John McKee is the owner and founder of Headframe Spirits; Butte’s first (legal) distillery that opened its uptown doors in 2012. His journey is as tasty as the whiskey he brought us to enjoy during our recording.

As a typical Butte kid, John played on mine dumps and brought home liquid mercury that bubbled up through the streets. This ‘Butte grit’ led him to an attempt at playing high-level rugby in Tennessee. When he arrived back in his hometown, he began noticing mine waste being cleaned up. Noticing barren yellow rock piles now green with life, he saw his community forging its own path out of a challenging era – a realization he’s working toward still. So when a career venture in expired butter went upside down and being a kept-man wasn’t the option he hoped for, the idea came up of possibly making booze. He was all in.

John talks about the struggles of finding financing, to a point where his family became concerned about having enough food. When the 13th bank finally took a chance on the dream, it was off to the races.

Headframe Spirits launched with a vision of fusing community, history, and vision one bottle at a time …all because of some bad butter. Who would have thought?

Of all the places, John calls Butte, Montana home.

Learn more about Headframe Spirits visit www.headframespirits.com

Cassie Wick likes good trouble, the kind that elevates community and the people around her. She is certainly doing that as the business owner at 5518 Designs, as a member of uptown Butte’s Business Improvement District, and most recently as the Public Policy and Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator at Ability Montana. She credits the roots of her contagious passion to a year in AmeriCorps and being ‘radicalized’ in a conference promoting walkable cities. Once she realized her ability to create change for good, there was no looking back. She is working tirelessly to create a vibrant, more desirable and visionary uptown business district in Butte. Her community building efforts range from snow shoveling to a city-wide program aimed at neighbors connecting in more meaningful ways. Through her work, she is advocating at a state-government level to promote systems change that benefits people of all abilities.

All that and she still gets labeled as a ‘radient goddess.’ Not a bad adjective for a gal who grew up playing bartender with her dolls. Then again, bartenders are some of the original community builders. Of all the places, Cassie (and Jon) call Butte, Montana home.

You can learn more about Cassie’s work at www.abilitymt.org, her community advocacy efforts at www.uptownbuttemt.com, and shop at www.shop5518.com

The powerhouse duo behind RESTÔR design + build is the husband-and-wife team of architect Maisie Sulser and contractor Mike Handley. This two-person, one-stop shop for historic renovations is bringing back the magic of Butte with one of their first (of hopefully many) major developments - restoring the historic Fairmont Creamery Warehouse. From the outside, it looks like any other empty, century-old warehouse in uptown Butte. When you see the recently finished loft condos, you’ll see the life they’re creating… both together and for their community.

They sat down with us to share some of the challenges they have faced, how meaningful it is to work with your partner, and which of their seven vintage campers are their favorite. We also did our best to convince them to start their own TV show, despite Mike’s resistance.

The connection running through their journey is evident: to breathe life back into buildings and in turn, the community they call home. Of all the places, Shake 'n Bake, er… Mike and Maisie call Butte, Montana home.