Meet Mike Garbrandt | Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mike Garbrandt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It sounds cliche “I wanted to be my own boss” and there are lot of the typical reasons I wanted to be my own boss, from not dealing with upper management, workplace drama, and controlling my own destiny. All of those played a huge factor in setting my own course, but there are some things I did learn and take away from my previous experiences that I wanted to execute with my own agenda. Marketing: developing a plan and sticking to a message that keeps people message and creates brand recognition. Customer service: Delivering a customer service strategy with my customers that keeps them feeling like their needs are the most important and keeping communication channels open, so they don’t feel left out of the process. Management: Although I only have casual employees, I want them to feel as if they are just as important as me. If they have personal matters that keep them from committing to a tour, that is what is important to me!

These are all things that I have learned from some very good managers that I directly reported to and those lessons drive me in my business and keep me focused on what needs to get done to make my business successful!

What should our readers know about your business?
I take great pride in being different from other companies. I came from a strong relationship building focused career before starting Cork and Tap Excursions, LLC and take those lessons from my previous experiences and apply them to what I do today. I love making connections with my customers and making them feel like they are the most important part of my business. But I also apply that to our destinations and the lodging industry which plays such a big part in my business growth to date. I love to make our tour stops and lodging partners feel part of the experience and also take into account what large groups may do to their processes at their locations. So, I take special care to keep them aware of what is going on when I show up with groups!

This road hasn’t been easy, lots of time and care went into getting my business off the ground and making my brand stand out and creating the experience of a Cork and Tap Excursions Tour!

One of my favorite things besides creating experiences for my guests is someone walking by my van and hearing them say I follow them on xyz social media and their guests look like they are having a lot of fun! Thats where I feel my brand has had the most success is people equating my brand with a

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost is my family! They have made tremendous sacrifices to help me get this business off the ground. My wife has been an absolute saint. I went from a super flexible schedule at my previous job with 99% of weekends off to a scheduled, weekend heavy itinerary. She has become a football, basketball and baseball mom by herself for the past 30 months and I am eternally grateful for the sacrifice. My kids have been supportive even though I am able to be at a lot of afterschool events, I know they understand and have also become invaluable parts of my business with social media and physical work with the business. This upcoming year is the year I get the work/life balance back in balance.

My team of drivers, Mark and Greg. Thank you for supporting and being there for me to fill the gaps and making sure all of our guests are well taken care of!

Website: https://www.corkandtapohio.com

Instagram: @corkandtapohio

Linkedin: Michael Garbrandt

Facebook: Cork & Tap Excursions

Youtube: Cork and Tap Excursions, LLC