Feragaia Brand Founder: A Day in the Life

Bill Garnock is the co-founder of Feragaia – a distilled alcohol-free spirit made from land and sea botanicals from the Scottish Lowlands.

Bill says: I’d say I’m an early riser as I usually get up around 7:30 am. The first thing I might typically do depends on what day of the week it is. Early in the week I like to go on a bike ride or run along the beach and later in the week I usually just go for a quick shower in the morning. I work from home, so my commute is not too far! I do, however, tend to have meetings first thing in various locations across Scotland so often it involves a drive.

What sparked my passion for my work is seeing my Made in Scotland product reach a wide range of customers, either in their homes or on the backbar. It makes me happy for everyone involved in the process along the way. The most useful advice that I have ever received in my own journey is simple: never give up.

Before founding Feragaia, I worked across Scottish, English and Irish food and drink exports in the USA for three years. I sold and managed products in foreign markets, which was where I learnt the importance and power of provenance as a quality. I believe if you are comfortable talking with people from all walks of life, and you love what you sell, then the food and drinks industry is something you should consider!!

For my lunchtime ritual, I usually just try to keep it light so I’ll most likely have a sandwich. I also try to switch off from work, and never eat at my computer. My favourite part of the job is seeing a product my business partner and I created being enjoyed by a wide range of people across different markets. It is hard to beat! My least favourite is the admin, there’s always paperwork involved! I finish work around 8:00 pm usually and when I’m done I usually exercise and relax. I try to play football once a week so I cook quite late in the evening. I try to keep it simple and relatively healthy though.

My dream job as a child was to be a footballer, however that soon faded! My alternative career would be producing another Scottish product away from Food & Drink that I would always be happy to help grow and sell abroad.

My role models include anyone who defies convention and goes ahead and gets from A to B when all others say it will not work, many names come to my head!!

My top online recommendations are: 

Matthew McConaughey: He has always been someone I admire. Proud of his roots, he knows what he likes and doesn’t shy away from it.

Twitter: A good app as it allows you to see the views of many different sources and is always live.

Bevnet: This is a great web-based podcast platform as it shares so many stories of people in the food and drink world who have already seen great success or made mistakes along the way, and the lessons learnt along the way when shared are invaluable.