Employee Feature: Keaton
EMPLOYEE FEATURE: KEATON
Meet Keaton– Our warehousing specialist. Best described as Aslan’s “beer shepherd.”
“I DON’T MAKE IT, AND I DON’T SELL IT,” EXPLAINS KEATON, “BUT I DO EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.”
Keaton’s job is a conglomeration of fine details and big-picture work– making sure that beer gets to where it needs to go, keeping our inventory organized, ensuring that we have the grain we need for brewing and the packaging materials we need for packaging… He does a little bit of everything around here.
Keaton started as a pack tech a little over a year and a half ago before quickly advancing to his current position as our warehousing specialist. “To be honest, I didn't know anything about brewing or craft beer before.” Keaton admits, “So it's great to be trusted and to have management and coworkers be patient enough to let people learn their way into new roles,” says Keaton, “I’ve learned a lot since I started.”
A big-time skier, Keaton moved to Bellingham 13 years ago from Boise, Idaho, in search of a new mountain to call home. He quickly fell in love with Mt. Baker and Bellingham. “I don't really want to leave!” exclaims Keaton, “It's just a great community and culture… lots of outdoors folks.”
Having access to the outdoors is pretty important to Keaton, who spends most of his free days in wintertime up at the slopes. In the summer, when the snow has melted away, he enjoys doing other activities such as hiking, camping, or what he describes as “fair weather surfing” out on the peninsula. “I used to mountain bike a lot too,” Keaton adds, “but I’ve [had a lot] of injuries.”
Keaton making a pit stop during his bike-packing trip
While he may not be much of a mountain biker anymore, he still enjoys getting out on a bike occasionally. “Bike touring is super fun” says Keaton, “it's just time consuming”. Keaton tells in detail of the time he took off after college on a 5-month long bike touring trip. “I rode from Bellingham over the Cascades to Boise to visit family first”. From there, he headed down south to join some friends at the Burning Man festival in Nevada. “After that, I went to Yosemite and then down to the San Diego area,” adds Keaton, “then I peddled back up the coast to Oregon and went over to Bend, but by then it was November, and it was snowing... so I just kind of called her a day”. By the end of the trip Keaton had ridden over 3,000 miles. “It's fun” says Keaton, “you're moving fast enough to actually get places, but slow enough that you don't miss things as they pass by.”
Keaton says he has lots of travel plans for the future once the world reopens. Until then, we are lucky to have him here at Aslan. He is recognized as an outstanding coworker and friend to many, known for his kindness and genuity, solid work ethic, and positive attitude.
Thank you for all that you do, Keaton! All things big and small.
