A Bit About Me

Jennifer Allen - Lady Pub Diaries - Beer Lover

I thought it's about time that I'd let you in on some secrets about me. Just a little something to find out what makes me tick and what gets me up in the morning. I'll try not to bore you, I promise. 

I guess you could say my proper adult life began when I moved to London in 2007, moving down after uni in Leeds. I came to find my dream vocation in fashion and after a few years trying and failing, I fell into my second passion - hospitality. The Tooting Tram and Social (owned by Antic) was preparing to open its doors for the first time, bringing a whole new culture and nightlife to Tooting, in South London. I then went on to manage The Antelope, Balham Bowls Club and the Effra Social in Brixton. I had some of my best years running Antic pubs, but after 5 years of long days, late nights and very little sleep, it was time to move on. From here I went on to run cafes, restaurants, taprooms and craft beer shops. 

The rise of the craft beer scene was fascinating for me. I was tired of drinking boring beers and couldn't wait to get my hands on a Beaver Town 8Ball, or a Kennel Pale Ale and when I did, I was eager to try more and expand my pallet. This also encouraged me to start writing about all these new amazing beers and the places to find/drink them. This is where I introduce - Lady Pub Diaries. 

Lady Pub Diaries (on Twitter) took off pretty quickly. I immersed myself into the craft beer world and surrounded myself with the right people, probably mainly blagging (to begin with) myself into beer festivals and conferences across the UK.

Writing and social media then took over the creative part of my brain. I did a short creative writing course, I got myself involved with local community organisations and became a freelancer, writing copy and posting about local businesses. I've also worked one-on-one with small business owners, helping them setup their business' social media pages, ran their accounts and helped them gain new customers and engagement from their local community. During this period, I filled my spare time working for Brixton Brewery and By The Horns Brewery. 

In December 2017, I had an interesting email from James, from Hop Stuff Brewery. He thought I'd be the perfect fit for the social media and events role, which had just opened with Hop Stuff. With news of an expansion and an interesting craft beer line-up on the cards, it sounded like the perfect opportunity and something I could really get my teeth into.

I started working for Hop Stuff in February 2018, which turned out to be a very busy time. The second crowd funding project had just begun, the new brewery site had been acquired and the whole team were getting excited about the future of Hop Stuff Brewery. 

I worked on the crowd funding project, communications with investors, working directly with the sales team and generally working daily on social media and events.

2018 was a big year for me. A New job, new relationship, a baby, unfortunately losing my dear dad to cancer and finding out in early 2019 that my job was on the line. Wow! Who knew so much could happen in a year.

Long story short, Hop Stuff Brewery went into administration early summer 2019 and with so many financial struggles, it looked like there was no way back.

As the summer rolled by, July brought news of a buy out for Hop Stuff from the one and only Molson Coors Brewing Limited.  

So here I am, now employed by Molson Coors and loving being back at work, after 10 months off on maternity leave. I'm looking forward to the challenge of bringing back the Hop Stuff brand, the beers and of course all the fun times. Here's to many more!

You can find out more about what I get up to on my Instagram page @jennylou_lpdxx and on my Twitter page Lady Pub Diaries. Looking forward to making more memories and then sharing them. 

Cheers

Jen x