Fawn Weaver: Honoring the World’s First Known African American Master Distiller

While traveling abroad, Uncle Nearest CEO, Fawn Weaver, came across a New York Times article about the little-known story of a formerly enslaved master distiller Uncle Nearest, who taught Jack Daniel how to make Tennessee whiskey. After knowing Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniel’s story, Fawn Weaver followed the story down to Tennessee and invested $1 million of her own money in 2016 to found the brand, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, and later to establish the $50 million 323-acre Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

Presently, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey is the fastest-growing American whiskey brand in U.S. history. It has been ranked among the top 1000 companies honored on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list. With a massive growth of over 3,000% since its first year and nearly 700% during the Inc. 5000 list, Uncle Nearest joined the illustrious group of organizations like Meta, Microsoft, and others, who gained their first national exposure on the list. In October 2022, Uncle Nearest crossed the $100 million sales mark and is expected to more than double that total by the end of 2023.

In addition to being at the forefront of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, Fawn Weaver is also founder of Nearest Green Foundation, which offers full scholarships to every descendant of Uncle Nearest, the world’s first known African American master distiller.

The Inc. Magazine spoke with Fawn Weaver about her entrepreneurial journey and the future of Uncle Nearest Whiskey.

How do you diversify your organization?

In my company, diversity begins at the top and continues throughout our ranks. Our company is 50 percent women and nearly 50 percent BIPOC. From SVP on up, our leadership team is more than 75 percent women, LGBTQI+, and people of color. All ideas are welcome at Uncle Nearest, whether you’re a chief executive or an administrative assistant. If I have an idea and an admin has an idea that the consensus believes is better, my idea is overridden. When you bring together a coalition of intrapreneurs from every background, you will naturally appeal to all audiences – which is our target – in some way, shape, or form.

What would you say has been your greatest accomplishment?

Leading authentically from my heart and following my gut, even when what it is advising, is the opposite of what everyone else has done or is doing. So many leaders feel the need to shapeshift and become like other great leaders that have come before them. I do not have that urge in the least.

Being a key person in this environment is very challenging and all-consuming – are you prepared for the challenge? (How would you Control the Situation)

I am prepared for all challenges, and rest assured they come daily. I do not believe it is possible to control any situation, but I am able to control how I handle a situation. I am a believer that whatever you focus on grows. For this reason, I do not focus on challenges. I acknowledge their existence, seek wisdom to resolve them properly, and then keep my eyes squarely focused on the overall goals I have set for my company.

What is your “Secret Sauce?” i.e., what are the 3-5 Leadership Principles that you have discovered and executed that have contributed to your success?

The first is I have surrounded myself with an incredibly diverse group of leaders who challenge my vision and help me execute at the highest level. The second is I operate with excellence. For me, excellence is never the goal – it is the baseline. The third is I read A LOT about the wisest and most successful people who have come before me. Napoleon Hill left us a treasure trove of proven leadership principles in Think And Grow Rich and The Law of Success. I do all ten of the laws mentioned and continue to work on the mastery of each. The fourth is I have a partner, my husband Keith Weaver, who is my greatest supporter. I am a believer that what one person can do is no comparison to what two, headed in the same direction with the same goals, can do together. Lastly is my “Box Me In” prayer. For every consequential decision, I pray a very simple prayer. “God, if this is for me, please open the door in a way that no man can close it, including me. And if this is not for me, please close this door in a way that no man can open it, including me.” This prayer has allowed me to only open doors that are a part of my God-given destiny, so I get an enormous amount accomplished every year because I’m not wasting time pursuing things that are not in the best interest of me, my family, my team members, or my organization.

What does success look like for you?

Success for me is doing everything with excellence, consistently, and letting the chips fall where they may. It is sleeping eight hours a night with complete peace, knowing that all you have done throughout the day will carry you on to the next. It is observing a day of rest every week with complete confidence that what I got done in the six days I worked with excellence is more than most people get done in a year. Success for me is a purpose-driven life in which the reward itself is not success at all.

What Makes You an Effective Leader

I genuinely care about my team members and their families. When people in my company say we are a family, they aren’t just talking about those in our company. They are also talking about each other’s spouses, parents, siblings, and children. Our company gatherings undoubtedly will always have the family members of our team members there because their happiness means a great deal to me. I am asking them to spend nearly as many waking hours working in my company as they are spending with their family, so the least I can do is genuinely care about their wellbeing and their ability to show up every day as their whole self.

Brief us about your company’s future perspectives.

Uncle Nearest is the fastest-growing American whiskey company in U.S. history, which includes Bourbon, and is the most-awarded Bourbon of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Prior to the founding of our company, there was no major spirit brand in history to be founded by a Black American. More than 90 percent of the volume of spirits come from six spirit conglomerates founded by, led by, and majority owned by white men. Uncle Nearest is the first to enter the space with the ability and backing to become the first independently owned spirit conglomerate founded, led, and owned by a Black American. We are building the seventh spirit conglomerate and have begun investing in other brands with an eye on prudent acquisitions to continue building. Our future perspectives are all well beyond the next five, 10, or even 20 years. Unless God takes me home sooner, you can rest assured I will be building this until I can’t any longer and then ensure my successor is well-equipped to continue the growth.