Meet Samira, Aslan Seattle’s spirited, badass General Manager who never fails to make you laugh!
Originally from Corvallis, Oregon, Samira has lived in a couple of different places before venturing to Seattle. From Corvallis, she went to Eugene for school and then ended up in Glacier, Montana. In Glacier, Samira worked at a rafting company and resort. (“I was NOT a raft guide, way too afraid of that! I was a reservationist!”)
Samira has now been in Seattle for 10 years. Her original plan was to move to Seattle to pursue music and go back to Montana for seasonal work, but she found a job in tech that she enjoyed, so she stayed for good! After four years in the tech industry, Samira decided that she wanted to work with people more, be on her feet rather than at a desk, and be surrounded by a more relaxing work environment… The beer industry was the perfect answer!
Samira got into beer working at Rueben’s Brews and was there for almost four years. She moved up the ranks, becoming the Assistant Tap Room Manager there. Jess, now Aslan Seattle’s Assistant GM, was working at Aslan when we were hiring for the GM position and reached out to Samira telling her to apply. “I was like, ‘What the hell?! I can do this!’ And it worked out!” said Samira.
Samira was hired at Aslan in June of 2021, making this her two and a half year mark here! She’s learned a ton after this time of leading this taproom:
“I was a little nervous going into this role being the person that is leading the charge. But, I have definitely grown a lot more confident in my decision making. I'm really good at problem-solving. Enough things happen randomly, and you learn from every single incident. You figure out how to prepare yourself the next time that happens or how to avoid those problems in the future. So I've just learned a lot. And that feels really cool and empowering.”
Seattle’s beer industry is pretty big and comes with a lot of friends. “The beer industry in Seattle is a really cool place. People are just excited to be here and to be friends and to try new things,” said Samira. After six and a half years in this industry, Samira has met so many people and created some amazing friendships!
Aslan Seattle is located next door to Local Tide, a sustainable seafood restaurant. You can order their food at our taproom and pair it with one of our beers. Through this companionship, the Aslan Seattle and Local Tide crews have become pretty close. “We feel so supported by them. They're really an extension of our team, and we are an extension of theirs,” said Samira. Local Tide and Aslan Seattle even had a Friendsgiving celebration a couple of weeks ago!
In her free time, Samira is learning how to sew, rearranges her house with her partner Derek, visits her four siblings down in Oregon, plays the guitar, and sings. If you didn’t see her at the Seattle Four Year Anniversary Party singing karaoke, you must come to the next karaoke night (date TBD!) to see her and join in the fun!
Samira has great ambitions for Aslan’s Seattle’s future, that includes more events, collaborations with Local Tide, and more! We are so grateful to have her on our team not only to provide great leadership but to help make you smile in any situation! If you haven’t met Samira yet, swing by the taproom and say hey!
