By Kat McDaniel, Principal at MEDiAHEAD
In August, I went to Lexington, Kentucky for the nation’s ONLY female whiskey consumer conference. The Bourbon Women National SIPosium showcases and celebrates whiskey education and industry trends to 400+ women from across the nation.
There were exciting excursions, seminars about mixing whiskey cocktails, history and unique experiences like going to the contemporary art museum and designing whiskey labels with experts in that field.
Women account for 40% of all whiskey sales in the United States.
Alex Castle, Master Distiller and Senior Vice President told one of the most inspiring stories of the conference – she had graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, but had to start at the very bottom, rolling barrels, to get into the distillery business.
The men, who owned all of the distilleries at that time, fought having a woman in the room. Even though she had her degree in engineering, she felt every day that she was going to be fired because she kept telling them that what when they were constructing the stills, they were not doing it right.
Another story I loved was about a woman distiller in that lived high on a mountain called Black Rock in the Appalachians in the early 1800’s.
All the women distilled whiskey from leftover fruit, rye and corn, and there were over 15,000 distilleries spread across the US. She would see the Whiskey Tax men coming down the river and would run up a red flag over her house. This would alert the women to dismantle their stills and hide them in the woods. They would cover themselves in flour and start baking, because the smell of whiskey distilling in close to the smell of baking bread. They never got caught!
Meet and Greet with Bill Samuels, Maker’s Mark
We were also lucky enough to tour and meet with Bill Samuels – his mother and father started Maker’s Mark. She had a great presence behind her husband and was responsible for all the marketing, including the distinctive shape of the bottle and the red wax.
North Kansas City Woman Distiller
We have a woman distiller right here in North Kansas City – Benay Shannon is the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Restless Spirits Distilling Company. She went from teaching high school chemistry to making beverage alcohol for a living, sort of like Walter White but clean and legal. Her current best-seller is a gin, but she’s got an Irish Whiskey and is aging an American Single Malt.
Check out the organization at www.BourbonWomen.org
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We can’t forget that even though this is a business relationship, people’s feelings are involved. Most importantly, Kansas City is a VERY small town, so be respectful.
While we’ve felt the pains of the paper shortage in the printing industry for a long time, the extreme, national paper shortage is creating order delays and some printers are refusing work since they just don’t have any paper on the floor.
Got a product or service to sell? Then your company has value beyond the sale. Innovative companies communicate this value, directly and indirectly, every time they send a direct mail piece, blast an email, or design packaging for their products. How do they do that? It starts with creating a value proposition.
The pandemic created a silver lining for me and that was getting to know my clients in a different way.
It was also pretty hilarious as people were learning to use zoom. How many times have you yelled “turn on your microphone” or you can only see the top of their head.
How about all the relatives we need to go visit that have missed our faces/hugs that have been so needed for over a year? Book those trips, see those relatives and give those great big hugs. If you have the opportunity to get back into the office, you should do so. Being around people and your friends is a good thing.
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So many of us have turned to nature to escape and to diminish the many negative emotions stemming from the current state of the country and the isolation we’re experiencing. We’re rediscovering parks and hiking with friends at a safe distance. Our back yards have become our sanctuaries where we enjoy time with family and friends. Even removing your shoes and standing on the grass can reinvigorate your connection to the earth.
Foster, meeting the octopus every day for 250 days, learns about healing, caring and growing in a world filled with solace and newness. The eight armed animal touched his soul in a way nobody else did, he felt for her deeply as if it was someone he had to take care of.
