Her Story
About Elizabeth
I've been working my whole life, starting with roofing and home construction since I was old enough to walk. My first official paid job was as a hostess and bus girl, and I worked my way up to server. I've worked in hospitality and tourism since I was young, and I've been in management in that field for many years. Over my career, I've done everything from housekeeping to hotel operations, selling tickets, serving on safety committees, updating emergency management plans, and creating training manuals. I worked at our county health department for 6 years as a WIC breastfeeding peer counselor, and I was a correction officer for 2 years. I spent 5 years at Shaker Village, a nonprofit that was very near and dear to my heart, where I learned a lot about myself professionally and personally, about how far I can push myself while educating people and keeping history alive. In the bourbon industry, I've been here for 18 months. I started as a bourbon educator at Heaven Hill and got promoted after 9 months to lead bourbon educator. My role has expanded again in the last month to take on more responsibilities. Today, as manager on duty, I run whole shifts, do scheduling, lead pre-shift meetings, conduct tastings, handle customer service issues, work on inventory, and serve as an event liaison overseeing team engagement and ticketing. I recently worked the International Wine and Spirits Competition, helping get that set up. I'm not meant to be entry level anywhere I go, but I believe a true leader should start at entry level so they know every position under them. I stay busy all day long, and I'm always learning new things.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Elizabeth
01What do you attribute your success to?
My success comes from that need to succeed. It's through adversity. I mean, I had a troubled home life, and it was difficult, and it was abusive, and I promised myself that nobody is going to dictate my self-worth. And that I will strive for success, and I will survive and succeed regardless of what anybody else puts in front of me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
To learn to delegate. That was a big one, because I have a hard time asking for help, but realizing my limits, and realizing what I can achieve in a certain amount of time, and learning that it is okay to pass off certain tasks to other people. That is something that I've valued so much, because as you learn to delegate, you have better time management.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Learn as much as you can, and know that nobody can hold you down but you, and that nobody can hold you back. So, the sky's the limit, and if you walk with confidence, you talk with confidence, you will be a confident person, and people will believe what you say.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
As far as challenges go, it's seen as a man's world for the bourbon industry, but women don't understand that women actually started fermentation. So, showing that we can be just as active, and just as much, I have a love for bourbon and whiskey, and know what we're talking about, be able to educate people. Challenges being that we're just taking on new responsibilities, and learning how to juggle those, as well as continue what we're already doing. But I always look at a challenge as something positive, because I learn something new, and I'm able to achieve it, and it's so much more rewarding when I can.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Strong work ethic, honesty, integrity. Being true to yourself, and realizing that it is okay to feel whatever you feel, or think a certain way. Your actions are what dictates what type of person you are. So, if you feel anger, you have to figure out how to put that to a positive, put it out there positively, and not let it rule your life. I'm all about teamwork and support, always uplift the other person. You can find something positive about every single person and situation that you are in, regardless of how terrible it is, and we never know what type of person, or what a person is going through, so I always try to support each other. And just show up, and show up positively.
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