EP61: John Mckenzie - UK’s Biggest Community Crowdfunding Campaign

Our latest Inspired Edinburgh guest is John Mckenzie.

John, also known as The Flying Farmer, is a helicopter pilot, farmer and green energy advocate.

An ex-Army Air Corps helicopter pilot, he's flown on military and commercial operations worldwide for over 20 years and has more than 8,000 hours flying experience.

His flying has also included aerial filming of events such as the Great North Run, the Great Scottish Swim, the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup as well as television programmes including Monarch of the Glen, Monty Hall Great Escape, Bear Grylls Born Survivor and 3 Men in a Boat, and in 2015 he was Nicola Sturgeon's pilot during her general election campaign.

Most recently he's founded GlenWyvis Distillery, built on history - powered by nature. In the biggest ever community crowdfunding campaign in UK history, GlenWyvis is the world's first 100 percent community owned distillery, entirely powered by renewable energy, which will produce high quality craft scottish whisky and craft gin.

 

00.00 Trailer

00.18 Introduction

01.45 John’s early life

02.45 Dingwall and The Scottish Highlands

04.25 John’s career path

06.50 John’s experiences in the Army

10.25 Commercial flying compared to military flying

11.30 Some of the people John has worked with

13.30 How does John manage pressure?

15.30 Green energy

22.50 The genesis of Glenwyvis

26.50 Why has the crowdfund been such a success?

29.00 Buying into the vision

30.30 Fake it till you make it

32.00 Official bottling date

33.00 Rejuvenating Dingwall and The Highlands

35.00 Prioritising time

36.30 What does a typical day look like?

39.00 How has John evolved as a person throughout his life?

41.00 The function of alcohol

43.30 Is there anything John would have done differently?

45.20 John on his purpose

48.30 John on his legacy

50.20 John on success

52.30 Dealing with failure

54.15 Should national service be mandatory?

54.40 Best piece of advice

56.10 What would John say to his 20 year old self?

58.40 Changing the world

1.00.00 Travel and its impact on John

 

You can find John at:

https://flyingfarmer.co/

https://glenwyvis.com/

https://www.facebook.com/GlenWyvis

https://twitter.com/glenwyvis

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-glenwyvis-open-share-offer

 

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