{"id":20640,"date":"2018-06-27T17:29:43","date_gmt":"2018-06-28T00:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=20640"},"modified":"2018-06-27T17:29:43","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T00:29:43","slug":"angels-of-airwaves-danielle-stuht-esthela-davila","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2018\/06\/27\/angels-of-airwaves-danielle-stuht-esthela-davila\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels of Airwaves: Danielle Stuht & Esthela Davila"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may not have known what they look like, but you know what their voices sound like. Sometimes, it\u2019s even more intimate than that.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone recognized my laugh,\u201d says Esthela Davila, referring to the first time she was randomly identified at a brewery. \u201cIt freaked me out! But they bought me a beer, so that was nice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Davila and Danielle Stuht are two of the many on-air personalities in the San Diego beer scene. However, Davila, a podcaster on <\/span>San Diego BeerTalk Radio<\/span><\/a> and promoter for <\/span>PushPins Media<\/span><\/a> (organizers of events like the <\/span>Mission Valley Craft Beer & Food Festival<\/span><\/a>) and Stuht, co-host of \u201c<\/span>Beer for Breakfast<\/span><\/a>\u201d on local radio station 91X with Karl Strauss brewmaster Paul Segura, are part of another smaller clique: women in craft beer media. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Danielle Stuht (second from left) with co-host Paul Segura and Dr. Bill Sysak and Chris White of Wild Barrel Brewing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although they both arrived at the same destination, their paths into local beer reporting deviate wildly from each other. Stuht arrived in San Diego from New Mexico a decade ago with a preference for cocktails and indifference towards craft beer. All it took was one trip to <\/span>Hamilton\u2019s Tavern<\/span><\/a> to change her mind. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing how Hamilton\u2019s is now, I can\u2019t believe they didn\u2019t just kick me out right then. I told the beertender I didn\u2019t like beer and he said \u2018I\u2019ve got something for you.\u2019 He puts a Delirium Tremens in front of me and that was it. It was over after that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Davila got a taste for beer much sooner in life. Chuckling, she explains, \u201cI\u2019m Mexican! We drink beer.\u201d Growing up in Barrio Logan \u2014 and with family in Tijuana \u2014 she reminisces about partying south of the border in her teens, drinking what she describes as \u201chorrible beer\u201d until she spotted a Karl Strauss Red Trolley. Afterwards, she vowed never to drink \u201ccrap beer\u201d again.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Esthela Davila with friends<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOkay\u2026 maybe at family barbecues,\u201d she concedes. \u201cBut I always show up with my own little separate cooler.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Both women have worked in radio before: Davila on a female-forward podcast called \u201cLadies First\u201d and Stuht on multiple radio shows both on mic as well as behind the scenes. But even with an incredible amount of beer knowledge between them, they both confessed to succumbing to \u201cimposter syndrome\u201d on occasion. When Greg Homyak and Brian Beagle, the original hosts of San Diego BeerTalk Radio, asked Davila to join as the third permanent co-host, she wavered.<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought \u2018I don\u2019t know enough about beer to be on a beer show,\u201d she admits. Stuht agrees. \u201cI\u2019ve had this conversation with Paul Segura before, when I wanted to go do the beer program at either SDSU or UCSD. I didn\u2019t feel like I had any knowledge. He told me \u2018you\u2019re learning more on this show, from the best people in the business, than you\u2019re going to learn in a classroom.\u2019 But I do think that feeling comes with being a woman.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with the all-too-common pressure women tend to put on themselves (especially in male-dominated industries), Stuht and Davila have thrived. \u201cPeople actually seem to like hearing what I have to say,\u201d remarks Davila, somewhat surprised. Additionally, both recognize the importance of representation and their de facto positions as role models for the next generation. They name people like Laura Ulrich (<\/span>Stone Brewing<\/span><\/a> and Pink Boots Society), Carli Smith (formerly Rock Bottom La Jolla, now at <\/span>Bold Missy Brewery<\/span><\/a>), Shannon Rogers (<\/span>Burning Beard Brewing<\/span><\/a>), and JoAnn Cornejo (<\/span>Machete Beer House<\/span><\/a>) as mentors and ardent supporters of other women in the San Diego scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that I\u2019m seeing about beer versus any other community of women is the lack of cattiness and the lack of stepping on someone to get ahead,\u201d says Stuht. \u201cI\u2019ve never been part of a group where you\u2019re so embraced.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with support, it\u2019s not always easy being a mouthpiece in an industry where opinions\u2014despite their subjectivity\u2014are as hotly contested as life-or-death issues, or where our mere existence as women is still objectified in order to sell more beer. I asked both of them what they\u2019d love to see change in the local industry. Despite agreement that San Diego is generally ahead of the curve, we all agree there\u2019s still work to be done, by and for women.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re \u2018that\u2019 owner who\u2019s going to hire someone because she\u2019s a pretty face, at the very least put in the time and effort to give her the knowledge and back her with more than her pretty smile,\u201d says Stuht. \u201cGive her the extra \u2018oomph\u2019 so that she sounds like she knows what she\u2019s talking about.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to reporting, both Davila and Stuht try to stay on top of trending topics and breaking news. But because of their respective outlets, their approaches can vary quite a bit. Case in point: as part of a radio program that\u2019s supported by advertising dollars, Stuht is obliged to dance around (and at times completely avoid) certain topics that would threaten the viability of Beer for Breakfast.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody\u2019s got to pay for something,\u201d she admits. \u201cThere are a lot of things I wish we could talk about\u2026 but if not for those advertising dollars, I can\u2019t have things like Beer for Breakfast.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Davila, on the other hand, has no such restrictions. \u201cMy show is the complete opposite. Our Patreons like that we\u2019re honest about things.\u201d But sometimes that honestly comes at a price. \u201cI\u2019ve had pushback from saying some stuff that people didn\u2019t like. But it was my opinion; I stand by my opinion. If you don\u2019t agree with it, that\u2019s fine, but get your own show and then you can talk about it on your own show!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of how they each handle controversial topics, each agreed that beer journalists have a responsibility to bring all sort of news to light in whatever ways we can\u2014whether it be good reviews or negative scoops. But no matter what spin the stories take, they agree it\u2019s more than \u201cjust beer.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBehind beer is people,\u201d says Davila. \u201cIf you don\u2019t care about the people, it\u2019s nothing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Know someone who deserves to be featured in an upcoming column? Nominate them by emailing beth@bethdemmon.com. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may not have known what they look like, but you know what their voices sound like. Sometimes, it\u2019s even more intimate than that. \u201cSomeone recognized my laugh,\u201d says Esthela Davila, referring to the first time she was randomly identified at a brewery. \u201cIt freaked me out! But they bought me a beer, so that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-san-diego-beer-beverage-news","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdtr4y-5mU","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}