Something’s Brewing

Husband-and-Wife SHU Graduates Grow Cotton Brewing Co. Into Successful Business Venture

Brett and Krista (First) Cotton have something brewing in Adrian.

The married double Siena Heights University graduates started brewing beer more than five years ago as a hobby. Using their own money – and their Siena Heights degrees—they decided to make it into a business in 2012. And business is booming. Using fairs and craft beer festivals as both a proof-of-concept and a built-in test market, Cotton Brewing Co. is on its way to becoming a full-time venture for the husband-and-wife team.

“We were just trying to be able to sell the beer,” said Krista of the original reason they started the business. “We never intended it to take off and have the demand that we did. It just keeps rolling.”

Brett said he originally got the idea of brewing beer while working in a corporate setting in Washington, D.C.

“Beer brewing was really big out there,” Brett said. “A bunch of friends would go hit up these different breweries every week.”

When his job in D.C. ended, he returned to Michigan and decided to buy a home brewing kit.

Mr. Smith Goes to Hollywood

Siena Heights Graduate Enjoys Distinguished Career as Director of Photography

Darryl E. Smith casts a long shadow standing 6 feet, 8 inches tall. However, that shadow pales in comparison to the one he has cast as a director of photography in Hollywood.

The 1985 Siena Heights graduate has an impressive list of credits and clients, including MTV, Disney, Coca-Cola, CBS, the NFL Network and HBO. The owner of his own production company, Darryl E. Smith Productions, for the past 14 years, he said his path to success was a winding one. And his starting point was Siena Heights University.

Originally recruited to play basketball at Siena by former coach Ben Braun, Smith said Siena Heights was the only school that showed interest in him as a student—not just as a basketball player.

Self-Starter

Siena Heights Student Gilius Blinstrubas ’17 Follows in his Family’s Entrepreneurial Footsteps

His grandfather started one.

His father started one.

So, it’s not that unusual that Gilius (pronounced GIL-us) Blinstrubas (far right) decided to start his own business. What is unusual is that Blinstrubas started not one—but two—businesses before beginning his junior year at Siena Heights University.

“It takes a special person to do it,” Blinstrubas said. “I really enjoy business. I spend a lot of time reading business books, articles and talking to people about business. It doesn’t feel like work.”

The grandson of Lithuanian immigrants who came to the U.S. during World War II, Blinstrubas’ grandfather started his own tool-and-die business, and his father a law firm. Their entrepreneurial example inspired him to start his first business in 2013 as a freshman at SHU.