Ginger Johnson Oral History Interview, July 24, 2018

Partial Transcript: Okay, get started.

Segment Synopsis: Born in Oklahoma in 1968, she was a Navy baby. She has one sister named Holly who lives in Minnesota. She lived in Oklahoma for a year before moving again to St. Anthony, Minnesota where she lived until college at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She did not want to go to college in the same town she grew up in.
When she was younger, she wanted to be a veterinarian. Johnson explains how she was a typical midwestern child who played with Legos. Her father was an architect and her mother was a successful secretary. They had a modest upbringing, but it worked. In the Midwest they went to the lake where they had a family cabin. From middle school through high school they spent the weekend at the cabin. They had canines, which was a major part of her life growing up.
As a kid she loved going to her dad’s office where they could play grown-up. She loved spending time among all the architecture surrounding. Her father got her sister and her to make a mural on their wall. She was happy that her parents supported their artistic outlets. Both her and her sister have art degrees now because of having that outlet. She makes post cards for people and she is making an activity book for those rainy days to keep her mental abilities sharp.

Partial Transcript: What was college like?

Segment Synopsis: College was great. She came into herself while there since she was able to be herself. She was a B student in school, but her parents never compared her to her bookish sister. She is interested to trace the connection of why she wanted to go to school outside of her town. She always knew she would go to college. Her parents went to college, her grandmother was a highly qualified nurse. Education was always important to her family.
She was always considered her sister’s sister. She wanted to go somewhere she was her own person. It is not that she didn’t get along with her sister, she just wanted to grow into her own person. When she moved to Twin Cities she started composting at the age 21. She also always carried cloth bags instead of plastic grocery bags because in college she was able to become her own. College is the opportunity to be an adult and accountability. When she went to school it was $14,000 in the 80s. She was lucky that she was able to go to school since not a lot of people have that opportunity.
She worked food services while in school. Bakery ladies were amazing. She also did odd and end jobs since she was paying half of her tuition. She has lived in eight different states and moved because that was just where her life moved her. They landed in Oregon after touring the country when her husband left his job. Nothing was really planned. They did their home free tour and learned a lot from other states. The west coast was an opportunity. In 2009 she signed a contract to work in Ashland, Oregon at Standing Stone Brewery.

Partial Transcript: What was it like to move from Fargo, North Dakota to Montana?

Segment Synopsis: Fargo was great. It was very Midwest ethics. Great Falls, Montana was different. All the cities in Montana are different. She loved the big skies and understood why it is the Big Sky Country. She fell in love with the mountains. She shifted from helping people to management while in Montana, which was different for her.
She doesn't know if the west coast is the end for them. The love everywhere they have lived. She loves the freedom of moving and experiencing new things.
She met her husband Larry while on another date. She was in her 30s and loving life in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She spent her dates at bars at the Brew Pub because of the food and atmosphere. She went on a date and bought tickets for a Brew Masters dinner. There were table tents and the date did not go well. The guy was great just not someone to date. She started focusing on other things and noticed the surroundings. She started asking questions to the brewer and left her card with the brew master for another event. She had to leave another card before the brew master finally contacted her. Johnson was worried that the next event would be sold out and Larry was interested in her. One thing leads to another and they started dating. Five dates before she finally got a good night kiss.

Partial Transcript: Were the brewmaster dinners common?

Segment Synopsis: That was 2002-2003 so it was not common as far as she noticed. Even though she started Women Enjoying Beer, she was not a beer focused person. It might have been common in other places, but she was not paying attention. In Sioux Falls wine had taken off with tastings and educating people on wine. It was when white zinfandel came onto the market. They had beer growing up with dinner parties but again it was not something that she ever thought of. Drinking was never about getting drunk it was always about community.

Partial Transcript: What are some early memories about Ashland?

Segment Synopsis: She started Women Enjoying Beer in Iowa. There were not a lot of breweries when they moved there but in four years it doubled in size. When they moved to the West Coast, they knew there were breweries they just did not know exactly what to expect. The audience is different since they are more mature in Oregon and people are more inclined to be beer snobs about it. The audience is very enthusiastic about their beer in Oregon. People would ask her if she would ever work for Budweiser and she did not used to have an answer. Now though she answers that she would love to because they impact social change. This answer surprises people.

Beer is classless, accessible, and common. Women and beer became a topic that led to other topics such as inequalities. If we can get together over a beer and talk about things, we can communicate with people and get progress. Equity is bringing people up to the same point, it has numerical reference that can also help bring the implications to focus.

Partial Transcript: I am going to make a leap and guess there were some people who did not want to talk about that?

Segment Synopsis: Yes, they did not think there was a problem because they did not see it. It is common for people to not want to listen to something outside of their scope of focus. She learned over time that if people aren’t willing to listen then there is no point to try and force the point.
In September 2016, she launched her book How to Market Beer to Women. Beer doesn’t see that they aren’t marketing to women. It was at that time that she was done with convincing. She has had clients who got it but there are so many who do not. She had a lot of data and information to use for the book, but she still has so much data that the book could have been 3,000 pages. For the book she had to narrow it down to ten questions. When she started doing the book, she was on a writer's high, having eleven-hour days, getting all the stuff she needed to do to get it published.
She has done a TED talk, the book, and all of the knowledge now to see what happens. She has spoken to beer guilds, companies, and pubs trying to get the information out there. Even with everything there is a miscommunication between producer and consumer. The consumer side nailed it. She still is active in some programs and goes to festivals. She has learned to let the frustration go and just let the world figure out to open their eyes. The book is out there, it is up to them to pick it up and educate themselves.
She is thinking of starting a podcast since she missed the time with Beer Radio.