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Meet the team
Meagen Anderson
Founder
Meagen Anderson hails from the Midwest and has had the pleasure of being part of the incredible evolution of the craft beer movement in the United States for the past 17 years. Her professional portfolio includes commercial roles for The Boston Beer Company, Kalsec, and NZ Hops Ltd. In 2018 she discovered an ancient meditation technique to reduce stress and burnout. Soon after implementing this meditation, Meagen recovered her health and began to experience the benefits of being more resilient, balanced, and intentional. She was drawn to the functional application of the technologies of Consciousness in communities and organizations.
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In 2020 Meagen adopted a zero proof lifestyle and went on to start (AF)icionado™ Certification Program, which focuses on training and certification for beverage professionals in the fast-growing non-alcoholic beverage segment. She founded Transcending Trauma in 2022 to support survivors and supporters of the #metoo movement by offering Transcendental Meditation training and consciousness programs to breweries and individuals. With over 350 peer reviewed studies to support its benefits, Transcendental Meditation™ is the most effective meditation technique to reduct stress, anxiety, PTSD, burnout, and so much more.
Meagen is pursuing an MBA in Sustainable Business in combination with Consciousness Consultant training with the esteemed Dr. Tony Nader, MD, PHD, MARR. She currently resides in Kalamazoo, Michigan, as well as Franklin Grove, Illinois. Meagen loves spending time with her children and her high school sweetheart. Meagen now finds bliss in sharing how meditation can help people develop their consciousness and nurture their own creative expression, personal development, and wellbeing.
Tara Nurin
Executive Director
Veteran freelance journalist Tara Nurin trains her eyes, ears and typing fingers on the places where food and beverage intersects with business, culture, history, sustainability and identity. Often using liquid lubricants as her mirror to reflect broader societal trends, the former Forbes beer and spirits contributor files her stories from some of the world’s most colorful breweries, bars and boardrooms and appears as a frequent presenter on broadcasts and live panels hosted by entities like the Smithsonian and Colonial Williamsburg.
Passionate about promoting women’s challenges and achievements, the former TV news reporter published her first book, a history of women in beer entitled A Woman’s Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs, in September 2021. It won first prize from the North American Guild of Beer Writers. She has volunteered with the Pink Boots Society non-profit for women in the alcoholic beverage industry for more than a decade and founded Beer for Babes, New Jersey’s original beer education group for women.
In addition to public speaking and writing for media outlets like USA Today and Food Network, Nurin is a certified beer judge, designs and teaches for-credit beer and spirits courses for Wilmington University (DE) and provides marketing consulting services for a client roster that includes Visit Philly and NZ Hops, Ltd. She is frequently quoted as a beverage expert in publications such as Wine Enthusiast and Food & Wine. After spending her first 26 winter holidays in Puerto Rico and residing in 11 states and countries, the trilingual Nurin has chosen to live as an urban pioneer on Camden, NJ’s, riverfront.