Brad & Kate Mead

An attorney—he shares a practice with wife Kate—and rancher, Brad Mead is the grandson of former U.S. Senator and Wyoming Governor Clifford Hansen, and the older brother of Wyoming’s current governor, Matt Mead. He once ran for Justice of the Peace, but today, Brad’s happier to talk about Wyoming Whiskey, the distillery he founded with Kate and fellow Jackson attorney David DeFazio, than politics.

While pasturing cattle in Kirby, Wyoming, Kate and Brad saw all the grains growing next door to them. After confirming the water quality in the area, they agreed to start a distillery. While it set records for the fastest selling whiskey release in America, the first release didn’t receive good reviews, so changes had to be made. The Meads convinced Steve Nally to come out to Wyoming and restart their whiskey program. 

The relaunching of the distillery with Nally and other famous names like the Hendersons and Nancy Fraley proved to make Wyoming whiskey the successful brand that it is today. Nowadays, Brad and Kate are the CEOs of the distillery                                      with much of their time spent raising their boys in ranch life.