Daily Inspiration: Meet Neil Lindley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Neil Lindley.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I had a company in North Carolina for 20 years caring for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I sold it in 2016 and moved to Key West Florida. To meet people down here I started bartending at the Rum bar and built on my previous knowledge of Rum. In North Carolina I had about 250 bottles of rum that I would share with friends at parties and started studying the history of Rum.
I learned a lot more bartending, met a lot of people and considered starting the first ever Rum Fest in Key West Florida.

This is our third year of our event and we have raised $54,000 for people with disabilities in the Florida Keys. All of the money we raise we give to the MONROE Association of remarkable citizens. I have about 600 something Rums at my home now, feel like I’ve learned the industry, the bars here, the brands , the distributors the awards organizations for spirits, the certifying bodies for what is considered Rum and learned the laws and how they are different from country to country of origin. With this festival I want to celebrate what Key West is, we have a big history with Rum running and with 100 bars here, live music and being the Southernmost continental Caribbean island. It was a natural place to start a festival. This year we have concerts, sunset sails, Sandbar Trips, and a grand tasting with over 40 brands and more

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Whenever you start anything brand new that has never existed before it is a challenge. Going from Brand to Brand, Bar to Bar, trying to find music and plan dinners and get everybody on board with something that hasn’t existed is a lot of work. You have to get initial buy in. Now that we have a few years under our belt, I feel like we have a good reputation, care about our attendees, and provide great products at a great price. It is also a really good time to come to Key West being the cheapest time of year to attend.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I also enjoy expressing my love for Rum by painting. I have been nominated this year as one of the top artist in Key West in our local awards. the keysweekly.com Bubba awards are being voted on now.
In my Art, I like to Paint about Rum history, famous from people like Hemingway, Jimmy Buffett, Tennessee, Williams, and the buildings bars and places you can attend around the Florida Keys.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Would love for everyone reading this to feel welcome and attend if you can make it. Our festival is built around national Rumm day August 16 every year. Our website is rumfestkeywest.com and my name is Neil Lindley feel free to reach out on social media

Pricing:

• Some events are free and some events have a price, but they are relatively cheap
• Our hotel rooms are the cheapest you can get and Key West

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rumfestkeywest.com
• Instagram: Key west rum fest
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1CcJbWGqMc/?mibextid=wwXIfr