Ellen Wakelam, co-founder and proprietor of In the Welsh Wind, an award-winning west Wales distillery, was named a winner at the prestigious Natwest Everywoman Awards 2021, which honour remarkable women in business throughout the UK.
In December 2021, Ellen, who created the distillery with her partner Alex Jungmayr, received the ‘Demeter’ category, which honours the most inspiring woman running a business that has been in operation for three to five years.
She was raised in Tresaith and attended Cardigan Secondary School before attending Liverpool John Moores University and Aberystwyth University to study geography and postgraduate teaching.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Describe your background and what did you do before you founded/joined the company?
I grew up in west Wales and was keen to spread my wings to go to university. I studied Environmental Sciences in Liverpool, returned to Wales, to Aberystwyth to train as a teacher, and then moved to Wolverhampton in the Midlands, to take up work as a secondary school Geography teacher. Although I loved teaching, I didn’t enjoy the bureaucracy and politics that went with it and after a few years in the job, became quite disillusioned. At the same time, my partner Alex and I were involved in a serious car accident, and the need for something to change was irresistible. We both missed Wales, so we decided to move back there. While Alex relished the opportunities the move opened up for him, I found it difficult to adjust and find my new groove. Alex had been planning to run around Wales unsupported but he sensed I was struggling and switched directions. When he explained that he thought we could walk around Wales together, wild camping as we went, I jumped at the chance of adventure that this offered.
It took us 3 months to complete the journey. It was completely transformative. For me, I overcame the physical challenges presented by the knee injury I’d sustained in the car accident, but more importantly, I recovered a sense of who I was. As a result of this time, we made the decision to build a business together in west Wales. The distillery came about a couple of years later, following a trip to Scotland. Travelling the North Coast 500 in September 2017 in our camper van and with our toddler son, we discovered several small craft distilleries making spirits reflective of the landscapes where they were situated. We were inspired by the work they were doing and felt that we could do something similar back on the Welsh coast that we loved.
Tell us more about the company.
We returned from our trip to Scotland and had founded the distillery by January 2018 with a £25,000 loan from a relative. Our intention was to make our own brand of gin, but an enquiry from friends who owned a bar in a local town set us on the path to making bespoke spirits for other brands and businesses. We now make upwards of 50 different gins and spirits for around 30 brands, many of which are award-winning. We export as far afield as Malta and Japan. We finally launched our first ‘In the Welsh Wind’ gin – our Signature Style – in July 2020 and followed it up with a cask-aged version in spring 2021. Alongside gin, we’re now also making whisky. There are only five distilleries making whisky in Wales – it’s a growing niche – and we’re taking a hyperlocal approach, using barley grown locally and malted on site so that the grain never leaves Wales at any stage of the production process. It’s incredibly exciting. Finally, while our own whisky matures, we’re curating a series of independent bottlings and independent barrellings so that people can experience their own whisky journey.
What has been your biggest learning since becoming an entrepreneur/ business leader?
I’ve learnt a huge amount on this journey, and no doubt I’ll learn more as I go, but I think one of the key things I’ve learnt is that my instincts are rarely wrong, and there has to be a really strong reason to say yes to something that doesn’t feel right.
How do you motivate people to go the extra mile?
I work on the basis that if people enjoy what they do at work 80% of the time, then we’re winning. I’ll always try and empower the people working with us to take decisions and run with them. I’m also not afraid of rolling up my sleeves and getting on with things myself. We’re still a small team, so if something happens that needs all hands on deck, then those hands will include mine! At one time or another, I’ve done every job in the distillery, and I think it’s important to show the rest of the team that I’m happy to pitch in when it’s needed.
What gets you up in the morning? What motivates you?
First and foremost, my son gets me up in the morning, but I really enjoy my work and being in the distillery. Solving the day’s challenges and seeing the team moving forward inspires me every day.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you.
It’s the combination of having a team that enjoys coming to work every day along with the continued growth and success of the business. I feel like I’m winning every time a visitor to the distillery, talks to a member of the team, tastes one of our spirits and is so delighted by it that they buy a bottle – or 2.
What is some of the advice you give to aspiring women leaders?
If you’ve got an idea for a business that you are passionate about, you should go for it. There will never be a “right time,” and it’s up to you to make it happen. There will be plenty of support if you go and look for it too – whether that’s through established programmes such as those that exist in Wales, or just by networking within the local business community. You will always find people who will champion what you’re doing, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Trust your instincts. When you’re building your business, you will very quickly develop a sixth sense about whether something is right or not.
Finally, don’t be held back by the idea of being a ‘women’s leader’. You’re a leader, and you should just get on with doing what you love.
What are your future plans to sustain the company’s success?
The key to the future of the business is the development of our grain to glass Welsh whisky project. We are currently the only distillery in Wales using all Welsh grain, malted on site in Wales, to make whisky, and it’s a really exciting place to be. The whisky industry in Wales is small but growing and we’re working with the other distilleries to develop a GI protection plan for “Welsh Whisky”. Our Welsh Origin Whisky offering will go beyond the GI standard – we feel that there’s a niche in the market for a fully Welsh product alongside the other great whiskies that are being produced in Wales.
Alongside our whisky project we have plans to expand the distillery on our current site. We have planning permission to build a cask store, and we are also looking to establish an education and research centre for the spirits industry here in Wales. At present, there’s nowhere in Wales fulfilling this role, and we’re keen to set a facility up here which benefits the Welsh drinks industry as a whole.
Website: www.inthewelshwind.co.uk
