By Business & Finance 
Pictured: Morgan Ging, owner and Managing Director, Ballykeefe Distillery.
Morgan Ging, owner and Managing Director of Ballykeefe Distillery, takes on the Business & Finance 60-second interview challenge.
Q. What was your first job? My first job was a summer job at age 12, as a shop assistant in a hardware store. Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date? Personally, marrying my wife Anne and having our four amazing children; professionally, bringing the vision of Ballykeefe Distillery into reality. Q. In three words or fewer, how do you define success? Health and happiness. Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? Never give up, there are no failures in life only setbacks from which we learn to become better and stronger. Q. How do you motivate yourself? We operate as a team here. I hire super smart and super nice people who believe in the Ballykeefe vision. We have a working environment where everyone is respected, appreciated and empowered and we have a lot of fun doing what we do. Q. If you could step into the shoes of one business person for the day, who would it be and why? Willie Walsh. I admire what he has achieved, going from a pilot to running Aer Lingus and then when the Government didn’t let him lead a management buyout of the airline, he moved on to run IAG, the biggest airline in the world and of course from there he eventually, and some would say inevitably, took over Aer Lingus. Now let me quickly say I don’t have any ambitions to take over Diageo, but if I did, I would check in with Willie for a few tips. Q. How do you relax? That is not a question for me right now as I am on the go 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. Q. What’s your motto? There are more forward gears than reverse gears on a car for a reason, keep moving forward, that’s my motto. Q. What are your aspirations for the future of your business? I want to see Ballykeefe, grow at three levels, firstly locally, where I want us to be as synonymous with Kilkenny as the Medieval Castle and Hurling. Secondly I want us to become a national brand valued for the quality of our super premium spirits and tour experience. Thirdly, as we grow I hope one day we will have our place as a global brand, as a showcase for the very best traditions of single estate family farm Irish Whiskey distilling. I am hugely encouraged that we are off to a fantastic start having won 10 national and international awards in our first year of production for quality and sustainability.
I hope one day we will have our place as a global brand, as a showcase for the very best traditions of single estate family farm Irish Whiskey distilling.
