The Three B’s

Once upon a cocktail, our good friend Hannah Fisher, came up with one of my favorite alliterations: The Bourbon & Brandy Babes.

It’s a catchy name we gave our girl gang within the spirits industry. What started out as a fun group has now brought together a mix of women within the spirits world who can relate to each other. We are all different ages, we all went to different colleges and are in different places in life but have come together over a similar interest. We all work together with the common goal of kicking ass at what we do. Not to sound too boastful, but a lot of us are responsible for actively shaping our companies while staying innovative within an industry that has been around for centuries. That’s a lot of pressure when most of us are only a couple decades old. Gathering all the help we can get, and then some, is the fool-proof game plan in my eyes.

Bourbon

Haley & I came from Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co. and make up the first B, along with our friend Liz Ratliff from Kentucky Artisan Distillery. Hannah introduced us to Liz and we all started meeting up every so often for lunch or for cocktails just to discuss life and get to know each other better. Haley’s favorite part was the cocktails and good conversation, while my favorite part was networking and making new contacts…but the drinks didn’t hurt either. 

Brandy

Hello Hannah! She comes from Copper & King’s to make up the second B. Coming from a world that has taught Haley and I to be competitive in everything we do, it was nice to learn that people in the spirits industry can utilize each other to create a win-win outcome every time. Hannah taught me this. People don’t just want one distillery experience, they want the whole shebang. All our companies have different experiences and we all bring something refreshing to the table. Once I realized this, it opened my eyes to so many more possibilities.  

Babes

All of you reading this make up the third B. We are constantly unofficially “recruiting” new members – shout out to our 21c Museum Hotel friends, Jema Baker and Mandy Boyd, and Nancy Bohn from Whisky Chicks who are new to the squad– to branch out and keep expanding our group. When I say recruiting, I really mean that we are constantly looking for new girls to share a drink with. Sometimes we just need to meet to bounce ideas off each other, and then other times we just meet to cheers to good cocktails. Whichever it is, it’s always much needed and the perfect mixture of work and play. 

As Corky Taylor always says, “Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.” This way, you always have someone to learn from and you can better yourself from knowing them. So, thank you to Hannah, Liz, Nancy, Jema & Mandy for making up the BBB’s with Haley and I and for always being willing to share your smarts with us. It wouldn’t be nearly as fun without ya.