BY: SYDNEY JONES
It’s April 2016, and I’m asked a question that I’m not anticipating.
I’m standing on the production floor of a small, but modestly sized craft distillery. There’s a boiler in the left corner, like a beating heart, rhythmically pumping steam to the twin smoldering pot stills that neighbor it. Crystalline new-make whiskey is gently flowing out of each still’s parrot, tinkling like quiet waterfalls into their respective drums. An agitator whines in the background, industrial white noise. I’m hugging my purse against my body like a life preserver, tasting glass in hand, gripping it so tightly it’s a miracle it doesn’t crack in my palm. I’m nervous, but in a giddy way, and am acutely aware that at any given moment, I may word-vomit too much enthusiasm. I’m reminding myself to keep it together when the question comes, from the distillery’s Proprietor and Master Distiller: “What exactly is it that you do for work?”
2016 was a tumultuous year for me. I was two years out of college, with a shiny degree in Psychology that I had no idea how to turn into a career. I was freshly married, but to a volatile and controlling partner, and my personal identity was shrinking faster than I realized. I was chipping away at an unpaid internship, but I was losing my passion and drive, and the work was beginning to feel more Sisyphean than satisfactory. And yet, I had found whiskey. Two years prior, I moved to a town on the Kentucky-Tennessee border and promptly fell deeply in love with bourbon; its history, its science, its vast prism of flavors. Whiskey excited and intrigued me, but it remained strictly compartmentalized as a hobby. I had no idea how to gain entry into an industry that felt very much off-limits, and looking back, I know now I was searching for something like the STEPUP Foundation.
And then, that fateful April, on a private tour with MB Roland Distillery’s owners, I asked one too many highly specific, whiskey-nerd questions, and my entire life changed with one single question: “What exactly is it that you do for work?”
What happened next was an opportunity, one that I knew I wasn’t qualified for, but was offered anyway: a part-time job that consisted of running the distillery’s retail shop, conducting distillery tours, and most importantly, assisting in distillery production. The hobby wasn’t just a hobby anymore; it was an open window to a room I thought was locked, an empty chair at a table I believed was too crowded. That opportunity became a gift, which became a lifeline, which became a legitimate occupation, now going ten years strong, at one of the largest spirits companies in the country. All because, on a random afternoon, at a small Kentucky distillery, someone saw something in me that I didn’t know was there and offered me an outstretched hand.
In 2021, after my short time with MB Roland and several years at Manifest Distilling in Jacksonville, FL, I was offered a position with FEW Spirits, in Evanston, IL. Through FEW’s connections with the American Craft Spirits Association, I was made aware of a new program called the STEPUP Foundation, aimed at providing on-the-job spirits education and training to non-traditional populations in the distilling industry. People of color, LGBTQIA, people with different abilities, women. When STEPUP was first pitched to me, I couldn’t help but think of that nervous girl in 2016, desperate to find her place in the whiskey industry. How significantly her life changed because a kind person gave her a shot, and how far she’s traveled since. She’s still with me, in the back of my head, the pit of my stomach, in the warm parts of my heart. She’s the one that whispers “Good luck” to yeast every single time I pitch them into a fresh whiskey mash. The professional I am today would not exist had someone not believed in that girl ten years ago, and I’ve been able to pay that gift forward through my work with STEPUP.
In the years I’ve volunteered with the Foundation, I’ve had the honor and privilege to serve on the STEPUP Selection Committee, where I’ve met incredible humans who are hungry and passionate about distilled spirits. I’ve read their stories and listened to their testimonies, and the excitement they feel for the learning opportunities STEPUP offers is palpable and electric. Most recently, I’ve helped the STEPUP program transition into a newly formatted, online learning platform, while also joining the STEPUP Board of Directors. My favorite STEPUP experience, by far, has been serving as Mentor for the 2025 STEPUP Trainee, Keyah Boyd.
Keyah is magic incarnate. Sitting on calls with her, listening to her breathlessly describe tinkering with gin trials and running stills, will always be one of the most rewarding and inspiring experiences of my life. I fully believe she is the future of distillation and I’m just thrilled to be along for the ride, the stardust that is following her blazing comet. Keyah has taught me one of my most favorite STEPUP tenants: the trainees change your life as much as you change theirs. Keyah has made me better, in every possible way.
Outside of STEPUP, I now work as a Lead Distillery Technician for the Heaven Hill Springs Distillery, a $200-million newly constructed facility in Bardstown, KY, operationally capable of churning out 500 barrels of whiskey a day. One of the most common questions I’m asked involves the role of automation versus the role of people: “Is AI just running this whole facility?” And my answer is always no, as we always have people on site running our equipment, but most importantly: distillation does not happen without humans. People are the driving force for this science, which is also art, which goes against the very laws of nature. There is a distinctly human element to making whiskey and rum and gin and agave spirits and everything in between.
The distilled spirits industry has made massive strides in recent years towards inclusivity, and the existence of the STEPUP Foundation is evidence of that. The beauty of STEPUP is that, at its core, it recognizes that distilled spirits are made by creative and passionate people, while also knowing that creative and passionate people are not defined by a single gender, ethnicity, ability, sexuality, or background. STEPUP exists to identify these individuals and help them succeed. The mountain has not gotten any smaller, but the Foundation has given our trainees the tools they need to climb it. But, of all the ways STEPUP positively impacts our industry, the trickle-down effect is my favorite. Empowered people empower other people, and it’s my dream for our STEPUP trainees to run their own distilleries, create their own distilled spirits, and one day offer their own life-changing opportunities to those that go looking for it. Because sometimes, it can start with asking a simple question: “What exactly is it that you do for work? What exactly is it that you want to do?”
Sydney Jones is a Lead Distillery Technician at the newly-constructed Heaven Hill Springs Distillery in Bardstown, KY. Previously, she served as the first female Head Distiller for FEW Spirits in Evanston, IL, and has been working in the distilled spirits industry since 2016.
Sydney specializes in whiskey and gin production, as well as distilled spirits education. She regularly presents educational material for the American Craft Spirits Association, the James B. Beam Institute, and the Bourbon Capital Alliance, and also co-hosted the Spirits & Distilling podcast, interviewing spirits producers across the industry on all things technical.
Sydney has also served as a Board Member and Treasurer for the Northeast Florida chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild, worked as a Judge for the Beverage Testing Institute in Chicago, IL, and taught as an educator with Brewing and Distilling Educational Services in Lexington, KY.
