“I cant imagine working anywhere else.”
Melissa Talbott, co-owner of Deschutes Brewery Bend Public House, just celebrated 32 years working at the pub.
“I’ve thought about different avenues, and I’m like ‘nah, this is good,’ I like where I am.”
She’s worked all this time at the very location that began the rise of Bend’s beer scene. It was Deschutes Brewery’s first establishment and the first craft beer brewery in Bend.
“She cares so deeply still after 32 years,” Manager Brenda Freitas said. “You’d think she’d be burnt out, but she’s not. she’s just a firecracker. Passionate about every detail.”
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After three decades, one company, and tens of thousands of pours later, Talbott says the people and her work family are what keep her there.
“I just really love my job,” Talbott said.
Talbott’s employees have nothing but ringing endorsements to say about her, giving her the nickname “Pub Mom”.
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“She’s great. She’s always been great,” Freitas said. “She’s been a mentor, a friend, a boss. I think she bleeds this place.”
“It’s a real family sense,” Head Brewer Robin Johnson said. “That’s what I really love about Melissa. SHe’s like that staff mom for us.”
Talbott says she has looked at exit plans regarding retirement, but for now, she says she has at least another five years left in her.
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