Today we’d like to introduce you to Allie Rae.
Hi Allie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in Houston, Texas. At the age of 17 (after graduating high school at 16 years old) I went into the US Navy. I was the youngest sailor in the Navy for two years straight. I got married to my husband at the age of 18 while living in Minnesota. We now have three boys ages 19, 18, and 12. We are a huge hockey family and enjoy traveling. I got out of the Navy in 2007 and went into corporate America, and then eventually became a Nurse in 2012.
About two years ago, in 2020, during the pandemic, I was working full-time as a NICU nurse in Boston, Massachusetts. My husband worked for the airlines and was laid off at the time. We both are lovers of good food and craft beer. During this time, many establishments were closed down and therefore we weren’t able to really go out and enjoy those things anymore. I started buying craft beer at home and doing craft beer reviews online on my Instagram. I had gathered a small little community of followers (roughly 3k).
I started to take my social media content more seriously and quickly found myself not only on IG but on Twitter, Facebook and TikTok as well. I had just graduated with my doctorate in 2020 and was about to merge into neonatal research, but my social media was growing rapidly and I was making more money online than I was in nursing. I was faced with a tough decision, but the financial freedom and more importantly, my newfound freedom of time, was something I cherished after working so many years on a busy unit, sometimes up to 18-hour days. Ultimately, I chose to leave nursing and put more time and energy into my content creation.
In 2022, I decided to take my love of craft beer and turn it into something more. We hired a local videographer and started filming professionally. I now have a new show called “Tap That” where I not only review craft beer from around the globe but also am touring local breweries and at beer festivals around the country. I partnered with Brown Boxer North on Clearwater Beach FL to conduct most of my review filming and that is the official home of “Tap That”.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There have certainly been struggles. Building a brand/business does not always come easy. Entrepreneurship is hard and it takes a certain personality to be successful in doing so. I think there is a huge misconception, especially as it relates to social media, on how much work actually goes into content creation. It’s not easy, if it was, then everyone would be doing it.
When you are an entrepreneur – the clock doesn’t stop – every minute you put into your business comes back to you full circle, whereas when the clock is off and you are not working – the business is not necessarily losing money, but it’s not gaining either.
Working for yourself is a mental shift, and it’s difficult for some people to maintain that discipline to be as successful as I have been.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Tap That with Allie Rae?
I love craft beer because it truly is a craft and an art. I also love the community that surrounds craft beer and how open-minded most people are to trying new things. While I know deep down I was an amazing nurse, and I was very good at what I did, I also am very proud to be finally working for myself and in something more light-hearted and fun. I truly enjoy it.
I personally love everything that goes into creating content and have found the craft beer community to be fairly underserved/underrepresented (in the social media world at least) and I am happy to be able to help build that community and bring excitement back to the industry. Breweries took a big hit during the pandemic and they lost a lot of momentum in their community, which one could say was just started to really bud pre-pandemic.
“Tap That’ will be on all social media sites such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. You can find links to them all on TapThatWithAllieRae.com. You can expect beer reviews, brewery tours, BTS of major festivals, guest appearances, and more.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
In the social media world, consistency is key. You have to be consistent. Other qualities that are important are being optimistic, being creative, entertaining, and most importantly having a strategy for growth.
There are thousands of creators out there, not everyone is going to make it big, but those who are consistent and have a strong growth strategy will definitely have the edge.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TapThatWithAllieRae.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tapthatwithallierae/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tapthatwithallierae
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TapthatAllieRae
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQRpn0CLkMlmhlSj9tXZJTw
Image Credits
The Allie Rae
