Leinenkugel is one of the most famous names in Wisconsin brewing, and it's now in its sixth generation of making beer in Chippewa Falls. But one member of the widely extended family is making her mark in an entirely different business in Milwaukee.
Lindsay Leinenkugel’s first job in brewing was as a tour guide at the MillerCoors brewery in the Menomonee Valley.
“I don’t know that I was good at it, but I really liked doing it,” she said.
Despite sharing the last name with a Wisconsin favorite, Lindsay explained no one in the family is expected to go into the beer business.
“My uncle John always said, you don’t have to get in the beer business right away," said Leinenkugel. "There’s plenty of time to do that if you’re passionate enough and you work hard, it will be there. There’s never been an expectation, and I think that’s something that’s really cool about my family.”
Now Lindsay is making bouquets, not beer. She's helping bring Chicago start-up Flowers For Dreams to Milwaukee.
“You’re not going to be able to walk in here and get a dozen roses, necessarily, because we have four options of the bouquets we build and those are sort of our signature bouquets,” Lindsay said.
Flowers For Dreams also does workshops, weddings, and events. The charitable component of the company is what really impressed Lindsay.
Flowers For Dreams donates 25 percent of its profits every month to a different, local charity. Over the first few years in business, the total is over a quarter of a million dollars.
“People want to give back,” Lindsay said. “People want to have that charitable aspect, especially here in Milwaukee, and that’s the cool part about Milwaukee.”
Lindsay was born in Menomonee Falls, not Chippewa Falls where Leine’s began. Her father is back there now running things but is always quick with advice when she needs it.
She shared this lesson, “Be passionate about what you’re doing, no matter what. Because if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, it’s not going to work out. I think that was the lesson I carried with me," said Lindsay.
Flowers For Dreams opens on July 18 in Walker’s Point.
