JUNE 2019 BCBUSINESS 53 TANYA GOEHRING
B
efore she could legally
drive, Marissa Mills
had already bought a
motorcycle and was teaching
herself via YouTube to x it up.
It might be hard for most
people to jump from not oper-
ating a vehicle of any kind to
steering a motorcycle through
the streets of Vancouver, but
Mills, marketing director of
Parallel 49 Brewing Co., seems
like someone you wouldn't
want to bet against. When we
meet her at the brewery's East
Vancouver headquarters, she's
got tattoos running down her
right arm and the general vibe
of someone who gives very few
you-know-whats.
"I bought a bike before I
knew how to ride one, because
I knew I wanted to do that, and
if it was sitting and taunting me
in my yard, I'd have the oppor-
tunity to wrench on it and be
capable when the time came,"
she says.
That was four years ago,
and since then Mills has made
something of a hobby out
of swapping bikes through
Craigslist.
Bottle Rocket
When she's not doing communications
work for one of Vancouver's most successful
breweries, Marissa Mills hits the road
by Nathan Caddell
W E E K E N D WA R R IOR
(
quality time
)
WARRIOR
SPOTLIGHT
The youngest senior man-
ager in Parallel 49 Brewing
Co.'s eight-year history,
Marissa Mills has helped
expand the operation from
30 employees and a mostly
regional focus to more than
100 staff nationwide and
an international presence.
She's also developed
philanthropic partnerships
with organizations like
Cystic Fibrosis Canada,
KidSafe and the Make-
A-Wish Foundation. "I've
made concerted efforts to
bring equity and diversity
to a space where men have
predominantly been the
decision makers," Mills
says. Parallel 49 has seen
sales growth of about 25
percent each year since she
was hired in 2016.
O FF
T H E
C LO C K
A DAY AT THE BEACH
Mills and her Kawasaki
KLX140 dirt bike
