Cayla Marvil

Cayla Marvil’s journey to the Stanford MSx program began while studying mathematics as an undergraduate at Middlebury College in Vermont.

“I started brewing beer in college, and I really fell in love with the art and science of it,” says Marvil, who got a degree in culinary arts from the International Culinary Center in New York in 2012 and co-founded Lamplighter Brewery in Cambridge, Mass., in 2014.

At Lamplighter, she helped grow revenue to $6 million during the brewery’s first four years and developed and implemented a company structure to handle its rapid growth. Also, in response to the unprofessional behavior she’d witnessed in the restaurant and bar world, she insisted on good behavior and mutual respect among both employees and customers.

In 2019, the brewery’s success landed her on Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30” list of food-and-drink industry stars.

What attracted you to the brewing business?

I’d worked in bars and restaurants since I was 14, and always knew I wanted to do something in food and hospitality. I was living in Vermont, which was a mecca of craft beer at that time. When my partner and I moved to Cambridge, we saw the business opportunity. There just weren’t many breweries in Cambridge and greater Boston, especially compared to Vermont. So what started as a joke between the two of us became serious pretty quickly. We looked into the financials, wrote a business plan, and asked the bars and restaurants in the area if they’d carry our product. I was excited about opening a brewery of my own.

Was there anything specific about the restaurant and bar world that convinced you you could do better?

I had been in some toxic and abusive workplaces and was disgruntled that this was the norm in hospitality. I saw Lamplighter as an opportunity to build a company with a culture I was proud of and a safe and supportive space for everybody.

How did you implement that design?

We started by defining our values and emphasizing community, respect, and camaraderie. For example, we required all taproom employees to start as a barback. It doesn’t matter how much experience you’ve had throughout your career. When you come in, you’ll take the most entry-level position, and we’ll all be working behind the bar together. It was this very democratic let’s-do-it-all-together system that helped people understand and respect every position at the brewery, even as they were promoted through the ranks. As we grew, we expanded that mentality to all different aspects of the business, and there was no tolerance for poor or disrespectful behavior.

Did that extend to customers as well?

That’s also a huge issue in the service industry, with patrons walking in and thinking they can talk to a server however they please. We might be behind the bar, but we’re still human beings who want to be treated appropriately. We coached our staff on how to address disrespectful behavior from customers, too.

At Lamplighter you organized a community engagement program that raised money for local non-profits. Was that an effort to extend the internal ethos of Lamplighter into the wider community?

Our neighbors directly contributed to our success, and we wanted to figure out how to give back. At first, we didn’t know how to allocate our resources best, so we developed a framework to identify the buckets that mattered most to our team, alongside what we had to contribute. We relied on staff to get involved and figure out how to dedicate these resources — money, time, social media, beer, or an event itself — and put together a methodology of how we would serve the community. It was important to me because we were part of this ecosystem, and I wanted to ensure we had a positive impact within that system.

What convinced you to step away from Lamplighter to pursue an MSx degree?

We pivoted consistently and constantly during the pandemic, and we had to make really tough decisions. And I recognized an irony: We talked about mental health and well-being with our staff, but I wasn’t taking care of myself. My business partner had successfully stepped out of the day-to-day operations years prior, and I thought, “You know what? It’s time for me to refocus and refresh. I’m ready for the next challenge, too.”

Are you still an owner?

Yes. My business partner and I sit on the board, and we still direct the company’s strategy and big-picture operations. I act as our de facto CFO. But we have an amazing team, so we’ve been able to pursue other things while still engaging in the parts of the business that excite us.

What was the hardest part about stepping away?

It’s difficult not to walk into that space every day and get to collaborate and communicate with colleagues and tackle problems together. It was tough to trust that this thing that I built and nurtured would be in the hands of someone else. But it was also exactly what I needed to take the next career steps.

Has your experience at GSB affirmed that decision, and if so, why?

Stanford emphasizes people-first leadership and leading with empathy. Those were things I valued at my company and why I chose the MSx Program. I came in feeling confident about my experience in entrepreneurship and business, but to develop more soft skills and explore these different leadership qualities — to hear from my peers who have been in the trenches — has been invaluable. I’m undoubtedly a better leader and person after my time at the GSB.

What area of the food and beverage industry has caught your interest these days?

I’m spending time thinking about the challenges within our food systems. In particular, I’m concerned with how we treat livestock and meat production in the U.S. It’s a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and we all know slaughterhouses and factory farms are horrific workplace environments and inhumane for animals. I think the alternative protein space, especially cultivated meat, is an incredible future opportunity where we can solve so many of these problems.

Are there any particular classes that have been especially helpful?

The cases and discussion in instructor David Dodson’s Managing Growing Enterprises course resonated with me and my experience at Lamplighter. He shared insights and frameworks that were extremely valuable and were exactly what I was looking for out of Stanford. Instructor Allison Kluger, who has a media background and taught Strategic Pivoting, is an amazing mentor. They both genuinely care, and it comes through in the way they engage both inside and outside of the classroom. They want to learn about you, and they want you to learn from their experiences in a way that’s motivating, refreshing, and endearing.

You’ve completed 730 miles of the Appalachian Trail. What’s harder, starting a business or hiking that trail?

Starting Lamplighter was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Each day was a new challenge and adventure, and it was amazing and exhausting at the same time. Backpacking is also amazing and exhausting, but I signed up for every turn that came my way. I was responsible for only myself and I could quit if I really wanted to. But once the train leaves the station on a startup, there are more passengers than just you, and you’re along for the ride whether you want to jump off or not.

Photos by Elena Zhukova