You've Been Served: Lisa Jameson

I have been working in hospitality for the past 18 years and the past 10 of those specifically in tourism and visitor experience.

I am currently the brand home general manager at the Teeling Whiskey Distillery. I started in 2016 when the Distillery was in its infancy, almost one year old, and by the end of that year we had well exceeded 100,000 visitors since opening in 2015 and to date, we are well over the 450,000 mark.

In my job there is no such thing as a typical day. That’s, I think, why I enjoy it so much. I have an amazing team and I would spend a lot of my time catching up with them to assist with any challenges or really just give them my perspective on any given scenario.

I have an open-door policy and love getting involved with all the departments. I would also spend much of my time identifying opportunity to drive business to the Distillery and of course ensuring the best customer experience for our visitors. Key to this I feel is supporting and empowering my team to achieve these key objectives and I can tell you they do with great passion and enthusiasm.

We had Prince Albert of Monaco and his family spend New Year’s Eve here in the Distillery. He arrived with his Irish family ‘The Kelly Clan’ as he dubbed them, so that was fun, they took the tour and spent the afternoon tasting some of our vintage reserve whiskey and left as an advocate for Teeling Whiskey, which is the aim of the game!

We have had held wedding ceremonies and receptions which are quite unique. One of the couples insisted on bringing their dog called ‘Whiskey’ to join in the celebrations and needless to say he was more than welcome.

My proudest moment has to be late last year when I was honoured at Ireland’s Icons of Whiskey awards winning Visitor Attraction Manager of the year 2020. I couldn’t believe it; I have never been awarded anything like this for the work I have done before so I was on cloud nine.

When you exceed the customer expectation and make them have the best time ever that’s what gives me a kick out of what I do and the place I work. I also enjoy the diversity in the Distillery; we have so many different elements to the business.

The events are always exciting and challenging at the same time but they give us an opportunity to be creative and do something a little bit different in the space.

And I enjoy this very much.

• Lisa Jameson is brand home general manager for Teeling Whiskey Distillery in Dublin.