When your entire professional life revolves around premium spirits, late-night industry events, and endless barrel selections, the lines between work and life don’t just get blurry—they can completely disappear. The bourbon lifestyle promises a lot of camaraderie and incredible pours, but what does it actually cost your health, your calendar, and your family dinner table?
On this week’s episode Fred and I sit down for a deeply personal conversation about balancing bourbon with the reality of raising kids. We’re not going to be hitting on tasting notes or anything like that but it’s a look into our personal lives of school, sports, tracking timeboxes on a calendar, and trying to stay present for our kids as they grow up.
Show Notes:
- Navigating school forms and schedule shifts while managing a global spirits brand
- The hidden physical toll of the whiskey trail: Managing sleep, health, and late-night industry expectations
- Kenny’s calendar timeboxing strategy for forcing boundaries between work and family
- Tasting vs. Consuming: Deconstructing moderation and the critical importance of drinking with intent
- Radical transparency: How Fred and his wife talk to their sons about alcohol, driving, and fentanyl
- Using the grueling discipline of youth wrestling to foster positive peer groups and work ethic
- The hidden financial trap of trying to turn a personal bourbon collection into a media business
- The reality of tax write-offs, charity auctions, and the true cost of over-collecting
- A definitive look at long-term responsibility, family support systems, and the power of being present