Eric Buist ’09

Buist studied communication and media production at Calvin, and worked in a variety of video production jobs after graduation. But he found a way to turn one of his favorite hobbies into a career.

Buist studied communication and media production at Calvin, and worked in a variety of video production jobs after graduation.

Buist is a craft beer aficionado, and one night while enjoying a beer with a friend, the two started wondering about the creative process the brewer had gone through in choosing which ingredients to put in the beer. They decided to call the brewer to ask him, and before they knew it, a new venture was born.

They made a video of the brewer talking about his process, then made more videos of more brewers. They started a blog called hopstories.com to showcase the videos, and it eventually grew into a business devoted to helping craft brewers tell their stories.

He said his time at Calvin gave him the ability to be comfortable managing projects and striking out on his own.

“Calvin prepared me to run companies and to be a part of different teams,” Buist said. “Learning how to collaborate in a group setting was incredibly helpful.”

Although he’s still involved in hopstories.com, Buist said he has stepped away somewhat to focus on a job he took as marketing manager for Skagit Valley Malting, a Seattle company that malts local grains to create ingredients for craft beer and other products.

He said he still does camera work and still uses the same type of equipment he learned to use at Calvin.

“It was definitely a great place to learn the tools of the trade,” he said. “While at Calvin we made a lot short films. I worked as a lab assistant, so we could check out stuff for the weekend and make a short film. Being able to do that sort of thing at that scale was incredible.”