Dakota Goldman has her mind set on growth—not only for the Counter Culture nonprofit she founded, but also for the Inland Northwest hospitality industry served by that young organization.

“Counter Culture is about serving those who serve,” the founder and executive director of the local nonprofit says.

Founded in November, Counter Culture provides education, support, and networking opportunities to hospitality professionals, while also raising awareness for the industry as a whole.

“I think nationally, people don’t really realize the caliber of product and talent that’s coming out of the Pacific Northwest,” Goldman says.

Goldman knows a thing or two about what the Spokane area’s hospitality sector has to offer.

On top of leading a nonprofit, the do-it-all single parent is also a senior catering supervisor at Gonzaga University, a brand ambassador for point-of-sales company SmartTab POS, and the owner of Padrino Events LLC, which offers event bartending and collaboration, menu development and design services, and consulting, among other offerings.

Goldman has over 10 years of bartending experience as well, and still picks up shifts across town in the little bit of free time she has left.

She also started Spokane Cocktail Week, which just wrapped up its second annual weeklong, citywide event in June.

“My Google Calendar would scare most people,” Goldman says.

Counter Culture was born out of necessity, she explains.

“I started doing Spokane Cocktail Week last year, and it kind of opened my eyes to the amount of disconnect there is between resources and the hospitality community,” says Goldman.

Spokane Cocktail Week involves various brands of spirits—like Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Old Forester bourbon, for example—that sponsor the weeklong occasion. Participating bars and restaurants use those brands to create specialty Spokane Cocktail Week menus. A variety of different events and fundraisers also occur during the week.

After the first Spokane Cocktail Week event, Goldman realized she could use some additional help, so she founded Counter Culture, which currently has a 5-person board.

Counter Culture, currently designated as a 501(c)(6) organization, is still working through the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, a status Goldman expects will be received by next year.

The 501(c)(6) designation is for organizations that focus on promoting a common business interest or improving business conditions within an industry, according to the Internal Revenue Service. The designation is typically given to organizations such as business leagues, chambers of commerce, and real estate boards, among others.

In the meantime, Counter Culture is fiscally sponsored by Spokane Independent Metro Business Alliance, also known as SIMBA.

“Any money I bring in goes through (SIMBA) first,” Goldman says. “Because we’re not a fully-fledged 501(c)(3), but they are, it allows us to take donations.”

She says SIMBA also provides them with mentoring, assuring Goldman and her organization take proper legal steps. She says they’re still in the learning process.

“People can make donations to us as a nonprofit, and it’s tax deductible,” she adds.

Counter Culture was created to cultivate opportunities and bring more awareness to all sorts of hospitality-related businesses, including wineries, breweries, distilleries, restaurants, hotels, and event centers.

Goldman says, “I not only want to support industry-driven growth, so learning about spirits and how to be a better manager and stuff like that, but I also want to support people in life skills.”

Life skills could include things like how to prepare a budget or how to start a retirement account, for example.

She says that despite being a vital part of every community, hospitality professionals often face challenges that some other industries don’t face.

“There’s still this weird stigma around hospitality, where people discount hospitality workers,” she says. “They still think it’s not a real job.”

She hopes that increasing awareness around the industry can remove some of that stigma.

“It’s a specific person who can really manage a restaurant. It’s a specific person that’s gonna be your sous chef and your executive (chef),” Goldman says. “And that takes a lot of time, learning, and skill that not everybody has.”

For life’s other challenges, Counter Culture promotes various resources for hospitality workers, including organizations like Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, Another Round Another Rally, and Big Table Spokane, all of which provide various forms of support for hospitality professionals, whether it’s financial assistance, mental health support, education, or other services.

Moving forward, Counter Culture is expected to hold more of its own educational events for those in the industry, and Goldman says she hopes to organize more fundraisers.

Currently, the majority of the organization’s funding comes from Spokane Cocktail Week, through the event’s sponsorships and through small fees that establishments pay to participate.

Spokane Cocktail Week has already shown positive growth.

With more events, attendees, and participating bars and restaurants—over 30 this year—Goldman estimates Spokane Cocktail Week tripled in size from year one to year two.

“I had a full educational day with educators from all over the United States,” Goldman says, noting that she has made connections across the country through her work with SmartTab, which is also the title sponsor for Spokane Cocktail Week.

She expects that growth to continue going forward.

“Next year, we’re launching a trade show concept during cocktail week,” says Goldman. “I’m gonna invite distilleries from all over.”

Goldman says she hopes to gain more exposure as her organization grows.

“Right now, our marketing strategy is really word-of-mouth,” she says.

As if raising a child, running a nonprofit and a business, and holding down multiple jobs weren’t enough, Goldman also continues to grapple with major health challenges.

In 2023, Goldman was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

“I got in a car accident, and so they did a scan of my neck, and, coincidentally, found a tumor on my thyroid,” she says. “So, I had a partial thyroidectomy. Realistically, my cancer was great. I had the best form of cancer you can get. I have not had to do chemo or radiation. They removed it." 

Complications from the surgery, however, triggered an autoimmune response that left Goldman with fibromyalgia and Ramsay Hunt syndrome.

“I'm in a constant ongoing battle with my own body since then, and it's been really rough,” Goldman says.

Because of her health challenges, Goldman had to leave a restaurant job and didn’t work for about six months.

She took that time away from work and turned it into an opportunity, however.

“That gave me the space to do Spokane Cocktail (Week), because I wouldn't have had the capacity to put something like that on otherwise,” Goldman says.

Still, the persisting health issues are a daily struggle, she says.

“That's why I think I work so much, because it keeps me busy staying active and moving,” says Goldman.

She adds, “For six months, I pretty much was bedridden. I don't like to waste my time, and if I'm dealing with something that could kill me, or could shorten my time on this earth, or put a damper on anything, I'm not gonna spend it in bed.”