Theresa Dark Aims for a Slam Dunk with Dark Mark Distillery

After coaching high-school basketball players, Theresa Dark dissected the game over drinks with fellow coaches. When the discussions veered away from picks and lay-ups, other topics popped up, like craft spirits. And an idea arose: why not open a distillery?

A math teacher by day, Theresa teamed up with fellow coach Mark Umeda to christen The Dark Mark Distillery, cleverly named for both founders. The two crammed in study sessions around distilling and learned everything they could to make a craft spirit. 

By the time they distilled their first gin, the pair had done quite a bit to prepare. Theresa and Mark were officially distillers in California.

Pre-Game Prep

At the age of 21, Theresa graduated from college and immediately took an office job in Maryland. She’d studied sports management and had a ton of business courses under her belt. But it didn’t take long for her to realize that the corporate world was not for her.

“I just kind of got bored there,” She admits. “It was a lot of sit-in-front-of-desk. I just couldn't do it. And I tried to stick it out for a year, but it was like 10 months.”

Luckily, Theresa fell back on her other job: bartending. She nabbed a job mixing drinks on a boat that toured Annapolis Harbor. When she applied, the only drink she knew how to make was a Rum and Coke. It was enough to get her behind the bar where she quickly learned how to make a number of other cocktails as well.

Over time, the job kindled a passion for the hospitality industry for Theresa. “I just loved the atmosphere and loved being around people,” she explains.

Once she escaped corporate life, she became a full-time bartender, making drinks and entertaining guests. It worked for her but she recognized that it wouldn’t be a sustainable career for her.

“I don't know if I could do this for the rest of my life, being on my feet, dealing with all these people,” she notes. “And I loved it but it was just too much for me.”

With that in mind, she went back to school and earned her master’s degree in education — all while serving up drinks behind the bar. That degree nabbed her a teaching job in California. And that’s where she found herself when her coworker approached her with a dream to open a distillery.

Take a Shot

It wasn’t a sudden lightning strike. The idea for Dark Mark Distillery developed over several nights at the bar, talking shop. When the conversation turned from coaching tactics to distilling, Theresa didn’t really take it seriously. At least not initially.

“He's like, ‘I don't ever wanna retire and we should do this,’” she recalls. “I'm like, okay, sure. And he is like, ‘no, we should start distilling.’”

Mark ultimately got very serious about the idea and did his research. He convinced Theresa it was actually a feasible plan. So she was in. While she didn’t have the capital to support the dream financially, she definitely had the work ethic to make it happen and the hospitality experience to bring it into reality. Add that to everything her partner brought to the table, which summed up nicely.

Not only did she have that work ethic, but Theresa also brought that math teacher know-how and business school insight. She had the ability to keep track of finances and other factors as the two navigated all the challenges of getting a business off the ground. 

They just needed a product to sell. Both Mark and Theresa headed to Seattle to learn how to distill. From there, they developed recipes at home and worked on scaling them up for public consumption. 

Tip-Off

All of this Theresa did in her free time. She treated it as a side gig, still teaching and coaching to pay the bills. It almost didn’t seem real to her. At least not until she started seeing the bottles.

“We got the logo,” she remembers. “I'm obsessed with the logo because I think it's so intricate and so cool. Once that happened and then we saw the bottles … oh, this could actually be a thing. This isn't just a side project. This could actually be a business.”

The rush of finally getting her eyes on the real thing kept Theresa moving forward. She was ready to face all the obstacles head-on. And opening a distillery in California comes with a lot of those obstacles.

Full Court Press

“The laws in California are just so hard,” Theresa confesses. “It's challenging to get through all the hoops with that, for sure.”

Navigating the various levels of regulations may have slowed Mark and Theresa down slightly but it hasn’t stopped them. They keep on going.

Outside of operational issues, Theresa noted that she’s bumped into a few weird roadblocks as a woman in the industry too. 

“I don’t find a lot of woman distillers,” she acknowledges. “It’s very male-dominated. I feel like I’m not taken seriously.”

Theresa points to experiences in bars where she’s spoken to men who seem to have trouble believing she would open a distillery. Even after she’s pulled out a business card and given her spiel, she senses an aura of disrespect. 

“Do they even take me seriously,” Theresa asks. “I feel like I get a reaction of, ‘is she serious? Where did she get the money to start that?’”

The Assist

In fact, Theresa points out that money is a barrier to entry that a lot of women and underrepresented groups face in starting a distillery. When considering how the industry could better diversify the distillery owner category, she suggests grants.

“If states or the government gave grants, I think that would really help out,” she proposes. “It’s a money issue. It’s really expensive.”

For those women entering the distilling business, Theresa wants to cheerlead for them and encourage them.

“Shoot for the stars,” she says. “If you have a vision, make a vision board and do it. If you wanna start small, start small but if you wanna go big and can afford that, go big.”

Theresa also points out that help is available in this industry. “Every distillery is willing to help,” she reveals. “It’s okay to ask for help. I feel like a lot of women don’t wanna do that — especially in a male-dominated industry.”

Looking forward, Theresa aims to connect people through her distillery. It’s that bartender in her that wants to keep people coming through the door and having fun. She dreams of having people disconnect, put their phones down, come into the distillery for a drink and enjoy the silence for a bit.