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. 

For our last feature, we’re sharing A Day in the Life of Susan Wahl, Heaven Hill Vice President of American Whiskeys.

How long have you been a part of the Heaven Hill family?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I have been with the Heaven Hill family for 17 years. This spans two periods with the company. For my second stint, I have been here for 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.​​​​​​​

My day-to-day job can look very different depending on the day! Most days, I move from meeting to meeting where I am collaborating internally with my team, leadership or with our agencies on strategy decisions for the American Whiskey portfolio and our Visitor Centers.

Then, there are those days that I get to get away from meetings. On some of those days, I may be heading off site to meet with our design agency on the expansion and new build of the Bourbon Heritage Center or meet with our Visitor Center teams to discuss tourism and operations, especially during COVID-19 where Bourbon tourism has been severely impacted. Other days, I may be leading a team on various new process development for the company as we try to successfully navigate and adopt to the immense growth we are experiencing. And still other days, I may have interviews with a Bourbon writer or have a presence at a conference where I may be asked to give insight into category trends or talk about new programming or brands from Heaven Hill. Then, there are those days, where I get to meet with my team members or others within the company to talk about their impact on the business, their career paths and it is a time where we can provide coaching and mentorship to each other. So many times those discussions lead to learning for me as well!

My job can have a lot of breadth to it, which means each day can look very different from the next. And, even when I have to sit in back-to-back meetings (which does happen), I am typically talking about a myriad of different topics, so it keeps things interesting. At the end of the day though (which for me can sometimes be 2:00 AM or later!), I go to sleep knowing that I am here to safeguard and build upon Heaven Hill’s 85 years of experience and dedication to American Whiskey. And, I am committed to doing what I can to help in any area where my impact can be positive, whether that is hauling boxes of giveaway items to an event and stuffing goodie bags for consumer or pushing a major strategy decision on a brand. I am a big believer that every action can result in an equal or bigger positive reaction!

Tell me a bit about why your job is so critical to the Heaven Hill Bourbon and American Whiskey-making process.

My job is to ensuring the company at large is thinking critically about the future of our American Whiskey portfolio. I am constantly trying to understand how we can build an even richer tradition tomorrow in American Whiskey than we have today. And, in whiskey, that requires a lot of forward-thinking. For example, we have a Parker’s Heritage product pipeline plan through 2030. We are working with production today on how we can build a better private barrel program for 2-5 years from now. We work with sales regularly to see to see how we can drive the value of brand up without losing its current momentum or volume growth. We work with FP&A to understand if our barrel inventory will sustain us for the next 20 – 30 years (which is the age of some our oldest products). And, we are working with our engineering and Visitor Center teams on the best use of our land in development of new visitor experiences, while still allowing production and rickhouse expansion as needed. The opportunity in the Bourbon & American Whiskey category is great today and we want to make sure we have the ability to take advantage of it for as long as possible.

What’s your favorite Heaven Hill memory?​​​​​​​

I have so many great memories, I don’t even know where to start! I have had the opportunity through my job to meet or see amazing celebrities like Blake Shelton, Lifehouse, Andre Agassi, and Anthony Davis to name a few. But, one of my favorite memories will always be my first trip to Vegas with Parker Beam. It was just when Bourbon was really in its infancy of growth and the modern Bourbon Boom had yet to see the explosive growth we see today. Parker Beam, Larry Kass and I were there for some seminars with our distributor team and we were visiting key on-premise accounts. We went to a wine bar in Mandalay Bay where they had a 4-story wine tower and a “wine angel” would glide through the tower to get your bottling. As we walked into the bar, Parker, wearing a leather bomber jacket and Aviator sunglasses, was immediately recognized by the bartender. The bartender was going crazy. He was so excited to meet Parker and he reached under the bar for his secret stash of Bourbon to share with us—which included Heaven Hill products. It was at that moment that I recognized our humble Master Distiller has gone from an ordinary guy with an extraordinary family history to straight up Rock Star status! He was the first real celebrity I met on my job here.

Which Heaven Hill corporate value do you feel your work best represents and why?

I believe that Passionately Committed to Excellence and Continuous Improvement are the two values that best represent my work. I like to think that I am very dedicated to doing the best job possible (knowing that is not always perfect). I will stay up late, take a call whenever you need me or work till all hours if it means getting the job done and done well. And, I am always looking to see how we can make our ideas for the American Whiskey portfolio bigger and better—which is where Continuous Improvement plays! 

What is your favorite thing about working for Heaven Hill?​​​​​​​

I get asked this all the time when we interview people and my answer has never really changed in all these years. I love working here because I believe that the work that I do really makes an impact to the company. That answer has been the same since I was an Assistant Brand Manager to my role today. There is nothing better than seeing a project that you championed or executed make it to the marketplace or a new process or strategy make an impact to the company. And, I really have the family to thank for that. From day one of my coming to Heaven Hill (which the first time was straight out of college), Max was always interested in my opinion even when I had little to no experience (though now that I think about it, he may have been testing my intelligence at the time!) and now Kate and Allan have taken on that role. That ability to really care about the ideas and willingness to speak with all levels of the company really helps reinforce that everyone has a voice and can make an impact.

We hope you enjoyed the new Day in the Life series!