On this week’s episode of North of Normal, Amanda McKeen sits down with Marlaina Renton for an honest conversation about resilience, leadership, community, and the winding road that led her to co-found Rek-Lis Brewing Company. Marlaina reflects on growing up fiercely independent, leaving home at sixteen, navigating careers in restaurants, design, fitness, and entrepreneurship, and how every chapter of her life unexpectedly prepared her to help build one of the North Country’s most recognizable gathering places.
The conversation also explores what it really looks like to build a business — and a life — alongside your partner, the emotional weight of leading a team of more than fifty employees, and the importance of vulnerability, compassion, and asking for help along the way. With stories about community, burnout, travel, growth, and learning to trust both herself and others, Marlaina offers a deeply human look at what it means to create something meaningful while staying grounded in the people around you.
