Born Fabulous
Born Fabulous
Season 3, Episode 29, Part 2: Jamie Minotti & Mark McLary, "Brewing Inclusion - Literally"
Discover how a unique brewery initiative is redefining community inclusion and empowerment as we sit down with My Yard Live Beer Company's co-founders, Jamie Minotti and Mark McLary. The "Four Dudes" – James Zoul and his friends, who all have disabilities – have turned what began as simple cleaning tasks into a powerful movement within the brewery, contributing significantly to both the business and the community. Each pint they brew carries not just flavor but purpose, with proceeds supporting charitable causes and challenging the limiting narratives often associated with disability. Join us as we delve into the transformative power of inclusive employment and the profound societal shifts it inspires.
Beyond their professional roles, individuals like James are fostering stronger family bonds and reshaping workplace dynamics. Through heartfelt stories, we reveal how these personal connections extend beyond the brewery walls, touching the lives of family members like Bryn and inspiring broader community change. We also highlight the unwavering advocacy of James's mother, June, whose efforts have paved the way for greater opportunities and acceptance. With a visionary approach, the episode celebrates the multitude of benefits diversity and inclusivity bring to our lives, encouraging businesses to adopt similar strategies for creating meaningful employment opportunities for everyone.
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Hello, my name is Greta Harrison. Welcome to Born Fabulous Podcast, season 3, episode 29. The theme of this season is young adults with intellectual disabilities living full lives of independence and interdependence. Work is an integral part of a full life in independence. This is the second of three episodes featuring Jamie Minotti and Mark McCleary, who are co-founders and managing partners of my Yard Live Beer Company in San Marcos, california, which is a suburb of San Diego.
Greta Harrison:My Yard Live has a unique mission, with activities for all ages live entertainment, quality food and libations, as well as unique leisure games, with a focus on building a stronger community. Their mission further states they will create a paradigm shift in the way that communities interact, play and bond by inventing an inclusive, family and adult-friendly gathering space that has the ability to be replicated in the western United States and beyond. This mission organically led to the hire of James Zoll when my Yard Live opened in 2019, months before the COVID pandemic hit. James has Down syndrome. James's job grew over his years with my Yard Live, eventually leading to the unique addition of the four dudes in their mission. The four dudes are James and three of his close friends who have disabilities. This particular episode will share the wonderful story of the four dudes. Now please enjoy this clip of the ring. The lyrics are by Melissa Riggio, who was the focus of episodes one through four in season one. She had Down Syndrome. The music and voice are by Rachel Fuller, the center of the ring.
Rachel Fuller:Am I just a broken angel? Gotta send me to him to be an ordinary.
Greta Harrison:Okay, so James started with the cleaning duties, worked his way up. He had a job coach when he came to you, correct? And how did the idea of the four dudes happen? Just talk that through.
Jamie Minotti:Wow, that's a really good question, mark. I don't even remember. I don't remember how. How did it come about? I, I think.
Mark McLarry:Well, I think that um, I heard that, saw the term earlier organic, it happened organically. And I think that I think you were, you and I were kind of spitballing and you kind of you kind of brought it up. I mean, um, you've talked a lot I'm talking to jamie now and um talked a lot about um, something project-based related to beer outside of directly, what we do that gives back to the community, and so I think that's how the conversation started with the four dudes let's do, let's do it's almost, you know, in in these conversations quickly went to June, right, and and it was, it was let's develop a like a brand within the brand, and that's kind of how the, the four dudes was, was, was creative.
Jamie Minotti:And I know we've been really sensitive about I'm trying to think of a good way to put this Not our intention has never been to kind of exploit this idea of, hey, look at us, look at the great things we're doing and guess what? We employ people with special needs and you know, blah, blah, blah. Like that. We've been really, really sensitive because we've found a passion for it and our people and our team has found a passion for it. But we wanted to make always make sure that passion's not projected as exploitation of what, what we're trying to do and and our reasoning behind it and that kind of thing. And so, when Mark said we really quickly bring, bring it to june, because june's like our barometer, right, june is like we're, like we, we gotta bounce things off. June, like is this, does this make sense, is this cool? Are we using the right terminology? Is is it okay to, like you know, ask james to be on social media and, like you know, be a part, because other team members are on social media and that kind of thing. And so we're very sensitive about it. And so, as with the four dudes, we wanted to create this concept with the four dudes. That was valuable to the four dudes, which is James and his three other lifelong friends, valuable to them in that experience, first and foremost, but then also creating something that could give back to the community. So it's like cool, these guys with special needs are brewing beer great, but what else like what bigger piece is it? What, what, what more? What more do the four dudes have kind of in involved in that? And so that's where we kind of came up with the idea and I think it was with june to create a fund where the four dudes a dollar from every pint sold of all the beer that the guys brew would go into a fun that they in turn can make a donation to the greater community, uh, for a cause or causes that they were interested in. So that's the piece that I think is is as cool as the concept itself was.
Jamie Minotti:Just, you know, the, the dude's ability to like, give back to a community. That, like, I think in, I think in the community's mind, right, and we're talking about stereotypes, the community's mind, to a certain extent, is people in need. Whatever those people in need are Right, and I put it in quotation marks right, People are need. We're giving to people in need. Right, we're contributing to people in need, we're donating to people in need, and that could be people of lower socioeconomic status, that could be with people of special needs, that could be whomever. You know, it's it's, it's it's we're given.
Jamie Minotti:Well, this flips that on its ass, sorry, flips it on its butt. Well, this flips that on its ass. Sorry, flips it on its butt. Now the stereotypical takers are now the givers, and that, for me and for us, is the big thing about Four Dudes Brew. It's now the dudes have that empowerment to now give back to the community that has so generously given to them their entire lives, and that as part of the Four Dudes Project. And whoever you talk to, june, the guys, or whatever that's the coolest thing.
Greta Harrison:And they've given $12,000 back already.
Mark McLarry:Correct, correct, okay. And I think it's worth noting the name the four dudes that actually came from james and his three buddies call themselves the dudes, so that's where the name actually came from they're. They're also the marketing team too. So you know, and you know I can't, and to kind of further to jamie's point, you know kind of flipping it, flipping it, flipping the script, right um, now, you know, when we release these beers, you know we host these huge events. You know, um, promoting, promoting the whatever beer we've released we have, have the organizations come in that they're donating to, and we bring the dudes up on stage and you know, and literally put a light on them, stage lighting, you know, and just highlight like, hey, look at these heroes, look what they're doing for the community.
Greta Harrison:I love that and also as somebody who is a parent and a civic leader in my area, you're also expanding the vision of what somebody with a disability can do brewing a beer, which that's why Born Fabulous podcast exists is. We're trying to break the stereotypes and broaden what people with disabilities can do, and that's why I wanted to talk to you guys, because you were doing that. I love that. James started where he did and worked his way up and now he's brewing beer. I don't know a lot of people who know how to brew beer. It's not easy to do. It's a complicated process and I don't think that, from what I've heard of the story, you didn't. They didn't start the brewing the entire beer from day one. They were mentored and they were part of other teams and then they grew into the process correct.
Mark McLarry:Yeah. So Ben, aka Shaggy everyone calls him Shaggy he's our, he's our head brewer and he's he's just, he's a saint. And so, from day one, they were involved in the process from beginning to end, which included doing, included bringing out several types of hops and having having the dudes smell each of the hops and pick which ones they were really they really liked. And so they were involved from the beginning to end, and then picking the hops to ultimately picking the style of beer and then brewing it, from the beginning until end.
Greta Harrison:And as each batch they've had, what three batches now, or is it four batches? Four, Four batches.
Jamie Minotti:Four and we're going on our fifth.
Greta Harrison:We're going on our fifth, yeah.
Greta Harrison:You know, I'm going to be there for one of those. I'm going to be there for one of those events where they launch it to the community, for one of those events where they where they launched, where they launch it to the community. But anyways, when, when that batch happens, yeah, their involvement with each batch has grown, hasn't it Like what they're doing in the process has grown? They're doing more and more each time. And now, if I'm not mistaken, you've entered, they've been entered in some competitions, at least one.
Jamie Minotti:Can you?
Greta Harrison:talk about that.
Jamie Minotti:And Shaggy. You know Mark referenced Shaggy. So Shaggy, our brewer, he's been with us since 2019. And when we brought I remember this when we brought him this idea, his first inclination and it had nothing to do with working with folks with special needs, it had nothing to do with anything.
Jamie Minotti:It had to do with. If they're going to be involved in this thing, they're going to be involved in this thing. They're going to be involved in this thing and I don't want just whoever it is, just to be involved in this thing. On the surface, and he's held true to that and developed really tight bonds. The guys walk in, the four dudes walk in. They don't want to see Mark and I, they want to see Shaggy, want to see Mark and I, they want to see Shaggy because that's their man now. And so you know their involvement from the very beginning was kind of understanding. You know what are the ingredients in beer, just like anybody else, right? Just like you or me or Mark or whomever. What are the ingredients, what are the smells, what are the different hops mean and what. You know what are those tastes and what. What's the beer that we're trying to brew, and and and and.
Jamie Minotti:Funny story, nick, one of the four dudes. The first beer we brewed was an IPA, and IPAs are really big on the West coast, one of the biggest selling beers and and um. So the whole process of big on the west coast, one of the biggest selling beers and and um. So they went through a whole process of of picking the hops and the mall and all this stuff, and and so fast forward. The brews beer, the beer is brewed and I have um, one of, uh, we, the san diego union tribune, wanted to do an article and um, so pam from san diego union tribune is out here and the beer's released and you know, there she's asking about the beer and she goes around and she asked nick and and she says what do you think about the beer?
Jamie Minotti:And nick goes I don't like it. And she's like what do you mean? What do you mean? You don't like it? Every there's a hush, all the parents are there, the whole thing is a hush. Everyone looks, he's like I don't like it, I don't like it. There's a hush, all the parents are there, the whole thing is a hush. Everyone looks, he's like I don't like it, I don't like IPAs. He's just like well, what kind of beers do you like? And he says Mexican lagers. I like Mexican lagers. So the next beer we did was a Mexican lager. And so that's how the guys have input on this process and and they have and they will continue to be so and they're very honest, yeah honestly.
Mark McLarry:Yeah, I was gonna say. The mexican lager is called cuatro amigos oh, I love it.
Greta Harrison:That's great and that was actually the beer.
Jamie Minotti:That was actually the beer that got entered into, um, uh, entered into the uh the awards in competition. And again that was Shaggy bringing that to us and kind of saying, hey, listen, we're going to do it, I'm super proud of this, the guys are super proud of this and we're going to do it. Everybody should know about it. And so he actually took it upon himself, with the approval of the dudes, to put it into the competition.
Greta Harrison:And I don't think that's going to be the last time. I think that's going to happen again, correct?
Mark McLarry:Oh yeah, Absolutely.
Greta Harrison:Yeah, so the sky. What you're showing is that you're not only breaking stereotypes, but the sky's the limit. The sky's the limit. We don't know what the future is going to hold. I think that's so great, and I think to a certain extent.
Jamie Minotti:You know, ignorance is bliss in a certain way, because you know we say the sky is the limit and you know you work in June and you know everybody that kind of works in, I would say, the industry, but works in the area of employment with folks with special needs and the whole thing.
Jamie Minotti:You know, mark, and I don't know, we don't know any different right, we don't know what those limitations are, right, there's no stigma amongst us of what that is and where the dudes can go and where James can go and where RC can go and what they can do.
Jamie Minotti:And so for us it's just kind of taking it day by day and kind of building on strengths and supporting weaknesses and providing resources where we can. And, to be honest with you, it's no different than anything we do with anybody else on the team. If there's a challenge, we sit down and we have a discussion. If there's a, if, if there's a, you know something that we've reached, a goal that we've reached, we have a celebration and it's like everything else we do, it's like everything else we do, and so ignorance is bliss in that way for us and not kind of knowing what those limitations are, and just you know, like we've always done just kind of stretching things as far as we can stretch them and make the connections where we can make them the world needs to clone all of you.
Jamie Minotti:We need more employers like you, I don't know about that.
Greta Harrison:Talk to my wife about cloning me Well, with two kids, you probably would like to clone each other Absolutely. Now, speaking about the jobs and how you've broken stereotypes, I'm thinking about this conversation and when I just kind of estimate, if you've got 30 employees, you've got two or three people with disabilities that are directly employed by you, but you have maybe three, four others who vary, rotate in and out through high school agreements and programs that you have, maybe through pre-ets or something like that. So let's say, let's just come up with a number of six. Just to be an average, six out of 30 is 20% and that is a perfect inclusive average.
Greta Harrison:And I'm bringing that up because, like you alluded to earlier, sometimes people will hire one person and say, oh, look what I did and I've got this one person, and then that's it. Or they go to the other extreme and they only hire people with disabilities, and I understand why that happens, because the job market is so tough for them, but that's exclusionary in a different way. So what we strive for in school and in life is proportionate inclusion and you are organically providing proportionate inclusive work experiences, or I should really say proportionate inclusive employment, and you should really be applauded for that. I know that that has just happened to you because you're doing the right thing and you do things the right way, but just statistically.
Jamie Minotti:When I'm looking at it is meaningful employment and, like I said, you know, with James in particular, you know, when challenges, it's not all roses and buttercups and you know challenges come up like any other person has personal issues and things of that nature, and those things come up and they come into work and there's challenges and you know, like I said, you know he's dragging and he's doing things.
Jamie Minotti:Those are things that we address and it's not only Mark and I but it's our team who sees it and wants to address it, because it's beyond the number of people that are here but how meaningful their time is here and we want to make sure that it's meaningful and, candidly, I'd rather employ less people with disabilities, but it being more meaningful employment than the role reversal. But we are, you know, we are striving to do more. So Mark and I just wrote a grant to the Department of Rehabilitation to enhance our, not only our employment but also our training program is associated with with what we do here and, fingers crossed, we'll hear back here in January on whether or not we can kind of further build this thing in, you know, kind of the infrastructure of what we're trying to do to formalize it a little bit more.
Greta Harrison:Well, I want to ask you about that, because one of my questions was if you had any suggestions for job supports whether they be external or internal, in general. And the Department of Rehabilitative Services is where most states, that's where that's the central organizing agency for that, and you're just saying you wrote a grant for that and I love that. Again, you're out of the box here and I like that.
Mark McLarry:Yeah, so this grant was through the department of rehabilitation and one of like jamie mentioned the grant. What would it? The entirety of the grant is. Part of it is, yeah is actually giving us the ability to maybe start to get the tools we need to do some of the training more in-house, where in the past we have worked with non-profits that bring kids in that we can work with, and this grant might give us the ability to get more educated on how to do some of this in-house as well. As one of the goals in there is to increase so we work with nonprofits that bring kids in and then we actually have three or two that we directly have hired. Now, jamie, two right, so part of that grant proposal was increasing that number a bit where we can actually increase bringing in employees with disabilities, that kind of increase that number from two to whatever that number is, two to four, anything know anything to increase that percentage. But in, like you're saying, in a very you put it more eloquently it's in a balanced way.
Greta Harrison:I'm very, very impressed that you've applied for this grant and I applaud the move towards employers having a little more control and taking more control of how they train their employees, and I think the Department of Rehabilitative Services would be very on board with that. I don't see why they wouldn't. So I think that's great and I hope the people out there all jump on this bandwagon because that's a very good direction to take. Very, very good so personally. You've talked about how James has affected the business and his positive, his positive spillover effect on the other employees. Is that a good way to put it? How has he affected you personally?
Mark McLarry:Yeah, you know, I told Jamie the story the other day my um, so um, I'd mentioned my sister-in-law who has down syndrome. Well, she's out in Texas and, and my um, I'm in a blended family. So my wife and I, my wife, two kids from her previous and two from my previous, and we were married 10 years ago or been together for 10 years, married eight years ago. So I started to get to know Bryn. That's her, her sister, her sister, my sister in law, you know, over the last 10 years, and recently Her, the whole family came out, my wife's whole family, who's my family, of course, comes out and they're staying at the house.
Mark McLarry:And you know, for me I'm just, I'm having a, just a normal conversation with Brynn, just like I would with James or anyone else that works here, and her parents kept saying you're just so good with Brynn, and I, and and and, in my mind I'm thinking and I'm sure the reason they're saying this is because of what they dealt with Brynn her entire life, where there is just people out there that that are for some reason uncomfortable around people with disabilities, and I, in my mind, I was, I was like, well, I'm just being, I'm just being me, but I'm sure I say I'm just being me, but I'm sure, like just being around James for as long as I have that that that definitely had to play into it. So that's kind of how I would define that.
Greta Harrison:You're not uncomfortable. She's just like anybody else and you're talking to her like she's anybody else and giving her the dignity of that respect.
Mark McLarry:Exactly, exactly.
Greta Harrison:And James. How about you? Or Jamie? I'm sorry I got James and Jamie mixed up here. Jamie, how about you?
Jamie Minotti:Or Jamie I'm sorry I got James and Jamie mixed up here, jamie how about you? You know, james and Kristen and Jim and June and Shauna, who's recently passed, has just I mean they've become family. I mean they, they become family yeah, I mean, I don't know any other way to to put it and it's, you know, it's, it's one, it's, it's that those people that you meet in, you know, in the rarity of your life that you connect with and kind of they understand you and you understand them and you know, special needs aside and in independent living or whatever, all those things aside, it's just, they're just good people that we've developed a really, really close relationship with, and not only the family themselves but also LifeWorks, who supports Kristen and James. And Beth Gallagher has become a mentor to me and you know we talk all the time. She was in last week and we were talking about a variety of things and and so you know just just the relationship and the network that it's created and you know I wish you know.
Greta Harrison:I love that.
Mark McLarry:Yeah, June, June arguably might be the best hugger in the world actually.
Greta Harrison:She is a very, very wonderful soul and speaking of June, who is James's mother, I said it in her interview but it's worth repeating again. Her example of reaching out to you with that letter, with that email, made a huge difference in everybody's life and if she had not sat down to do this, we wouldn't be here today. The four dudes wouldn't exist, james wouldn't have his job, his dream job, none of that would exist, but she just made the move. I know a lot of parents who won't do that, either because they're shy or for many other reasons, but sometimes you just have to again think out of the box and you have to do that. You can't just depend on the Department of Rehabilitative Services to do everything and be able to find every single person a job. Each counselor has thousands of people on their caseload. So the fact that she did that, I applaud her for that.
Mark McLarry:The ripple effect right.
Greta Harrison:It's the ripple effect and, yeah, I'm glad that you brought her up. It's the ripple effect and, yeah, I'm glad that you brought her up. Thank you for listening to episode 29 of Born Fabulous podcast, third season. This was the second of three episodes with Jamie Minotti and Mark McCleary. When hearing any dates or promotions mentioned, please keep in mind that this interview was recorded in the fall of 2023. Short video clips from most episodes are available on our YouTube channel and on BornFabulousPodcastcom. You can also hear all released episodes on Born Fabulous Podcast on YouTube now.
Greta Harrison:I adore and am grateful to every single young adult and parent featured in season three, but the next episode, number 30, is my favorite of the whole season. You will hear Jamie and Mark share their thoughts on truly inclusive employment, how we can help shift employers' visions to include disability and much more. Their thoughts are profound, so much so that they clearly show a better world for everyone. If only we could open our minds. The employment rate for individuals with intellectual disabilities has always been historically low. Visionary business missions, mindsets, cultures and leadership like those of my Yard Live Beer Company are so welcome. Our world certainly needs more entrepreneurs like them. Please follow and like us on Facebook, instagram, twitter and Threads. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review wherever you heard this podcast. Now, please enjoy this clip of the Ring. The lyrics are by Melissa Riggio, who was the focus of Season 1, episodes 1-4, she had Down Syndrome. The music and voice are by Rachel Fuller.
Rachel Fuller:The wind is blowing me away. The rain is falling down down my way. The wind is blowing me away.