The Spirit of Good Fun and Failure: FuckUp Nights Denver

In the distilling world, Todd Leopold is somewhat of a god. The company he co-owns with his brother, Leopold Bros. has raised the bar for craft distilling and has grown significantly in the last few years. Jake Norris, now whiskey distiller at Laws Whiskey House, has his own success story with his current company and also as a former distiller and original partner in Stranahan's. The road to success in spirits has not always been paved with love and cocktails.

On Thursday, June 16 at 7 p.m. at Globe Hall, the two beloved small batch heroes are ready to share their failures, mistakes, and bumps in the road and to show that fucking up is actually the underlying theme of almost every business owner’s story.

"I didn't set out to be a whiskey distiller but things don't always work out the way you planned," Norris said. "Sometimes what feels like a failure turns out to be an unforeseen opportunity," he added.

FuckUp Nights, a global effort started in Mexico City in 2012, was the brainchild of five college friends sitting around, drinking beers, complaining about only hearing stories of success from peers. That night, they each desired to share a beer and a story about a failed project. The conversation inspired a bigger conversation about what failure really means, the lessons we learn and how we can help others to not make the same mistakes.

A local storytelling agency, Lolo LLC, brought the FuckUp Nights movement to Denver on April with inaugural headliner, Justin Cucci of Edible Beats. The success of the event led to a bi-monthly series on the third Thursday of the month at Globe Hall.

"There are countless gatherings all about handshaking thought-leaders and by-the-book entrepreneurs who pat themselves on the back, but everyone who ever owned a business knows that it is the tough times that really shape a company. So here we are with FuckUp nights, giving a platform to those less-than-shiny times in a way that ditches usual common protocols," says Lauren Butts of Lolo LLC.

Tickets are $10 and include a PBR; they can be purchased here.

The June lineup of Fuckuppers includes: Jake Norris, Laws Whiskey House, Todd Leopold, Leopold Brothers, Cassie Augustine Jones, Agency Zero.