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John Jeffery
John Jeffery
01:24

John Jeffery

Bently Heritage Estate Distillery

Minden, NV USA

"Mistakes aren’t things that went wrong—they’re just things that happen and you grow from them."

Career Roadmap

John's work combines: Food, Science, and Working with Others

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Day In The Life

Master Distiller

I manage production throughout the distillery and the associated staff.

01:43

Day In The Life Of A Master Distiller

My Day to Day

I help to run and troubleshoot our distilling equipment. I also spend a lot of time making sure my teams know how the equipment works to make the same product every day. When my teams are ready, I spend time giving them the creative confidence they need in order to design products rather than just making products on equipment they already know how to operate. When I get calls from our sales team about forecasted sales, I plan the corresponding production, down to how much grain we need to plant.

Skills & Education

Advice for getting started

A lot of people think that mistakes are these horrible things and you should avoid them. I believe that mistakes aren't things that went wrong—they're just things that happen and you grow from them. I didn't end up as head distiller because I planned it out and worked towards it. I got here because I made a lot of mistakes, which allowed me to try a lot of things, learn, and grow. Life is boring without risk. Anything worth having is worth leaving safety for.

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Exercise Science and Kinesiology

    University of Illinois

  • Graduate Degree

    Food Chemistry

    Michigan State University


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Life & Career Milestones

My path in life took a while to figure out

  • 1.

    I grew up in Chicago and lived there for the first 25 years of my life before moving away with my family—we’ve moved about 12 times since then!

  • 2.

    I got my undergraduate degree in kinesiology with a focus in exercise physiology from the University of Illinois.

  • 3.

    I worked in personal training and real estate for a while, but was considering moving on due to the instability surrounding the clients and income.

  • 4.

    After moving out of Chicago because of the economy, I developed an interest in food chemistry and found a professor who was working on agricultural economic development in Michigan.

  • 5.

    That professor was ignoring my emails because his program was at a standstill, so I showed up at his office and convinced him to let me participate and develop the program with him.

  • 6.

    After graduating from the food chemistry program, I was doing a lot of product research and development consulting work.

  • 7.

    One of the companies I had previously consulted for recommended me for this Bently Heritage Estate Distillery startup project in Nevada, so I took the opportunity.

  • 8.

    The Bently Heritage Estate Distillery started operating in early 2018 and I currently work as the head distiller.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Society in general:

    That's a big risk. It's not okay to make mistakes.

  • How I responded:

    A lot of people think that mistakes are these horrible things and you should avoid them. I believe that mistakes aren't things that went wrong—they're just things that happen and you grow from them. I didn't end up as head distiller because I planned it out and worked towards it. I got here because I made a lot of mistakes, which allowed me to try a lot of things, learn, and grow. Life is boring without risk. Anything worth having is worth leaving safety for.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • I was working in real estate in Chicago when the housing market collapsed. At the same time, I was tired of living in such a huge city with my young kids. So, my family and I moved and I pursued a career change.

  • I had to leave my family behind in Chicago for 6 months while I figured out graduate school in Michigan. We've also had to move around a lot because of the nature of my job. It gets hard but I'm now at a job where I can remain in place for a while.