How I Got My Job: Nicole Todd of the Santa Cruz Cider Company on Entrepreneurship and Apple Greatness

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Nicole Todd, along with her husband and sister, are co-owners of the Santa Cruz Cider Company. As head of a local business, Todd has a variety of roles including owner, cider maker and sales associate. After working at the likes of Bonnie Doon Winery and Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, Todd fell in love with the beverage industry and started homebrewing cider.

In 2010, Todd embarked on a journey with his sister to start a cider business. Watsonville’s family business officially opened in 2013 and continues to expand. In February they received the keys to a new building with three times the space of his.

Todd says the cider industry is a close-knit community, sharing trade secrets and helping each other. Todd trades cider items with his maker buddies and stops to visit cider’s friends during the trip. A businessman, Todd has experienced sexism because of his gender. She finds her power in this opposition and takes control when she notices that someone is treating her differently.When Todd isn’t at work, she either does farming or gardening. doing. In 2021 she purchased a homestead in Royal Oaks and now lives off the land and grows apples for her business.

education:

• Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Santa Cruz University

Lookout: What is your job?

Nicole Todd: I am an owner, a cider maker and a sales person. As an owner and cider maker, we source our ingredients, ferment, bottle, market and serve our products.

Lookout: How did you become a cider maker? When did you become a cider maker?

Todd: Late 1990s [and] In the early 2000s, I worked in retail and several restaurants in downtown Santa Cruz. Then he was my supervisor and driver for Bagel Lee for a year and a half. After graduating from college in 2002, I started working as a chiropractor’s assistant, where I greeted patients, took payments, and managed office schedules. I quit his company in 2004.

In 2005, I blindly applied to Bonnie Doone Winery as assistant manager of the tasting room. My manager and I had a good relationship, so he took the chance and hired me. Within a week of working there, customers were smiling and happy. People in the industry were passionate about their craft. I found my people

I started home brewing and started working at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing in 2009. Our first batch of cider was made at the brewery. In his second year of making cider, he learned it wasn’t right and needed a winemaker’s license. Around that time, the brewery gave me an apple press and encouraged me to continue the business.

Lookout: What does a typical day at work look like for you?

Todd: Every day is different and it depends on the season. During the fall we go out to the orchards to test the sugar content and let growers know when to pick and press the apples. The tasting room is open 24/7, so we’re working there as well.

Lookout: What is your biggest challenge?

Todd: The hardest part was picking apples, but in the end I had to hire workers, so that’s a big help. But for the most part, in this day and age you end up navigating the business side. There are hidden charges such as paying taxes. For example, if you want to play music outdoors, Broadcast Music, Inc. [which licenses music to businesses] requests $1,500 to be able to play music.

Lookout: What do you like about your job?

Todd: I love that people try our cider and enjoy it. I interact with people and share my passion for cider. I love talking about different types of apples. People don’t realize that eating cider apples is different from eating apples.Like wine grapes, cider apples are high in acid and high in tannins. [which add bitterness]A crab apple is an example of a cider grape. When chewed, it is shriveled and has a sour taste.

Lookout: What kind of educational background would be beneficial if someone at school wanted to pursue this career?

Todd: I know that UC Davis has an excellent oenologist and oenology program. Great school if you want to make alcohol. If you haven’t majored in wine or beer making yet, you can honestly just major in chemistry. It would be beneficial to have such a degree as it involves lab work, but it is not really necessary. I took a 10-week cider class and learned things while working.

Lookout: What skills and qualifications do you need to enter this career?

Todd: Must be willing to multitask. You must also be a hard worker and have interpersonal skills. It’s something you learn over time or as you grow.

Lookout: Who is the best type of person for this type of job?

Todd: You certainly have to have some passion for the fermentation process. Therefore, you need a willingness to learn trade secrets and a willingness to learn. The great thing about this industry is that I realized that it’s not as competitive as the beer and wine industries.

look out: What is the cider community like?

Todd: We always help each other. For example, Tanuki is a local cider maker and his biggest competitor is one, [the owner] our best friend. My Broad Cider friend and I are constantly swapping bottles. We actually have a national cider association – I’m on the board along with 14 other people and mostly lobby. We technically have a winemaker’s license, so we are constantly fighting to change the situation. But it’s also networking, helping people with things like sourcing equipment, different apples, and ingredients. The American Cider Association offers scholarships to her BIPOC students on their website.

Lookout: What is the Salary Range for Cider Makers?

Todd: Well, to be honest, we didn’t pay for living until we were about five years old. My husband worked as a tattoo artist while we started our business. , earning between $12,000 and $20,000 a year. We are self-funded, so all our profits are invested in our business, but this industry is more passionate.

$50,000 is the base level if you are skilled and work for a company bigger than us. If you work for a large company, it could be double that. Entry-level positions, working in bars, earning minimum wage and tips. There is a joke in our industry: how do you make a small fortune? By starting with a large fortune.

Lookout: What is it like to be a female business owner?

Todd: Women are certainly still in the minority, but it’s becoming more and more 50/50 in cider as more couples open their own businesses. I grew up with Emily Thomas, owner of Santa Cruz Mountain Brewery. She is a powerful person and having her as a role model really helped me. If I am doing business and someone says something sexist, I will point it out or ignore it. I don’t do business with people who only interact with male clerks.

Do you have any future business plans?

Todd: We actually got the keys to the new space. We tripled our space and plan to expand into the Bay and Monterey areas. We are a small business and growing slowly. We weren’t in debt, so that was really helpful.

Lookout: What do you do when you’re not working on your business?

Todd: I enjoy farming and gardening. We now have a homestead that started from scratch with no power, no buildings. We had water tanks and knew one of hers from a nearby farm, so she filled us up with her 275 gallon tote from her well. We built our own solar generator and purchased a very small basic solar panel setup. I’m here. We have been living in a tent full time since June and have cleared a clearing to plant apple trees where we grow apples for our business. We are open to the public which is great so you can see your friends on a regular basis.