Michele Meyers
In Motion Staff Writer
In a distillery in Louisville, Kentucky, bourbon is poured into white oak barrels to be aged. During the process, there is approximately three to five percent evaporation. This vapor drifts upward toward the heavens and becomes the “Angels’s Share.”
Entrepreneur Wes Henderson says that the angels are envious of the remainder and so, named his bourbon Angel’s Envy.
Henderson spoke to a crowd of some 200 at the Daytona State College’s Mori Hosseini Center on April 11, as part of the L. Gale Lemerand Entrepreneurial Speaker Series. The series capitalizes on the knowledge and experience of entrepreneurs who impart real-world situations in relationship to their businesses. The information is invaluable to students, professors and anyone interested in starting their own business.
“I buy into an entrepreneur as somebody that has experienced serial failure that doesn’t let it drag them down, that puts them into a position where they have learned things in life that enable them to be happy and creative. So it doesn’t matter what you do in your life as long as it’s something you have passion for,” Henderson said.
Angel’s Envy is the brainchild of Henderson and his father Lincoln. Both Hendersons wanted to build a business for their family, which prompted Lincoln’s return from retirement to fully realize a concept he had been considering for years. They purchased and renovated a warehouse built in 1902 and immediately began finishing bourbon in port barrels. This process led to the creation of an award winning, internationally sought bourbon and three generations of family spirit crafters. Part of the businesses success is based on Henderson’s motto, “Revere tradition, embrace progress.”
David Apodaca attended Henderson’s lecture following the award ceremony. Apodaca was the recipient of the L. Gale Lemerand Entrepreneurial Speaker Series scholarship.
“I really enjoyed his presentation. I thought it was down to earth and ‘real.’ He didn’t put on a show to present himself or his brand as something different than it really is,” Apodaca said.
He added that he is interested in starting his own photography business following a negative personal experience. When he hired someone to shoot his own wedding, he had to watch his wife’s devastation when all the photographs were a disappointment. That’s when he decided to become a wedding photographer himself.
During his speech, Henderson explained his own philosophy on how to succeed: “Instead of running away from things that are different, I run towards things that are different, people that are different, experiences that are different. Things in life that are different. I run that direction. And your life is so much richer for that.
“Bourbon is a very social thing. You sit down with someone you’re friends with or someone you’re going to be friends with and you have some undivided time. That ability to have that conversation forces us to spend some time together and have some real interactions. Embrace and learn about those things that are so different.”