Interview with Andrea Denise Meriwether, April 22, 2021

THOMPSON: --spring of 2021. I am conducting this interview as part of my work for that class and the Women in Bourbon Oral History Project. Today is Thursday, April 22, 2021. And it is my great honor and pleasure to interview Andrea Meriwether using TheirStory. Thank you for joining me today.

MERIWETHER: Thank you, Pam, thank you for having me.

THOMPSON: So we're going to begin with um, for the official record, please state and spell your name at birth.

MERIWETHER: Yes, Andrea Denise Meriwether, so that's A-n-d-r-e-a D-e-n-i-s-e M-e-r-i-w-e-t-h-e-r.

THOMPSON: Great. Now when and where were you born?

MERIWETHER: In Louisville, Kentucky.

THOMPSON: All right. Tell me about your experience growing up in Louisville in the 1990s.

MERIWETHER: Oh, absolutely. So my, my life was very adventurous. Um, 00:01:00I was raised in a very communal setting. Um, I had both sets of grandparents and my great-grandparents on my mom's side um, that did most of the looking out for me. So I was raised around a lot of old souls, good music, and very good whiskey.

THOMPSON: Great. Where did you go to school in Louisville?

MERIWETHER: I attended Southern um, Magnet Career Academy um on the south side of Louisville.

THOMPSON: Okay. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

MERIWETHER: I always wanted to do something in like radio or television or writing. Um I really just imagined that my life would be some sort of way of communicating something to people.

THOMPSON: Now you lived in Louisville most of your life, and you currently live in Louisville. What bond do you have with your community?

MERIWETHER: The bond that I have with my community is uh, authenticity and trust. Um, I believe in being in communities that reflect uh, people 00:02:00that look like me, share my ideals, um that feel very real to me. That's important.

THOMPSON: Tell me a little bit about your family background with your, your parents and your grandparents.

MERIWETHER: Absolutely. So um, I come from a middle-class working family. Um, my grandparents were very much into farming and agriculture. Uh, my dad's mom was super-enterprising. Um, she was actually a burlesque dancer at one point in her life, um which really explains a lot of the entertainment and hospitality that I was exposed to as a child.

THOMPSON: Great. Now what was your life when you, you grew up in the city or the suburbs, I guess, and then you went to visit your grandparents on the farm in Smith Grove? What was it like, going from one to the other?

MERIWETHER: It was very um--I guess now, I can come to appreciate 00:03:00having duality. But when I was young uh, being the youngest grandchild and the only girl, it was very frustrating. You know, you, you live this city life all week, and then as soon as Friday hits, you're shipped to this farm. It just makes you feel like wow, like it's like a culture shock.

THOMPSON: Well, you share a very special memory with your grandfather giving you pearls. Can you share that memory with us?

MERIWETHER: Yes, absolutely. So for my twenty-first birthday, my great-grandfather's tradition was that he would have a shot of whiskey with you on your twenty-first birthday. So being the youngest grandchild, the only girl, I'm, I'm at the bottom of the totem pole, I'm waiting on my moment. And it comes my time, and you know I'm really excited about going to visit them at this point. And I get there, and there's this beautiful jewelry box on the kitchen table, and I'm like what the hell is this? And --(laughs)-- he's 00:04:00like, "Open the box, you know it's your present. You know, you're a woman, you know, the, the, I--we've saved up, we have a beautiful gift for you." And I remember crying, like I was just so like upset by it because it made me feel like, you know, for years, he never treated me different from the boys. I had to chop wood, I had to slaughter hogs, I had to pull tobacco just like--and hunt, just like the rest of them. So that moment kind of pulled me back into a gender role, so it made me very uncomfortable. Um, and we talked through it, and he was like, "You really want to have a shot of whiskey?" And I was like, "Yeah. Cause I don't--all these years, you've never made me feel different, and I don't want to feel different today either."

THOMPSON: So was that your first encounter with bourbon or?

MERIWETHER: It--okay, so my grandmother--(laughs)--um I distinctly remember one winter, I was probably about five, and I was really, really cold. And my grandmother was really into herbs. And she made me a toddy because I 00:05:00started sneezing at her house. Like I don't ever remember taking over-the-counter medicine until probably I was a teenager. Anything else was like made my great-grandmother by her hands. And she made me this toddy, and all I remember was the next--I was knocked out that night, and the next morning I remember being just like, I was well. And I would always see her like rubbing whiskey on like the little babies' gums and things like that when they would get fussy. Um, and I was always sneaking into her Old Forester, it was like her most prized possession. And I always knew where she kept it, like right up under the kitchen sink, and I was always sneaking into it, which is why I have such a deep affinity for Old Forester today, because I feel like it was just so long.

THOMPSON: Would you say that was when you--that was your first love for bourbon began?

MERIWETHER: Yeah. So my first shot was my grandfather on my twenty-first birthday, Jack Daniels. Um, but I always remember, my grandmother 00:06:00would drink Pabst Blue Ribbon and a shot of Old Forester. That was like her nightly thing. Um--(laughs)-- and on Fridays, they used to have fish fry Fridays at her house. My grandmother was really into gambling. Like we were literally running like the most illegal operation in the household. But people would come here like just to eat her food, drink whisky with her, and drink beer. So like it was a thing, it was almost like a supplemental income to her. But her home was like very much the social epils--epicenter of the community. And people knew that they could always come here to be fed, they could have a good time, they could be themselves. And it wasn't about being fancy, it was very communal. So I try to exchange whiskey with people in the same manner.

THOMPSON: So you said they grew toba--tobacco and they raised pigs. Is there anything else they did on the farm?

MERIWETHER: Soybean. Um, my grandfather used to make bathtub gin. I 00:07:00used to wonder why we had all these old bathtubs in the backyard. So he would make like wine. We had a ton of peach trees. So he would do wine, bathtub gin, and I'm telling you, that stuff smelled like rubbing alcohol like times ten.

THOMPSON: Oh. So that sounds like fun, a wonderful time. Now we talked a little bit about growing up in Louisville. Let's talk about your adult life. So where did you go to college, and what did you major in?

MERIWETHER: The University of Kentucky, and I majored in public relations.

THOMPSON: Okay, and why did you major--why did you pick that major?

MERIWETHER: I guess when I thought about, you know, the idea of like being on TV and things like that, I was really more vested in communicating on the behalf of others, because I found that people really struggled about how to communicate their own personal brands. So I really wanted to help and develop around that because I felt comfortable representing people. And I, I felt very comfortable like strategizing in the development of how the outside world would 00:08:00view a brand. So that's why I really, you know, just focused on that. And I was actually dating an athlete at the time, and uh we went overseas to kind of like help him get started on his athletic career. And that's why I left so early.

THOMPSON: Okay. Where uh, where did your um, where did you land your first job after college?

MERIWETHER: My first job after college was at the Pendennis Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Um, they put out an ad, they needed support service staff. And I had talked um to the hiring manager at the time, Miss Mary, and I told her, you know, I just had a ton of interest in food and beverage. Um, I really wanted to learn the traditional craft-style bartending, and she was like, "Well, you're in the right place because we do everything based on the classics here." And what I've learned over the trajectory of my career is that everything 00:09:00starts with the classic. You can't do a riff until you have mastered the classics.

THOMPSON: So what was your experience like working at the Pendennis, given its historical significance?

MERIWETHER: I would say it's very old-world. And I'm obsessed with history, so it was like walking around a museum, um really just learning about, you know, a lot of the families that had really lifelong legacies there, their contributions to the area and the state, various sectors of business. Um, really um, learned about--a lot about the um history of hospitality for persons of color, because they had pretty much been the backbone of aper--operations for that establishment. And really just the energy between uh, socio classism, um really learned about that there, because I mean you are dealing with wealth, 00:10:00um new and old, um and just those dynamics between um your labor, your support staff, and people that actually have the money to enjoy those amenities.

THOMPSON: Well, how did your university studies in communication prepare you for your first job? Did that help?

MERIWETHER: I would say yes, because you really learn personal skills in communications, any area of study. So psychology, like really understanding how you sell a service or experience to people, depending on where their socioeconomics lie. And people would be really surprised to know that, you know, most people that have wealth, they really don't tend to spend on luxury. Um, anything that they invest in, it's really a part of the larger scheme of their life of where they're trying to be, or to obtain. Uh, they're very much savers, they, they very much keep an eye on their money. So I, I could always 00:11:00really disting--distinguish where people were class-wise, depending on the experiences that they would have at the club.

THOMPSON: All right. Well, in 2009, you started working for Louisville Tourism. What prompted you to change jobs?

MERIWETHER: Well, um the good thing about being at the club was getting exposed to so many people, like names and I would drop like, people wouldn't know them, but if you're from this area, you would know those family names. Um, at a, a board member from Louisville Tourism, they were like, "You know, there are all these vacancies at the agency, you know, you should really look into one of them." And I mean I had no experience. And it, a lot of hires are based on relationship and who you know, uh not so much what you know, but who. 00:12:00And, you know, I went in, I felt like I totally bombed that interview. But Dineene Bradley was the president--the vice-president of Leisure and Bourbon Tourism at the time. And she said she was just so enamored with my curiosity, and she felt like I had the work ethic and just the acumen to really bring something special to that area of tourism. She really did take a chance on me. I was very young, I was, I was twenty-five, I had no experience, and she just felt like there was something special about me.

THOMPSON: Well, while you were looking-- working at the Louisville Tourism, you celebrated a very special birthday. Would you tell us about that special birthday?

MERIWETHER: Yeah, so it was my twenty-fifth birthday. (laughter) And while I had had bourbon experiences at home with close family members, when I think about bourbon travel tourism today, and the kind of tours that people go on, nothing in the world, nothing compares to the tour that I had on twenty-fifth birthday. Uh, so I remember getting picked up by my --(?)-- tour bus and being 00:13:00handed this piece of paper that I was going to be um, escorted by Jimmy Russell, uh the late Al Young of--Jimmy Russell of Wild Turkey, uh the late Al Young of Four Roses, and Freddie Jay Johnson from Buffalo Trace, which are icons of previous generations and definitely super-mega-icons of mine. And I had no idea who they were, like I, I mean it just baffles me to this day. I literally have one picture from that tour, and I could just like kick myself. Um, at the time, Al Young had just written his book, with Four Roses, and I had one of the first original copies that he produced and, you know, just thinking about things like that now. But I remember, you know, them really just giving me a very personal behind-the-scene, walking me around the distillery, explaining the 00:14:00process of bourbon, why there's such a historical and consumer affinity for it. And even they were projecting then so many years ago that in my generation, I would see such a thirst and a boom for bourbon that it would seem unreal.

THOMPSON: Wow, that's great. So what was the experience that helped you decide to pursue a career in hospitality?

MERIWETHER: Hm, I would say I guess I just loved um, my experience at Louisville Tourism because I was working with a lot of group tours, I was working with um, yeah a lot of group tours, a lot of international guests, just people from all other parts of the US and abroad. And all of their needs were different, and I really enjoyed the challenge in that uh, having this um, autonomy, if 00:15:00you will, to really curate these trip itineraries that spoke to the specific needs and groups. Um it really made--it really forced me to learn about my city and my state, you know, our bandwidth for what we could and could not do, um and really uh helped me develop relationships with establishments that I still work with today.

THOMPSON: Well, how would you define good southern hospitality?

MERIWETHER: Good southern hospitality, I would say, first starts with um, executing well. Um, being very mindful of the needs of your customer before they even know that they have a need. Um, really striving not to meet the mark, but to exceed it. And that it feels warm, it feels like home, it feels very personable, um and that it feels memorable in a way that they are 00:16:00going to be your best advertisement to tell someone about the experience that they had.

THOMPSON: Uh, well if someone was visiting Louisville for the first time, what would you suggest be the top things not to miss?

MERIWETHER: The top things not to miss, um, I'm a huge history person, so I send everyone to the Frazier. Um I think that's just super-important that you start with history. Um, I would definitely send them to one of our farming sites, be it uh Farnsley-Moremen, historic Locust Grove. We have such beautiful eighteenth century style farming sites that really give you um just authentic insight into eighteenth century culture around our city so that you can kind of compare, like, what Kentucky looked like on the frontier and how it grew um, really into modern development. I think that that is so important.

THOMPSON: What would you like people to know about Louisville? Like 00:17:00what does this--the city have to offer?

MERIWETHER: I want people to know that we are heritage --[audio cuts out]--uh beyond what--[audio cuts out]--and not limiting us um, at bourbon and food, but the rich history, the artisans, the architecture, um we are just a very culture-rich city and region.

THOMPSON: All right, well you are the entrepreneur of BarFare Concepts, which you founded in, in uh, 2018. Tell me about your company. What does your company do?

MERIWETHER: Yes, so originally, I started out my company just purely uh, for consulting purposes. Um, I had been in hospitality around--I was getting close to my ten-year mark, I felt like I had reached the tenure in my area of expertise, and I really wanted to lend that in a very thoughtful way to the food and beverage industry um, because I felt like it was very needed. I, 00:18:00I'm not the person that waited for opportunities to come to me, I really sought them out. Um and I was very intentional about who I wanted to work with um, in that next phase of my life.

THOMPSON: Well how did you arrive at this concept?

MERIWETHER: So I didn't want to just be uh, filed into a silo of oh, you're a spirits expert, or oh, you're a food person. This--and I felt like BarFare really spoke to the full spectrum of where food and beverage could reach from marketing to history to curation to experiential development. Um, and I really wanted to pivot my talents in a way that I felt like, you know, I could col--consult you on a myriad or projects, but also bring in a level of innovation that maybe your brand or your restaurant group or your hotel group had not considered, that would actually allow you to activate how you 00:19:00do food and beverage to various consumer bases as well.

THOMPSON: All right, well, what is your role in the company?

MERIWETHER: So my role in the company is, I'm, I'm the current CEO. Um, I--I'm actually actively bringing on more people into the company because um, pre-COVID, we were really uh consulting with a lot of venue properties that needed hospitality talent. Um, I I love developing talent, it's, it's one of things that I absolutely love to do. So making sure that these venues had really strong operational teams. Um I got a ton of those contracts immediately because, you know, it just took away from the venue managers and owners being able to have proper staffing that they needed for their events and experiences, and I really um, jumped on a lot of those contracts early. Um and then because I had worked on some major hotel developments, um, I--and I knew how to 00:20:00work with the real estate developer, I would be able to get into projects before they were built to make sure that they were, you know, logistically sound, that the service protocols were in place. Operational management uh, was really uh a strong backbone of the concept, and that the concept really worked in our market. Uh, because I was doing a ton of data analysis, I'm a data person, uh so that was really important. And I felt like my agency and the, the firm that I was developing did something very unique that other agencies weren't doing.

THOMPSON: Well, why was it important for you to create this company?

MERIWETHER: I felt like as a woman of color, uh because of the way that I built uh myself professionally and entrepreneurially, people were not uh looking for me. Uh, they weren't eager to hire me, they weren't eager to give me opportunities. Uh, one of my first management jobs was given to me by 00:21:00a diverse uh, food and beverage re-- uh, real estate developer, and he was just really impressed by my resume, really impressed uh, by my work ethic, and he too took a chance on me. And it made me feel like in starting this company, that talent like me, uh because I really didn't have a ton of mentors, and the mentors that I had early on were Asian men or Black men in the sector, very male-dominated. I wanted to be able to be that representation of what you could accomplish uh, with hard work and really drive and really wanting to do something that people said you couldn't do. So I, I wanted to be that, that example to a future generation of entrepreneurial women that identified as BIPOC that you can do this.

THOMPSON: What role do you see it filling?

MERIWETHER: I see it filling uh very niche roles, um especially with 00:22:00the workforce shortage that we've been having in hospitality pre-and-post-pandemic, because people don't know this. We were already on a trend of a lot of people beginning to exit hospitality and food and beverage work uh for various reasons. Um and it was really about, you know, how do we help ten-year talent like me, people that have been in the industry maybe on the service side, ten years or more, how do we pivot them into entrepreneurship? Because those skills and that expertise that they have are very transferable. And they um, are really a workforce that I feel like is overlooked when it comes into pivoting them into entrepreneurship. Um, and I think they really get trapped into career work when they could easily be pivoted into entrepreneurship.

THOMPSON: Now you talked about working with, like, hotels coming in and large industries. Is that your only target audience, or are you uh, looking into other dif--type of clients?

MERIWETHER: I'm definitely looking into other type of clients. I, I 00:23:00had ventured into like, new projects uh that, um you know, like new spirits brands coming aboard, new food and beverage produc--projects. Because one thing that I've been really good on is developing collaborations and synergies. So if I find the spirits product, I may pair them with a bartender that can create cocktails with the product, which makes them a little bit more um, accepting in the marketplace, being just presenting their product as a neat pour, or pairing them with uh, a cordial or a liqueur company so that people again have another way of experiencing your product, versus just as a pour. Um, so really just doing that, I pride myself on innovation, I don't uh, stick to traditional methods, I'm willing to try different things.

THOMPSON: Well, how did you come about naming your company BarFare Concepts?

MERIWETHER: So I wanted something that was easy to communicate. I 00:24:00know that from communications, that you don't want it to be so wordsmithy or, you know, you don't want people to think--have to think too hard about what you do. So I said we're, we're developing concepts and innovations around spirits and food, BarFare, perfect--[audio cuts out]--I was like--[audio cuts out]--um, and it works.

THOMPSON: Yes, very. Um, simple to remember, very easy. Well, what are some of the biggest challenges you've faced as a female entrepreneur in getting your company off the ground?

MERIWETHER: I funded everything myself. I had no loans, I had no investments. Um, work, make money, put it in the company, work, make money, put it in the company, and that's what I did, and that's what I continue to do. Um I didn't want to--that was the one thing I really learned um, from my male 00:25:00mentors. They operated very lean, but they, they did not operate debt-heavy companies. And I understood that keeping your overhead low gave you the wings to do more with your business. So I said, you know, I just kind of set myself on this trajectory that a certain percentage of anything that I made always immediately went back into the company.

THOMPSON: All right. Well, Brian Cushing, the program director at Locust Grove, has called you a bourbon enthusiast, spirits historian, and a veteran cocktail artisan. Those are some wonderful titles, but how do you embody each of these roles?

MERIWETHER: I pride myself on being an enthusiast because I never want to get to a place where I've reached my pinnacle of curiosity. So I always want to be enthusiastic and excited to discover and explore. I believe that's what keeps my innovation and my energy alive and vibrant and fresh. Um, I'm never 00:26:00just, oh, well, I've had the best bourbons in the world, and that's it. There are more bourbons to be had, um and I always want to keep that notion. Uh, spirits historian, I am very much, in anything that I do, inspired by history. I start with history, and everything that I did --(?)-- myself with research and development. Uh I spend countless hours in it uh before I go to create anything. Um, what was the last one?

THOMPSON: Veteran cocktail artisan.

MERIWETHER: Yeah, so I talk about, you know, not only should anything that I create taste good, it needs to look good, it needs to look like art. Like everything I do goes back to some sort of artistic element. So you know, how do we make rosemary stand up to replicate a,a, a different visual aesthetic? Uh, those things are important to me. And how are we making raw 00:27:00elements, you know, just appeal in another visual beautiful way that, you know, people look at them beyond their, their normal functionality. Now it's really become a statement piece, a story, um those other things that are important to me as I create.

THOMPSON: Well, why do you think it's so important for people to know the history behind the beverage they're drinking?

MERIWETHER: After the foundation, it exposes you not only to experience, but time and place. Uh, which goes back to memory and story and contribution and impact. And I feel like whenever you're consuming something, it should hit you on all sensory levels, and it should also challenge your thinking.

THOMPSON: Well, what would you tell first-time bourbon drinkers?

MERIWETHER: I would tell first-time bourbon drinkers not to get wrapped up in the marketing. Like really do your research of that brand, like 00:28:00how did they come up with the name, when? I feel like time and place gives us so much context to explore something further, to take a deeper dive, you know. You know, are there any cool stories about how they came up with the funding of their brand? Like are, are they a part of those historical brands that we know and love that survived prohibition, because we know that that was a very crucial time uh, for surviving our industry. Um, you know, or did they go to the family, like a lot of these brands, you know, were lucky enough to have family that would say, "Yeah, I'll invest in your brand." And then what do you do, you know, when you learn and explore the companies that went belly-up just--(laughs)- just to create these historical brands and to have that lasting legacy. Um, I think that makes the experience of the exper-- of the spirit just that much more fascinating for the consumer. And I think it, it really gets them 00:29:00beyond the, the product, the look, the taste, the feel. Um, at that point, it humanizes the experience.

THOMPSON: How would you give a bourbon connoisseur the ultimate bourbon experience?

MERIWETHER: Yeah, so I have one very strict rule that I tell everyone, and it applies to, at any level that you're ex--uh exploring bourbon: Never nose with your mouth close. (laughs) It, it's the one tip that no what--no matter where you are in your bourbon experience, you never nose with your mouth closed, like that ethanol will hit you and knock you down. Um, always, you know, have some water, have something to cleanse your palette. There's no shame. No one just started out their bourbon journey just drinking a hundred and thirty proof straight from the barrel and survived. That's a lie, like don't let people con you into--don't make them make you feel bad, depending on where you 00:30:00start. Bourbon is a journey.

THOMPSON: Okay. You are the founder and director of Farm Distilled Residency at the historic Locust Grove, and so I know it, it mixes farming with business. Can you tell us something about that?

MERIWETHER: Yes. Um, that program --(laughs)--, again, I was doing some R & D, I was doing some historical research. And something that I, I had always dreamed of is, you know, how do we get talent and trade, you know, those worlds to really collide in a very thoughtful way? And I said, you know, what if I brought talent, you know, to a historical distilling site and, you know, really got them, you know, engaged in, you know. Well, according to the research of the land and the vegetation and the produce grown there, that helps us discover what would've been distilled or produced there. Um, the hearth, the kitchen, the culinary aspect, how that fused with the preservation of food. 00:31:00The farming and the agriculture and the woodworking, all of those historical trades that we've gotten away from, that we were very dependent upon uh, to operate our, our, our--how we live, how we eat and drink. Uh, real food preservation and sustainability, and the ways that we can innovate that as a trade person in food and beverage. Um, I feel like it would ignite education, it'd--it would spark history, it would really drive innovation by current creators in a way that we had never seen. And it would allow them to explore all these areas and really develop their own personal career plans from maybe things that they had not considered previously. Um, and also, I thought that it could be a place of solace. I just know as a creative, getting out of my traditional everyday elements to create really sparks new ideas in me. You know, 00:32:00you're out on a farm, you're in a green space and open your head. Um, I just really thought that it could be a safe space in a creative environment for uh, food and beverage talent.

THOMPSON: Is that how that concept came about?

MERIWETHER: Yes, I mean I literally went from searching through archives to really just having multiple days there where I was just experiencing parts of historical trade. And I said how cool would it be if other people that were skilled talent like me came here to explore this this way.

THOMPSON: Well then when you presented your new concept to Locust Grove, how did the staff at Locust Grove react?

MERIWETHER: They were so supportive and super-excited. It, it just felt like a good collaboration that really brought alive like what they did. And it, and it brought talent there, which is something that you normally don't see 00:33:00in those historic spaces. You see specific niches of audiences and people that come there, but not really thinking about how we use historical spaces to innovate workforce development. It wa-- it was a new concept.

THOMPSON: Your research on the enslaved people who helped to build Kentucky farm distilleries is creating a new future for the industry's overlooked past. How did you do your research, and where did you begin?

MERIWETHER: Really, I began uh--my grand--my great-grandfather when I was younger, he told me if I was ever going to take on the task of --[audio cuts out]--I had to go back to the land.

THOMPSON: Okay, stop for a minute, I think we had a break. Go back to--you said your grandfather.

MERIWETHER: Sure. My great-grandfather told me that if I was ever going to discor--discover the story of us as--speaking as an African American 00:34:00influence in, in the farming and the ag space, I had to go back to the land. So I just began doing a lot of land research, property research, um smaller farming sites, because there, there's actually a difference between a farm and a plantation. Um, and really just researching, you know, the full experience of people that were there, how they operated, who operated what, what kind of talent would've been needed at those farming sites to keep operations going. Um, and Locust Grove was just, they were at a place where they were so ready to embrace the idea of new narratives and what--how we could heal through experiences. And I thought that it was just a, a beautiful time, and it was the right time to do it.

THOMPSON: I understand this is your first year. How many candidates 00:35:00do you have participating in the Farm Distilled Red--Residency? And what do you hope they will accomplish?

MERIWETHER: Sure. So I just held my first uh, information session in New Orleans, Louisiana, a couple of weeks ago, uh because I'm intentionally going outside of the market and focusing on the south. Uh, because what we noticed--or what I personally noticed like with the pandemic, a lot of the BIPOC female talent of color that traditionally would be in your major metros came back to their, their native geographic area that they came from because again--[audio cuts out]-- during the pandemic, loss of jobs. A lot of them came home, and a lot of them had native roots in the south. So what I wanted to do is to be very intentional to make sure that I recruited where they were so that I 00:36:00could figure out how we retain that talent in our area. And I knew that education, innovation, and applicable training would really speak volumes to them. So when I held my first training, I had about twenty-one people join the, join the info session via um, Zoom, and then I had another twenty-five show up in person. And most of them reflect--were either women or identified as BIPOC. So in this inaugural class of--submissions actually open up next week--we are accepting five students into the inaugural program.

THOMPSON: Okay. Now you're also involved in other projects at Locust Grove, including the Living Room Series called "From the Hearth Kitchen."

MERIWETHER: Yes.

THOMPSON: Tell us some about--something about these other projects that you've worked at Locust Grove.

MERIWETHER: Sure. Um, in my partnership with Locust Grove, I do 00:37:00believe in being a very engaged partner um, in any facet that I'm in. I said, you know, we're home during COVID, you know, we need to keep our donors and, you know, people still focused on the work that we're doing, I said, so let's educate people with --(?)-- of spirits And I'm doing it from the hearth kitchen because it was a way to combine food and spirits. So we would take um, either--[audio cuts out]--produced on the land, or focus on some of the historical aspects of the spirits, and we made a, a TV series out of it. Um, and it was a way to just educate people and keep them engaged in their food and beverage and history interest.

THOMPSON: All right, now uh, you have a new role as the Director of Brand Strategy and Innovation at TKT and Associates. Um, when did you start working there, and how did this come about?

MERIWETHER: Yes, so um, leadership at TKT and I had been actually having conversation for a little bit over a year. And I was really still really in this space of no, no, I don't want to come back into the corporate world, you know, I want to be an entrepreneur, I'm not interested, thank you. (laughs) But uh, I--you know, I was very hesitant. But the more that I researched the company, um researched just the work that they were doing, um I wanted to be a part of an engine. That's how I felt about it, I wanted to be a part of an engine uh that was woman and minority-owned and operated. And we negotiated our deal out accordingly, and I was very happy to join the team.

THOMPSON: So what does uh, your new role entail?

MERIWETHER: Sure. So with uh, Branding and Innovation, you know, with our clients, you know, the need to be relevant, to be cutting edge, to 00:39:00be--to meet the challenges of future workforce and economic development, business development is ongoing, and it's very strategic. Uh, so I love working with the partners to figure out, you know, what are their company goals and objectives, like what are the next things that they want to tackle short-term and long-term in their company? And how do we get there together as a, as a partner to establish those goals, to make them uh attainable and realistic? Uh so I'm, I'm a part of a lot of development, uh with a lot of our company partners and just making their goals and objectives from community reinvestment to economic development a reality.

THOMPSON: Okay, inclusion and equality uh--equal opportunity for all people is the heart of TKT and Associates' culture and one of the driving 00:40:00principles. What service does the company provide to achieve those?

MERIWETHER: Yeah, so as a managed service provider, um and being woman-owned and minority-certified, uh we essentially serve as a clearinghouse for supplier diversity. We have a database of vendors um, that we make sure are certified, can perform various aspects of work for various business sectors. Um, and really employing, uh supplier diversity in vendor relations in a very intentional way, uh making sure that companies, again, can build relationships with diverse vendors to meet their spend goals, their talent goals, their recruitment goals, uh their economic impact goals. Um, going beyond performative so that they build legacies of inclusion that they can be proud of.

THOMPSON: Well who are your typical clients?

MERIWETHER: So typically uh healthcare, automotive. Um, me coming in with a food and beverage background, I'm really tackling that sector of business, uh but mostly healthcare and automotive.

THOMPSON: Well, describe your job, like a typical day um, in the life of Andrea Meriwether.

MERIWETHER: Yeah, so I live in the world of whiteboarding,--(laughs)-- timelines, um, and really working with my team in a way that we are challenging the way that we attack our products, that we aren't just staying siloed and oh, well we can only solve this problem one way. I encourage everyone to come to our team meetings with a, a minimum three to four ways that we can be a great solutionist or strategist uh, to our partners. To make sure that 00:42:00we're not leaving any opportunity for innovation out.

THOMPSON: What is the-- oh I'm sorry.

MERIWETHER: --Oh, we have a concept called the Comit--The Commitment of Continuity, so believing that DEI [diversity, equity, inclusion] can be a part of every area of your business, from how you spend money, to who you employ, to the communities that you do business with, we believe it's full spectrum.

THOMPSON: What is the most rewarding part of your job?

MERIWETHER: I love seeing people solve problems in creative ways. I, I love when our tech teams work together with our strategists to really build these technology solutions that just, wow, and really optimize what we can do beyond the physical and human capability. I, I love when we develop things that people have never done. Uh, I, I love that, and I love how everyone works 00:43:00together with a, with a joint mind of we want to execute for the customer in a very superior way.

THOMPSON: Well, looking at the male-dominated role in the bourbon's industry, how has the role of women changed in the last ten to fifteen years, since we're talking about women?

MERIWETHER: Absolutely. I feel like women are still the heart of this industry. Um, and and some of us at some time are the heads. Um, and then even to go a little bit further, we're the heart and the head--(laughter)--uh, of of the industry. And it's really keeping--it's really re-energizing the pulse of the industry I can feel it, um and especially being a younger woman, seeing younger women come into the industry at such a rapid rate really warns me to let me know that, you know, we are making some progress in how we view uh, the 00:44:00contributions and the impact of women um, in our space that we are respecting their genius, we're respecting uh their perspective, and we're really doing better to make sure that this is a culture and sector of business that they can feel safe to be a part of.

THOMPSON: What helped to broaden the audience for bourbon to include women from like a marketing pre-- uh perspective?

MERIWETHER: I would say the storytelling was so important, when brands really started to highlight their female master distillers, their female ownership, the female um, operators. When, when brands really started to share those women's experiences, I think it, it may-- it gave us a presence, it gave us a voice. Um, and it really, um, again, really humanized us in a way that 00:45:00previously we had not been humanized before.

THOMPSON: When do you think the shift started to take place?

MERIWETHER: I would say probably the start of early 2000s um, when you had people like um, Joyce Nethery, Marianne Barnes, Peggy Noe Stevens being a master taster, and then pivoting and starting um, a consumer-driven organization specifically for women. Like that was just very remarkable in a way of how it really brought the importance of channeling the female perspective, uh not just from a branding, but an economic impact perspective as well.

THOMPSON: Now you just mentioned some very important women who are taking leadership roles in the industry. You know, why do you think this is so important? Because it seems there are more and more coming every day.

MERIWETHER: Yes. I mean, I mean my, my favorite example of all time 00:46:00is Fawn Weaver. I mean, as a woman of color with no spirits experience, mostly just business, and she prides herself on saying she had a lot of failed mentors uh, before coming into this. Being a woman of color raising sixty million dollars for a whiskey company, and basing her business, like her foundation of her business is history. She was doing historic--you know, historical research is what led her into business development in the spirits world. And, you know, really being intentional about developing a, a woman-led executive team, um from how they conduct business, to producing spirits, it's very women-infused, and she was very intentional about that. Even her sales team is super-diverse. Um, she is really one of the first brands that I would say, that's 00:47:00woman-led, that normalized DE and I as we know it today.

THOMPSON: Well, tell me more about the progress um, um DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion in bourbon. Like what, what should brands be doing to promote DEI?

MERIWETHER: Well, I will say that I-- the thing that I'm most proud of is that we are having the discussion that, that DEI is something that we should really get in front of and be a little bit more engaged with. Um, but I tell any brand um, that's really trying to really be strategic and implement in a very thoughtful way, that they should start with the data. Like start with what you know to be real about your company. What's your company's history? Um, what--in communities have you engaged with? What does economic development and impact look like in diverse spaces? Who are you doing business with? Who is 00:48:00consuming your product? And what are the opportunities to engage other spaces where you've never been before? Um, I always say start with the data um, so that you can develop objectives and strategy that makes sense for your business.

THOMPSON: Now what are the biggest challenges you've had to face, though, and how did you overcome them?

MERIWETHER: I think that um, because of time and the pressure, like we need to be so immediate in re--our response. One of the first places we lean to is philanthropy, but even in philanthropy, if it's not strategic, and all the goals aren't being met, to me, that's more performative than anything.

THOMPSON: All right. It's been a year since Breonna Taylor was killed in Louisville. How has the Breonna Taylor killing and the Black Lives Matter movement affected your life?

MERIWETHER: I had a moment um, I think it was like right before uh Daniel Cameron released that he wouldn't--well, no, it was the day uh that he released that no charges would be brought against these officers. It was the first day, really, as a, as a Black woman, that I felt like there was no safe space for me in the world than in my own skin.

THOMPSON: Wow.

MERIWETHER: And I had never, I had felt that way previously, even being in a v-- a very male-Caucasian-dominated industry. It was the one day that I had ever felt the most vulnerable in my life.

THOMPSON: That's got to be hard.

MERIWETHER: Yeah.

THOMPSON: Well, how did it impact in the broader bourbon industry, like given that it's based in Kentucky where Breonna was killed?

MERIWETHER: I would say for the first time, um, the industry realized 00:50:00that it wasn't, it wasn't just about the product that we produced, but it was about um, the ideas that we reflect, the representation, the engagement that we were having with these communities. You know, people don't realize that a lot of our, our major distilleries are in minority communities. Um, presently, predominantly minority communities and gentrified uh minority communities, our, our major distilleries are in these areas, and that there was such a wall and such a barrier, um to how we were engaging in those spaces. And I, and I think it just really opened up the opportunity for us to start to see one 00:51:00another beyond race, but to see us as people, people that had a daughter like Breonna Taylor. Breonna Taylor was a daughter, she was a sister, she was a healthcare worker. I think it really humanized the loss of a person from our community.

THOMPSON: Well, you just mentioned that a lot of the distilleries were in an area where minorities were. So that kind of leads in--um how would you describe the relationship of the bourbon ind--industry towards Blacks, African Americans, people of color, and other ethnic and religious minorities? What type of relationship is there between the bourbon industry and these minorities?

MERIWETHER: I think that there's much work to be done. Um, cause it's very amazing to me--um and I reside in West Louisville--but it's very amazing to me that people that have lived there for years didn't even know what those manufacturing sites were. They have no idea what they were, they have 00:52:00no relation to them at all. And I felt like there was a ton of opportunity for education of people sharing, you know, this is what we do at this site, this is our brand, you know. Um, what opportunities are there for employment at these sites? You know, you're right there in that community. Um, I think it really presented a huge opportunity to--for cross-cultural exchange and educational exchange between the community and those sites.

THOMPSON: Well, in June of 2020, the KDA [Kentucky Distillers Association] issued a strong statement in support of DEI specifically in response to events over the summer, the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. How has this expressed commitment to DEI from the KDA impacted you and your work?

MERIWETHER: I would say, um because most people don't know this uh, I was actually the first DEI facilitator for the KDA while they were 00:53:00working on that process in really helping them figure out how we, you know, create and engage our trade work with our community, um and really helping us work through our challenges in a way that, you know, we can achieve the same goals because a lot of them were shared from the community to the corporate lens. Um, and that really realizing that those two worlds could no longer stay siloed, and that we had to figure out how we were going to collaborate, um again, to meet long-term goals and needs. Um, I was very honored when Eric Gregory called me to be a part um, of that process, um because it felt like it was a time to really um, step up and not just, you know, be a participant, but to also be accountable in the change, and to be the change that we 00:54:00wanted to see.

THOMPSON: What are their long-term goals?

MERIWETHER: The long-term goals are to make sure that we are engaging with diverse communities in a way that they don't just feel like consumers, that--but that they really feel a part of the industry. Uh, we know that we have a ton of workforce shortages coming up. We have um, Black--new Black brands that have officially joined the KDA in it's hundred-year history that we've never seen, you know. And how do we just make sure that for the future, that we see more growth and expansion in those areas? Um, and and again, just making sure that we're not being performative in our approach, that we are being intentional, um that we are being thoughtful, respectful, all the things, and that this learning won't just be situational, but instead it would be consistent.

THOMPSON: Well, that leads into my next question, because Brough 00:55:00Brothers Distillery just became the first and only African-American-owned, licensed, and operating distillery in the state of Kentucky that is also, like you said, a part of KDA's Bourbon Trail. So what are your thoughts on that?

MERIWETHER: My thought is that it's, it's a longtime coming. I think that um, people of color are returning to some of that--[audio cuts out]--distillation history that we had a ton of impact on. And people are really making their way back um, to that sector of business. Um, I think that it, it would've happened eventually. I'm, I'm glad that it happened soomer-- sooner than later. Um, and, and that, you know, they were also Kentucky natives, and that, you know, that made that even more special than being the first to join. Um, it's really just going to open the door to many more to come.

THOMPSON: So what is the significance of this representation on the 00:56:00Kentucky Bourbon Trail, that more will join them, do you think? Or?

MERIWETHER: I, I think that it will, it will make, it will make the, the road not necessarily less-traveled, but it, but it will increase the accessibility, it will look more attainable. Um, that--and that's why representation matters in that space because someone has to take the lead um, to get into that. I mean it's no secret, getting into spirits production is very expensive, a very top-heavy investment. It takes a very special skillset to get into that sector of industry. And hopefully that it will inspire the next generation of diverse creatives to say, "If one person stepped out and did it, so can we."

THOMPSON: Well, I also understand there was a bit of controversy, given that they have recently filed a lawsuit against Fresh, another 00:57:00African-American-owned distillery in Lexington. And that gives us two African-American-owned distilleries in Kentucky. And they follow on the heels of the great success of Uncle Nearest over the border in Tennessee. As an African American or Black bourbon aficionado, what are your thoughts on the rising number of African-American-owned distilleries and brands?

MERIWETHER: I feel like again, it's a, it's a very niche specialty sector of business. Um, I think that it's not to be entered uh, lightly or without the knowledge and the team to really execute in a very strong way. Um, I think that we will see more growth in this area of business uh, from, from diverse investors and producers. Um, as people are more educated about the distilled spirits industry as a whole, um I think, I think we, we will continue 00:58:00to see projected growth uh from minorities um into this space. But um, what I am most looking forward to seeing is, you know, just those unicorn diverse brands that are created. I, I want to live to see a Black Pappy Van Winkle.

THOMPSON: So you think this will help with maybe the consumer base?

MERIWETHER: Oh, absolutely. I think that, you know, it will--and and again, depending on how it's marketed in those diverse spaces, that we will see a growth of diverse consumers as well in various areas of distilled spirits, not just bourbon.

THOMPSON: You've been invol--involved in Louisville tourism since 2009. And you currently serve on the Black Travel Advisory Panel. When was it 00:59:00formed and why?

MERIWETHER: Sure, so the Black Travel Advisory Panel was formed officially last year. Um, it was really just a response to ensure that, you know, we were really being intentional about, you know, everyone that visits our city, but making sure that, especially for diverse travel that, we weren't leaving them out in the tourism experience. Um, you know, when people think Kentucky anymore, the first thing they think about is bourbon. Well, what about Mohammad Ali, and what about baseball, and what about uh, our our Black artisans like Ed Hamilton, you know, just other people that have contributed to culture and heritage of our state. You know, we can speak to myriad of African American travelers and their needs and uh tourism groups that uh identifies and really giving them 01:00:00an authentic uh cultural and heritage experience.

THOMPSON: So you've curated a cultured inspired destination tour project with the Louisville tourism, and it's to uplift the narrative of the African American contributors in the food, in the beverage, arts, and culture space, and it's called Unfiltered Truth. Can you please tell me a little bit about that initiative?

MERIWETHER: Yeah, so the idea was, again, activating history--[audio cuts out]--came alive, and that it lived in multiple destination sites. We have tons of destination sites. And I personally believe that these diverse stories didn't just need to live in Black spaces, they needed to live wherever the history correlated. Um, there's Black baseball history, there's Black art history, there's Black food history. Those things didn't need to just, again, stay in historically Black spaces. And then how do we encourage tourists, not 01:01:00just that are minority, but people that have food history interests, sports history interests, to hear diverse stories wherever they are.

THOMPSON: So you're including everybody in your audience. Just--

MERIWETHER: --absolutely.--

THOMPSON: --okay. Well, how did you imagine it would work to reach its goal with this audience?

MERIWETHER: Um, I imagined that, you know, the destination partners--the, the positive of COVID was being able to get the activations built at the destination sites, the destination partners could practice what their tour experiences could be, they could really like fine-tune them. Um, and then you know, some of them may just have developed a smaller scale of the experience, and they're working towards, you know, a larger scale of production. Um, and that gives growth so that the experience doesn't stale out, it's not boring, it's very fresh. Um and, you know, again, just making history become interactive. And 01:02:00I think that that was the most important thing that, you know, people could come, have these specialty experiences, learn history, learn unique facts about Louisville, um from a different lens and a different narrative.

THOMPSON: When do you think it'll be uh, launched?

MERIWETHER: So it is officially launching in its first phase uh, this month.

THOMPSON: Oh, great, wonderful, something to look forward to.

MERIWETHER: Absolutely.

THOMPSON: All right, this has been uh--we've had a year in the pandemic, it's a been a year in, and how has the global COVID-19 pandemic impacted the bourbon ins--industry?

MERIWETHER: It's really forced us to come out of our shell. We've had to embrace e-commerce, technology, uh talent shortages, operating lean, uh being innovative in our marketing approach um. It's really tested our bandwidth and 01:03:00our thresholds.

THOMPSON: Well, there's been also a lot of press about how the global pandemic has disproportionately affected women, and especially Black women, women of color, Latinx women in the workplace. As a woman, how has the pandemic impacted you?

MERIWETHER: I would say people um, have noticed, noticed me more if that makes sense. I don't think that, you know, people were considering, you know, wow, here's a, a woman of color with talent. You know, how are we intentional about how we engage her in projects and, you know, really engaging her perspective and her experience in a way that could actually help us meet our company goals, things that we're trying to do. I think it was the first time that people really saw women of color as a true asset and respected uh, what they brought to the table.

THOMPSON: Okay. What changes have you had to make with your company to meet the needs of your clients during the pandemic?

MERIWETHER: Really bringing people up to speed on technology. It was a very educational period. Um, we had already been very technology-forward. And I did that purposely because I just kind of--I like to stay ahead of trends, so I had been doing virtual experiences for a while. So a ton of people needed consulting in that area because they were trying to figure out what aspects of their business they could pretty much operate out of at, at the technology capacity. So helping them decide what platforms were, you know, easy to integrate, you know and what part of the business fit--would be a best fit for technology and not shifting too much um, of what the company does into too many things new to manage. Um, really operating in a way that was sound and efficient and optimized uh, company business. Um, I had been doing that for a while, so I was 01:05:00spending a ton of time on phone consults and uh beta software and just all of those things. And I, I was glad that I had kind of been ahead of the curve.

THOMPSON: Well, how do you think that adaptations made during COVID-19, like your cocktails-to-go and your contactless everything and curbside pick-up and all that, would impact the post-COVID hospitality economy?

MERIWETHER: I think it really helped us line up what uh, streams of revenue and service will work um, according to customer need and preference. Uh, how do we adapt customers to new ways of service uh, that don't compromise the experience that they know, love, and enjoy? How do we begin to give our talent the proper time to be good parents, have that work-life balance? Now that we've incorporated technology and contactless, you know, what does 01:06:00engagement look like for the consumer and the talent relationship and their notion of the business? Um, again, just a lot of things to assess and analyze, but again, giving us challenges that can absolutely be met.

THOMPSON: So how are we going to encounter a better hospitality experience post-COVID-19?

MERIWETHER: I think we have to be more intentional about engagement, you know? It's a nice follow up to say, "How did you enjoy your contactless delivery, or what version of our alternative hospitality service do you enjoy the most or least?" Really depending on the customer for that feedback that we need to make sure that we're giving them um, the product that aligns with the investment in our services.

THOMPSON: How do you see your role as an educator?

MERIWETHER: As an educator, I think it's very important because I have never left the notion that I have just, again, arrived in this place 01:07:00of knowing it all, studied it all. I'm always constantly educating myself on new trends and new flavor pairings and new products and services. And really just inspiring people to constantly read and educate yourself. Make sure that your technique is up to par. Like there's nothing wrong with taking a new cocktail development class, learning about a new class of spirit, uh just so that you really stay on top of development and honing your craft.

THOMPSON: Well, how do you measure success in your educational role?

MERIWETHER: I measure my success when someone--uh especially for me, um everyone really um is, "Oh my god, you're the bourbon queen--[audio cuts out]--Really, I'm super-interested in coffee, and I've actually been studying coffee the past few years. And I'm looking forward to really transitioning a 01:08:00lot of my interest into that space.

THOMPSON: All right. Where do you see yourself in five years or ten years from now?

MERIWETHER: In five years, I want to invest uh my time in hospitality workforce development. I really want to VC new food and beverage concepts, that's really my dream. Um, I really want to invest in the next future in creatives of food and beverage, that's, that's what I want to do.

THOMPSON: All right. Who has been your mentor in life?

MERIWETHER: I had two early mentors, I ha--uh Erick Sydow and Eric Batchelor. Uh, I say with--my time with Erick Sydow, I really learned the art of negotiation. Uh, with Eric Batchelor, I really learned operations like just in-and-out, operations management, concept development, he taught me all of that. Uh, really from Fawn Weaver, I, I glean a lot of leadership uh 01:09:00because leadership is a totally different skill set. Um, and I can really appreciate how she steers and works alongside of her team, I can respect that. Um, that's uh very enlightening to me.

THOMPSON: How do you hope to serve as a mentor, and, and what advice would you give to the mentees?

MERIWETHER: The first advice I would give to a mentee is that life-work balance is very important, self-care is very important. You can only produce as well as you have nurtured yourself. You are one person, one body, very few tentacles, and you cannot do it all. Which is why it's very important to develop a team of people that are better at things than you so that you really optimize the reach um, and the execution of your company.

THOMPSON: What have been the most memorial-- uh memorable experiences in your career?

MERIWETHER: Uh, when I was recognized by Gentleman Jack um as the Spirited Woman of the Year. The uh--I actually missed the awards ceremony because I was so tired. And they were like, "Oh, Andrea, come here." I was like, I, I just physically can't, so I actually missed --(laughs)-- getting my award, but they, they sent it to me. Um, that that was huge. Um, getting featured in Bourbon Plus was just like my super-super-big thing, because so many people that I view as icons have been in that magazine and featured. And having just this whole spread on me, and it--I was, I was very humbled, I was very honored um to have been on the pages next to so many other um historians and icons in the spirits industry.

THOMPSON: I'd like to know, what's your favorite bourbon?

MERIWETHER: Old Forester 100 until I die.

THOMPSON: (laughs) Okay, all right. And uh, how do you like to drink your bourbon?

MERIWETHER: Neat.

THOMPSON: What makes a good bourbon?

MERIWETHER: A story.

THOMPSON: All right. What bourbon do you recommend for someone who says they don't like bourbon?

MERIWETHER: If you don't like bourbon, I guess it would depend on what you don't like. If you just said that, "I don't like bourbon because it's too strong," I would say go over to, hm, go over to Woodford because those sweeter bourbons tend to win people over. I always say, the worst thing you can do with a new consumer is take them straight to 100 proof. It's just, it fail every time. Like start people, and then let them graduate and work themselves up. That's why I always tell people, "Treat, treat journey-- treat bourbon like an expedition."

THOMPSON: All right. What advice would you give to students trying to enter the industry?

MERIWETHER: Uh, learn everything. I think that has what has been a lot of the success for me is that I never siloed myself in what I could learn. I wanted to learn bartending, I wanted to learn management, I wanted to learn culinary. I learned it all. I took--I never thought that I was above anyone that I served alongside, and that I could glean and learn from anyone. Um, and I, I was very receptive and open and willing uh, to work. Um, there--there's not uh, uh a position that I haven't served, front or back of the house, in a restaurant. Um, and I think that helps me really understand the full scope and the spectrum of how things operate, and that is so important.

THOMPSON: So where do you see the industry in five years or ten years from now?

MERIWETHER: I see it very, very woman-led, I see, very diverse people 01:13:00in areas of leadership, and I see talent respected and validated in a way that our food and beverage experience is more equitable than we could've ever imagined.

THOMPSON: What are the important trends uh, we should be paying attention to?

MERIWETHER: Ready-to-drink, all those--ready-to-drink is a trend that is going to really skyrocket how we experience drinks in the future. You know, it really makes me nervous because I'm like oh my god, I can't imagine a classic cocktail being in an aluminum can. However, if it gets more people to consider it because it's in an aluminum can, okay, let's go with it. Um, I, I love that we're bringing more natural and raw produce and vegetation back into 01:14:00cocktail development. Um, I think it really challenges our senses, which is really important. Whoever thought that one day they would be drinking rosemary-infused liqueurs and cocktails? It's new, right? Uh, I believe that the service industry is going to get livable wages that were well overdue. Um, and I believe that restauranteurs will really be um, honorable in how they set their margins to make sure that their teams are getting livable wages.

THOMPSON: Very good. Well, while the industry is now beginning to pay greater attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion, what will it take for these commitments to become part of the unspoken assumed norm?

MERIWETHER: It will take the brightest minds industry coming 01:15:00together, really hearing real-life experiences from trade to operations to ownership. Really coming together so that all--[audio cuts out]--table. Um, it can't be one-sided; we can no longer go back to operating in siloes. We can't just be worried about making profit. We have to be just as equally concerned about our labor, our suppliers, all areas and facets of business that it takes to keep this engine well-oiled and operating. Um, and the sacrifices that are going to have to be made. Real negotiation is going to go down--(laughs)--in the future, but I think that we can get there when we put aside um, our selfishness, and we really think about our economic ecosystem when it comes to the food and beverage space.

THOMPSON: All right, one last question. What hopes, dreams, 01:16:00aspirations do you wish would become a reality with the next generation entering the industry?

MERIWETHER: Absolutely. I want younger people to know that they can have viable careers in food and beverage. I, I don't want them to look down on starting as a barback and working your way up to management. I want women to know that they can come over and be respected as women. They don't have to compromise themselves. They don't have to feel unsafe in this industry. And that they can--they are valued um, in that they can uh -- again, just, just not feel, you know, subdominant to male leadership and um male ways of operating business or how they conduct um, client relations, that women again just don't have to put themselves in compromising positions to be successful. Uh, that 01:17:00people of color can glean from history, knowing that we really are the backbone and the architects of hospitality and be proud of that. And that we can really own those narratives for the future and really rebuild them in a way that solidifies not just our labor, but our contributions and our talent in a way that makes us new historical icons in the hospitality space.

THOMPSON: Is there anything else you'd like to add or make sure it's on the official record?

MERIWETHER: On the official record, as a woman, I, I just want to say that while progress has been made, much work is to be done. Um, we are only as powerful as the next woman beside us, um and that we can all do more to uplift the next woman, so that we can ensure that future generations of women feel 01:18:00inspired and empowered to be the best version of themselves.

THOMPSON: All right, very well said. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today.

MERIWETHER: Thank you so much, Pam. I'm so honored. You all have a wonderful day.

[End of interview.]