Mellie Pullman is an online associate professor at Portland State University. Her online craft brewing class is a big hit – drawing a global audience.
How did Mellie get started:
Saw that Sonoma State had a wine business program, and thought that Portland should have a craft brew program.
What inspires Mellie:
Teaching people who are great brewers how to make money.
Learning from a mistake:
When Mellie first created the class, one episode would refer to the previous episode, and she would refer to specific interviews. But that’s made it difficult to reuse footage for future classes. Her tip: make each segment stand alone.
What’s next:
More online classes for brewers, including marketing, accounting and also adding food to the menu.
One indispensable piece of equipment:
The MondoPad. It’s like a huge iPad!
Let’s talk money.
There were some startup costs, but each semester, the coarse is updated. Students pay about $100 per week, and they’ve had up to 100 students taking the class.