Alex Lord of Strange Times Brewing: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a C-Suite Executive
An Interview With Ben Ari
Treat everyone you meet with respect. Every job within any company is integral and that makes the people who do that job integral. I’ve worked for people in the past who saw themselves as better than everyone else and acted that way to their staff. It breeds resentment and a lack of loyalty. Acting that way will only hurt your business. Be kind and supportive, show your staff you value them and they’ll do the same for you and your company.
As part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Began Leading My Company” I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Lord.
Alex Lord, Managing Director of Strange Times Brewing, is leading one of the most exciting up-and-coming breweries in the UK. He has worked in hospitality and brewing for over 20 years including in a brewpub, building and refurbishing pubs, building breweries and brewing as a company director. Find out why he decided to start his brewery during the pandemic and more below.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I’m Alex Lord, Managing Director of Strange Times Brewing Company, a brewery based in Salford, Greater Manchester in the North West of England.
I have over 26 years of experience working in and around hospitality and brewing. I started working in a brewpub in my late teens then, with the skills I gained in that time, I moved on to building and refurbishing pubs. My knowledge and skill set expanded to include building breweries, learning the brewing process and managing a brewery. That has naturally progressed to where I am now as the company director of my own brewery.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
The most interesting moment was probably deciding to start a business during the Covid lockdowns. I had wanted to launch my own brewery for many years and I thought “Why not now?”. Of course, there were times when situations have been out of our control due to the pandemic, such as trade drop-offs, the closure of pubs or whether there would be further Covid precautions, but we have managed to navigate the storm every time.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
“When the wind blows hard and the sky is black, ducks fly together”
Not a story, but more of an ideology. Teamwork and togetherness are vital in our business. It’s about Aaron, Lauren and I working together as a team when times are tough. Giving each other a helping hand and using each other’s strengths whenever we experience hardship, either in our individual lives or as a business.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on your leadership style? Can you share a story or an example of that?
Not really but this is the nearest thing to a story I have about that. I’m not a prolific reader but Lauren is and has passed that enthusiasm on to her niece and nephew. A few months ago I was round at their house and the kids, knowing I’m a football fan asked me if I’d read Marcus Rashford’s book (You Are A Champion: How To Be The Best You Can). I hadn’t. It’s a kid’s book. But they showed it to me and so I read a bit, and then I read a bit more, then ended up reading quite a bit of it. Yes, it’s for kids but there’s a lot in that book that you can easily transfer to business and management.
I like this quote, “It’s so easy to look at other people and wish you had what they have, to wish you were someone else entirely.” This fits really well into how we as Strange Times navigate the industry. We can’t be other breweries, we can’t follow the paths others have taken. We have to be ourselves, stick to our convictions and believe we’re right to do it our own way.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
The brewing industry is not typically known for its ecological track record — though, in recent years, it’s improved. Strange Times has created a range of vegan beers, using sustainable packaging and brewing processes to ensure we’re minimizing our impact on the planet.
Our packaging, designed by French artist Mina Mond, (@minamondart) is intentionally striking, created to be noticed in a sea of other branding. Set in the layout of classic tarot cards, the meaning of each design ties into the stories behind each of our five core beers. The moment we made contact with Mina, we knew she was the perfect fit for our brand.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Having due diligence when manufacturing beers — There have been times when beer batches have not tasted quite right, so I had to make sure there were refinements with ingredients and checks to processes to ensure the taste of the product hit the mark.
Understanding the responsibility of employing people — As we’re such a small team, we have to spend a lot of time with one another so it’s really important that we talk to each other to make sure we’re all happy and healthy. I make it a habit to check in with both of them regularly so I know how best to support them if needed.
Maintaining a healthy work/life balance — In terms of working hours, running a brewery is pretty full on and we all have other responsibilities outside of work so discussing a weekly schedule together means we know that every job is being covered and we’re all getting the time we need for other things. This allows everyone to work flexibly, which I believe is essential to the running of the business.
Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader?
During the initial set up of the business, there were multiple avenues I could take in terms of what to do. What kind of business I wanted it to be and where I wanted to focus the investment. I could have started out with a canning line and focused on small packaging and distribution to get our name out into the world more swiftly and with greater coverage. But I decided instead to invest in equipment to monitor and control the quality and consistency of the beer and build the brand awareness up at a slower pace. This has had its benefits and its detriments as with most things in business but it’s the choice I made and I’m happy I did.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a C-Suite executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what a C-Level executive does that is different from the responsibilities of other leaders?
Unlike other management positions, the C in C-suite stands for Chief. Taking on this role means I have a responsibility to look after and care for my team and oversee the entire business. Ultimately though, this is about everyone working together to do good things and I believe we have achieved great results that are bigger than the sum of our parts.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive? Can you explain what you mean?
I think sometimes people think that it’s an easy job, that there’s less work involved or that a director is just a faceless entity to the staff but that’s certainly not true in a business the size of Strange Times. There is always work to be done, sometimes more than I can do in a day and that’s why the 3 of us make such a good team. They’re on hand to help me out when I need it and I’ll always help on a brew day if they need it.
What are the most common leadership mistakes you have seen C-Suite leaders make when they start leading a new team? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Expecting everyone to be the same. It’s such a narrow mindset. Everyone has a different way of learning, communicating and working. One of the things that have really struck me working so closely with Aaron and Lauren is that we all do the same jobs but we each do them in a different order or have a different process. The jobs get done to the same standard but by a very different route. I find that fascinating. When we hired Aaron, I made sure Lauren and I explained tasks how we individually would do them. It gave him a better understanding. Now a year on, some of those tasks he does my way, some Lauren’s and some he does his own way.
It also helps us to not get stuck in a system where one person is left doing the same tasks all the time. As so much of our work is cleaning it can become a bit soul destroying if you’re cleaning the same equipment over and over again. Alternating jobs is important so that we’re not stir crazy at the end of the week.
In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?
For me, it’s being open to learning from others. Everyone has their own journey and every sector is different so there’s no one size fits all approach to being a leader.
As a brewery, we had to understand and balance the cost of production and pricing to ensure we remained profitable, whilst also making sure it was affordable for our customers. With Covid, the cost of living crisis and a potential recession coming, we have needed to consider how this affects all areas of our process and so communicating and learning from others is key.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Began Leading From the C-Suite”? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Don’t open a business during a pandemic — It’s very challenging.
- Find the right partners — Starting a business with the wrong people takes its toll.
- Find a great graphic designer — They are worth their weight in gold.
- Troubleshoot every aspect of the business — Problems will arise from places you never expect.
- Don’t set your sights too high — Be realistic with your targets and work hard to achieve them.
In your opinion, what are a few ways that executives can help to create a fantastic work culture? Can you share a story or an example?
Treat everyone you meet with respect. Every job within any company is integral and that makes the people who do that job integral. I’ve worked for people in the past who saw themselves as better than everyone else and acted that way to their staff. It breeds resentment and a lack of loyalty. Acting that way will only hurt your business. Be kind and supportive, show your staff you value them and they’ll do the same for you and your company.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I’d make every country stick to their carbon emission targets, tax billionaires and invest that money in genuine renewable energy research and infrastructure. We have to stop using up our Earth’s finite resources.
How can our readers further follow you online?
You can learn more about us by visiting our website or following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Also, find out more about our crowdfund campaign to buy a canning machine to help us expand nationwide.
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
