We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Hannemann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I’ve always enjoyed working for myself, I started my own lawn mowing business when I was 12 that paved the way for future business adventures. I used to push this old rusty lawn mower I bought all over my neighborhood. Having cold hard cash in your hand after working hard is a pretty great feeling when you’re 12. Although I didn’t save a penny of it, it was really exciting and motivating. When I started home brewing kombucha my end goal wasn’t to start a business, I was just having fun and it blossomed into one. As time went on each batch got a little better through trial and error and I eventually started selling it to my friends. At the time I was working at Central Standard Brewery and those guys helped figure out scaling up and with technique. I kept selling out of the small 5 gallon batches I was making and saw a market for it. Eventually I decided to turn it into an actual business and we opened our retail/production space in August of 2019.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve always had a passion for being creative. As a small kid I spent a lot of time drawing, painting, and building things. That passion has continued throughout my life and I ended up getting my BFA in Sculpture from the University of Kansas. When I was 14 my Dad bought me a guitar and that really opened my eyes to a new creative outlet, music. Years later I learned to play the bagpipes and was in a marching and drumming band for years. The process of learning to do these things has helped me with nearly everything that I’ve done up to this point. When I started brewing all of the experience expressing myself in other ways translated over to creating kombucha and me with the business aspect. I would say my success to being able to do these things goes back to understanding that learning something new takes persistence, practice, discipline, and dedication. I feel like creativity is at the foundation of nearly everything in life and I think a great way of exercising that is through the arts. This all wouldn’t have been possible without having great teachers and mentors along the way.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Wichita has some amazing restaurants, coffee shops, and breweries so we would spend the whole time basically feasting. I would start out by going to Reverie Roasters and getting one of their incredible croissant’s. We’d swing by Il Primo and get my favorite oatmilk vanilla latte. For lunch we’d definitely hit up some Vietnamese restaurants, we have a ton of incredible options but my go to is always Little Saigon. Or my favorite mediterranean food on planet earth, N and J’s Cafe. We’ve got some great bakers here, I would take them to PeeWee+Sweet’s Bakehouse or Black Fig Bakery if there was a pop up. We’re fortunate to have some fantastic breweries, Central Standard Brewery, Hopping Gnome, Wichita Brewing Company, Nortons, these would all be on our list. Public is one of my go to dinner spots, they always have some delicious pasta special and the best patio in Wichita. Elderslie Farm is one of the most magical places in the Midwest, we would go there for drinks and a delicious fine dining meal. For cocktails we would hit up Botanic at Grow or the Monarch for a great Old Fashioned. I know I’m missing a ton great places, Wichita is such an underrated city!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My wife Emily has been such an encouragement throughout this whole process of starting this business. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am without her. One of the things I respect most about her is her honesty. I’ve made her try so many weird kombucha flavor combinations and my favorite part is watching her reaction. She’s been there every step of the way helping me make decisions. Her artistic background and restaurant experience have contributed so much on this journey! She’s my ride or die!

Website: apollofermentations.com

Instagram: apollo_fermentations

Facebook: Apollo Fermentations

Image Credits
Brandon Bousquet – Artemis can and Spiced Maple photo Tim Davis Photography- image of me

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