Meet the mentee: Rebecca Murphy, Two Trees Distilling
Physical therapist-turned distillery operations manager, Rebecca Murphy of Two Trees Distilling Co. in North Carolina has successfully followed her passion for whisky. She explains how mentorship helped to give herself permission to grow.
OurWhisky Foundation: Hi Rebecca! Tell us a a little bit about your background.
Rebecca Murphy: I live near Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are part of the Appalachian Mountain Range. Our mountains here are tree covered, soft and rounded, very familial feeling.
Growing up I was very quiet, a good student. I played high school sports and was in the band. I’m the oldest of three sisters. These days, I still like playing music, going to concerts, museums and spending time reading.
OWF: Can you explain what your role entails and what you’re currently working on?
RM: I run the day-to-day operations of the Two Trees distillery. I work with our Production Manager to plan our production calendar which we base off orders received and sales projections. I keep track of our available inventory of finished goods, manage the inventory of raw materials and order more bottles, labels, or whatever we need to keep the production schedule moving.
I receive all the orders that come in, whether they’re for finished goods (a case of Two Trees Bourbon for example), or bulk spirits (a tote of 95 Rye whiskey at high proof). I coordinate the shipping with the distributor, the freight company and our production crew to make sure the shipments have the correct product, paperwork and are ready to go on time. I make sure our accounts payable folks have all the information they need to bill. I also create monthly reports to make sure we pay the right amount of tax.
OWF: When did your love of whisky begin and why?
RM: I was a physical therapist for over a decade before I began my career in whisky. I really enjoyed working with patients and helping them improve the quality of their lives. When I moved to Asheville they had an emerging (now thriving!) craft beer scene. I really enjoyed learning about the process and how to appreciate quality craft beer. It was an easy step from there to whisky.
When a friend of mine married, they had a Bourbon bar at the reception. I tried Woodford Reserve for the first time and it blew my mind. I had no idea whisky could taste like that! I dove into learning more about the process after that experience.
OWF: What do you love most about whisky?
RM: I love that no matter what your area of interest, you can find that in whisky and explore it. Really love science? The chemistry of what happens during whisky maturation will blow your mind. Fascinated by botany? Look into the agricultural process of growing grain, and then how barley is malted. Love a good story, especially when it’s true? Look into the history of whisky, the spirit itself, the different laws around it, stories of how different brands came to be.
Chemistry, botany, stories: There is more to whisky than meets the eye.
OWF: Why did you apply for the OurWhisky Foundation Mentorship Programme?
RM: I’m new to this field. I had very little business experience coming into whisky and I knew that was something I needed to work on and develop, I just had no idea how.
The Mentorship Programme came onto my radar at the exact right time. As soon as I heard about it (on Instagram), I knew I had to apply.
OWF: What were the biggest challenges for you in progressing?
RM: I’m naturally quiet and shy. Networking and putting myself out there, or bragging about myself and my accomplishments are still really challenging for me.
OWF: How did you work with your mentor to overcome these?
RM: I know everyone says this, but I don’t know how the OurWhisky team matches mentees and mentors up so well. I felt like I was perfectly matched with Becky Harris, from Catoctin Creek Distillery. Becky is a wealth of knowledge and she was so generous with her time, and her expertise.
She is really savvy on the business side of things. She really helped by ‘giving me permission’ to be more assertive at work, or to hold a boundary more efficiently. She had a really amazing way of helping me see things more clearly.
OWF: What was your biggest accomplishment during the programme?
RM: Six months before the programme started, I was given the additional responsibility of Tasting Room Manager. This meant I had to train and hire staff, write SOPs for procedures, manage timecards, payroll, buy merch, manage our social media, run events, etc. I ran our entire front of house operations for a year.
This is very outside my comfort zone! I’m pretty quiet, and providing that quality guest experience in our Tasting Room took a lot out of me. But, over the year, I was able to improve our foot traffic and double our sales over the previous year, to the point that Tasting Room Manager is now a full-time job and I’ve passed the torch to someone else to run with.
OWF: What are you working on at the moment?
RM: Usually we’d be getting ready for a busy holiday season. However, this year is a little different. Hurricane Helene came through our area about a month ago and completely destroyed a lot of our infrastructure. We were extremely lucky at the distillery that we had minimal damage. We were about two weeks without water or power, and about three-and-a-half weeks without internet.
I know it’s not much, but since we got water and power back we’ve been supplying a water point in our parking lot for our community. I’m really grateful that we’re able to give back to our community in a positive way.
Learn, teach, repeat: Three words Murphy lives by to give back to other women in whisky.
OWF: What was your favourite part of the entire Mentorship Programme?
RM: If I had to pick one, it’s the relationships I formed with the other mentees. I was so proud when someone would share a struggle or a work ‘fail’ and the rest of the group would offer suggestions or support. To be vulnerable and admit that you’re lost is such a brave thing to do.
And when someone had a big ‘win’ that they shared? That felt like a win for all of us.
OWF: How has this experience changed how you feel about being a woman in this industry?
RM: I used to feel completely alone. Like I was the only woman in whisky. I know that’s not true, obviously, but in my everyday life, it was 100% men that I was interacting with. This experience has opened my eyes and given me a sense of place, and a sense of belonging. It made me feel like I have a future here.
OWF: How has this programme empowered you to empower others?
RM: I have a post-it note on my desk that I wrote: ‘Learn, Teach, Repeat.’ I don’t feel like I have all the answers by any means, but now that I’ve been given a hand to take one step forward, I feel like it’s my responsibility to reach a hand back and help others. That’s how we learn, how we grow, and that helps us all in our community.
OWF: What advice would you give someone applying for or starting the programme?
RM: You’ll hear this over and over again, but it is a mentee-led programme: you get out of it what you put into it. I know I was really grateful for the six months I was in the programme because it forced me to sit still, take stock and reflect, and come up with a plan.
If you take the time, and give yourself a chance to really think about what you want, how you want to get there, this is *your* time, so take advantage of it.
OWF: What are your hopes for the future for women working in whisky?
RM: In the short term, realising that we’re all in this together. Regardless of what sector of the whisky business we work in, or what company we work for, we can all lift each other up.
I really hope that women in whisky stop doubting themselves and being their own worst critic, and worst enemy. It’s time to be our biggest champions. There is so much opportunity, and so much out there just waiting for us, for our skills, for our abilities.
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