Breeze Galindo Only Moves Forward
The L.A. native, lead brewer at Other Half in Brooklyn, and occasional stand-up comedian wants to meet everybody in craft beer.
In the summer of 2019, Breeze Galindo left her hometown of Los Angeles with a job offer in hand and $75 in her pocket. Life was good and full of opportunities, especially for her. She was heading to Brooklyn on a one-way ticket to accept a brewing position at Other Half Brewing Company, leaving friends, family, and the City of Angels behind. It was, in her words, terrifying.
“I had no idea how New York was going to turn out for me,” says Breeze. “[But] it was something I couldn’t pass up. I wanted to learn more things, not just about my craft, but about myself as well. Talk about true independence, right?”
Taking a leap of faith of this magnitude took “a lot of hustle and sacrifice,” she says, one she took with open eyes and one that’s paying off. “You can’t get to where you are without making sacrifices. It’s benefitted me for sure in the long run.”
It took some time for dividends to start paying off. A few months after her arrival, New York shut down, followed by the rest of the country and world, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. But instead of retreating, Breeze doubled down on what she calls a crucial skill for people looking to make their mark in craft beer: networking. Events like beer festivals can be cliquey, and feeling left out can dissuade people from trying to break into the industry at all. That’s why she takes every opportunity to meet people, shake hands, share beers, and encourages others to do the same, because you never know where it will lead.
For Breeze, a one-time encounter with the General Manager of Other Half led him to offer her the job in New York City. But brewing at Other Half was just the start. In July 2020, Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver announced the launch of the Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling, with the goal of “funding technical education and career advancement for Black, Indigenous, and people of color in the brewing and distilling industries.”
“Garrett had never heard of me at all,” Breeze laughs. That changed when an acquaintance on the West Coast reached out to Oliver to recommend her as an MJF Board member. (Note: boost! your! friends!) With Other Half’s blessing — and a glowing reference — the position was hers by October 2020. Now with the Foundation’s resources, Breeze hopes to take it to the next level by chairing a brand-new mentorship program, slated to formally launch this fall.
“It’s really hard to take the credit when you’re a person of color in the industry,” she says. “You don’t want to be too loud or cause too much attention… when that happens, that’s how they get missed.” After witnessing that time and again, she realized that encouraging people who were already in the room for an interview was good, but not good enough. She wanted to reach out to those who didn’t have the connections or confidence to put themselves out there to get that same shot at success.
“My natural instinct to mentor comes from a place of wanting to protect people,” Breeze says. “But I’m not here to protect anybody. If you give them the tools that they need to succeed, you’ll see the outcome be ten times more effective than just trying to jump in front of them and take the bullets one at a time.”
The mentorship pilot program began by screening potential mentors, as well as mentees, in order to identify different learning conventions, unique skills, professional goals, personal backgrounds, and other criteria to best partner participants together. She hopes a large part of it will be the more experienced mentors opening doors for mentees to build relationships that many non-white, non-male beer professionals lack. “A resume is a resume, but it’s so much stronger if you know the owner of the brewery,” she says. “If you know somebody, you’re already in. We want that for our mentees.”
Breeze hopes that by elevating habitually marginalized people, especially Latina women like herself, it will continue to prove that attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion isn’t merely to fill a quota. “We can teach you a lot about a lot of things,” she promises. She points to things like white-owned breweries utilizing Black and Brown imagery and culture for profit, without necessarily knowing what things are or where they come from. For her, that connection to culture is something she misses most about Los Angeles; specifically, where she last worked in Boyle Heights, a historically Chicano neighborhood.
“I miss my people,” she admits. But occupying a highly vocal, highly visual role at Other Half’s Centre Street location as a lead brewer, forming their Women’s Forum, and as an MJF board member puts her in a position to be a daily representation of possibility — something she’s willing to be, even if it means building a brand-new support system where one is yet to exist. “There’s no Plan B… it’s this or bust!”
Despite her work, Breeze says it’s not just her responsibility, nor the sole responsibility of BIPOC to create spaces for everyone. It’s the industry at large, especially those who already exist in positions of power and privilege. And, she says, who knows what value lies in store for those who take a chance? She points to herself as living proof.
“What if I’d said no and stayed in my comfort zone?” she laughs. “This would have never been possible.”
Follow Breeze on Instagram at @craft_breezy.
Prohibitchin' is made possible by our wonderful sponsors! Hopsbauer is a woman-owned hops brokerage company based in San Diego who brings the best hops from around the world to craft breweries. Find out more by visiting Hopsbauer.com.
Additional sponsorship thanks to Reverend Nat's Hard Cider in Portland, Oregon. Rev Nat's is known for making the most unusual ciders that no one else will make, such as the limited release Cider For My Family, now available for direct shipping to 42 states. Learn more at revnats.com, and thanks for their generous support!
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Do you know of a woman or non-binary person working in beverage alcohol who hasn’t seen the spotlight—and should? Nominate them for a future feature!