MATTER OF FACT, YOU MIGHT REMEMBER FAWN WEAVER YEARS AGO, SHE WAS ON THE SHOW AS SHE RESEARCHED THE HISTORY OF NATHAN OR NEAREST GREEN, THE FORMER SLAVE WHO TAUGHT JACK DANIEL HOW TO DISTILL WHISKEY. WHEN I LOOK AT THE STORY OF NEAREST GREEN, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS SO HARD FOR ME TO FIGURE OUT IS, IS WHY ONE PART OF HIS FAMILY HAD MONEY AND ONE PART DID NOT. IN 2017, SHE CO-FOUNDED UNCLE NEAREST PREMIUM WHISKEY IN HIS NAME. THE SPIRITS COMPANY TOOK OFF. WHAT I LEARNED IS ONE OF HIS SONS, BECAUSE HE HAD ALL DAUGHTERS. THAT WHOLE SIDE, THAT WHOLE BRANCH, BECAME POOR. IT WASN’T EVEN COLOR THAT DID THAT. BUT THE FACT THAT THEY WERE WOMEN. WEAVER IS THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TO HEAD A MAJOR SPIRITS BRAND, AND UNCLE NEAREST, THE FIRST AMERICAN SPIRIT BRAND WITH AN ALL FEMALE EXECUTIVE TEAM. IF I CAN DO IT IN THIS INDUSTRY, THERE’S NOT A SINGLE INDUSTRY A WOMAN CAN’T DO IT IN. I RECENTLY SAT DOWN WITH WEAVER AT THEIR DISTILLERY IN SHELBYVILLE, TENNESSEE, TO TALK ABOUT HER DECISION TO LAUNCH UNCLE NEAREST AND TELL UNCLE NEAREST. THERE HAD NEVER BEEN AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMEMORATED ON ANY BOTTLE OF SPIRIT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. WE CAN GO BACK TO RUM, WHICH TECHNICALLY IS THE FIRST SPIRIT OF AMERICA. THOSE FROM THE CARIBBEAN THAT HAD COME IN, THEY WERE MAKING RUM. THEN YOU HAVE RYE WHISKEY BEING MADE OUT OF THE EAST COAST, AND THEN YOU HAVE BOURBON. SO ALL OF THOSE THINGS, THEY ALL HAD BLACK DISTILLERS, THEY ALL HAD AFRICAN-AMERICAN DISTILLERS. AND YET NO ONE HAD EVER COMMEMORATED A SINGLE ONE OF THEM HONORED A SINGLE ONE WITH A DISTILLERY OR A BOTTLE, 2017 YOU FOUNDED THE PREMIUM WHISKEY BRAND OF UNCLE NEAREST, AND IT QUICKLY BECAME WILDLY SUCCESSFUL. IT QUICKLY BECAME THE FASTEST GROWING AMERICAN WHISKEY AND U.S. HISTORY, AND HAS REMAINED THAT YOUR COMPANY IS VERY PHILANTHROPIC. YES. WHY IS THAT SO IMPORTANT? THAT’S WHAT BRINGS TRUE FULFILLMENT IN LIFE IS THE GIVING, NOT THE TAKING OR THE RECEIVING. WE WERE PAYING FOR NEAREST GREEN’S DESCENDANTS, ALL OF THEM, TO GO TO COLLEGE BEFORE WE EVER SOLD THE FIRST BOTTLE OF UNCLE NEAREST. YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT A PERSON WHO COULD NOT READ OR WRITE. HIS SONS COULDN’T READ OR WRITE, AND NOW WE’RE ABLE TO NOT ONLY MAKE SURE HIS DESCENDANTS READ OR WRITE, BUT THEY’RE GETTING THEIR JDS AND THEIR DOCTORATES AND THEIR MASTER’S DEGREES. THERE’S SOMETHING REALLY REMARKABLE ABOUT BEING ABLE TO BE A PART OF THAT. YOU ALSO INVEST IN STARTUPS, AND I’M NOT SURE HOW SORT OF EFFORTS TO UNDERMINE DEI AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BECAUSE I KNOW EVERYBODY’S REFRAMING HOW THEY SPELL OUT WHERE THEY PUT THEIR INVESTMENTS. YEAH, I’M NOT REFRAMING IT. I’M REALLY, REALLY CLEAR. THIS INDUSTRY LOOKED NOTHING LIKE OUR COUNTRY. OUR COUNTRY IS 70% WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR. AND THAT WAS NOT REPRESENTED. AND WE ARE GOING TO FIND INCREDIBLE COMPANIES THAT ARE FOUNDED BY WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR. AND WE ARE GOING TO INFUSE THEM WITH THE CAPITAL THAT THEY NEED, AND WE’RE GOING TO BE THEIR BACKBONE. IT’S NOT ANY GOOD IF UNCLE NEAREST IS NOT JUST THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL AFRICAN-AMERICAN OWNED BRAND, BUT THE ONLY SUCCESSFUL ONE THAT SOMETHING ABOUT THAT DOESN’T FEEL RIGHT. YOU’RE A PREACHER’S KID. I AM A PREACHER’S KID. VERY PROUD OF IT. I READ THAT YOU WERE HOMELESS WHEN YOU WERE IN YOUR TEENS. YOU LEFT HOME AT A YOUNG AGE. 15. DID YOU HAVE A VISION OF WHAT YOU WOULD BE? NONE. I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE ASPIRATIONS TO BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN FREE. AND SO GROWING UP IN A HOUSE THAT WAS WAS SOUTHERN BAPTIST, INCREDIBLY RELIGIOUS, THE ONLY THING I CARED ABOUT IS BEING ABLE TO MAKE DECISIONS FOR MYSELF. THAT’S IT. AND WHEN I BEGAN WORKING ON THIS, MY MOTHER SAID, BABY, I LOVE WHAT YOU’RE DOING FOR THAT MAN AND HIS FAMILY, BUT I SURE WISH HE MADE LEMONADE. AND, I MEAN, AND SHE HELD ON TO THAT. AND IT’S ONLY AS SHE’S REALLY SEEN THIS COMPANY GROW AND HOW IT’S IMPACTING PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD, HOW IT’S INSPIRING PEOPLE OF EVERY BACKGROUND THAT SHE’S GOING. YOU KNOW WHAT? I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT, BUT I HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT GOD IS ALL OVER THIS. AND NO SCRIPTURE FRONTWARD AND BACKWARDS. AND SO I’M REAL COMFORTABLE WITH GOD AND WHISKEY. SO IN THE FUTURE, YOU’RE GOING TO BE BUILDING IN FRANCE. WE ARE ALREADY. SO WE BOUGHT ONE OF THE MOST HISTORIC PROPERTIES AND VINEYARDS IN COGNAC, FRANCE. WHY FRANCE AND COGNAC? I CHASED THE MOST AMAZING STORIES AND THERE ARE REMARKABLE STORIES THAT HAPPEN IN EACH OF THE CENTURIES THAT MAKE AMERICA AS TIED TO COGNAC AS THE FRENCH ARE. AND SO NOW I GET TO SHARE THAT WITH THE WORLD AND GET TO DO IT WITH A BOTTLE. SO WHEREVER THE STORIES LEAD, IF IT’S SOMETHING THAT I GET GOOSEBUMPS WHEN I TELL THAT STORY, THERE’S A VERY GOOD CHANCE IT WILL BE TURNED INTO A SPIRIT AND IT’LL BE A PART OF THE COMPANY. VAUGHN WEAVER, IT IS SUCH A PLEASURE TO BE HERE. THANK YOU FOR HAVING US. IT I