Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheila Jackson And Natasha Mccrea Of Jackson Mccrea Whiskey
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Natasha:
Sheila and I met at a Sundance Film Festival Event and became fast friends. We are each other’s biggest fans. I’m an actress, filmmaker and life-coach for corporations & high achieving women. Sheila is an award-winning writer-producer, known for her all female crews. And she’s a wine geek. We actually connected over wine.
Sheila: I love wine and something I love equally is whiskey. I had been thinking of starting a wine or whiskey brand. I began by entering the luxury wine space as an Ambassador for the Boisset Collection, and invited Natasha to join me. We hung out at vintage wine bars, hosted dozens of tasting events and never discussed whiskey.
Natasha:
Until, 2020 . . . I wanted to celebrate a performance of my one woman show. So I invited Sheila to meet me for dinner. I Ordered the old fashioned – it’s the way I rate a good bartender. When Sheila arrives she spots my old fashioned.
Sheila:
I was surprised we had been friends for more than 4 years and never talked about our love for whiskey. As someone born and raised in TN, whiskey has been a part of my culture. We discovered we each had a vision to create a premium whiskey.
By that time, together we’d created luxury wine experiences, podcasts, a documentary, a wine education episodic, an Instagram live wellness series, and more. When we get together we not only have fun – great things happen.
Natasha:
At that dinner, we decided in that moment, “Why not us? Let’s start a whiskey brand.” We knew we would have to do it differently by acknowledging and engaging all the women out there who love whiskey.
Sheila
We’re leveraging our decades of experience elevating and aggregating women to bring them back into the conversation on whiskey. And it’s a conversation about empowerment, freedom and unapologetically taking up space.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Sheila: One of the biggest challenges for women entrepreneurs is funding. Women receive less than 2 % of venture capital funding, and black women receive less than .5% of that number. At the same time, I don’t put my focus on the challenge. My focus is always on solutions, how to get it done.
Natasha: I embrace the idea of being that unicorn, of being in that ,5% – and paying it forward.
One of the areas that we’ve had to address is self-care. Running a start-up requires wearing a lot of hats, as we build our team. I already had a self-care plan in place. But I’ve had to expand what that looks like.
Sheila: And we’ve included self-care as part of our company culture, honoring ourselves with 2 wellness weeks a year.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Jackson McCrea Whiskey?
Natasha: Jackson McCrea is more than a whiskey – it’s a revolution. We’re bringing women into the conversation on whiskey.
Sheila: We conducted a survey and asked women what they want, and the result was Jackson McCrea.. We sourced the finest Tennessee Rye and bring it to California Wine Country to rest in French oak Syrah barrels. Our whiskey is smooth, approachable, and rich, with complex layers of toasted caramel, smoke, citrus, and warm spice.
Natasha: We invite you to visit our website and subscribe. We love to share recipes for our signature cocktails, whiskey-infused cuisine and a little education to elevate your whiskey game.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Jackson McCrea is available to order online and ships to over 42 states – and we are available in select retailers and restaurants in California. Visit us at jacksonmccreawhiskey.com and follow us on Instagram @jacksonmccreawhiskey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jacksonmccreawhiskey.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jacksonmccreawhiskey
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/jacksonmccreawhiskey
Image Credits
Sheila and Natasha holding bottles of Jackson McCrea, photographer Phillip Faraone
Whiskey Cellar of Jackson McCrea bottles, photographer Kyle Espeleta
Sheila and Natasha conducting tasting, no photo credit necessary
Photos of Jackson McCrea at the bar/restaurant, no photo credit necessary
