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Brewing craft beer has been at the center of Bert Boyce鈥檚 life for as long as he can remember, but the inspiration to hop into the industry stemmed from something else.

鈥淚t all came from a love of cooking and eating and community,鈥� says Boyce, president of operations and co-owner of Marble Brewery. 鈥淚 grew up out in the country on a horse ranch in northern San Diego County, and all my cousins, aunts, uncles and family friends would come over and ride all weekend. 鈥� That鈥檚 kind of how I grew up.鈥�

Boyce and his business partner, co-owner and president of sales and marketing Jarrett Babincsak, took over Marble earlier this year following rumors on social media that the brewing company was filing for bankruptcy 鈥� and maybe closing.

But Marble, founded in 2008, isn鈥檛 dead. Far from it.

The two are using their experience at Santa Fe Brewing Co. 鈥� where Boyce was a brewmaster and Babincsak was the vice president of sales and marketing 鈥� to bring life back to the 鈥渃ultural icon鈥� Marble, he said.

鈥淭o provide something made in our town that reflects our culture, that鈥檚 huge,鈥� Boyce says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what local beer is supposed to be: beer made by your friends, for your community. We just want to be a local cultural touch point.鈥�

What inspired you to pursue ownership of Marble?

I think every brewer gets into this business with the idea that one day they want to open their own place. And oftentimes it鈥檚 born out of this need to have creative control. I think a lot of brewers consider themselves artists, and they want to be able to make whatever they want to make. Certainly, I felt that way when I was a lot younger. My parents are entrepreneurial, and so are Jarrett鈥檚. Both of us just want to work hard, and we feel like we have some pretty good ideas as to how to run an organization, provide opportunities for people and create an impact in our community. We felt like the best way to do that was to take the risk.

How does your experience at Santa Fe Brewing benefit you in your new role as a co-owner of Marble?

Brewing at the end of the day, it鈥檚 not that sexy. We build our industry and our image around being cool, but really, we鈥檙e just in manufacturing and hospitality. You just have to build a strong organization and get people to want to work for you and buy into your vision. I think both of us are proud of all the things we were able to accomplish.

We wanted to bring that team building and that organizational kind of structure and strategy and purpose and put it to use here at Marble. Marble is such an iconic sa国际传媒官网网页入口 brand and institution, and the thought of Marble closing 鈥� not just for us, but for a lot of people 鈥� was just devastating. For us to be able to kind of reinvigorate the whole organization, not just the brand but all the people who stuck through the rough times, we kind of feel like we owe it to the community.

How hard was it for you to leave one iconic brewing company for another?

We鈥檙e getting a lot of questions about Santa Fe, obviously. And there鈥檚 a lot of confusion in the market and the media as to who we are 鈥� if Santa Fe bought Marble. There鈥檚 no relation, for the record. There鈥檚 just our shared experience working at Santa Fe Brewing Co. But (leaving) was heart wrenching. It was really difficult. I thought when we moved to New Mexico that Santa Fe Brewing was my career. But the opportunity to take the reins of Marble was just, it was amazing. It鈥檚 bigger than I could have expected.

Have you encountered any challenges as Marble鈥檚 co-owner and president of operations?

Nothing insurmountable, to be honest. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far, there鈥檚 been certainly a lot of difficult conversations and some come-to-Jesus moments. But for the most part, things are going according to plan, which is always kind of scary.

Has there been a win yet in the new role?

A bunch of wins. The first win was that we were able to move our portfolio over to Admiral Beverage Corp., by far the best distributor in the state. 鈥� To be able to make the changes that we need to make and have the full support of the staff and belief in our vision is huge. To see our taprooms getting busy again is huge. On the whole, I can鈥檛 really complain.

How does sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 brewing scene stack up to others you鈥檝e been around?

We鈥檙e six hours from Phoenix and from Denver and 12 hours from Dallas. We鈥檙e kind of geographically isolated enough that no big national or regional (companies) can afford a presence here. And so we鈥檝e been allowed to flourish without big nationals or regionals kind of trying to take over our market. We鈥檝e been able to develop our own unique market. That鈥檚 what I love about this place 鈥� food, music, beer. So much about our culture is because it鈥檚 so authentically protected and old and far enough away from everyone else that they just leave us alone. I love that part about living here.

What valuable advice have you received?

So much. Lately, I think the thing that鈥檚 been resonating the most is not to let perfection get in the way of progress. I learned that from one of my mentors at Samuel Adams. They call it the 80/20 rule 鈥� make sure you don鈥檛 spend 80% of your time on the last 20% of what you鈥檙e trying to get done. You gotta always be moving forward. Perfection is the enemy of progress.

Who do you look up to?

I鈥檝e had the privilege of working for a bunch of mentors that I still consider friends that I can still call. I grew up working for my dad as a kid, and watched how he balanced his business and his family and his personal life. To this day, we鈥檙e still really close. My dad鈥檚 been a huge impact, like a guide.