Bulsara explains her role as \u201calways being prepared, or trying your best to be prepared and adjusting as soon as things change\u2026 being able to see the big picture, backing it out into all the little steps that need to happen before that, and figuring out what you need from each person and when you need it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once Fall opens at 11 a.m., her day can descend into chaos if she isn\u2019t careful. With fewer than two dozen employees, everyone tends to wear a lot of hats (Bulsara included). In fact, when I get to the brewery for this interview, she\u2019s behind the bar pouring pints so that the beertender on duty can take a break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She credits motherhood with teaching her some of the most valuable skill sets of the job, like empathy and time management. \u201cI think as a mom, you focus so much on making sure you\u2019re approaching someone in the right way, and your patience is tested to the limit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Additional skills like efficiency, adaptability, multitasking, and proactivity\u2014skills valued in her previous career that small breweries sometimes lack\u2014were exactly what Fall was looking for when they brought her on board just over two years ago. She\u2019s well-suited for the role, describing herself as \u201cvery detail-oriented\u201d when it comes to the behind-the-scenes details that most consumers never even stop to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOn my business card, in addition to Director of Operations, it says \u2018Cat Herder\u2019, which is how I feel some of the time,\u201d laughs Bulsara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While women are filling more and more positions in the beer industry, it seems many of those roles are low- to mid-level, front-facing jobs, such as beertending or public relations. It\u2019s still comparatively uncommon for women to get to a director level. That\u2019s not relegated to the beer industry; in 2017, the ratio of female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies reached an all-time high of 6.4%. (It\u2019s since dropped to 4.8% according to the 2018 Pew Research Center fact sheet \u201cThe Data on Women Leaders<\/a>\u201d.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bulsara hopes that more women realize there are more opportunities at the top of brewery hierarchies. \u201cI would love to see more women at higher levels\u2026 I definitely think women, we tend to underestimate ourselves. So, always go forward and be confident in the skill set that you\u2019re bringing. We can get into all these industries if we believe in ourselves.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Until women manage to successfully dominate the upper echelons of the craft beer industry (fingers crossed!), Bulsara can most likely be found enjoying a good barleywine with friends. \u201cThe [local beer] community is great,\u201d she says. \u201cThe people are amazing. The people have always been amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/28061751_10160005508505427_8378040441230997538_o.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\")
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