Name: Chase Drum
Age: 22
Hometown: Hood River, Oregon
Major: Physics with a business minor
So what are you up to these days?
I am the Chief Marketing Officer at Blue Dog Mead, which my friends and I started.
Interesting! So you run your own business?
Well, with my friends, but essentially yes.
So what is mead? Isn’t that what Vikings used to drink?
Indeed, mead was the original liquid sin! Mead is a fermented beverage made from honey, kind of like how wine is fermented from grapes. People are surprised by how much they like it, and it’s been popular with both wine and beer drinkers. Here with the Northwest’s drinking ecosystem, there are a lot of great varieties to choose from, but people are still looking for options. Mead is a nice alternative.
So what is a day at work like for you?
Depends on what day it is! I do pretty much all of the sales, walking around knocking on people’s doors, getting them to try the product. I’m usually the guy behind the free tastings that we’ve been doing lately. We’ll sponsor a night at places like Agate Alley and Rennie’s Landing, set up a booth, and have free samples out. I talk to and meet a lot of different people. It’s really interesting. It can be hard starting a business, like working fourteen hour days when you expected a six hour day, but in the end it’s always a lot of fun. I’d rather do that than sit behind some desk all day filling out paperwork. I always like to have something different to do.
Sounds sweet! Where can we get our hands on some of this liquid sin business?
Here in Eugene you can find us at Market of Choice, Albertson’s, Sundance Market and Wine Shop. We are also in several bars such as Max’s, Agate Alley, Rennie’s Landing, The Bier Stein, The Jackelope, Jameson’s, Starlight lounge, and Sam Bond’s Garage. We’re in lots of stores in Portland, Hood River, and Corvallis as well.
Alright, let’s shift from business to pleasure. Let’s say you’re at a Rennie’s. What is the number one thing a woman can do to get you to notice her?
Being a fairly tall person, I’m a little bit biased towards tall girls, but other than that, I would have to say mannerisms. Since I run my business and work all day, when I get done I want to go out and have a lot of fun. If I notice that she’s the one that’s outgoing and laughing a lot, I might approach her. She’s gotta have a zest or spark for life.
What do you think she could do to get you to talk to her?
I always notice the eye contact followed by a sly smile or a wink. The openness is really appealing, like being funny or a witty quip… nothing vanilla. I like a little bit of sass. I like real world dialogue as opposed to all of this digital interaction, so don’t try and text me from across the room or something like that. Being shy is not really attractive to me.
What about on campus?
Someone I can engage with. I’m not going to approach someone with their nose in a book or a laptop. Playing hard to get is not always a good thing.
Noted. Soooo…. What’s your inner totem-animal?
Uh….. a dog? If I had a tail I would wag it.