I was bitten by the beer bug years ago while traveling in the U.K. I picked up an odd job looking after the beer barrels in the cellar of a pub. It was fun, but it also made me realize I loved beer much more than as just an after-hours drink — I wanted to make beer my life. So when I moved back home to Australia, I found a job working for a big brewer, and eventually relaunched a craft brewery for Foster’s. While the work was rousing, I wasn’t a big fan of the corporate life, so in 2008, I started my own brewery, Stone & Wood, with three partners.

Right away we wanted to build a sustainable Evergreen business that wasn’t just about the founders living their dream. It had to be more than that. We wanted to grow a team of people who would help us create value for all stakeholders, and with whom we would share the upside.