Melissa Williams
VP of External and Small Batch Manufacturing — The Boston Beer Company
Boston, MA
My position as a woman in male-dominated fields is three-fold, if not more. I began my journey with chemical engineering studies and explored a career in manufacturing. I started out in traditional manufacturing and building materials. Then I moved to consumer goods. You could say I have worked with the three B’s: bread, butter, and now, beer!
I started at Boston Beer in 2021 as Vice President of Operations and now hold the title of Vice President External and Small Batch Manufacturing. My team and I are challenged with questions like: do we have business continuity plans to ensure we can make products in fluctuating markets? How can we enable innovation while balancing standard operations? How do we scale and translate our wins from our smaller operating facilities to the large format? An incredible thing about Boston Beer is the ease of access to our Executive Leadership Team, which equips us to answer these questions and feel empowered both in and out of the brewery.
As women, we are challenged with the notion that you cannot have it all. As a working mother in many male-dominated fields, I am telling you that you can! You just cannot do it all at once. I organize my days by establishing that I am a woman first, mother to three fabulous children and a fur-baby second, and a co-worker third. In the beer industry and our company culture, this notion is not only accepted, but encouraged! Boston Beer creates such a welcoming environment where we are embraced on a human level and encouraged to have fun while we work. After all, it’s beer we’re talking about!
