There are people in the industry, and then there are people in the industry. Tanya Lawrence is one of those people. She knows this industry inside and out, having worked as a territory sales manager, brewery representative, and event coordinator, to now writer, consultant, and advocate. When it comes to craft breweries, no place is better for brand promotion than social media. And the biggest platform seems to be Instagram. The #craftbeer hashtag alone has 20.5 Million posts. Yes that Million with an M.
Tanya could you introduce yourself and briefly describe your Instagram account — what’s your focus and the reason you started it?
TL: My name is Tanya Lawrence and I’m the creator and moderator of babels_cameron, an account devoted at present to craft advocacy, brand awareness, beer tourism, and developing one’s palate’s via “drinking all the things”. Truth be told, I never intended to have a highly-curated, beer-centric Instagram. I started utilizing the platform about four years ago, as a photo collective in which to document my travels, and included in this were my hobbied visits to wineries, distilleries, and breweries. The behind-the-scenes shoots from varied regions garnered unanticipated interest, and served as a springboard in which users could discuss their favorite breweries, taprooms, gastropubs, and the like. The more I traveled for the beer, the more we engaged, and the account grew organically from there.
What led you to bring your passion for this industry on Instagram? We’d love to hear about how your passion for beer came about? What is it about this industry that draws you in?
TL: In its simplicity, my passion for craft beer was born with my first sip of Allagash White nearly fifteen years ago. In the years that followed, as I traveled for craft beer, I had the opportunity to meet and connect with any number of amazing brewers, beertenders, and brewery staff, and the focus of my experiences — previously concentrated solely on liquid — shifted increasingly towards the people creating it, pouring it, and comparably consuming it. Brewing beer, as an art, is a labor of love — both humble and arduous — and those doing so have proven time and again to be some of the warmest, most hospitable, and most innovative people I’ve ever met. So while my passion was born in liquid, it grew from those behind it.
The term micro influencer gets thrown around. What is your definition of a micro influencer?
TL: I’m probably not alone in stating that the term “influencer” makes me cringe. To someone who’s worked in the industry in varying capacities — from territory sales manager, brewery representative, and event coordinator, to now writer, consultant, and advocate — “influencer” is a non-thing. Today’s consumer is barraged with social media accesses, and while there’s no denying the inherent value in platform-driven marketing, that is never my intent with babels_cameron. At the end of the day, I’m no more than one individual documenting my experiences in beer and offering a platform in which others can do the same. If in the process of sharing my life, my travels, and most significantly my palate, I happen to influence someone else to drink a particular brand or visit a brewery’s taproom, that’s amazing — but it’s anything but a contrived objective.
Tanya, you are a Craft Consultant. Can you tell us a bit more about this role and what it entails? Do you consult on behalf of establishments like bars or restaurants or on behalf of the breweries?
TL: I consult with breweries and beer buyers (both on- and off-premise accounts) on everything from distribution, brand management, and events, to marketing strategies, trend prediction, acquisitions, and guild- and community- presence.
The greatest lesson you’ve learned in business is…
TL: “Work smarter, not harder…” (thanks Mike Bisaha)
We absolutely love your photos on Instagram. Do you have a tip for other influencers when it comes to photography for their gram or their blogs?
TL: Real time, real presence! While there’s appeal to substantially-edited, gorgeously-filtered, evidently-staged high resolution images, value is another thing altogether. Anyone can take a pretty photograph, but not everyone can produce valuable content. Be the latter.
How often do you take a break from social media to recharge?
TL: Around seven o’clock each night, I set my phone to airplane mode and make an unspoken, unrealistic promise to not check my direct messages again until the morning. More often that not however, I’ll receive an interesting question or request for last-minute recommendations, and as inconvenient as it is to issue a reply, I often feel a responsibility to do so. The way I see it, I’ve been given a platform in which to talk beer… so let’s talk beer!
I’m probably not alone in stating that the term “influencer” makes me cringe. To someone who’s worked in the industry in varying capacities — from territory sales manager, brewery representative, and event coordinator, to now writer, consultant, and advocate — “influencer” is a non-thing. – Tanya L.
Do you get approached by a lot of brands that want you to promote their products? What is your protocol for dealing with those offers?
TL: I do. While I’ve turned down almost all offers for product promotion, if something is in-line with my content, sparks my interest, and/or could be valuable to my audience, I’m certainly more inclined than not to give it a spin. This being said, I never make agreements to promote liquid. My credibility is hinged exclusively on my palate, and while I’ll always be a proponent of “drinking all the things”, I never accept offers to “trade free beer for post…”
Finish this sentence: “It really grinds my gears when a brand or product that is trying to establish a relationship with me… “
TL: Asks if I’ll “trade free beer for a post…” [laughs] Am I being redundant? I could never feature liquid that wasn’t technically sound, well-executed, and palatable, and making this agreement before the liquid hits my lips is against everything I advocate. This will always be a hard pass for me.
Who influences you?
TL: I have two answers for this: one very BIG answer and one very REAL one. My BIG answer is that I’m influenced by the great chefs, critics, gastronomes, and food writers: the Anthony Bourdains and Ruth Reichls; the Steingartens and Zimmerns… the storytellers, who by sharing with us their experiences in food and drink have inspired us to be open, to be awed, and to be present.
The very REAL answer is that I’m influenced by my audience itself; those who engage and educate me; who ask me for suggestions on which taprooms to visit in San Francisco, which brewpubs are doling out the best Bavarian pretzels in the northeast, and which breweries are putting out the best NEIPA in eastern Florida… I’m influenced by those who seek out my recommendations for an “approachable sour”, and those who have visited the same semi-obscure brewery that I just featured, subsequently launching into eighteen-count comment thread about its stellar smoked saison and resident brewery cat… I’m influenced by those as enthusiastic about craft beer as I am; it keeps me open, it keeps me objective, and it keeps me present.
Best atmosphere, mood or environment to grab a cold brew?
TL: Experiences are made magic by the people you experience them with, so anywhere, anytime, and anyhow — but with GREAT people.
What’s the most unexpected thing that has come out of babels_cameron?
TL: A little over two years ago to the day, I was working a beer festival in Tampa, Florida when I first locked eyes with this very tall, very beautiful, curly-haired boy. I was pouring beer for an out-of-state brewery and [unbeknownst to me at the time] he was pouring beer for his out-of-state brewery. We [quite literally] crossed paths then, eyes not dropping from each other’s gaze, without saying a word to one another. It was very intense! [laughs] I had no means of figuring out who he was, and no indicator that he was with one of the breweries at the fest. I assumed that I would never see him again, so you can imagine my surprise when less than twenty-four hours later, he reached out to me via Instagram.
As the story goes, he and his friends were able to identify me by hunting through the Instagram photos that had been geo-tagged at the fest’s venue that day! We spoke for the first time on the phone a few days later, becoming fast friends, and ultimately — over a handful of months and bridging over one thousand miles — soul mates, so as clichéd and ludicrous as it sounds, the most unexpected thing to come out of babels_cameron was finding the love of my life.
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
TL: Over the course of the past two years, I’ve made three moves, spanning over thirteen hundred collective miles. Aside from continuing to write, consult, and motion through the Cicerone program, I’m looking forward to ultimately settling down geographically and solidifying my focus in the craft industry.
