Dawn and Dave Gross’s spirited approach to giving back

Dave Gross describes himself and his wife, Dawn, as “serial entrepreneurs,” a phrase that has become so common in certain Silicon Valley–adjacent circles that it’s easy to miss its implications of restlessness, of perpetual creation. But the Grosses bring something different to the trope. Their partnership—romantic, professional, creative—dates to their days as high-school sweethearts in Conejo Valley and has evolved to encompass not just business ventures but philanthropy through their NewCo Foundation. Their latest endeavor, a Camarillo-based distillery and tasting room called Hiatus Craft House, combines these interests, with all future profits from the distillery headed straight for the foundation.

“I Braille. I distill. I do lots of stuff,” Dawn tells me with a tone that suggests she finds these accomplishments unremarkable. The former— Braille transcription—began as a necessity when her oldest son, who is blind, started school. It developed into a career spanning both literary and Nemeth (mathematical) Braille and includes Braille advocacy. The latter—distillation—is a more recent passion, though one with a surprisingly roundabout origin story.

“I wanted to open a pie shop,” she says. “Then it was a restaurant with pies as a featured item. Then it was a restaurant with a distillery.” In the end, the distillery seemed like the best way for them to spend time with the community, and that’s reflected in its name. “Naming it Hiatus was a way of inviting people to come and spend time with us,” Dawn says, “to take a break from whatever they might have been working on and just enjoy their time with us.” It’s an idea that feels almost radical in our productivity-obsessed culture: the notion that leisure itself, taking time away, has inherent value.

The ghost of Dawn’s pie shop dreams still haunts Hiatus in delightful ways. Their Pumpkin Spice Crème Liqueur evokes autumnal comfort, while their Blueberry Liqueur (Dawn’s favorite pie flavor is berry) showed up earlier this year in their Pi Day– inspired offering—a “Blueberry Pie-tini” featuring the berry liqueur and their Lemongrass and Honey Vodka, served in a glass rimmed with graham-cracker crumbs.

Their current bestsellers are Mocha Crème Liqueur, which Dawn likens to adult chocolate milk, and Fuego Blanco Jalapeño Agave. However, 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for Hiatus—one in which Dawn will bring her love of whiskeys to the fore. The whiskeys made from scratch in the 4,800-square-foot Camarillo facility are coming of age, with a 2-year-old straight bourbon out in June, followed by rye in August and an American single malt in November.

The timing for the latter couldn’t be better. In January, the U.S. government formally recognized American single malt as a distinct category of whiskey, something it hadn’t done in over 50 years, essentially creating an official space for American interpretations of Scotch tradition. “In craft distilling, it’s the biggest story in a long time,” Dave says.

While Dawn has been busy distilling, Dave is primarily front-ofhouse and operations. He’s hard at work on a Hiatus club program to coincide with the release of their first straight bourbon. You can taste these new offerings at the distillery-adjacent 600-square-foot tasting room, but Dave is also working towards regional distribution in bars, restaurants and select liquor stores by the end of 2025.

But perhaps the most impactful way you might interact with Dave and Dawn Gross is through the work of the NewCo Foundation, which all profits from Hiatus will help fund. This includes the 300 high-school-student interns the NewCo Foundation supports in programs at any one time countywide, plus Carpinteria. Then there’s the Miracle League 805 in Camarillo, which provides baseball for everyone and was the foundation’s biggest single donation to date. It’s a fitting example of how Dave and Dawn have used their work to bring a little play into others’ lives.

As our conversation winds down, I find myself thinking about the multiple meanings of craft in the context of this operation. There’s the literal craft of distillation, of course—the science and art that Dawn continues to study and perfect. But there’s also the craft of community-building, of creating space for connection, and giving back in ways that multiply impact rather than merely redirecting wealth. If their new whiskeys are anything like the Grosses, I expect them to be bold but approachable, accomplished but unpretentious, and likely to evolve in increasingly interesting ways.

Look for Hiatus Craft House at A Taste of Camarillo at the Camarillo Ranch House on Sunday, July 27, 2025. For more on NewCo Foundation visit NewCo.foundation.