3 Strategies For Work-Life Balance In The Wine And Spirits Industry

In today's column we're returning to our ongoing series about staying healthy on the job, when "on the job" in the wine industry often means drinking alcohol on a frequent basis, socializing for many hours a day, and indulging in luxurious meals.

It's harder than it sounds. But certainly not impossible.

"It's more than providing exercise opportunities and health benefits," said Nicole Brassard-Jordan, the Director of Sales, Marketing, Merchandising, and Warehousing for the New Hampshire Liquor Commission (NHLC). "Having a positive work environment [where employees are treated with respect, compassion and a level of professionalism] is a great starting point for obtaining that work-life balance we all seek."

This Thursday, Brassard-Jordan will be honored by the New Hampshire Business Review as one of six Outstanding Women in Business for 2018, an award that explicitly recognizes professional excellence as well as the recipients' commitment to community leadership and serving as role models.

The professional-personal crossover is a natural factor in a series about staying healthy while working in the beverage alcohol industry, as other people who have been profiled here have emphasized, particularly Tim Hanni MW who spoke about the damage to the relationships in his life as a result of his alcohol addiction, and Victoria MacRae-Samuels, VP of Operations for Maker's Mark Bourbon, who spoke about the need for self-care at home.

Here are three strategies Brassard-Jordan employes for staying healthy and maintaining balance, at work and at home.

Cantilevers of Balance

Though the beverage alcohol industry might appear from the outside to involve glitzy cocktail parties and far-flung excursions, Brassard-Jordan said that she spends more time on day-to-day business (implementing marketing tactics, for example, and efficiently distributing a million-plus cases of alcohol throughout the state) than she does tasting wine and spirits.

Those are the cantilevers of balance at the office. At home, for mental breaks from the day's activities, Brassard-Jordan commits to exercising for at least one hour, four days a week and she cooks, entertains, and spends time with her family.

Trigger Awareness

Mindfulness around healthy behaviors is key, particularly when your work provides ample opportunities and triggers for unhealthy activity such as travel, tastings, and dining out. Alcoholism, in addition, is prevalent in Brassard-Jordan's family, and she knows the damage it can cause someone and those closest to them.

"That is why I take great pride in living a healthy lifestyle," she said. "I’m an avid cyclist and am on track to reach a combined 4,000 indoor/outdoor training miles. Eating healthy and a regular fitness regimen helps keep me balanced."

Integrate Work and Life Activities

A major upside of working in the wine and spirits industry is, simply, the convivial nature of wine and spirits. It's an obvious vehicle of connection and community. So Brassard-Jordan finds ways to integrate her work into her extracurricular activities in healthy ways.

In New Hampshire, with its control-state regulations of the industry, that has meant active relationships between her office and politicians. "The NHLC and the State of New Hampshire have been quite supportive of not only facilitating a healthy lifestyle but also giving back," Brassard-Jordan said. "Earlier this year we raised close to $50,000 for Best Buddies through a raffle of Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon. Following the success of that event, my husband and I signed up to participate in the Best Buddies Challenge – a 100 mile bike ride from Boston to Hyannis Port on Cape Cod. We will be joining Governor Chris Sununu as part of his team 603 Pride."