While living in Jersey City in his late 20s, Michal (Mike) Ziolkowski ’04, a home brewer, met Chelsey DeMarino, a craft beer bar manager.
Talk about a perfect pairing.
They spent their early years together living, working, and socializing in the city. Mike, a computer science grad, worked for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey for seven years before moving to PwC as a management consultant. Chelsey, who had a background in health studies, practiced as a post-partum doula prior to her time at the breweries.
When expecting their twin daughters, Mike and Chelsey traded city life for beach life, moving to Wall, New Jersey. The family-friendly near-shore suburb with a strong community vibe eventually ignited the Ziolkowskis’ entrepreneurial impulses. They dipped their toes into their first small business venture, Bradley Brew Project (BBP), in 2018.
“We bonded over beer, so we blended her front of house experience and my home brewing hobby,” says Mike.
He credits his partner's knack for the craft beer world. “When this became an opportunity for us, she jumped headfirst.”
Living in Two Worlds
“Bradley was always our little side hustle that could maybe be a retirement play down the line,” says Ziolkowski.
While Chelsey was a full-time mom and brewery manager, Mike continued working for PwC, where he found his own knack as a management consultant. He liked being in front of people and running big projects.
“Being in engineering school taught me how to learn and how to solve problems by dissecting them and putting them back together,” Ziolkowski says.
Those strengths continued to call him professionally to bigger challenges.
“I felt strongly that I had the ability to influence an organization to drive change,” Ziolkowski recalls.
This is what motivated him — three months shy of making partner at PwC — to switch careers.
“I always wanted to be responsible for the ins and outs of a large department and be able to run a global team,” says Ziolkowski.
The opportunity presented itself at Optum, a health services company under UnitedHealth Group (UHG). His new focus was enterprise workforce optimization, which placed him in the driver's seat for strategically building a more efficient workforce for the global organization.
All the while, the beach-side brewery was a hit. Mike’s workforce-focused corporate role grew skills that helped him manage a growing team at the brewery.
In 2023, Mike and Chelsey bought five acres of land and built Tall Oaks Farm and Brewery from the ground up in Farmingdale, New Jersey. The new location offered more of an outdoor aesthetic for their clientele. The sprawling property also opens more growth possibilities, like cultivating their own ingredients (such as hops) on the land and using the extra space to build out infrastructure for larger-scale production.
“We created a gastropub feeling at Bradley,” says Mike. “We wanted to create a rustic outdoor experience in a farm setting at Tall Oaks.”
Taking the Plunge
This April, Mike found himself considering his next steps.
“I’ve had a good opportunity to reassess where I want to be. Breweries are closing left and right,” he says. “When you look at that, it’s easy to get scared and give up.”
He committed the summer to seeing how far he could take Tall Oaks while on a sabbatical from his corporate career. Tapping into his understanding of workforce optimization, strategy development and execution, and product ownership, Chelsey and he consolidated the team, bringing the couple closer to the tasks they previously assigned to staff.
“It substantially increased our workload — but we liked it,” says Mike.
They also liked the cost savings and the personal pride of literally putting their hands back into the business.
“It’s allowed us to connect to our customers,” Mike continues. “When we had to remove that layer [of the workforce], it created a new window of opportunity. I’ve noticed that the more we put our hands on the business, the more engagement we see. That was a much-needed eye opener for us.”
The Right Balance
While they share an energy and passion for their business, Mike and Chelsey have different approaches. Mike values the balance his wife brings to his impulsive style.
“I'm very ‘shoot first’,” Mike says with a smirk. “She’s great at slowing things down. ‘Let's sleep on it.’ 90% of the time she's right. It offers clarity before making a decision. [...] We share values, but we have different ways of doing things.”
With a thoughtful pause, Mike adds, “I couldn't do this without her.”
He knows finding success working with a spouse is rare.
“I opened a business with my wife, and most couples would probably be divorced by now. Now here we are, 10 years of doing this together.”
While Mike was juggling his professional career and brewing side hustle, Chelsey was split as well, running their home and managing the business. They have three daughters: 12-year-old twins Adi and Avery and 7-year-old Talula (Lulu for short).
Another area they’ve always aligned on is that neither ever had much interest in food service. Instead, they partner with local businesses and restaurants to serve small snacks. Tall Oaks is a great place for this setup.
Mike beams thinking of the typical scene: “On a random Saturday, I see people walking in with picnic baskets, and they put a blanket in the middle of the field to enjoy time with family and friends while drinking our beer. To this day, I’m still humbled by the fact that people want to spend their hard-earned money on beer we brew.”
Both establishments aim to offer families, couples, and folks coming in for a beer or two a place to hang out.
“At both locations, we close at 9 p.m. at the latest,” Mike says. “People aren't coming here to get drunk. They are coming with their families.” No one is ever rushed out or left waiting to be served. “It’s a very easy-going environment.”
More To Love
With two acres of open land and a pavilion, Tall Oaks allows the Ziolkowskis to expand on their vision that was successful with their first venture. BBP and Tall Oaks both have 900-square-foot tasting rooms, but with the extra room outside, Tall Oaks also offers food trucks and more space for private events.
“That was a big play for us at Tall Oaks. We wanted to be similar to other non-brewery event venues that are more traditional,” says Mike, noting that they host many birthday parties as well as seasonal events like their October fall festival and Christmas in July.
They also hope to move their annual LeLaf telecast event from BBP to Tall Oaks this year. They have hosted since 2021, welcoming both Lehigh and Lafayette fans.
“Troy Romanoski '07 approached me a couple of years ago. Now we are all in on that event. I love, love, love, love doing it,” Mike says enthusiastically.
They create competing beers for the divided crowd and have a contest on which sells the most.
True Success
Mike’s favorite brew is BBP’s “Unicorn Girls,” named after his twin daughters, who ran around as young girls calling themselves by that name.
“It’s a wide-net beer. People who are craft beer nerds and those who [rarely] drink will both like it.”
They also use what they call “field trials” to experiment with new flavors and find new favorites for their customers. The latest is a key lime pie sour beer. Mike says customers are responding well, which suggests they should continue leaning into more sour-forward and limited-edition brews.
“It's unlikely we would have brewed that on its own brand, but the experiential brand really took off,” Mike says.
Through these trials, Mike says they can be more nimble until something really resonates with customers. Recently, Tall Oaks promoted its American Light Lager trial to its own brand called Low Branch.
Success, of course, can mean people returning for their flavors and hospitality, but Mike says he’s especially proud of the personal growth it’s awarded Chelsey and him.
“If everything shuts down today, I'll still look back at this because I grew as a human, because of the situations I've gone through. It has helped beyond business — in our personal life. A number of situations on the business side have made me a better person.”
