“é obra!”

(“Lets do this”) Ali Bullock

I was just 10 years old when I beat over 20 other kids to get a scholarship from the De Beers Diamond Foundation to go to a private school. Being dyslexic, I didn’t have the grades. But I did have a great line to Harry Openhimer, who awarded it to me.

When asked “what do you do for a hobby?” I replied I collected bank notes. When asked by Harry Openhimer, “which ones were my favourites” I replied, “The British ones, especially the ones with a 5 on them.” When the letter came through telling me that I had won the scholarship it had a 5 pound note attached to it. And that would be the start of this adventure.

During my time working for Cathay Pacific Airways I lead the team to get shark fin banned from all CX flights (including cargo.) At the time Cathay Pacific was the largest carrier of shark fin. This ban was a sea change for the industry and shark conservation.

The one good things about being dyslexic is you always find solutions to problems. No matter the size, big or small. A solution will always be found. Sometimes, they can seem a little off the wall. This one problem just happened to involve a private jet as a solution.

When it became clear that we needed to fly our dogs to the Azores with as few stops as possible, this was the solution.

This was a fun one. In 2019 we lit up one of the world’s tallest Christmas trees. This is a living example, having been around for over 150 years. It took over 3km of lights and could be seen by planes coming into land at Ponta Delgada airport.

In 2018 we brought an old country mansion estate in the Azores. Over 150 years old, abandoned and falling down. It would need a 5 year restoration project to bring it to its former glory. This would be a project of my lifetime.

Yeah. Just a little crazy.

In the middle of the darkest days of the covid pandemic we created Baleia Gin. Released in May 2021 as the world started to recover it is now our hero product of The Ocean Gin Company.

The Gin Library is Europe’s largest gin collection and in the top 3 in the world. We are working to be number 1 and gran the Guinness World Record (… one day).

In creating Baleia Gin I wanted to show the best of the Azores and give back to whale conservation. The Ocean Azores Foundation was created for this reason. To help protect the whales of the Azores.

Our home in the Azores.

Of course none of this would have been possible without Caroline, or Mrs B as I call her.

2006 – 2022
(World’s best husband 16 years in a row)