'I took a chance on the whisky industry and I haven't looked back'

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".

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?

"I thought I'd give it a chance and see what it was like because there's a lot of heritage when it comes to whisky.

"And I've now been here three-and-a-half years and I've not looked back."

What does she think the area has to offer that others her age might ignore?

One thing she highlighted was the relative costs of property compared with city prices.

Zoey also believes the area has a lot to shout about and is happy to have returned after university.

"The south of Scotland has so much heritage and it is a passion of mine," she said.

"So I would naturally like to be somewhere where there's a lot of heritage and where I can kind of grow as an individual."

But she agrees that a lot more could be done to stop young people from leaving.

"I would like to think we could go back to the local schools across the region and try and explain that there are other careers out there including in heritage and tourism," she said.

Zoey would also like to see the area market itself better.

"We've got so much to offer in terms of castles, in terms of scenery, in terms of attractions, accommodation, it's so vast," she said.

"I always like to say that we've got everything that the Highlands have, but just in a much quieter area.

"But we're going to use that quietness to our strength."

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She has certainly achieved that in her own career in the whisky industry - despite some people assuming she might lack the knowledge of older, male counterparts.

"It has been tricky, I'm not going to lie," she said. "But I always think that if you prepare yourself well, those types of questions cannot faze you.

"I've been so fortunate that all my experiences have been mostly pleasant and so I have not really felt it, but I do understand the struggles that other people face.

"We just need to start changing people's opinions one woman at a time."

Zoey is happy to do that from Dumfries and Galloway for the foreseeable future.

"I'm only beginning to stick my teeth into the south of Scotland," she said. "So to leave, it would have to be a fairly big jump."