// BBC BUSINESS NEWS — FINANZA
'I took a chance on the whisky industry and I haven't looked back'
Zoey Darnbrough took a job at Annandale Distillery after finishing her studies
Zoey Darnbrough is the first to admit that just a few years ago she did not even know there was a whisky distillery near her hometown in southern Scotland.
But it hasn't stopped her rising rapidly from tour guide, to group tourism and events co-ordinator at the site near Annan.
She went away to study heritage and tourism in Stirling after school, but unlike many of her peers, she returned to Dumfries and Galloway for work.
Now she hopes to play her part in changing people's opinions of the world of whisky "one woman at a time".
Annandale distillery shut in 1919 before reopening 90 years later
The 26-year-old, who attended St Joseph's College in Dumfries, was recently nominated for "rising star" recognition at the South of Scotland Thistle Awards.
Zoey said her journey had not been straightforward as she did not get the exam results she had hoped for at school, so she spent time working in the kitchens at Dumfries Infirmary.
But when a job came up at Annandale Distillery, she jumped at the chance.
She said: "My first thought was - there's a distillery in Annan? And my second thought was - whisky?