Following grandfather’s footsteps, St. Pete woman applies chemical engineering background at distillery
Chemical engineer quenches thirst for science at St. Petersburg Distillery
This chemical engineer is thankful she took her grandmother's advice. Now, she is succeeding in a male-dominated industry while still applying her passion for science on a daily basis. Her job is to maintain the quality of gin at the St. Petersburg Distillery.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It’s safe to say job satisfaction is at a solid "10" for Clara Robbins.
"Yeah, I love what I do. Who couldn’t love making booze every day; it’s a lot of fun," she said.
Clara used her chemical engineering background to fast-track a career in distilling. She manages quality at St. Petersburg Distillery and creates new gin recipes from scratch.
"Developing a recipe at a small scale and then scaling it up to take it out to the production floor really takes a lot of my chemical engineering background," Clara said.
Clara has always had a love for math. It was a nudge from her grandma that pushed her towards chemical engineering. At the time, it was a subject she knew nothing about.
"She said I needed to be a chemical engineer because my granddad was a chemical engineer, so I just did it," she recalled.
In college, she noticed a lack of women in her classes. It’s a trend that followed her into the world of distilling.
"I see myself in this industry for life, this is where I belong. I want more women to also feel that way," Clara said.
She has advice for any young girls out there following in her footsteps: be confident and keep pushing forward.
"I just let it go," she said. "I am confident that my brain would take me places, so I just let it."