After nearly two years travelling around Australia, we found ourselves back in the Sydney area (down the coast, though, we’re too used to wide open spaces now) as our dog, Ziggy, was sadly unwell. We settled in to a nice, relaxing spot for him to live out his final days. Of course, moving in to a house came with the added fun of ‘adulting’ again. . .in other words, rent, bills, and therefore, jobs. Erin swore before leaving that she wouldn’t return to another soul-destroying job in corporate finance unless she was desperate, so it was time for a career change. As Member-Owners of Hopsters Co-Op Brewery, we’ve been actively involved in the craft beer industry since well before we began our travels. This, combined with visiting more than 65 breweries around the country (which also saw us recognised as Crafty Pint’s Beer Nuts!), just fueled this flame that was burning inside Erin. It had to be Craft Beer. In our nationwide brewery crawl, many of those visited were small regional breweries...often entirely family run. They are the jacks- and jills-of-all-trades - brewing, maintenance, procurement, accounts, marketing, and more often than not, smiling behind the bar, with a story or two to tell while they pour you a cold one. They are passionate and they work tirelessly. And what they don’t have, is a full-time sales team. We contract brew in the craft beer industry, so why not contract sell. Thus, the idea for Crafted Connections was born.