Fascinated by the cultural history of alcohol, Jane Peyton always believes that drinking alcohol is a ritual and it connects societies across the planet. She’s seen it happen many times: people who don’t speak the same language get together over a drink and become friends. She says, “My most notable example being when I was with nomads drinking vodka out of shallow silver bowls on the Steppes of Mongolia and having a great time despite not speaking each other’s language.”
Jane held several jobs before starting the School of Booze, and she was able to use the talents she obtained in each of them to her own business. Jane worked as an executive at a public relations firm after college, then as a producer of TV documentaries for several years, and subsequently as a freelance journalist, copywriter, and non-fiction book writer. Jane is a public speaker for Oxfam as a volunteer. As a result, by the time she began School of Booze in 2008, she had already gained expertise in production, events, budget drafting and management, PR and marketing, copywriting, and speaking in front of big crowds. Add in her personal qualities of being self-assured, gregarious, amusing, and a strong communicator, and she had everything she needed to launch a company that would rely on all of her personal and professional capabilities.
Below are details of the interview:
Why did you choose to specialise in hospitality, alcohol, and drinks?
To help me decide on the focus of my company, I made a Venn diagram of what I enjoyed doing, what I was good at, and how I could monetise those things. Where the circles intersected, I wrote the words ‘events, training, writing, speaking, and alcoholic drinks’. It was apparent that I had to establish the School of Booze and become professionally accredited through the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, and the Beer & Cider Academy (accreditation from those educational organisations is recognised worldwide). Consequently, I was the UK’s first accredited cider sommelier, the first beer sommelier of the year, and am a former drinks educator of the year.
I am British, and the pub is the heart of social life in this country. Some of my favourite times have involved drinking beer in pubs, so when I decided to start my own business, I knew I wanted to focus on alcohol and pubs and be able to appeal to businesses both domestically and internationally. Fifty percent of my event clients are overseas companies visiting London for business, so now I know how to say cheers in Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Flemish, Norwegian, and Swedish!
Tell us more about the company and how your courses and training help people.
Initially, School of Booze was just a corporate events company offering entertaining tutored tastings of beer, cider, wine, and spirits. No other events or businesses were offering beer or cider tasting in the way that I did, so this was a niche in the market that I filled and for years I had the monopoly. As the company grew, I added beer, cider, and wine knowledge training services for the staff of hospitality venues. Staff who are well trained not only provide a better experience for customers, who then spend more, but they are also more satisfied with their jobs and tend to stay in them longer than those who are not. I also train the communications, marketing, and sales staff of drinks brands and the staff of supermarket chains. My training happens in person, via video conferencing, and I also have an e-learning platform so people can learn at a place and time convenient to them.
When I started the School of Booze, I had no idea of the range of opportunities that alcohol knowledge would offer me. This includes consultancy on glassware design for a global beer brand, keynote speeches at international drinks conferences, working with a European supermarket chain on their British drinks offering, and other projects, not least being the host of the successful attempt for a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest beer tasting tutorial (1,256 people). It means that no one work-day is the same, which suits me perfectly.
What are your responsibilities as the owner of the company?
I am the public face of the business, and so I work on all the client communications, and, diary permitting, I am the events host, and the person who does the training. I am also a professional writer, so I write all the content for the website, marketing communications, and other writing. Keeping up-to-date with developments in the drinks industry is vital, so I do lots of reading and listening to podcasts. One of the best aspects is the practical research on new drink products.
How do you ensure that your organisation has a culture of integrity and innovation?
I hire people who I know and who have a similar outlook to me. Honesty, respect, and decency in business are essential. So are environmental issues and supporting small businesses, ideally local ones where possible. Invoices are always paid by return, and our pay rates are higher than the industry standard.
What have you failed at and how do you overcome challenges?
My reason for starting School of Booze was so work would be fun, upbeat, and pleasurable, and my biggest failure was not listening to my instincts soon after I started the business. I had a bad feeling when I was first communicating with the events manager of a global bank who wanted to hire School of Booze to entertain some of their clients, but it was such a lucrative booking that I went ahead regardless. The entire experience, from start to finish, was negative, unpleasant, and stressful. I learned the value of intuition at that time, and I also learned not to be sorry for the revenue I lost when I turned down bookings that I sensed would not be positive and happy experiences. One of the good things about being a business owner with no shareholders to answer to is being able to make decisions that do not enhance the bottom line but make us happier at work.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you.
For me, success is a smile on someone’s face and the buzz of conversation when I am hosting an event. If I am training, it is the expression that people have when they are enlightened by learning something new. If it is public speaking, it is the positive atmosphere in the audience, the laughter, the questions asked, and the people who come up afterwards and engage. I am fortunate to receive good reviews and testimonials, and when I do, I know that my work was a success.
What are your future plans to sustain the company’s and your success?
I plan to make the business pandemic-proof by having alternatives to in-person and video events and training. This means expanding the market for School of Booze’s online beer, cider, and wine courses. Passive income is the aim!
Quotes: “People do business with people they like the sound of, and, as in real life, first impressions count.“
‘Choose a product or sector that really interests and inspires you, and work will never be a chore.’
