A Day in the Life of David Mudd, Heaven Hill Director of Bottling Operations & Maintenance
Our first installment of A Day in the Life features several employees who play an important part in the production, distribution, and marketing of our Bourbon products. We asked each person the same set of questions to illustrate the vast differences, but also similarities between each role.
Next, we’re sharing A Day in the Life of David Mudd, Heaven Hill Director of Bottling Operations & Maintenance.
How long have you been a part of the Heaven Hill family?
Since February 2007, so about 13 years.
Since this series is titled “A Day in the Life,” tell us a bit about your day-to-day working for Heaven Hill.
Well, I work with a talented group of people who all have areas of expertise. I spend most of my day communicating with them either through daily meetings and or one on one communication. I also spend a lot of time working through daily issues ranging from staffing, safety, COVID-19, production, quality, maintenance, and most other issues that arise throughout the day. It’s like playing a big game of chess daily.
Tell me a bit about why your job is so critical to the Heaven Hill Bourbon and American Whiskey-making process.
First of all I work with Mike Sonne and Jerry Hall to maintain all the barrel warehouse sites, cistern, and dump rooms. Then ultimately get the whiskey/bourbon in the bottle from large runs of Evan Williams to smaller runs of program and single barrels. Our work is critical to Heaven Hill’s awesome products making it onto shelves across the country and the world.
What’s your favorite Heaven Hill memory?
I have several but I really enjoy watching people that I work with get an opportunity to advance in their careers. I also have a special memory of a recent retirement (Kaye Martin). I was invited to her retirement party and was just amazed at the support from both the Heaven Hill family and Kaye’s immediate family.
Which Heaven Hill corporate value do you feel your work best represents and why?
I would like to think Integrity, but I have lived the value of Nimbleness the most. In my 13 years of working at Heaven Hill I have held various roles: Barrel Warehouse Superintendent, Bottling Manager, Operations Manager, Interim Deep Eddy Plant Manager, Distillery Plant Manager, and my current role.
What is your favorite thing about working for Heaven Hill?
I like the family owned concept the most. I’m not into a corporate environment.
