How People, Planet and Profit Can All be Part of Your Business E19
Let’s be honest, we have been waiting to meet and record with this team for a while. It is one thing to be able to highlight companies around the world that have a great culture. It is different when we have the opportunity to highlight a company that we frequently visit. Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. is more than just a restaurant or brewing company.
They are a company with a passion to protect and conserve the great state of Arizona through growing a great culture that can help with that mission. We know that Jon and Pat will succeed in growing their company because of the purpose and the passion in what they are doing.
This conversation hit a few main areas that we were interested to dive into with this team; diversity and inclusion, passion for conservation, and the process of joining B corp. Pat and Jon’s journey through researching and joining B corp is what taught them more about diversity and inclusion and inevitably led them to searching for Johanna for the Head of People and Culture role. She hasn’t been with the team too long but has already brought her amazing background, education, and knowledge of diversity and people to the forefront of the company. Jon and Pat have always had a passion for focusing on people, but having Johanna in her role is really helping to put the processes and infrastructure in place to do so.
So what about B corp? It is very similar in some areas to Conscious Capitalism, which marks the step and repeat background in the studio. There is a focus on people, planet, and profit and how all areas can exist in the company evenly. They are still going through the process so we will look forward to hearing more about that journey for them in the future.
Then of course there is the conservation piece of it all, which we love. Their phrase “Drink like you care” is a reminder that the way they make beer—and the way people drink it—matters. One of their beers in particular, “This Beer Saves Water” is made using barley from Sinagua Malt. Every Arizona Wilderness beer uses Sinagua Malt as a base; This Beer Saves Water is made with 100% Sinagua. Since 2019, Sinagua’s efforts have kept more than 425 million gallons of water in the Verde River.
When we say we covered a lot of ground in this conversation- we mean it! 
Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company is a craft brewery and restaurant created to reflect the beauty and biodiversity of Arizona.
Our mission is to produce socially, ethically, and environmentally responsible craft beer and food with the intention of inspiring and uplifting our local Arizona community.
We strive to enhance the lives of our guests, employees, and members of our community by creating unique, flavorful, and satisfying food and beer; providing legendary customer service; practicing solid business principles; participating in sustainable practices whenever possible; and treating our employees well.
Arizona Wilderness is a company born out of love for the great state of Arizona. AZW uses craft beer, inspired food fare, and community-driven atmosphere to act as a conduit between its consumer and the great outdoors.
AZW’s focus on sustainability, conservation, and community is what they believe to be the new way to operate a business in the new Arizona.
Johanna Lortsher is a certified (PHR) Human Resources professional with 17 year’s experience.
She has been with AZ Wilderness Brewing for 6 months, and prior to that spent 7 years as an HR consultant, the last 4 years as an HR Manager at a Professional Employment Organization where she helped companies of all sizes in all different industries with their HR issues large and small.
Now she is living her dream by combining her passions for employee culture, the outdoors, and craft beer.
Jonathan Buford is an avid backpacker and landscape photographer. Jonathan fell in love with the grandeur of Arizona when he moved here on 2002.
On a hike in 2010 he crossed the invisible boundary into one of the 90 protected wilderness areas of AZ, nature spoke to him. He knew his destiny would be to promote the protection and stewardship of the state he calls home.
Patrick Ware was already 5 years into his journey as a craft brewer when he began dreaming of opening his own brewery.
He had developed the skills of a professional brewer and just needed a business plan to make his dream happen. Turns out, that isn’t that easy to do when you’re brewing all of the time!
Once he met Jonathan, and they had shared a few beers together of course, it made sense to combine their skills and passion into one, bold dream.
They went on a hike to that very sign that started the ideas and dream that Jonathan had, and the name Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. was born.
Follow AZW on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Culture Crush
Culture is not just a tag word to be thrown around. It is not something you throw in job descriptions to draw people to applying for jobs within a company.
According to Marcus Buckingham and Ashely Goodall in their book Nine Lies About Work, “Culture is the tenants of how we behave. It’s like a family creed. This is how we operate and treat each other in the family.” 
As a growing company- Culture Crush Business Podcast is THE culture improvement resource that supports companies and leaders. Our Mission is to improve company cultures so people WANT to go to work. Employees and leaders should like where they work and we think this is possible.
Within the company: Culture Crush has Vetted Resources and Partnerships with the right people and resources that can help improve your company culture.
On this podcast: We focus on everything surrounding businesses with good company culture. We will talk with company leaders to learn about real-life experiences, tips, and best practices for creating a healthy work environment where employees are finding joy and satisfaction in their work while also striving and growing within the company. We also find the companies that offer resources to help improve company culture and showcase them on the show to share their tips and tricks for growing culture.
About the Host
Kindra Maples is spartan racer, past animal trainer, previous magician’s assistant, and has a weakness for Oreo cookie shakes. Her journey working with people actually started working with animals as a teenager (don’t worry we won’t go that far back for her bio).
She worked for over 15 years in the zoo industry working with animals and the public. Her passion of working with animals shifted into working with people in education, operations and leadership roles. From there her passion of leadership and helping people develop has continued to grow.
Then came the opportunity for leading the Culture Crush Business Podcast and she jumped on it. Leadership, growth, and strong company cultures are all areas that Kindra is interested in diving into further.
Shout Outs
We want to thank a few people for their behind the scenes effort in helping this relaunch to come to life. James Johnson with Tailored Penguin Media Company LLC.– It is a small, but powerful video production company with a goal to deliver the very best by articulating the vision of your brand in a visually creative way. Gordon Murray with Flash PhotoVideo, LLC. -Flash Gordon has been photographing since high school and evolving since then with new products that will equip, encourage, engage, and enable. Renee Blundon with Renee Blundon Design – She is not only one of the best free divers (that’s not how she helped with the podcast) but she is great with graphics design and taking the direction for the vision that you have while also adding creative ideas to bring to your vision to life.
These are just a few of the folks that supported the relaunch of the podcast. If you would like to be part of the Culture Crush team or would like to support underwriting the show- please reach out: info@culturecrushbusiness.com
