#maconmade

This Maker Spotlight has been a long time coming. Honestly, we'd be remiss if we didn't feature this maker in our series. So raise your glass and meet the Macon Beer Company, the Heart of Georgia's very own microbrewery !

"Engineering Great Beer" is definitely an appropriate slogan for a company founded by engineers who wanted to use their skills, talent, and knowledge to make some great beer. 

This is Jeremy Knowles, frontman and Lead Brewer of Macon Beer Company. 

Jeremy is/was a professional chemical engineer. Like most of our makers, Jeremy decided he was done working for someone else, and he figured out a way to start a business that would be a really cool job. I mean, who else gets to spend their days playing with a super-sized chemistry set and tasting beer all day?

The super-sized part comes later, but these are just some of the chemistry things laying around. Everything is used to create the MBC products that you can find on tap at loads of local restaurants and bars. The flagship beer was released in 2013, and it is cleverly named "Macon Progress." The other craft MBC brews are seasonal offerings that were released alongside major events in Macon as a way to highlight those events. "Macon Love" came out during last year's Cherry Blossom Festival, and "Macon Music" was available for this past Bragg Jam. MBC has also released "Macon History" and a Homebrew brand.

The Macon Homebrew was part of a new Homebrew Competition with last year's Macon Octoberfest. Homebrewers were able to enter into the competition, and the winner got to go to MBC and collaborate with them in creating and commercializing the recipe for what is now the Macon Homebrew. The end result is a peach IPA that truly is unique and limited edition. In fact, it may never be made again! At least not exactly like this. 

Using their seasonal brews and release dates to highlight Macon's unique festivals and events has gained MBC lots of attention and quite the following. They are looking to expand the seasonal selections and offer more than just draft beer. If you're looking to try what's brewing at 345 Oglethorpe Street, check any local restaurant or bar, especially downtown. If you want your favorite restaurant or bar to start supporting local business through our hometown brewery, ask your bartender about carrying Macon Beer. 

James Tiberius Burke, makezine

I just got done reading this fantastic article about inclusion in makerspaces, especially in the ever-present effort to close gender gaps in the maker community. Burke lays out examples of makerspaces that have implemented succesfull initatives that begin in the new member recruitment phase and  the orientation process for makerspace members. He emphasizes the importance of makers focusing efforts on opening up their communities to more than the average maker. From the engineers to the stay-at-home moms, everyone benefits from a truly inclusive maker community. The quote above really summed that up for me.

All my interviews with Macon Makers have taught me that our community is unique in their burning desire to share their love for whatever they do or make. It is rarely about selling their wares. Makers want to make a difference just as much as they want to make their product or craft or art. Musicians just want people to love and make music even if it isn't theirs. Artists just want people to appreciate the arts again. Builders want to build things that serve a purpose and/or beautify the surroundings. I love that about this town and, specifically, this maker community. 

Aaaaaaand we're back with the first College Hill Macon Maker profile of 2015! We want to celebrate the new year with our first applicant to go through the process of receiving a Custom Macon Made Seal through Modern Giant Design. 

For a bit of background, here's the original Macon Made seal. We absolutely love it, so College Hill decided to work with Modern Giant Design to provide customized seals for our Macon Makers to place on any marketing or branding for their products and business. The idea here is to help promote shopping local while spreading symbols of pride in our gorgeous and truly unique city.

Our first applicant genuinely embodies this sense of pride in her city, her product, her work, and... her goats!

That's right, goats! The goats are the key to the success and drive over at Bone Creek Farms, run by Tisha and Alan Carr, Jr. 

We met with Tisha and her adorable goats at the farm to learn more about her work and how she got started in the handmade, organic skincare business. Tisha makes tons of products on the farm from goats' milk, essential oils, and more all-natural ingredients. 

Not only do Tisha's products look great, they all smell fantastic! But they definitely are not easy to make. Tisha gave us a behind-the-scenes look at her "soap room," which smells and looks amazing, but you can tell this is no leisurely hobby.

From the heat and chemicals to the scents and flavors, Tisha does it all back here.

She pours soap into molds and even cuts them. 

Although she used to do that without this fancy thing!

Somehow, she gets these gorgeous soaps!

Tisha has hundreds of different flavored soaps for a variety of uses. You can find facial wash and pet soap bars among the Bone Creek Farms' wares. But don't forget: it isn't just soap!

Among the ingredient-conscious line of hair and skincare products, Tisha has also found ways to partner up with other local merchants and farmers to expand her products. One such partner includes a fellow market merchant and beekeeper who has hooked Tisha up with some natural and local beeswax for her new lip balm, which comes in an ever-growing list of flavors!

It's this business model of ingredient-conscious products in a family owned and operated atmosphere that has landed Bone Creek Farms a membership in Georgia Grown. But how did they start out? What got them in the hair and skincare business? Why goats?! 

Glad you asked.

Tisha used to bake cakes on the side. Judging from the fact she's a whiz in the soap room, we can definitely guess as to how beautiful and delicious her cakes were. But she was always very ingredient-conscious, so she decided to get chickens on the farm to have fresh eggs for her cakes. What started out as a few chickens pretty much exploded into almost a hundred eggs (which usually become chickens). They had incubators in the house and little baby chicks just hanging out until they could be sold.

A lot of people don't know where you would even sell chickens. Luckily, your friendly neighborhood College Hill intern has been to a chicken auction or two before. They are... an experience. Any baby farm animal you could want can be found at a chicken auction, from pigs and puppies to ducklings and chicks. That also includes those precious baby goats. Tisha saw one at a chicken auction and fell in love. She had to have goats on the farm. Goats require a lot of prep work on the farm though, so Tisha and Alan cleared out some land and got the fencing up to give her new goats a proper home. 

The idea was to invest in Nigerian Dwarf and Nubian dairy goats to be able to make Bone Creek a legitimate goats' milk dairy farm. What a lot of people don't realize is how intensive, and costly, it is to start a dairy farm from scratch. Between the equipment and licensing fees, Bone Creek Farms could not swing the finances toward Tisha's dairy farm. 

By this point though, the goats were home and Tisha wasn't letting go.

Could you? No, I didn't think so. Tisha and Alan did their research, attended a symposium, and switched their focus to soap. And it was only soap for a while, until hunting season. Tisha and Alan both love to hunt, but the unscented shampoo and conditioner made for hunters to eliminate artificial fragrances was stripping Tisha's hair. She looked up how to make her own shampoo and conditioner, and Tisha found that she could create unscented bath products that still left their hair and skin healthy. I know a ton of people who would love to get their hands on something like that. 

From then on, Tisha has been creating products that people use regularly with store-bought counterparts that are not always the best for our bodies. From shampoo and conditioner to body lotion and bug spray, Tisha makes it all right in her home and has been selling it at the Mulberry Market for almost a year and just started at the Wesleyan Market. 

So what about now? 

Well, now Tisha is looking to expand her market to online shoppers. She wants people to seek out her product more than just at the local market. She's looking for ways to streamline her packaging process so that she isn't hand-labeling every tube of lip balm and bottle of body spray. Tisha caught the market on all-natural at the best time, and she is trying to grow as it grows.

As a result, she's looking to become part of the Macon Made network and add a custom seal to her product. We are so proud to reveal our first official Custom Macon Made seal to a maker who has been trying to encourage shopping local and using her interests and resources to give back to the community from day one.

Now Tisha can use her own seal on any branding or marketing she chooses! You can too by applying for your own Custom Macon Made Seal.

Please support Tisha and Bone Creek Farms, and find out more about their current product stock, by giving their page a "like" on Facebook! See them in person at the Mulberry Market each Wednesday in Tattnall Square Park or at the Wesleyan Market on the second Saturday of each month in the main parking lot at Wesleyan College. The next one will be on Valentine's Day this year!

Oh, and some of the goats will "kid" this spring in March or April, so ask on Facebook if you can visit the farm to see the babies! They love visitors, and you can check out the farm. In the meantime, here's a picture of my favorite goat, Foxy Bella!

» Workshops | Macon-Bibb's Local Arts Agency

Let's just call this part two of #WorkshopWednesday as we take a look at the schedule of the Macon Arts Alliance's upcoming Amplify workshops for our local makers and artists and their small businesses. The link above takes you to the Alliance's schedule that also lists each workshop's focal topic, times, and costs with links to online registration through eventbrite. 

The first workshop covers "Marketing in the Arts," and it will take place at the 567 Center for Renewal on January 24th. Future workshops cover everything from selling products on etsy to using Wordpress and social media to making an artist profile for Ovations 365--the Alliance's resource for the arts, cultural exhibits, and community events in Central Georgia. Make sure you check out the full description of each workshop, and if you are interested in the first workshop, go ahead and register here!

Roland Neel owns two small businesses that must be handled very differently.

Last week, we got to catch up with Jessica Carroll, co-owner of Cherry Street Ink with her husband, Stephen "Structure" Dunn.

Q: How did Cherry Street Ink get started? Why tattoos and piercings? 

Cherry Street Ink got started when my hubby and I had been working in this industry and decided we would like to be in control of our own fate. He has been a body piercer for over 12 years now, and he also sits on the health department's consolatory board, working closely to help improve the understanding and awareness of this industry and also to help regulate tattoo and body piercing guidelines for this area.

He is an amazing body piercer and without a doubt even if you were to pay him double he would not pierce anyone if it would not work on their body. That is the kind of work ethic that it takes to make a business successful.

Well. He never said it wouldn't hurt.

Q: What made you choose this location?

We chose Downtown because this is home. I grew up here--from shopping for furniture to wearing my grandmother's amazing fur coats from Barn's Furs. I have heard stories all of my life from my mother who remembers getting all dolled up and headed downtown to shop. This was the place to be on Sundays! For my husband, this was where he always spent his Friday and Saturday nights DJing at nightclubs. 

Structure still DJs on the side... of his Room of Piercings

The location of Cherry Street Ink was chosen out of all of the locations we looked at because walking up the stairs was kind of mysterious and allowed for curiosity to set in before you get in to the shop. We also love the landlord. He is so helpful and has a deep commitment to building up the downtown area. His ambitious attitude continues to give us the drive to stay successful. 

Gotta say I love the staircase! Jessica is totally right about the sense of mystery or curiosity.

But the actual upstairs is nothing like what you expect...

Cherry Street Ink could easily be mistaken for the edgiest doctor's office you've ever seen. It's clean and neat, instantly dispelling the stigmas you might have about tattoo parlors.

The walls are covered in gorgeous artwork, almost all of which is original work from the artists who work at the shop. 

Q: How did you select the artists who work here now?

Selecting the artists that we currently have was not an easy task. We have had some super talented, but not so nice people, work for us since we opened. It took us a while, but we finally found that amazing talent with a great attitude. These guys are just perfect. They love what they do and love interacting with people. They also continue to get better with their work every day. I am so lucky to have found all of these guys.

Only two of the guys were at the shop when we went by, but we were lucky we got to witness some true artists at work. First up, we have JJ:

Then we have Kevin Dixon, who painted most of the art on the walls:

The shop has these awesome interactive portfolio stations that allow customers to search through the previous work each artist has done as well as previous piercings. If you'd like to check out more of the artist's work, just go by the shop and take a look! They also have tons of examples online if you want to look through them while at home.

The kiosks even have software that allows you to test out any script you want done in tons of different fonts! From someone who got a script tattoo, that's one of the coolest things a tattoo shop can offer.

They also have hardcopy portfolio albums and tons of tattoo and piercing magazines for inspiration or something to do while you wait to get inked.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge for you and the business?

The biggest challenge has been to get some of the downtown people to look at tattoos in a different light so to speak. Having them understand that we are not grungy, dirty, tattooed, crazy people who are all going to hell was a bit tedious. I think that when they saw our families and our interactions with the community they began to realize that we are also moms and dads and good people.

Q: If you could do anything for your business and money wasn't an issue, what would you do? 

If money were no object in a land of dreams, I would love to help rebuild the downtown area. There have been so many great improvements and renovations that I would love to be apart of the transformation. It would be amazing to take a stroll around the block and see all of the beautiful architecture restored to its original magnificent state. Not that this is directly for my business, but if the area was filled with more life then it could only help the growth of my business.

Q: What was the coolest tattoo you've done/seen done here? Best story behind one?

The coolest tattoo is a hard one. There have been so many interesting ideas and stories to go along with them. We have heard it and seen it all. Just recently a father and his daughter came in, and they were getting baptized the next day. The father wanted a tattoo to memorialize his journey to where he is today. While this is a simple story, the significance of someone who is firm in their religious beliefs deciding to get a tattoo is not something we see everyday. Usually, it is more ridicule and judgement. 

If you want a tattoo, but can't think of anything, Cherry Street just rolled out the new "Wish Wall." The artists have drawn and sketched pieces that they would love to ink on someone, and they are willing to do so at a discounted price! Each design will only be done once, so you've got yourself an original and unique custom piece.

Q: Why would you call Cherry Street Ink "Macon Made"?

Cherry Street Ink is Macon Made because this is who we are. I am Macon Made from the generations of Maconites that raised me with great pride and the ability to achieve anything and the desire to reach out to my community and offer them high quality, clean standards, and awesome art. My husband is not from Macon, but he chose Macon as his home. His name is synonymous with the music scene here, and he has put his heart into Cherry Street Ink to give back to the community that has been so awesome to him. 

Q: What does being a maker mean to you?

Being a Macon maker is more that just opening up shop. It is about supporting your community and showing your passion for the people that live and work in your community. Going out in the community and be a part of everything that makes this a better place to live, lifting people up and making things happen is what being a Macon maker is all about!  

Q: How do you think the Maker Movement will impact Macon and/or Middle Georgia?

To me this means, being able to be proud of where you come from and showing people that one person can make a difference and choosing to go out and make that difference.

The Macon Maker Movement is a great way to get people to realize why they have taken the path that they have and how they can go from where they are to a place that makes a difference and builds their community up.

We loved getting to know these incredibly talented Macon Makers! We are so proud to have them in the center of downtown as they continue to support progress in Macon.