How I Lead This: Behind The Leadership Brand Of Partake Brewing’s Ted Fleming
In a statement released in January 2023, the World Health Organization said that even small amounts of alcohol can be damaging to your health.
While this is not good news for tipplers, the warning has spurred on a growing market as health-conscious drinkers change their habits. One manufacturer who is ahead of the game is Partake.
Ted Fleming started the low-cal, non-alcoholic beer company in 2017, after importing n/a product for years. Despite facing early skepticism, the Calgary-based Partake has achieved #1 brand status in Canada “in terms of both cases and $$ volume,” according to a statement. And it’s making inroads into the growing US market.
Partake has also won several awards including, in 2023, the Judges Selection at the Alberta Beverage Awards and four silvers and one bronze in the Tasting Alliance World Beer Competition. Partake has also won a gold medal at the World Beer Awards.
Besides COO and founder of Partake, Ted is also “a proud father and husband, dog whisperer, accomplished squash player, terrible but passionate hockey player, aspiring pickleball player, and lover of the outdoors,” according to his LinkedIn profile.
Ted was kind enough to share some insights on his approach to leadership and building his brand with Helm readers in our latest How I Lead This.
Partake makes six styles of non-alcholic beer, from a hazy IPA to a peach gose, as well limited-batch beers.
Emoji you can’t live without: 🤩
TED Talk you’d really love to give: The beauty of constraints.
Secret sign from childhood you were destined to be a leader: I was never the best player on my sports teams growing up but was always recognized as one of the most tenacious and yet calm under pressure
Stories are everything in business. What’s your go-to story that consistently moves people? When we first started out in 2017, almost everyone thought non-alcoholic beer wasn’t going to work and that we could never compete against global brands. I was even called a dreamer to my face several times at consumer shows. Despite the naysayers, I persevered and today Partake is the #1 non-alcoholic brand in Canada. The lesson for me is to believe in yourself and not let others define what you can achieve.
What three words or phrases define your leadership style? Collaborative, resilient, even-keeled.
My biggest insecurity about how people perceive me as a leader is… Not showing sufficient concern because of my even-keeled, low-drama personality. I am very competitive but it manifests in quiet perseverance.
Social media as a leader: love it or leave it? Don’t love it but respect it and use it. I’ve mostly stuck to LinkedIn although I do use Facebook on weekends (personal). I think it is an important tool to build company brands but also personal brands. But it’s equally important to know its limits and cost to focus and real priorities.
Your #1 must-follow account on social media: I’m currently enjoying posts from Tyler Handley (cofounder at Inkbox).
The ROI question — biggest benefit you’ve seen from building your leadership brand: Team recruitment and retention + partnerships. We get a ton of inbound inquiries to work with us either as team members or as partners.
Next month: Chiwis’ Sarah Goodman on building her healthy fruit chip brand.
