Meet Wally Dant, Healthcare Entrepreneur and Distillery Founder!

Learn About the Dant Family’s Return to the Bourbon Industry and their Roots in the Origin of the Catholic Church in Nelson County, Kentucky

 Learn about the proud family legacy that he carries forward as Founder of Log Still Distillery in Gethsemane, Kentucky! A man for others, Wally’s all about his Catholic faith and giving back to his community. Listen to how and why!

Remember, for all our young Catholic school students and their families, “The Answer is Yes!!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Welcome everyone to the Catholic Education Foundation podcast number 53. Today our special guest is Lolly Tant, the founder of Logstill Distillery in Gethsemane, Kentucky. And as always, Rich Lick Lider, the president of the Catholic Education Foundation. Gentlemen, welcome.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

And thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Wally, so listen, we're thrilled to have you on the show. So thankful for you for taking time to be with us today. And Rich, listen, there's so much to talk about today, including the amazing history of the Dant family in Nelson County, Kentucky.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

Oh, yeah, there is. And uh I had the the pleasure of going down and meeting Wally a few months ago at his place, and it's just a fascinating development at Logstill. We'll talk about it some more. And it's uh it's the affiliation or sort of historical connection with the Abbey at Gethsemane and some other things. It's really it's really an awesome story. And Wally, thank you very much for for your time today for sure. Well, again, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Well, if you don't mind, we're gonna start where we kind of start with all of our guests. Um tell us about your your early years. Oh boy.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Uh you know, uh so the my family is from uh here in Kentucky and uh back in the late 1700s. Um my family, my dad grew up in actually a uh in the distillery property there in Gethsemane. Uh my mom was about two miles away in New Hope. And uh and so growing up, um my dad worked for UPS. And so as ever everybody knows here in Louisville, UPS is you know one of the largest, if not the largest employer, I think, in in the in the city of Louisville. And um and so we bled brown and moved around. That's what uh what you did in UPS. I bled brown and moved around. I like it. And uh and so every three or so years we we moved from uh you know, we moved previously started here in Kentucky, moved to Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia. Wow, and um, and then I graduate high school down in in Georgia, and then and then I head to Purdue uh for uh college. And uh my dad uh eventually ended up over air operations for UPS here in in uh in Louisville on a you know on an international basis, and um, and then that's where he retires here in Louisville. And uh, you know, in the meantime, you know, I'm trying to forge my own path uh you know, outside of college, and I actually come here to U of L to get my MBA as soon as I get out of school. So I'm actually a a forestry major from we were gonna get to that. I I've got I've got to understand.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

What what what that was the career plans there?

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Oh my goodness. You know, you know, you you have these uh what maybe were little small dreams about um you know what your career is supposed to be like when you start college, right? And then all of a sudden you you go, oh well. And forestry was one of those, oh well things. And I'm not saying we didn't, you know, I didn't have a great education at Purdue, um, because I did, uh you know, I was just up there this past weekend. Um but but for me, you know, when you you go into forestry, the thinking is hey, you know, I I'm an outdoors guy, I love being outdoors, and maybe I can be uh uh you know part of the the forest service and things like that. And uh you get in and you go, hey, uh and they tell you, you know, your chances when you graduate four years from now of finding a job are pretty small. And if you do, then you're gonna be out in the middle of nowhere making, you know, maybe twenty thousand dollars a day, right? Right. And uh, you know, and I look at myself and I go, I don't I don't think I can I don't think I can do that, right? It was just I don't I don't think that's I don't I don't know if that's me. Right. And uh and and so I pivoted to what was then the business side of forestry, so products, forest products is is what we were was I what was my kind of major at at Purdue. Okay and so I got this well-rounded business background and science background while getting my my uh my degree at Purdue. And then, you know, you're at graduation time and you're like, okay, well, I can go to work in a like a f a wood manufacturing, furniture manufacturing sort of environment. And uh I really wanted to work at like a warehouser or someone like that. And at the time, Warehouser or Louisiana Pacific, you know, those big organizations were hiring MBAs, that's what they did. And they really wanted those guys with uh with you know a master's in business. So so U of L, my parents were here, U of L said, hey, come here, you can actually be a graduate assistant, go to school at night, and you know, as a g as a graduate assistant, they paid your tuition, and you're like, Well, this is this is this is special, right? And uh so I start there, uh start getting my MBA, and there's a professor at Brown Foreman, um, who was who worked at Brown Foreman uh and taught at the MBA school, and he said, Hey, uh, I need somebody to come work for me that wants to, you know, knows now this is a precursor to XL, nose Lotus 123. Oh yeah. And that's my favorite to this day. Yeah, I mean just ask around. Yeah, well, I I was really good at it. And uh and he said, You want to make twenty bucks an hour? And I thought, you know, this is 1985, uh, 86. And I said, uh, yeah, that's me. So so literally I I've stumbled it back into, you know, our our family's uh uh you know old distilling background and go to work for Brown Form and I was in uh brand management there and human resources, and uh and so that's that kind of was the initial start to my career here in in Louisville, and then I did the same thing my dad did. I I didn't bleed brown and move around, but I I moved around, right? And uh so I went from from uh from Brown Foreman to what was then Rich, you'll remember these guys. You've been here in Louisville, Capital Holding, which be became Providian, that became Aegon, right? All of those and so so I moved around with them a a few different places, uh Pennsylvania and and Georgia. And then it ended up back in Louisville in healthcare, and so then I spent the rest of my entire career right in the healthcare space where I started my own companies in uh 2006.

SPEAKER_04 6:36

So what was what was Brown for we're all more familiar with BF today than we ever were because of the boom, but what what was it like being at Brown Foreman in 1986? What was that like?

SPEAKER_00 6:47

You know, they were a a pretty diversified company, right? Um they had uh Hartman luggage, they had Lennox China and Crystal, and then they had the the spirit side to the business. And um and you know, the the the beautiful consistency about Brown Foreman was the Brown family. Um and you know, their um their their giving uh to this community. And um, you know, when you talk about funds for the arts and uh and all of what they've done for this town, you know, you it's it and how they pass that on to their employees um you know, was a a pretty cool thing to to see and witness. And uh and so they kind of set the tone for me, you know, later in life, the Frisk family uh with HCA. Of course. Rich, you're I know you're familiar with them. Right. They they were very similar to the Browns, except they were m you know, again, focused around Nashville, Tennessee. And and so those two families really kind of set the tone for me in my career and setting my companies up and making sure that we were always community focused, that we were always trying to give back, have our employees involved in the community because it it it means something. And so that you know, whether it was in my healthcare or in my distilling business today, it's uh it's meaningful for us to work with the communities that surround us, that supply employees to us that you know, that are, you know, ultimately buy our products.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

So you said HCA, which is a home care business, correct? Like home health care. Mine was, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:27

Um in uh so I worked there, I was in a division of home health. We were in the hot, you know, it was a big hospital company.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 8:34

So right? Didn't you work there? Yeah, so back in the day, HCA was a pioneer in hospitals. It started out in the late 60s, I think, went public about the same time Humana did. The Frist family was the the founders of the company, just like the Jones family and the Cherry family here with Humana. Yep. Kind of similar paths, and then Wally got into the business when they expanded into the home care business. So it was primarily a hospital-driven business that expanded all these other things. I'm let Wally talk about that because it the the company changed quite a bit. Why don't you talk about that? Because we were we were actually both there some we we never crossed paths, amazingly.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Was you there at the same time? Yeah. Well, you know, you but you're talking, you know, like at its zenith, right? HCA had 300,000 employees. And they were practic all you know, practically speaking, almost all 50 states, um, hospitals, home health care companies, ambulatory surgery centers, I mean, you name it, they were they were doing um and you know, Rick Scott, um who is now Senator Rick Scott out of Florida, was a CEO at the time and put all these companies together. And um and so, you know, in the uh late 90s there were some issues around some government payments, so on and so forth. We could uh I could we could talk all night long around that, but I don't want to bore anybody around that. But anyway, uh so Tommy Frisk comes back in as CEO of the company and Tommy looks around and says, I I know hospitals, right? He knew them very well. He knew hospitals, he knew them really well, but he didn't know all these other ancillary businesses and said, Hey, uh I just want to focus this back on on the hospital world. And so uh my division was put up for sale. Ah, okay. And uh and so you know, we sold it. I've stayed there and stayed on afterwards, worked through some of the transitions, but also did some of the uh managed care contracting uh like with Anthem, Blue Cross, Blue Sheet, Humana, right? Um, on you know what it means to stay in a hospital, how much it costs, and all those sort of things, right? So I did that, and uh eventually I said, you know, I'd I'd like to go kind of start my own thing. We were our company, and Rich knows a lot of our people went off to start other businesses in the healthcare space. And so uh it was my turn, right? And I did that uh in the home health uh and hospice space.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

And that was called Suncrest Healthcare. That's correct, yep. So you created that so you co-founded that in 2013? Uh no, that was 2006. Oh, you sold it in 2013.

SPEAKER_04 11:22

So was that a was that a just a flat start out uh startup? I mean from nothing or what what will be.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

Yeah, yeah, but you know, we basically went out and bought two small uh home health licenses, right? Um one in North Florida in Jacksonville and the other one in uh Nashville and uh started it out from nothing. We grew it to about a hundred and ten million and slowly in a very short period of time.

SPEAKER_04 11:46

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Well then and then I actually I I recognize this name. You also co-founded My Nexus. Yeah, I did. Um, which you recently sold to Anthem.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

I mean, wow, that sounds like another winner.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Uh talk a little bit about that too. Well, you know, um, you know, coming out of the Suncrust experience, uh we we knew as a what we call providers, right? So we were a provider organization, we had employees that went out and saw peep patients in the home. Well, with the MyNexis, um knowing that we knew how to manage those patients, we s we went to Medicare Advantage providers because mostly home health is delivered to elderly uh that are generally Medicare eligible. And um and so we went to those providers and said, Hey, we can manage your members through those services and we think we can save you money in doing that. And so we did uh what we call that risk contracts and um and we did that for Anthem, Humana, uh United, Cygna, um and uh you know Aetna and all of the big ones, big ones, yeah. And uh and so we did that pretty successfully and uh eventually sold that to Anthem Blue Cross.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Fantastic. I mean, all right, Wally, let's let's let's give our listeners some real world advice here. Um talk to our audience about what it takes to start a business and grow it into a successful enterprise.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Uh a lot of prayers is is luck involved in the in this at all? You know, there's always uh a point where you you um, you know, I I think we almost say it on one of our bottles about make your own luck. Uh you know, create the opportunities. And if you create the opportunities for good good things to happen, um, you know, you can call it luck if you want, but if you create the right opportunities, the right environment. Um and there's always something about timing uh as well. You know, you could you could look at my my bourbon business today and my distilleries and everything that we do and say, well, you when you started it, which was in 2018, great time to be kind of up and growing into the bourbon business, and you go through this big boom time time with COVID. Right. And uh and then we've all come off of that COVID high, and everybody's looking around and going, Well, bourbon business is way off today, right? That actually it's not just bourbon, it's it's really the beverage alcohol space. It's just way, way different than it was before. And you go, Well, that was the wrong time, right? And and uh and but at the end of the day, it's it's really about you know creating something that's gonna last. Sure. And so and we think we've done that with our distillery back on our old family grounds, uh, you know, that was you know established back in the 1860s. Originally our distillery was. And so, you know, you're trying to you're creating something for that community that can be a part of that community long long past me. Pretty impressive stuff here.

SPEAKER_04 14:57

Very, very impressive. And the the connection again, going sort of going back home to where his family roots were.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Right. Well, you paved your own way first there, Wally, which is cool. You know, you did your own thing, made your own success, and then now you're kind of back into the family business a little bit, which I think's awesome. Um, so you also owned and operated a Tennessee-based spirits distributor, bonus Bev. Bonus Bev, yep. So that was your re-entry back into the spirits industry?

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Yeah, so on the sides of those healthcare businesses, um I was uh I thought, hey, it would be fun to be uh in the spirits business, and so I actually ran and we had a small retail store at first, a couple of partners and and I did, and had that for about five years, and then sold that, and then in 2013 or so started a wine and spirits distribution business in Nashville. And um and so in the distribution business, you're dealing with suppliers like Logstill, for instance, or uh Brown Foreman or somebody like that, and you're taking their products and actually getting them into retailers or restaurants' hands in order to for them to be able to sell to consumers. Because it's it's kind of the three-tier system, right? And um and so uh we were doing that on a statewide basis in Tennessee, representing new brands, and one of those brands uh was a Kentucky bourbon brand, uh that's you know in downtown Louisville and Newlood today. And um and so, you know, having a great relationship with uh Kave's a man, um you know, Kave and I became really good friends because we were representing them in Tennessee. And uh, you know, he s looked at me and said, you know, you you're you got the great family story, you know. Why why don't you why don't you why aren't you doing this for yourself? And so he kind of planted that seed, and uh, you know, about two years later after he planted the seed, I said, Well, sure, why not? Yeah, that's a good question. Right?

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Let's go after this. All right. So before we get into to the log steel distillery, um tell us a little bit more about your family roots in Nelson County, um, Gethsemane in particular, because you your family has a deep connection, and you mentioned it just again, but what is that family story?

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Yeah, um, you know, our family came over in Maryland in the uh late 1700s. I think we were actually the kind of the second group that Basil Hayden led over from from Maryland and uh, you know, settled right there in uh you know the Catholic everybody calls it the Catholic Holy Land. Yeah, the Holy Land, right? And um and settled there. So Marion County was uh, you know, Holy Cross was there, kind of the first church kind of was established. But everybody came over, um, you know, settled into that Nelson Marion kind of area, and um, and so our family did that. We settled uh in in that Marion County area, and uh and so then they started kind of s spreading out from there. So, you know, a number of dance went over to live in the uh Gethsemane uh area, and uh it probably wasn't called Gethsemane back then. It was probably, you know, who knows what it was called. I don't went on, I don't think maybe maybe the city of New Haven was founded then, but you know, our little section of of Nelson, I don't think it's called Gethsemane yet. But they settled over in that area, a number of them did, and uh one of them began a distilling operation which was called Cold Spring Distillery, and uh that's on the 300 so acres that we have today. Um the other there was another distillery uh there that was DSP number 47, which is our license number, was actually started by a head down there, uh head family Francis Marion Head, you know, good old Catholic names. And uh and so they started our distillery in the 1860s. My great-great uncle, who owned Cold Spring, buys it pre-prohibition because he needed bigger up a bigger operation. So his brand, uh which you guys have seen on the shelf today, uh was a uh called Yellowstone. Okay, right. And so Yellowstone was originally by Joseph Bernard Dant and uh and so that was his original brand, started in the eighteen eighties, owned it, and he continued to own and operate it pre-prohibition, post-prohibition. He starts his new distillery up here in Louisville, and my great uh grandfather buys the old distillery down in Ghsemane. And so my great-grandfather kind of starts his company, uh, and his name was Will Dant, and he starts his company, and my and his oldest son, which is my grandfather, goes down and works for him, built his house there on the distillery property. You know, my dad's born and raised on the distillery property. You know, my grandmother, um, my dad's mom walked 30 uh yards down the driveway to her work was at the train depot, right? So she was a uh LN depot master, uh Louisville Nashville Radio Railroad, for those that uh wouldn't know LN. Uh and um and she was also the postmistress, right? So I think she had 13 to 15 mailboxes out there at the time. And uh, you know, it just but you know, and she retires, you know, as an LN employee. Um, but you know, they're there are they were living out in that community, and uh, and then you know, once my dad had me and the rest of his kids, you know, we'd all kind of drive back down to Gethsemane to my grandfather's house, and you know, I ran around on that old distillery as a kid and continued to do so all the way through you know, college. Because while my grandparents had passed on on my my dad's side, my mom side, my grandmother uh actually had built a house, you know, uh uh less than a quarter of a mile up the road from my gr in my grandfather's house. Okay, yeah. Right. So, you know, every Easter, right, every Christmas, we'd all go back to the to her house, have good Easter dinner, and then we'd go run around on the distillery property because it was still standing at the time. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:18

But you all also had, I think I read this where your family at some point donated some property on which the Gethsemane, the Abbey of Gethsemane sits today, right? So there's a whole connection to sort of a world famous place now, the Abbey at Gethsemane, and how you all were instrumental in sort of starting that.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Well, yeah, I mean, you know, uh the the cool thing is is that um back in the late eighteen hundreds, they know a num number of the dance owned a lot of land in in and around Gethsemane. And um and one of them, um uh or a couple of them actually said, Hey, uh we'd like you to build a girls' school. You know, 'cause women weren't uh as well educated as men and so they said hey we'd like you to build a girl school and they actually gave the land to the sisters of Loretta uh to build a girls' school and so they did that on the Ghissemini um the Abbey property and that was in the early 1800s uh that they did that and then years later you know the uh sisters actually sell that school and property to guess to the uh Trappis to build the Abbey of Ghessemini and uh and so we all like to think you know as you kind of go back that lineage that you know we had a certainly our family had a a strong hand in in helping to establish um you know all of the all of the you know the I think the great works that come out of of that Catholic holy land and you know when you think about you know the the archdiocese today and the diocese uh that was formed originally out there the diocese of Archtown um and kind of how it's grown and how uh how the Catholic population has flourished over you know two hundred years here in in Kentucky and everybody you know when you're when you're when you're not living in Kentucky most people go as a southern state and you know a Protestant or Baptist you know would be the religion that you would think of and not p many people would ever think that you know Bargetown and the diocese of Bargetown was you know like the third or tied for third from a diocese perspective in the United States of America.

SPEAKER_04 23:32

Yeah in 1808 if I've got this right the the Bargetown was the furthest diocese west in the United States. So it was New York Baltimore Philadelphia Bargetown. Those were the four dioceses in the United States in 1808 so literally the Holy Land where all this took place in Nelson County okay in Marion County that was a springboard for the Catholic Church basically in the in what was then sort of the Western United Yeah it's a great it's a great story. So to to have your family connected with all that sort of origin particularly around Gethsemane I think is I think it's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

So while you maybe hit on some of this but what's the inspiration behind logstool distillery and the log school campus development you know um you know for for us um first of for me and my you know my family is really kind of getting back home. Yep. Right so um kind of going back to our origins. The roots those those were really important to me. So you know when I said hey I'm gonna start this distillery and where do you want to do it you begin looking you do site locations and things like that and say you know you talk with economic development people. I did that with the folks in Marion County and Nelson County did a little bit of that in in Tennessee which is where I was living at the time and I really but I I thought it would be great to have a can you know be a have a Kentucky bourbon again and kind of get back to the to that area. So I began working really earnestly with those two counties just trying to decide where we were going to put it and at the same time you know we we my family grew up there in Gethsemane um or New Hope and you know so I s I called up my uh aunt at the time and um and so we say aunt instead of aunt um you know we're in Kentucky here so let's make sure make sure we do we do this properly. And I called her up and I said you know who is on the old distillery grounds because there was a a a a a a roofing trust company that was located on it. And um she goes well as a matter of fact I just delivered uh communion to his house uh just this past week and um the guy's name was JW Nally and uh and so JW was a a strong Catholic in uh in the New Haven community there and uh he he was a widower and then had remarried again and he happened to marry um you know Estelle Dant uh now Nally Estelle Dant Nally who uh and Estelle was from New Hope and had married a Dant and um and so you know they were kind of co-owners of this uh trust company there and uh she goes well you want me to put me in contact with them so I said what yeah that'd be great if you could and so I called them up um and uh you know and met went to meet with them and then had a discussion with uh her son Charles uh afterwards and uh we I just said you know this is kind of what I'd like to do I think I'd like to come back on the old distillery grounds buy it and um and see you know what what we can't do with it right so what we can't do with the with the idea of putting a distillery back on the old distillery grounds.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

All right so I I'm always fascinated by these stories.

SPEAKER_00 27:15

Tell us about the historical significance in naming your bourbon product Monks Road Yeah uh you know as as we talked a little bit before about the Abbey right being there and the road that's in front of the Abbey is c literally it's called Monks Road Okay it is called Monks Road uh you know it's Kentucky maybe it's Kentucky 247 or something like that but you know everybody calls it Monks Road and um and so every time my family is on Monks Road heading to my grandfather's uh or my grandmother's um we knew we were close to home right so it meant something from that perspective and then with the tie-ins with the Dant family uh my my ancestors giving that land eventually becoming the Abbey out there I just thought you know if you're looking for genuine stories around why bourbon guys like me you know name our brands around something that's genuine right that's has a family connection that means something uh that gives you a sense of place those were the things why we chose the Monks Road name and it it it was another way you know for us to extend um our faith. Sure. Right? Um so you see you find Easter eggs that we have located on our um on our bottles that are are Catholic in nature. Okay. Right um and not so overly overt to to kind of be in your face but just to give you something to talk about if you if you kind of well now you gotta give us an example. So well I mean you got the Florida Lee which is uh everybody knows Florida Lee is actually you know uh around the the the Trinity right and so you you use that Florida Lee we use that a lot in our in our you know it's even on the Archdiocese uses it quite a bit um but uh it's it's all actually on our bottles um we actually have some Latin written on our bottles on the top of the Monks Road bottles that says Pax Tibi right and so peace be with you right so so there's things that we've tried to uh incorporate uh into our stuff that that it is kind of what we call universal right yeah it you know peace is a universal aspect I think um and in quite frankly in the news a lot these days yeah amen okay so what is your vision on the the logstill campus because it's in and I don't know that it can be just about bourbon anymore really I mean I think it has to have a a a tourism piece to it.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

So what's your vision there?

SPEAKER_00 29:55

Yeah our uh uh when we started uh Logstill we said look um how do we get people out into you know a lot of people think you know you go outside of Louisville and you're out in the middle of nowhere right absolutely and uh in in many respects you're out in the middle of nowhere right but we said how do we get people to come out stay with us a while and then want to come out again because you know while I've been around the bourbon industry for quite some time with uh the whether it was at Brown Foreman or or um my distribution company you know you go you go on a a distillery tour you'll get to see you know you'll get to see the the the still working you get to see a fermenting tank and then you buy a bottle and leave. Okay. Well how many times are you gonna do that? Right. Right and say well I've been there done that. Right. And so my my thinking around the development of log steel was let's create something different. Let's create uh maybe the first bourbon resort and so we said hey let's m give people a place to stay we were blessed with some great uh houses around the property some of which were part of the old distillery some of which were a part of my family some of which you know others owned but to create a a place where people can come out and stay and if you're on the bourbon tour you know on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and you're out there visiting well why why not stay on you know some distillery property. Love it. And so that was you know part of the idea around it um music you know nothing goes better I think with bourbon than some great music and so you know being out of Nashville music was so plentiful down in in that in in that community and such a big draw for for Nashville in general right people come to see to see uh you know all of the great music acts that that that you can see and practically speaking you know you can go down anywhere in Nashville see great artists for pretty cheap to next to nothing and and people that are trying to make it.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

And so your s your server at your restaurant is an unbelievable musician you just never knew it. I went to Belmont University so I don't I know that's all too well.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

Yeah yeah and and so you know we we just we said hey what how can we do that and how can we do it in a in an a way that we can have great artists come and not only experience but give people something that they just can't find anywhere else. And so that's why we built the amphitheater out there the 2500 seat amphitheater. Yeah I think today we just announced um a pre-sale uh on uh on Jamie Johnson so Jamie Johnson Jamie Johnson's gonna be out there on September 11th right so I think it's the what is it the twenty fifth anniversary of September 11th it would be this year yeah it would be and the 250th year anniversary for the United States right and so we've got Jamie Johnson a great uh patriotic uh artist that's gonna be out there and so when you can create those things um we've got an event conference center out there where we've host hosted hosted now Salt and Light um right part of the Archdiocese and part of the CSA yeah yeah right and we've done that for maybe two or three years now but we've created these things right to create great memories people go I had a great time out there I want to go out there again and uh and so that's really what we've tried to do is is to create something that nobody else has done before and and really help everybody that's in the bourbon business right have somebody to come back to again and go hey I need to go there and when I go there I'm gonna go visit my then the next or I'm gonna go a mile down the road and go to the Abbey. Sure. Right and uh you know um reconnect back with my faith and I I think those are the the cool things that I think we've all tried to try to do with uh logstill Wally for all the success you've had in your career I how does Logstill how does it stack up it's uh probably the hardest uh thing I've ever done that doesn't surprise me it it you know I I thought I knew this business pretty well and and I and I and you know it it it but we operate in such a um uh unique environment um that people you know if if you're if you're in the business you you understand what I'm talking about if you don't you know what what you're you're dealing with here is like it's not like I can own um like a like a a McDonald's franchise right so I if I'm a McDonald's franchisee I buy my stuff from a distribution company food distribution company that comes in maybe McDonald's supplies it um or not and then I get to sell my product right to a consumer. Right. Well with us we make it yeah right and then I've got to rely on the second tier which is my distribution network to sell it and then the those people that the distribution network sells it to which are the retailers and or restaurants then in turn get to sell it to a consumer. So so like for for me as a new brand and um trying to get the word out about Logstill and Monks Road and who we are and it's really hard for a$15 an hour employee at the retail level to remember you know all of the things that we are who we are what we're all about and um as opposed to going hey I know Jack Daniels I know Jim Beam I know all of these brands that have been in existence for a long long time and it's really easy to go you know I my my grandfather drank it my uh right right my dad drank it right I'm just gonna buy I'm just gonna buy that and not try you know some of the new stuff that's out there and so that that whole dynamic is um for smaller distillers is a is a is hard and so that's why we created the campus that we did so we'd we'd get to be well known. That's why we went down to downtown Louisville on Whiskey Row right next to the Elm Center to create Monks Road Boilerhouse right the restaurant and the tasting room so that you know when people are here they go oh yeah well they've got a distillery down in that down 45 minutes south. Got it and uh and so I'm gonna go visit them. Maybe not this time but I'll go visit them the next time but I'm gonna remember them when I go buy it in a retail store. And so that whole world I and while I was you know hey Molly you were in the distribution business you should have known well yes I was and I still understand. Still didn't yeah still didn't do myself justice.

SPEAKER_04 37:03

I understand well the bourbon but the bourbon industry in the last I think probably in the early eighties may have been at its bottom. Yeah that's right and look at what happened over the next forty to forty five years. Nobody would have made that bet. So there was so much more product development startups you know in in addition to the the folks that have been the business for for decades. And the business has completely changed.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

Yeah it's completely different yeah it is I mean in many respects it was it was a lot more fragmented right and and there's been just a m a plethora of consolidation o over the years. Um you know whether it's uh like maker's mark right an independent company for a number of years gets bought and gets sold. And great people that work there I'm a you know Bill Samuels Jr. is a dear friend of mine. And uh but you know there's consolidation in the supplier side which is my side there's been consolidation in the distribution side. So all of that consolidation while in many respects good for a number of folks it it just makes it a lot more difficult for smaller companies like mine to to to to get attention right and that's it's all about getting uh you know attention yeah getting the eyeballs getting the eyeballs that's right Rich sounds like there's another Stanex connection here right oh yeah oh yeah absolutely so your father is that correct Stanex grad 1958 1958 St. X grad he's a tiger back in the old building on Broadway yeah wow yeah yeah so uh so my my my grandparents who lived in Ghsemane actually so dad spent uh two years down in New Haven going to school uh high school and um his dream uh was to go to Notre Dame.

SPEAKER_01 39:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

And uh my grandmother's dream was for him to go to Notre Dame and so she sent him up to live with his uh grandparents my great grandparents who were in Louisville at the time um so that he could have an opportunity to go to Notre Dame. And so he you know he took the train uh or they drove him up uh and he stayed and lived with uh his grandparents up off of Cecil Avenue on the west side of uh of Louisville and uh and and went to uh you know went to St. X and eventually found his way to Notre Dame.

SPEAKER_01 39:36

And then eventually found his way into the church yes he did.

SPEAKER_04 39:41

Yeah talk about that while we I think that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 39:44

Yeah so like his grandmother's dream for him he was the oldest grandson my dad was um my grandmother had 13 kids um my great grandmother had 13 kids. Sounds like Richard and uh and so so my grandfather who was uh the oldest uh his son my dad um was the oldest grandson and uh her dream was always have you know a number of religious folks join the joined the church and um actually one actually beat my father to it so my my dad eventually became a priest after my mom passed away uh but uh father bob stumple I don't know if you guys know Bob right oh yeah but but uh we call him Bobby um that's we all grew up calling him Bobby and and but Bob Father Bob uh you know made it into the church first uh on on the dance side at his mother was a dance uh my grandfather's uh uh sister uh Martha and uh and so uh Bobby was actually the first ordained uh right of her grandchildren and um and then years later my dad in two thousand and three two two thousand and two um is ordained a deacon uh out at uh and he was at uh St. Ilocious out in Pee Wee Valley and then literally about six months later uh my mom passes away suddenly and uh and so he looks at all of us following her death and uh says you know there were five of us kids and he goes you know I think I I think I'd like to continue on and become a priest and um and so you just coming out of the Diachine program um you know Archbishop Kelly was the archbishop at the time and uh and so you know we supported our dad in that process um you know writing letters to the archbishop asking you know because he was older he's in his sixties and uh you know asking for him to to be considered uh you know for the for the holy orders and uh and so they they say yes and they send my dad up to Hale's Corner um uh Wisconsin right outside of Milwaukee where they specialized that seminary actually specialized in folks that had either been widowers and andor um folks that had their marriage and old which makes sense not to have to go with kind of the younger one the younger crowd right and uh and so dad you know developed great friends up there and I was just at Purdue uh this past weekend just really crazy stories um so St. Tom's uh which is the uh campus uh church up there a Catholic church up on at Purdue's campus celebrating their 75th uh anniversary and one of the uh women that were coming through one of the couples that were coming through sees my name tag and she goes well there can't be too many Wally dance out there she goes my brother went through seminary right with a Wally dance and we'd met him a couple do you know who he is and I said well yes of course right I sure do and you know so it's just a small world these small connections he he's actually a he's a priest now I think up in Jasper Indiana and uh but you know just great stories that you hear over the course of time uh but yeah my dad became a a a priest his first uh assignment was at uh St. Augustine's down in Lebanon and uh and then from there he went to be pastor at St.

SPEAKER_04 43:22

Thomas and Saint Monica there in in Bargetown yep golly what a story I mean think about that you raise five kids yeah you married forty something years become a deacon and you're an executive at UPS right right right and then you shift gears like that become a deacon and then a Roman Catholic priest that that's a life that's a life well you know you you he had all the sacraments oh yeah he hit it all he hit them all and uh not many people could say that either not many people can and uh you know the cool thing is uh for him right it it I think it it gave him a a a great sense of purpose

SPEAKER_00 44:00

And fulfillment that um you know that you know had been instilled in him from his his grandmother, right? He kind of fulfilled her her wishes, right? So that was a cool thing. And uh and so for us uh in witnessing that, and then and then when he when he passed away to hear all the parishioners that came up with stories about my dad and how he had helped them through through whatever times that they were going through, um, was probably the cooler thing about because um he he grew up with some of those parishioners, right?

SPEAKER_01 44:34

Well he can probably relate a little bit more because he's lived it, but we won't come there. All right, so throughout your family's history, Catholic faith and your values have played it in the world. We are we are all trying, isn't that the truth? Well, yeah, how has your faith helped you form your life and career?

SPEAKER_00 44:54

Uh well you know you know my my faith is uh you know the most important touchstone that I have. And and uh, you know, the great thing about it, we just went through um what uh Mercy's Sunday, I think this was it this past weekend. Yeah, last weekend, yes. And uh, you know, and uh the the ability to receive grace and forgiveness, right? Um I am I'm I'm I'm a pretty broken man. There would be people that would say, hey, you know, you've you've gone through uh I've gone through a divorce, gone through an annulment before, and uh, you know, I haven't but to be able to offer things up from a Christ's perspective and be able to seek absolution and grace when we need it, um, is probably the you know, the coolest thing about the Catholic faith that I don't think people really understand and and understand that uh you know he died for our sins so that we can we can live again, right? And uh I think you know having that touchstone in my faith life is probably the most important thing that that that I have, uh I think. And to then I I said this at Purdue this past weekend. Our jobs here on earth are to help others get to heaven, whether it's my family or my friends or people that I don't know, is to pass something on to them that helps them get there. And so like our our bourbon here, and I talked about it I think with the the record when we did something with a record, is if you you know, whether and and you know, we talk about the faithfully crafted here, the archdiocese bottles. You know, you can have a conversation with uh maybe a non-Catholic, non-Christian, or Christian and and have a conversation. Well, that's pretty cool, what's that all about? And you and you can actually have some dialogue around your faith journey. I think it's probably the the the thing that uh we can do over bourbon, right? Because it hopefully it'll uh relax you a little bit, allow you to speak freely and openly about your faith. And I think those are the the the things that that I value about you know our Catholic faith. Um and you know, and and and we're here, you know, we're supposed uh we're supposed to be talking a little bit about the Catholic Education Foundation, right? And um and and and what I I was raised uh as I grew up, depending on the what state we were bleeding brown in. I either went to a Catholic uh school or a public school, and we did that depending on where we were. Uh and you know, my own children, um, some spent time in in in the Catholic school, some spent them in in uh public education, again, depending on where we were. But my last two uh went and because literally we did not move once I settled into Tennessee, my last two youngest children went all the way through Catholic school in in in Tennessee. And I've got a son that's graduating from Father Ryan. Yep, I was gonna guess Father Ryan actually. This May. Right? This May. And um so for for me and being back in the New Haven, New Hope area, um, you know, we have two uh elementary schools down in in our area, very small. You know, we got St. Catharines and we got St. Anne's out in Howardstown. Yep. And um, you know, we support them, Log still supports them, I support them personally. Because, you know, again, passing along those fundamentals of faith in children, um, and having them live that through um, you know, their journey as they grow up and become confirmed and and live outside of of, you know, is you know, I think the coolest thing, you know, we I I attended you're all the the banquet here in March.

SPEAKER_04 49:09

March, right?

SPEAKER_00 49:10

Absolutely. And um, yeah, that salute was something else. I mean, congratulations, Rich, on you guys pretty cool doing what you do there because uh to be able to offer assistance to families in need for them to be able to send their children to uh to Catholic schools is the greatest gift, I think, that uh you know, the uh the Archdiocese and the and the Educational Foundation can do because it it just gives them that great base of faith that they'll continue to have and touchstone in their entire life. And uh and while we all stray and then come back, you know, I I know you know we all go, hey, well, I don't need to go to church this weekend. I've got all of these plans going on. And you know, but when you're you're living it and breathing it through your education and remembering, okay, this is what this means to be a Catholic, this is what it means to be a Catholic Christian and uh and making sure that we provide for others, I think the a a really great thing that you all are doing here with the educational, you know, with the Catholic Education Foundation is giving everybody that opportunity, creating that opportunity for for families to you know treasure for the rest of their life.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

So while you mentioned the schools you support in Bargetown, you guys aren't the only one. Rich, you guys uh Catholic Education Foundation knows a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_04 50:47

Yeah, we love uh we love all 39 of our elementary schools, uh ten of which are outside of Jefferson County. And um I think it's important for us, no matter where the school is, no matter where that family is, and they reach out to us every day. That's right. It's not something that just starts and stops. And I think we've done a nice job with the schools in Nelson County, Erin County, Lebanon, and uh we're we're we're investing in those kids like never before, and we're proud of it.

SPEAKER_01 51:19

That's right. We're proud of it. That's right. All right, Wally, uh listen, we've we've taken up a ton of your time. You never seem to slow down. So my last question for you is is is what's next?

SPEAKER_00 51:29

Uh retirement. You know, uh it's uh uh I'd I'd like to think, right, as as we move through our journey here at Log Still and uh and my own journey is that um giving back is probably the biggest thing that that I would tell you um we should all be focused on. Sure. Uh and particularly those of us that are that are later in our our life cycles. And uh as you stare at your time here, uh what's left of it on earth, uh, and then hopefully uh what's what's beyond it, um, you know, you look at it and say, okay, what are the things that I can I can do um to really to to really bring um you know faith, God, community um all back together again. And um and and I think those are the things that I look forward to to working on. I you know, I don't have a plan. You know, you look at Rich and and and uh all the work that he's done and how he's continued on with that by giving back, you know, the Catholic Educational Found Foundation as as as president of the organization. And I know you've been involved for years and years and years, but you look at that and you go, those those things, right, those things matter. And uh to give it the nudge and the push and the ability to carry on, I think is um you know what I look forward to to doing.

SPEAKER_01 53:03

Well, you're such a great example of of a Catholic man. And on behalf of everyone at the foundation, thank you for everything you've done, um, for your great works, all you do for the Nelson County community. And Rich, as every Catholic school family in need now knows at the Catholic Education Foundation.

SPEAKER_04 53:21

The answer is yes.

SPEAKER_01 53:23

Thank you for joining us. We'll be back again next month with another engagement guest. And don't forget to hit that subscribe button. Give us a like, give us a comment. See you soon.

SPEAKER_04 53:33

Thank you, like thank you, thank you, Mr. Thank you.