The challenges of being a pregnant woman in whisky
From hiding their baby bump in photographs and from potential clients, to fearing they’d lose respect for taking maternity leave, pregnancy is an especially nuanced experience that women in whisky still navigate. Bethany Whymark asks those who’ve been through it how it has changed the way they work.
“I had concerns that I wouldn’t be taken seriously in the industry anymore if I was lucky enough to have a child. It had felt like enough of a fight sometimes just being a young woman starting out in the industry.”
As the UK-based editor of American Whiskey Magazine, Phoebe Calver’s job requires frequent transatlantic travel. In 2023 she fell pregnant with her first child and made an early decision to avoid the long flights and longer working days such travel involved. Despite it being the best choice for her health, Calver says it caused her a significant amount of anxiety. “It did leave me wondering if people would lose respect for me as an editor – or if they would even notice I wasn’t there,” she admits.
All working women who choose to have children will face discussions about the effects of pregnancy and parenthood on their professional life, but pregnant women who work in the whisky and drinks industry face a very specific set of challenges.
Jobs often involve travel, unsociable hours and shifts involving physical work. Then there’s the proximity to alcohol, a factor that can provoke unsympathetic or even judgemental reactions from people both in and outside the industry.
Hiding their ‘delicate condition’
Hebe Richardson, who runs her own social media company assisting whisky brands with training, strategy, content creation and promotion, says that outside of work with regular clients she largely kept her pregnancy a secret. Being self-employed, with diminished security against discrimination, she worried about missing out on work. She also stopped attending trade tastings, foregoing valuable networking opportunities. “I’m sure most work experiences would have been positive, but I didn’t have the luxury of risking finding out,” she says.
Phoebe Calver worried that her diminishing visibility would lead to a lack of respect.
For women working in public-facing positions such as hospitality or advocacy, their visibility to customers and the demands of shift work (both on their bodies and their time) present additional challenges.
Stephanie Peck, brand ambassador for Suntory’s blended Scotch whisky Ardray, is responsible for hosting tastings and training sessions, as well as organising activations and visiting trade partners. During her pregnancy she made adjustments to her travel schedule and didn’t participate in company tastings but did attend other whisky events to listen and nose the spirits. “I was faced with a certain amount of surprise from people at whisky shows, but only from a handful of consumers,” she notes.
However, the changes to her professional visibility didn’t stop at her non-participation in tastings. She says she was rarely photographed while working during her pregnancy – a decision made by her employer. If she was in front of the camera (like in the main image of this article), she was never allowed to hold a glass of whisky, and shots were staged in a way that would hide her bump.
“I totally understand we must always be compliant with advertising code and often it’s best to be safe, as pictures can be misinterpreted,” she says. “But if my job is to be the specialist on the brand, and I am able to complete my job without tasting the liquid, I’m not sure I see the issue for a pregnant woman to be photographed doing her job.”
Challenging assumptions
Richardson, who adapted how she filmed herself for social media content during her pregnancy, feels the presentation of pregnant people in whisky will be a tough nut to crack. “I want us to be more visible, but I understand that brands have to be extremely careful,” she says. “I’ve worked with a whisky brand where you couldn’t show alcohol touching lips, to avoid the risk of overconsumption promotion, so you can imagine how they’d feel about acknowledging pregnant people.”
Any job that involves tasting whisky would seem to be one of the least compatible with pregnancy, but this assumption disregards two important facts. Firstly, nosing and tasting are not the same as drinking, as they don’t necessarily result in consumption. Secondly, hormonal changes precipitated by pregnancy make a woman’s sense of smell much more acute.
Marianne Eaves didn’t disclose her pregnancy to her new employer in case her competency was questioned.
After making her name as a master distiller in Kentucky, Marianne Eaves was offered a job as master blender at Sweetens Cove in Tennessee when she was ‘very pregnant’ with her first child. “But I did not disclose that information specifically, because I knew that I could competently fulfil the role in which they were hiring me,” she explains.
“With my extra-sensitive palate, I was able to discern nuances and defects in samples much more intensely than prior. I knew that I would adjust my typical protocol and pace myself, rinse my palate between every sample and never swallow. The resulting product got amazing press and if the brand had any issue with my doing my job as a pregnant woman it never came up with me.”
Supporting expectant mothers
Eaves says she was paid for maternity leave while working as a consultant, an incredibly uncommon offer for self-employed women that she duly appreciated. It contrasted starkly with the culture she experienced during her time at one ‘historic’ Kentucky distillery, where she says she didn’t feel her transition to motherhood would be supported. “I left that company before the brown spirits I made were released,” she explains. “It was like I had to abandon one child I put blood sweat and tears into for years to actualise my hope of becoming a mother.”
Calver, too, says she occasionally felt penalised for her decision. “I’m sure, unfortunately, many expectant mothers in the industry will have experienced the odd comment about how they ‘won’t be the same again’ afterwards, or have questions raised about their ability to do their job on the other side of maternity leave,” she says. “I’m still furious that I had to hear that, particularly at such a vulnerable time.”
Speaking with other mothers in the industry, Richardson found the general attitude is that they find a way to make it work. “I think that’s the same in any industry,” she says, “but you have to be a bit more creative in the alcohol world.”
Eaves advises women who want to embark on the journey of motherhood to gather as much information about their employer’s maternity policies as possible. “If your company doesn't have good policies, I might look at a transition or to try and set up support in your own life that will make it possible to maintain both motherhood and your professional role, if that's your goal.”
Stephanie Peck wants visibility of pregnant women in whisky to be normalised.
Peck was the first woman in the Ardray advocacy team to have a child, presenting professional challenges that did not arise for male colleagues who’d become fathers, but says she was well supported. She believes normalising the presence of pregnancy in the whisky industry will help not just expectant mothers but those returning to work after giving birth. “The more people see mothers-to-be in the industry hosting, presenting and talking at events, the more normal it becomes,” she adds.
Considerate inclusion
There are positive signs that the drinks industry is making more space for pregnant people and parents. In January, Bushmills hosted its first Nollaig na mBan (known as ‘Women’s Christmas’ in Ireland) event in London exclusively for women and non-binary individuals, to which Richardson was invited to bring her daughter to. “I got to experience what can be possible when brands and… people at those brands, support everyone in the drinks world,” she remarks.
There are also industry-focused communities emerging such as the London-based @parents_in_hospo, which organises events for parents working in hospitality, shares childcare advice, and posts news on vacancies for job-seeking parents.
Calver emphasises the need for more accessible support. “I’d love to see an official place that working drinks industry parents can share tips, support, learnings and general rallying, because it’s a big adjustment coming back. I’ve had some beautiful messages from parents in the industry who offered words of support when I first came back and felt like I’d left a limb at home – that made a massive difference.”
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