. We were both looking for something to dig our teeth into, having small children but still wanting to work. One night I sent a text to Liv: “We should start a business making kombucha,” and Mama’s Brew Shop started the very next day.

Liv: Once we had the idea, it was never an option not to – it was full steam ahead. René’s kitchen turned into a bit of a mad scientist’s lab where we played around with flavours and had jars of things fermenting. Then we turned René and Tim’s garage into our first brewery. We needed it to be somewhere where the kids could be as well. Often, I’d put my kids to bed and then hoof it over to René’s house and we would brew and bottle – sometimes until four in the morning – and then get home just in time to get the kids up again. It was crazy we managed to pull it off. There’s something in having children that age, you’re already working all hours of the day. So you may as well squeeze something else in there.

René: Our children have grown up with the business. When we started, the older ones were around two. Locke, my youngest, was just six weeks old. The little ones were with us at every meeting and every sales trip – they were on our hips the whole time. And the older ones, they wanted to help in the brewery. So they were constantly by our sides in those early days. It was really cool for them to see their mums working like that.

Liv: It’s just hysterical what we put ourselves through for a while. There’s so many things that weren’t necessarily funny at the time, but now we look back, they kind of are. We always used to say, “One day we’ll write a book about this.” There would be times when something would be going wrong or we’d still be going at midnight, still trying to figure something out, and we’d be like, “Oh, this is going to have a whole chapter.”

René: The inspiration for Mama’s Brew Shop came from when we were breastfeeding and pregnant. There was never a nice non-alcoholic option, it was always something really high in sugar that didn’t look great in a glass. As we moved on from pregnancy and breastfeeding, we wanted something nice that was more a better-for-you drink, rather than something really high in spirits or something you had to mix with sugar. Neither of us particularly like wine, so turning the kombucha into alcohol was a no brainer.

Liv: It’s been interesting shifting from the non-alcoholic into the alcoholic market, as it is quite a male-dominated industry. As a female-led brand, Happy Hour brings a different vibe. Almost without meaning to, we’re finding we bring a different perspective to the alcohol industry.

René: For me, being in a women-led and -run business, there’s a certain sense of empathy that exists in the workplace. When you’ve got sick kids, there’s just an understanding that family comes first.

Liv: We are very much at the same stage of life and we’ve got similar stuff going on in the background. Having empathy – as René alluded to before – that’s not only for the staff but for each other as well. The kids have always come first – they’ve got to be picked up and dropped off. Everything we’ve ever done in the business has worked around that. That’s been pretty key – being able to be mums and also in business. There’s a lot to love about the way René operates. She’s incredibly organised and focused, and she’s a really hard worker. We’ve always recognised we have very different strengths and weaknesses, and that has served us well over the years.

René: Liv comes from a farming family background and just has an incredibly strong work ethic and never, ever, ever shows any signs of giving up. But we do work quite differently. I’m quite a details- and list-focused person, and Liv has a great strength in pulling everything together at the last minute, which I don’t.

Liv: Yes, we’re micro and macro!

René: Liv’s move to the United Kingdom isn’t going to change how we work together. Since we closed the brewery and moved to contract manufacturing, we’ve been working remotely anyway. All that’s really changing is the time zone.

Liv: It’s going to be an adventure for our family. From a business perspective, it means I can look for export opportunities for us. The move has come about because of my husband’s work, but it also works in quite well with our global takeover goals!