Kelly Richter (’19), Persistently Pouring
Kelly Richter (RPTM 2019) has this advice to students: “Keep at it. Be persistent. Talk to people. You never know where you may end up.”
Kelly was destined to be a Penn Stater. “My mom. My brother. Some of my cousins went to Penn State. It was definitely a bleed Blue and White thing.” Originally from Scranton, PA, Kelly was initially unsure of what she wanted to do, or which major to declare. She decided to apply at the nearby Scranton campus of Penn State. “I lived at home and tried to use those first two years to figure it all out.”
Her advisor at the Scranton campus had a degree in Kinesiology and talked to Kelly about it as a major. Kelly knew right away that Kinesiology wasn’t going to be her thing. She was really interested in Physical Therapy but was put off by the chemistry requirements. The advisor suggested Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management because of her interest in working with people. “I wasn’t into it at first,” she said. “It didn’t feel like my thing.”
Leaving home for the first time, Kelly was lucky to have a cousin on campus when she got there. “We did a lot of exploring the area,” she said. “The downtown scene wasn’t an option because I wasn’t 21.” She and her cousin often left campus to explore the Centre Region. When club softball didn’t work out, she opted for a job at Wegmans.
Kelly eventually found her way back to RPTM but was still unsure. She sought experiences in a variety of settings to try to find the right fit. She worked at Get Air, an indoor trampoline park in State College as a “lifeguard.” She worked at the water park at Montage Mountain, working primarily daytime hours. She enrolled in RPTM 345, Guest Activities Practicum and accompanied Associate Teaching Professors Patty Kleban and Dr. Kristin Thomas on a Carnival Cruise.
It wasn’t until her 12-credit internship that Kelly finally felt that she hit her stride. She interned on Hilton Head Island at Marriott Vacation Club’s SurfWatch property in the activities department. “That was a great experience,” she said. “Having the opportunity to work with families at events like the weekly Brat (Bratwurst) Nights and Low Country Boil events was great learning experience.” She was hired after her internship and quickly moved into the role of Activity Lead.
“I stayed on mostly because of the families,” she said. “Seeing the families coming back each year. Getting to know the parents and seeing the kids grow up was fun.”
And then COVID hit. With activities limited because of reduced contact and social distancing requirements, she was shifted to Food and Beverage. “I learned to pour drinks during COVID,” she said. Sea Salts, the beachside pool bar and restaurant is one of the most popular spots on Hilton Head Island.
With four years under her belt, Kelly decided it was time to make a move. Upward movement in the resort industry often means moving to other departments to gain experience if a general manager position is the goal. “I would have had to move into front desk or housekeeping at that point,” she said. “Neither of those felt like a fit.”
Kelly and her partner, Kate, decided to move to Delaware. “We are in the Rehoboth, Dewey, and Bethany beach area. Like Hilton Head, this is also a resort, beach town. It is also closer to home and my family.”
Kelly soon found that jobs in recreation and activities were limited in her new town. She took a job bartending to pay the bills. Of greater interest, however, was the craft beer industry. “I had been drinking craft beer and had an understanding of how it worked but wanted to learn more,” she said.
She approached craft brewery Dewey Beer, excited to learn that they had a female brewer on staff. “I seriously must have taken my resume there three times,” she said. “I kept knocking on the door and asking about opportunities.” At Dewey Beer, there is a set of garage doors that separates the tap room from the brewery itself. “I told them I want to learn about everything that happens behind those garage doors,” said Kelly.
Although she didn’t get the position of tap room manager when the position came open in 2022, she was offered the position of pourer. A tap room pourer introduces guests to the to the different beers, explaining processing and flavors in each. After three months as pourer, Kelly was offered a position in packaging.
“In the craft beer business, there is what is called the cold side and the hot side of brewing. Packaging is on the cold side and includes a lot of machinery around the canning process. The machines break down a lot. I worked with all men, and you definitely have to earn your stripes,” she laughed. “They would send me to get a tool and I would say ‘I don’t know what that is’ and instead brought them the whole toolbox.”
When her mentor, the female brewer who she had talked to so many times in the tap room, had to step down because of health reasons, Kelly was finally given the chance to move over to the brewing/hot side. It is estimated by the Brewers Association that women brewers represent only 4% of the brewers in the industry. Dewey Beer offers a wide selection of IPAs, fruit, and specialty beers.
As Kelly becomes more comfortable with the brewing side of the craft beer industry, her personality and focus on customer service has her looking to the sales side of beer. Combining her natural people skills, her guest-facing programming and event experience, the marketing and promotions experiences she learned in RPTM, and her understanding of beer seems like a perfect fit to sell the products to others.
“Keep trying until you find it,” she said. “Talk to your advisers. It sometimes takes a while to figure it all out.”