Today we’d like to introduce you to Dathan Kazsuk and Jennifer Primrose.
Dathan and Jennifer, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
We (Dathan and Jennifer) started the website Triangle Around Town in 2013 to share local events, profile small businesses and share our adventures. What we discovered on this journey was our love for craft beer and wine and following these NC industries to see how they’ve grown and what lies ahead. This discovery took us outside of Raleigh and across the state.
We expanded in 2021 by creating Triangle Around Town LLC to include the digital publications Hop Around NC and Screw it Wine which center around wine, beer, food, and travel in North Carolina and abroad. Stories on the website and inside the pages of the digital publications range from exclusive content featuring interviews, in-depth articles, food pairing recipes, travel destinations, and more.
Triangle Around Town has posted more than 1,000 stories since its inception. In 2019, we were named one of the top 100 wine blogs by Feedspot. In 2021, Triangle Around Town’s publication, Screw it Wine, received a North Carolina Wine & Grape Council grant to further its stretch across the state.
We have close to 30 years of magazine and newspaper experience, including business administration and computer information systems. Dathan has over a dozen awards in graphic design and journalism. Jen’s degrees help the business in the foundation of core business functions, including finance, project management, and information technology.
We have been judges for multiple food and spirit award competitions, including the Palmetto Wine Competition in South Carolina and the North Carolina Mead Cider Fruit Wine Competition.
Jen is a WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) level one, and we are both working to take the next step, studying for the WSET level two. Dathan also served as a board member in the Triangle Chapter of the American Wine Society in 2021.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
With any hobby or business, we feel that there are obstacles along the way that need to be overcome. Starting as a hobby, we had fun writing about our experiences, and in time, we began to gain followers. As our focus turned toward a business, we encountered many more obstacles.
These include managing our time between producing digital magazines and our day jobs, developing story ideas, maintaining a sales funnel, and continuing to drive traffic to our website and market our digital publications. But our main struggle is gaining the respect of the industries we feature and highlight.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
With Dathan’s over 30 years of experience in journalism, writing and interviews come naturally.
We enjoy profiling small businesses, primarily the wine and beer industries here in North Carolina, and giving these small establishments a voice. We are proud that we have been able to elevate from a small “blog” of our weekend adventures to a website and now producing digital magazines with our reach increasing consistently.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
We do not have mentors per se but writers we admire and emulate. Our inspirations come from those we meet on our travels around the state and those we interview.
Supporters include local writers who contribute to our digital magazines and help to bring different perspectives to our readers. Their enthusiasm as team members has only encouraged and inspired us more in our writing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.trianglearoundtown.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trianglearoundtown/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TriangleAroundTown
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Screw_it_Wine
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/TriangleAT/
Image Credits
Triangle Around Town
