Firefly Distillery, South Carolina’s oldest working distillery, is celebrating its first all-female production team.

Throughout its nearly 20-year history, Firefly Distillery has quadrupled in size of distillery and spirits offerings, become a staple venue for live music, and now celebrates the success of the new production department. In an industry that is often dominated by men, a female-led production team is making strides toward gender equality in distilling, and they are seeing notable benefits from it.

“Women have always been an integral part of this family-run distillery, but to see this all-female group start to reshape how we run our production department has been inspiring,” says Ashley Gilbert, production manager of Firefly Distillery. “While we might not have set out to create an all-female team, we are proud to support and elevate women in distilling and offer continued growth opportunities for our employees.”

Women have long been leading departments at the distillery, from accounting to gift shop merchandising, events and more, but this is the first time Firefly boasts an all-female production team. The distillery will always hire the most qualified candidate for the position, so the team might not always remain all-female, but there have been great takeaways from this shift, reshaping how Firefly approaches production processes and details.

With this dedicated team, Firefly has seen immense changes that have raised its standards and expectations for production. The distillery has shifted attention to details in labeling, created new processes for organization, developed creative ideas for operations, and opened the door for learning opportunities. Teamwork, collaboration, communication and cohesion allow for Firefly to offer a seamless experience for visitors, from behind the scenes to forward-facing operations.  Like other industries, having diverse leadership and teams can draw new perspectives and lead to broader innovation.

As the distilling industry slowly becomes more inclusive, Firefly Distillery is making strides to further uplift women breaking into the industry through mentorship and continuing education. Members of the distillery’s female-run production team are applying to be mentors to guide other women in the industry. The distillery is also supporting its staff by sponsoring continuing education in the field.

Members of the all-women’s production team include:

• Ashley Gilbert, production manager
• Dagney Bodach, blender
• Riley Macmurphy, line lead and purchasing agent
• Perrin Hatcher, production associate
• Juliana Velazquez, production associate
• Hannah Dobbins, production associate

Firefly Distillery is located at 4201 Spruill Avenue and is currently open Monday through Saturday from 12 – 6 p.m., offering tastings and cocktails with live music and food trucks on Saturdays.

For more information, visit www.fireflydistillery.com.