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Speaker 1: Welcome to Naked Sports, the podcast where we live at

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Speaker 1: the intersection of sports, politics, and culture. Our purpose reveal

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Speaker 1: the common threads that bind them all.

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Speaker 2: So what's happening in women's basketball right now is what

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Speaker 2: we've been trying.

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Speaker 3: To get to for almost thirty years.

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Speaker 1: From the stadiums where athletes break barriers and set records,

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Speaker 1: Kamen Quark broke the all time single game assists record.

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Speaker 1: This is crazy for rookies to be doing.

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Speaker 2: To the polls where history is written, and now we

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Speaker 2: have Kamala Harrison. It feels more like women are sort

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Speaker 2: of taking what they've always deserved, as opposed to waiting

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Speaker 2: on somebody to give them what they've deserved.

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Speaker 1: Our discussions will uncover the vital connections between these realms

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Speaker 1: and the community we create. In each episode, we'll sit

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Speaker 1: down with athletes, political analysts, and culture critics, because at

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Speaker 1: the core of it all, how we see one issue

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Speaker 1: shines the light on all others. Welcome to Naked Sports.

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Speaker 1: I'm your Home, Gary Champion. A few years ago I

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Speaker 1: had the incredible opportunity to meet Fawn Weaver, the visionary

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Speaker 1: behind Uncle Nearest Whiskey. She welcomed me to her distillery

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Speaker 1: in Shelbyville, Tennessee, about forty five minutes south of Nashville.

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Speaker 1: I was there to do a story on the whiskey

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Speaker 1: that seemed to line the shelves at bars, restaurants, and

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Speaker 1: more importantly, every house party I attended. This distillery is

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Speaker 1: nestled on four hundred and thirty five acres of stunning land,

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Speaker 1: and while words can't fully capture its beauty, let me

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Speaker 1: just say it's a place that you all must see

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Speaker 1: for yourself. It's open to the public, so if you

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Speaker 1: are ever in the area and make sure you stop by. Well.

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Speaker 1: Today we are unpacking who is the woman behind Uncle

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Speaker 1: Nearest Whiskey, what's the origin story of this iconic brand.

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Speaker 1: And as a special treat for our listeners, Bonn has

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Speaker 1: given away some gems. That's right, free jewelry folks, for

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Speaker 1: life and for business. So stay tuned because today's podcast

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Speaker 1: is not just about whiskey. It's about legacy, empowerment and

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Speaker 1: the ability to think differently in a world that follows

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Speaker 1: norms and trends. Welcome to Naked Sports.

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Speaker 3: I am Fawn Weaver, CEO and founder of Uncle NAR's

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Speaker 3: Premium Whiskey and New York Times best best selling author

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Speaker 3: of Love and Whiskey. Uncle Nearest is the first known

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Speaker 3: African American master distiller. And how I learned about it

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Speaker 3: is it was on the cover of the New York

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Speaker 3: Times International edition. I was in sync for just for

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Speaker 3: a few days, and on the cover of it. It's

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Speaker 3: actually in the cover of my book, Love and Whiskey

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Speaker 3: is it's this photo of Jack Daniel and to his

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Speaker 3: immediate right as an African American man. Now I didn't

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Speaker 3: drink Jack then, I don't drink it now, but I

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Speaker 3: knew what he looked like. His company has done a

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Speaker 3: brilliant job at making his face ubiquitous around the world.

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Speaker 3: And so the moment I saw him, and then I

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Speaker 3: see this African America and next to them, and I

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Speaker 3: place it. I guessed that the image was taken sometime

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Speaker 3: in the nineteenth century, which would make it pretty astounding

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Speaker 3: that Jack, in the only known photo that he ever took,

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Speaker 3: would have had an African American man to his right.

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Speaker 3: The headline on that New York Times story was Jack

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Speaker 3: Daniels embraces a hidden ingredient help from a slave. So somehow,

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Speaker 3: with that photo and that headline, the internet went wild

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Speaker 3: and decided Jack Daniel was a slave owner. He stole

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Speaker 3: the recipe, he hid the slave. That's the story that

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Speaker 3: went all over the world. And I'm looking at this

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Speaker 3: and just as a person who loves history and especially

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Speaker 3: African American history, I'm looking at this and going, Yo,

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Speaker 3: if Jack Daniel wanted to hide this man.

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Speaker 1: He wouldn't taken hure yet, right.

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Speaker 3: And so the question that The New York Times was

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Speaker 3: really bringing forth was they weren't giving the answer as

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Speaker 3: much as they were asking a question. And the reason

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Speaker 3: why they were doing that is because the story had

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Speaker 3: been reported for quite some time and it was a

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Speaker 3: part of Jack Daniel's actual history that there was a

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Speaker 3: white preacher and distiller by the name of Dan Cole

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Speaker 3: who was the teacher and mentor of Jack Daniel. But

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Speaker 3: the town of Lynchberg was saying it wasn't actually Dan Cole,

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Speaker 3: it was an enslaved man on his property. And so

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Speaker 3: what The New York Times was doing was essentially putting

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Speaker 3: up a lob to see if there was a way

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Speaker 3: for someone to prove this Clay rise. And the journalist

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Speaker 3: he described it as a lob because he said Listen

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Speaker 3: didn't have all of the resources that it would take

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Speaker 3: in order to really dive into this story to prove it.

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Speaker 3: And so I lobbed it up and hoped that someone

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Speaker 3: else would do it, and sure enough, I was the

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Speaker 3: one who went ahead and took the ball and finished

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Speaker 3: the play. But when you look at that story, when

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Speaker 3: the entire world was looking at and saying, you know,

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Speaker 3: Jack Daniel stole it, and it's another one of these

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Speaker 3: instances where African Americans had been stolen from I'm looking

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Speaker 3: at it. I ordered Jack Daniel's legacy. His biography nears green,

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Speaker 3: and his boys are mentioned more times than Jack's own family.

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Speaker 3: And to understand the significance of that is to know

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Speaker 3: the reporter. The journalist who wrote the biography was essentially

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Speaker 3: hired by Jack's family to write this biography, even though

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Speaker 3: he had autonomy as to what got included and they

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Speaker 3: were not to influence it. They wanted a story of

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Speaker 3: Jack's life to be told, and so this journalist came

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Speaker 3: from Alabama to Lynchburg, Tennessee, interviewed all the people who

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Speaker 3: knew Jack best, all the people who knew his nephew

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Speaker 3: who took over the distillery before Jack died, and his

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Speaker 3: great nephews who were overseeing the distillery at that time,

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Speaker 3: the number of times they would have had to mention

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Speaker 3: Nearest and his boys for them to be listed in

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Speaker 3: this book many times. And then you take that and

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Speaker 3: you couple with the photo. I pretty quickly concluded that

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Speaker 3: not only was Jack not trying to hide who it

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Speaker 3: was that was his teacher, he was trying to make

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Speaker 3: sure America would not be able to wipe him out.

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Speaker 1: Amazing. I'm really curious when you did the research. And yes,

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Speaker 1: everyone thought because there is the story of a rasure

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Speaker 1: of African Americans being a rased in history, and it's true,

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Speaker 1: it's not wrong. It's actually very true. You found something

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Speaker 1: totally different just with the research. He wasn't trying to

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Speaker 1: erase him. In fact, he was. It sounds to me,

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Speaker 1: and you tell me if I'm incorrect, it sounds to

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Speaker 1: me that he was honoring a man who really was

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Speaker 1: was a huge contribution to what he was able to create,

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Speaker 1: but only what he could do during that time.

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Speaker 3: It's absolutely accurate, and I believe that Jack and then

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Speaker 3: his descendants continued this to make sure that no one

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Speaker 3: would ever be able to erase Nearest Green and George

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Speaker 3: Green and Eli Green from their story. So when you

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Speaker 3: look at what ended up happening is Jack passed away

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Speaker 3: in nineteen eleven. However, he turned over his distillery in

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Speaker 3: nineteen oh seven to his nephew Limb, and lim continued

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Speaker 3: to tell the story of Nears Green and his boys.

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Speaker 3: He went on record every single time it was asked

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Speaker 3: what is the difference between Tennessee whiskey and Kentucky bourbon.

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Speaker 3: There's only one thing that distinguishes that other than location,

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Speaker 3: and that's just taking this traditional bourbon distillate, running it

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Speaker 3: through sugar maple charcoal to filter it before it goes

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Speaker 3: into the barrels. Well, Jack's descendants were always very clear

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Speaker 3: and giving the credit for that process to the Africans

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Speaker 3: that were living there, to the enslaved people. That's also

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Speaker 3: something they didn't have to do because we have. What

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Speaker 3: has happened historically over our four hundred plus years in

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Speaker 3: this country is because we weren't able to patent, because

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Speaker 3: we weren't able to trademark. We're really just now figuring

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Speaker 3: out the things that we invented correct and we're just

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Speaker 3: now figuring out where we were involved in who we

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Speaker 3: helped with. And so what's interesting is that when Jack's

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Speaker 3: great nephews took over the distillery, there was four of them.

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Speaker 3: They made sure that when they opened up the distillery

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Speaker 3: for tours for the public, Nears Green's legacy, George Green's

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Speaker 3: legacy was always a part of those tours, so much

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Speaker 3: so that Nearest says, descendants that went away to college

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Speaker 3: would bring their college friends back take them on tours

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Speaker 3: of Jack Daniel so that they could talk about their ancestor.

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Speaker 3: It was never hidden. Then, in seventy eight, the last

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Speaker 3: of Jack's descendants to pass away, Regor Motlow. When he died,

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Speaker 3: It's almost like the story died with him, because between

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Speaker 3: seventy eight and seventy nine the story disappeared. So one

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Speaker 3: of us descendants came back with friends from college and

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Speaker 3: called her daughter and said, they whitewashed my great great

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Speaker 3: grandfather out of this story. And so we know the

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Speaker 3: exact timeframe that had happened, and it happened right after

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Speaker 3: Jack's descendants stopped having watch over the distillery, Okay, And

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Speaker 3: so I believe that Jack knew without them overseeing this,

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Speaker 3: that there was a really good chance that Naris's legacy

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Speaker 3: would be erased, and he wasn't wrong because if he

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Speaker 3: hadn't taken the photo the photo, we wouldn't have been

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Speaker 3: able to prove it.

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Speaker 1: Do me a favor, do me a favorite. Let's talk

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Speaker 1: about this photo, because I feel like people might and

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Speaker 1: I just want to focus in on this photograph, that

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Speaker 1: photograph that you saw in the International section of the

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Speaker 1: New York Times that day in Singapore. What what year

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Speaker 1: was that?

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Speaker 3: That was twenty.

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Speaker 1: Sixteen, What was the year the photo was taken?

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Speaker 3: That nineteen oh four?

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Speaker 1: Nineteen oh four. The conditions of America in nineteen you know,

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Speaker 1: for would not suggest that a white man who is

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Speaker 1: as profitable and or as lucrative or well established as

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Speaker 1: Jack Daniels would take a photo with Uncle Nerest correct.

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Speaker 3: Well more importantly so that the African American in the

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Speaker 3: photo we've been able to positively identify as Nearest's son,

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Speaker 3: George Green. Okay, because Nearest retired and his sons George

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Speaker 3: and Eli, continued to work alongside Jack.

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Speaker 1: So George Green it wasn't Nearest city.

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Speaker 3: It wasn't nearest. Nearest was passed away by the time

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Speaker 3: that photo was taken. But the thing that I found

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Speaker 3: I still find most significant about the photo. It's not

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Speaker 3: just that George Green is to the right of Jack Daniel.

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Speaker 3: It's that if you look at the full photo, and

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Speaker 3: it's why I began Love and Whiskey with that photo

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Speaker 3: so people could see not the crop version that was

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Speaker 3: in the New York Times or even the crop version

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Speaker 3: I have on the cover. When you look at the

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Speaker 3: full photo, what you will notice is is the center

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Speaker 3: of the entire photo is around the African American man.

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Speaker 3: So Jack didn't just have him to his right. He

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Speaker 3: actually seeded the center position of the entire photograph to

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Speaker 3: George Green. And the other reason that's important is is

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Speaker 3: Jack never took another photo with other people his entire life.

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Speaker 3: There is exactly one photo with Jack Daniel with other

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Speaker 3: people in it, and he seeded the center position to

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Speaker 3: an African American man.

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Speaker 1: That is powerful. Do you know, Can you tell me

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Speaker 1: what happened to near screen? How did he pass away?

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Speaker 3: We have no idea. So that the US Census is

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Speaker 3: so interesting and the reason why the archives exist, now

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Speaker 3: why it was created. So in eighteen ninety a portion

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Speaker 3: of the census in America was burned in a fire.

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Speaker 3: It was just an accidental fire. You know buildings would

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Speaker 3: burn all the time. Then someone in our government made

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Speaker 3: the decision that if one portion of the census was

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Speaker 3: burned and destroyed, that all of the census should be

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Speaker 3: burned and destroyed. So we don't have an eighteen ninety census.

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Speaker 3: So we know that he was alive in eighteen eighty.

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Speaker 3: We know he was no longer alive in the census

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Speaker 3: in nineteen hundred, but we have no way of knowing

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Speaker 3: if he was still alive in eighteen ninety. And as

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Speaker 3: I began doing my research, I have him paying pull taxes,

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Speaker 3: which is, you know, the poll tax thing every time

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Speaker 3: black people don't vote. I'm like, are you kidding me?

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Speaker 3: They the poll tax is two dollars at that time

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Speaker 3: that nearest green and I have him paying poll taxes

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Speaker 3: every year that he was free up until eighteen eighty four,

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Speaker 3: And so it is possible he passed away in eighteen

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Speaker 3: eighty four. It's also possible that he no longer had

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Speaker 3: to pay the taxes because of how old you would

224
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Speaker 3: have been. We don't have any way of knowing, but

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Speaker 3: eighteen eighty four is the last time we have a

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Speaker 3: record of him. So that's why the brand Uncle near's

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Speaker 3: eighteen eighty four. We look at that and say that's

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Speaker 3: the last year that we believe that he put whiskey

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Speaker 3: into a barrel for Jack. And we say that because

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Speaker 3: that's the year Jack moved to the current location for

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Speaker 3: Jack Daniel Distillery. Nears Green is the only known master

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Speaker 3: distiller for Jack Daniel Distillery number seven. But that was

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Speaker 3: a different property than where it is now, Okay, And

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Speaker 3: so when he moved, that would have been the last

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Speaker 3: time that Nerros put whiskey in the barrel for Jack

236
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Speaker 3: would have been at eighteen eighty four. And that's also

237
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Speaker 3: the last year that I show records that he paid

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Speaker 3: the poll tax.

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Speaker 1: Pull tax is when you want to vote, you have

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Speaker 1: to pay a tax. That was also a deterrent for

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Speaker 1: many African Americans who were free an attacks.

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Speaker 3: Well absolutely, because white people didn't have to pay the

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Speaker 3: poll tax. Yeah, we had to pay the poll tax

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Speaker 3: in two dollars at that time. That meant you made

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Speaker 3: a decision between putting food on the table for an

246
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Speaker 3: entire week. That was a decision you had to make.

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Speaker 3: And it was so amazing to me because every black person,

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Speaker 3: every single black person in Lynchburg, Tennessee, paid that poll

249
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Speaker 3: tax and they voted. All of Mirris's boys, every single one,

250
00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,600
Speaker 3: paid that poll tax and voted. Of course, women, his

251
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Speaker 3: daughters weren't allowed to vote. That's a whole other conversation.

252
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Speaker 3: But the boys all paid the poll taxes and made

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Speaker 3: sure they voted.

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Speaker 1: When we return, we'll talk about how Fond revived the

255
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Speaker 1: legacy of Nearest Green and made Uncle Nears a billion

256
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Speaker 1: dollar brand back in a moment, welcome back to naked sports.

257
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Speaker 1: As far as records go, some historians estimate that Nearest

258
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Speaker 1: Green passed away in eighteen ninety. Also, Wikipedia says that

259
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Speaker 1: but when he passed away, his son, George took over

260
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Speaker 1: the business.

261
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Speaker 3: Yep, So his son continued the businessm Master Distiller. We

262
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Speaker 3: don't have. It's interesting because Jack Daniels has no record,

263
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Speaker 3: So so much of what I've had to discover is

264
00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:01,320
Speaker 3: outside of their record. And a part of that is

265
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:06,400
Speaker 3: because a lot of people don't understand prohibition. It essentially

266
00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:10,680
Speaker 3: killed Jack Daniel Distillery. So prohibition began in Tennessee ten

267
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Speaker 3: years before federal prohibition. So Jack Daniel Distillery as we

268
00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:18,360
Speaker 3: know it that was here, moved to Saint Louis. They

269
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,040
Speaker 3: moved to Saint Louis, they start up operated his nephew

270
00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,120
Speaker 3: Limbs set up operation there. That entire building burned down.

271
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Speaker 3: Who had to build a new Jack Daniel distillery across

272
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Speaker 3: the way in Saint Louis. And so the fact that

273
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Speaker 3: there's Guinea records, the fact that this photo exists is

274
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,360
Speaker 3: because it was about a forty year window of time

275
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Speaker 3: that Jack Daniel Distillery did not exist in Lynchburg.

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Speaker 1: Prohibition please explain master distillery please?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely so. Prohibition was an experiment in America that

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Speaker 3: failed greatly.

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Speaker 1: You you.

280
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Speaker 3: Had the government trying to regulate people drinking alcohol, and

281
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Speaker 3: they had determined that the only way that you could

282
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Speaker 3: drink bourbon because we didn't have all the alcohols at

283
00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:08,960
Speaker 3: that time, it was basically like it was basically whiskey,

284
00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,280
Speaker 3: bourbon rye whisky in the East Coast. And they determined

285
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Speaker 3: that the only way that you should be able to

286
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Speaker 3: get bourbon is what a prescription. And so the only

287
00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:21,960
Speaker 3: Burke people that were still making bourbon were the ones

288
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Speaker 3: that were doing it for the pharmacies. And I'm like,

289
00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:25,680
Speaker 3: let me get this straight. So you knew what was

290
00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:27,680
Speaker 3: healthy enough to make it a prescription?

291
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Speaker 1: Yeah?

292
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Speaker 3: Tell But and So what ended up happening during prohibition

293
00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,040
Speaker 3: is alcohol didn't go away, just went in to speak easies.

294
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Speaker 3: The mob ran all the alcohol, so they made all

295
00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,720
Speaker 3: the money and then they paid off the government officials

296
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Speaker 3: to keep prohibition going.

297
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Speaker 1: A movie with al Capone or anything about ulture, so

298
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Speaker 1: you know what prohibition was. And also the advent of moonshine,

299
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Speaker 1: people were making their own.

300
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Speaker 3: Well absolutely a lot of people don't even know that's

301
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,760
Speaker 3: how NASCAR began. So when you talk about sporting events,

302
00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:59,440
Speaker 3: most people have no idea that NASCAR began in Tennessee.

303
00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:04,520
Speaker 3: And the reason it was created was to outrun the

304
00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:09,520
Speaker 3: revenuers that were chasing after the moonshiners. So the moonshiners

305
00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,520
Speaker 3: created these soaked up vehicles that would outrun the police

306
00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,800
Speaker 3: and the revenuers and they would basically had these back

307
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Speaker 3: routes through the smoky mountains into North Carolina. So they

308
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Speaker 3: would run moonshine between Tennessee and North Carolina with these

309
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Speaker 3: really fast cars. That's what became NASCAR.

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Speaker 1: Wow, I had no idea. A lot of people including me,

311
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:35,919
Speaker 1: thank you, I know, thank you for this education. Okay, yeah, yeah, wow,

312
00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,720
Speaker 1: that's so powerful. Master Distiller. So and the only reason

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Speaker 1: why I ask is because these questions are people will

314
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Speaker 1: want to know about Uncle Nears So the next time

315
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,480
Speaker 1: they buy Uncle Near's eighteen eighty four, they know why

316
00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:46,800
Speaker 1: it's eighteen eighty four.

317
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Speaker 3: Absolutely and a master distiller. To answer your question, what

318
00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:53,879
Speaker 3: that essentially means is that person was over the stillhouse.

319
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Speaker 3: It was they were over the entire production of whiskey

320
00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:02,800
Speaker 3: making at that particular distillery. And so nears Green we

321
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:07,320
Speaker 3: knew to be the master distiller because Jack's Jack and

322
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:11,040
Speaker 3: his nephew and his great nephews all made sure that

323
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:15,560
Speaker 3: was documented that nears Green was the first master distiller. However,

324
00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:23,080
Speaker 3: between that time frame and when Jackie Summers started Surrell

325
00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,959
Speaker 3: in Brooklyn, New York and became a master distiller I

326
00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,439
Speaker 3: believe in twenty twelve, between that time, we don't know

327
00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,480
Speaker 3: of a single other African American master distiller, Wow or

328
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Speaker 3: Black master distiller because Jackie is Caribbean, So we.

329
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Speaker 1: Don't know of a saint year to what year.

330
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Speaker 3: From eighteen eighty four until twenty twelve, we don't have

331
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Speaker 3: record of another master distiller, not because they didn't exist,

332
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Speaker 3: but because they weren't given credit.

333
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Speaker 1: So what do you think the relationship was from your

334
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,439
Speaker 1: research which you've been able to ascertain what you've been

335
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:08,359
Speaker 1: able to discover, what was the relationship between Jack Daniels

336
00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:09,160
Speaker 1: and their screen.

337
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,600
Speaker 3: I still confident that I know what it was because

338
00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:18,000
Speaker 3: I've interviewed about one hundred of Nears' descendants. I've spent

339
00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:22,200
Speaker 3: time with them. I've gone and pulled documents from six

340
00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,240
Speaker 3: different states, all the states where he has branches, but

341
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:29,000
Speaker 3: also Jack's family. And when you look at the descendants

342
00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:32,680
Speaker 3: and how their descendants were so close and continued throughout

343
00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:37,399
Speaker 3: the years, it's very clear that began somewhere, and it

344
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,520
Speaker 3: makes the most sense that it predated his son and

345
00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:46,000
Speaker 3: Jack's nephews and those relationships that it began with Nears

346
00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:48,560
Speaker 3: and Jack. And so you have just to give a

347
00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:51,720
Speaker 3: little bit of background. Nears and Jack worked for the

348
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,320
Speaker 3: same man. They worked for the same preacher on the

349
00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:56,760
Speaker 3: same property. I own that property now, so I have

350
00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,119
Speaker 3: an intimate understanding and knowledge of it. It was it's

351
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,399
Speaker 3: three hundred and thirty eight acres. It's now three thirteen

352
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:04,240
Speaker 3: because they've put roads through and all that stuff, but

353
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,800
Speaker 3: it's that three hundred and thirty eight acre property. You

354
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:11,280
Speaker 3: had this preacher in this distiller who had his home.

355
00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:14,359
Speaker 3: He married a teetotaler at a very young age. She

356
00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,040
Speaker 3: was only eighteen years old. So you have that home

357
00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,680
Speaker 3: on the property. They had what's really amazing, they had

358
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:23,280
Speaker 3: eighteen kids. I think eleven survived, but that woman was

359
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:24,040
Speaker 3: always pregnant.

360
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Speaker 1: So you have good lord, and so you have their home.

361
00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,280
Speaker 3: And then if you were to walk through what was

362
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,040
Speaker 3: essentially forest area, if you were to walk through the

363
00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,840
Speaker 3: property for about twenty five thirty minutes, you would arrive

364
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:42,040
Speaker 3: at where his distillery was on the property. But then

365
00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,000
Speaker 3: if you went about the same amount of time in

366
00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,320
Speaker 3: the other direction, it's been like a triangle, you would

367
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:51,680
Speaker 3: arrive at his church. And so you had a man

368
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,560
Speaker 3: who was keeping these three worlds essentially separate from one another.

369
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:57,800
Speaker 3: His wife didn't want to have any parts of the

370
00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:02,040
Speaker 3: distillery whatsoever, the church didn't I And so you have

371
00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:06,159
Speaker 3: this distillery that's being run by an African American man

372
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,800
Speaker 3: because the white man who actually owns it can't put

373
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,120
Speaker 3: his hands on it because of his wife and because

374
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:12,680
Speaker 3: of his church.

375
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Speaker 1: Interesting, and so I think.

376
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,159
Speaker 3: That's a part of where the dynamic was different, is

377
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:23,240
Speaker 3: he was essentially an absentee owner, right because his church

378
00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,119
Speaker 3: and his wife didn't want him to have any parts

379
00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:27,399
Speaker 3: of that distillery, so he just kind of pretended like

380
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,480
Speaker 3: it wasn't there. But then nearest Green was making the whiskey. Well,

381
00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,400
Speaker 3: Jack Daniel comes as a young kid, about seven years old,

382
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,760
Speaker 3: as a chore boy. He's the tenth child. His mother

383
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:42,120
Speaker 3: dies of typhus fever seven days after she contracts it,

384
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,679
Speaker 3: and he was only four months old. So imagine in

385
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:47,919
Speaker 3: those days, men didn't know how to take care of kids.

386
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,119
Speaker 3: This man is left now with ten kids, one that

387
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,440
Speaker 3: needs to be wet nurse breastfed by nextdoor neighbor who

388
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,560
Speaker 3: has an infant around the same age. And so you

389
00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:01,080
Speaker 3: have this man who now has two ten children, including

390
00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:04,359
Speaker 3: a four month old. Well, back in those days, the

391
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,240
Speaker 3: way that you dealt with that, it wasn't babysitters and nannies.

392
00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:09,720
Speaker 3: You went and found somebody else to marry who would

393
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:14,520
Speaker 3: take care of you'll take kids, correct. And so Jack's

394
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:18,720
Speaker 3: father brought in a woman pretty early on, and by

395
00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:21,320
Speaker 3: all accounts, she just wasn't fond of Jack. And so

396
00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,320
Speaker 3: Jack left home at a very early age and began

397
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,199
Speaker 3: working as a chore boy for this preacher and distiller

398
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,240
Speaker 3: Dan Call and so when we look at Jack, because

399
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,080
Speaker 3: of who he became, we automatically assumed that he came

400
00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:37,720
Speaker 3: from privilege. But as I began diving into, what I

401
00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,920
Speaker 3: discovered is he's seven years old. He's living and working

402
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,280
Speaker 3: for this family. He's going and fetching water from them

403
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,520
Speaker 3: for the well. He's feeding slot to the pigs, he's

404
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 3: milking cows. He's living in the barn a good portion

405
00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:54,119
Speaker 3: of the time because they had so many kids, so

406
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,720
Speaker 3: many babies, that it was more peaceful to sleep in

407
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 3: the barn with the animals. It's hard for a person

408
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,080
Speaker 3: of any color to believe that they are of any

409
00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:09,600
Speaker 3: privilege if that's your situation, if that's your circumstance. So

410
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 3: I don't believe that Nearest and Jack ever really saw

411
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 3: each other based on race. I certainly don't think Jack did,

412
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 3: and I don't believe it because he had such a

413
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,560
Speaker 3: tough upbringing that there would be no way for him

414
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:25,960
Speaker 3: to feel as though he was above anybody.

415
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,639
Speaker 1: Else because of where he was in life, his station

416
00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:29,760
Speaker 1: in life.

417
00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,360
Speaker 3: His station in life did not allow him to have

418
00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:34,960
Speaker 3: any kind of privilege.

419
00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:37,719
Speaker 1: So you believe that they were, what would you how

420
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:45,280
Speaker 1: would you categorize that relationship mentor mentee, teacher, student, teacher,

421
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:50,120
Speaker 1: being nearest, teacher, being nearest, mentor being nearest and over

422
00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:54,840
Speaker 1: the years, based on the relationship with Jack and nearest

423
00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,280
Speaker 1: his son George. And it was interesting because George Green

424
00:23:58,640 --> 00:23:59,560
Speaker 1: his granddaughter.

425
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 3: He raised her. She lived with him until he passed away.

426
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:05,880
Speaker 3: And one of the stories that she shared that's in

427
00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,920
Speaker 3: love and Whiskey, is Jack's nephew, Lim, who ran the distillery.

428
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 3: He would get drunk and this isn't you know everybody

429
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:16,560
Speaker 3: in town knows this. Lim would get drunk, he'd get

430
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:22,840
Speaker 3: a little bulligern and Miss Helen, George's granddaughter, she would

431
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:26,480
Speaker 3: remember the phone ringing and someone saying, George, can you

432
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:30,400
Speaker 3: please come talk to Lim. Lim didn't respect a single

433
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,959
Speaker 3: person when he was drunk, except near his son. So

434
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:35,919
Speaker 3: George would have to go down to the house and

435
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:38,400
Speaker 3: go Lim, you know you can't talk to people like that. Lim,

436
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:40,879
Speaker 3: you know you can't throw stuff like that. The level

437
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:45,719
Speaker 3: of respect you have to have gained for the only

438
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,360
Speaker 3: person to be able to talk down the wealthiest man

439
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:49,600
Speaker 3: in town is a black man.

440
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:54,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, because he knew he respected him as what

441
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 1: he came from. And what the work ethic in which

442
00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:00,919
Speaker 1: obviously they displayed, and how talented they were were and

443
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: did hear you? Decades later, hundreds of years later, you

444
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,880
Speaker 1: come along and you find this story, and for whatever reasons,

445
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,160
Speaker 1: you're intrigued, and I know the reasons, you just get

446
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:14,719
Speaker 1: this black man is centered. Tell me more about this story.

447
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 3: Listen, I was about to turn forty. You couldn't tell

448
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,320
Speaker 3: me a single story up until that point where we

449
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,119
Speaker 3: would we could prove that we were there at the

450
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 3: beginning of a ubiquitous American brand. None, you couldn't tell

451
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:30,920
Speaker 3: me a story where we were there at the beginning

452
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,399
Speaker 3: of something that had been invented, where we where it

453
00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:39,920
Speaker 3: was proven, not that it's said. So you go to Houston, Texas.

454
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,160
Speaker 3: You have lou Sille's restaurant. Her descendants have been very

455
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,240
Speaker 3: clear in saying Pillsbury stole our recipe of instant biscuits

456
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,440
Speaker 3: for her. They kept trying to buy it from her,

457
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,880
Speaker 3: she kept saying no, they reverse engineered it, and all

458
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 3: of a sudden they have it. However, they can't prove it. Yeah, right,

459
00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,680
Speaker 3: So what we've had over the years is a history

460
00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:04,640
Speaker 3: of stories that we can't prove and with this photo

461
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:11,399
Speaker 3: and with the accompanying documentation his biography, Jack's biography, and

462
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,320
Speaker 3: a few other things. I'm looking at this and going, wait,

463
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 3: we could we actually have a story we can.

464
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 1: Prove h And that was new for us and your

465
00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:24,199
Speaker 1: idea when you knew that you could prove this story,

466
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,399
Speaker 1: its origin, it's history in African American culture, your idea

467
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:28,600
Speaker 1: was to do what then.

468
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 3: A book in a movie. So Love and Whiskey was

469
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,120
Speaker 3: the first chapters of Love and Whiskey I wrote back

470
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:39,520
Speaker 3: in twenty and sixteen. Now, mind you, my editor co

471
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 3: writer all the rest of that I did. So she

472
00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 3: brought in her own researchers. They went back and reinterviewed

473
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,159
Speaker 3: every person who I interviewed that was still alive. And

474
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:50,359
Speaker 3: so the structure of it is not what I originally wrote.

475
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,440
Speaker 3: But the content is in that I originally wrote back

476
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,160
Speaker 3: in October twenty sixteen. It is throughout the book, it's basis,

477
00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,119
Speaker 3: the formation of the book itself, and so it was

478
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,119
Speaker 3: always meant to be a book. But as I began

479
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:09,359
Speaker 3: meeting with Nearess's family and Jack's family, what became clear

480
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,800
Speaker 3: is that Nearis's story had been erased once before, and

481
00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,119
Speaker 3: there was a book, and there was newspaper articles and

482
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 3: magazines that made it clear who he was. So the

483
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,280
Speaker 3: fact that it could happen once means it could happen again,

484
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,360
Speaker 3: and a book wasn't going to prevent it from happening.

485
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,560
Speaker 3: And so the question became, why are we all still

486
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:31,960
Speaker 3: talking about Jack Daniel and Johnny Walker and Jim Bean

487
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,760
Speaker 3: to this day? Very simple, we see their bottles everywhere, yep.

488
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 3: So to cement the legacy of Nearest Green, that was

489
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,359
Speaker 3: imperative that we made sure that not only did he

490
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,920
Speaker 3: have his own bottle to sit alongside Jim, Johnny and Jack,

491
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,200
Speaker 3: but it was important that it become very early on

492
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,080
Speaker 3: the most awarded bourbon in the world, because we were

493
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:56,400
Speaker 3: saying the level of excellence in which Nearest operated, we're

494
00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,119
Speaker 3: going to mirror that all these years later. I mean,

495
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:01,720
Speaker 3: this is the sixth year in a row that Uncle

496
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 3: Ners is the most awarded bourbon in the world. That's

497
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:09,800
Speaker 3: not by accident, that's very intentional. I should also clarify

498
00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:13,359
Speaker 3: why we refer to him as Uncle Nears for the brand,

499
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:15,959
Speaker 3: but I don't refer to him as Uncle Nears as

500
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:18,399
Speaker 3: a person. As a person. I refer to him as

501
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,720
Speaker 3: Nearest Green. That's what he referred to himself as, but

502
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:25,639
Speaker 3: his legal name was Nathan Green. And enslaved people on

503
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:30,439
Speaker 3: the other side of being freed, many of them chose

504
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,200
Speaker 3: to abandon the names that were given to them because

505
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 3: so many of them those names were tied to either

506
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 3: their slave owners or children of the slave owners. And

507
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:42,920
Speaker 3: so what you see a lot with enslaved people is

508
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 3: after the Civil War, they no longer use those names anymore.

509
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,800
Speaker 3: That was the case with Neares Green. He completely abandoned

510
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,440
Speaker 3: using Nathan Green. But more importantly, every legal document from

511
00:28:54,480 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 3: his children and his grandchildren never said Nathan. Every single

512
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 3: one was Nearest Felled phonetically, so many different ways, but

513
00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 3: every single one of them used Nearest And so I

514
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:09,520
Speaker 3: had to begin looking at it to figure out, well,

515
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:14,520
Speaker 3: why would he possibly have abandoned Nathan. And there's two reasons. One,

516
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,960
Speaker 3: the largest land, the largest slave owner in the Lynchburg

517
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:22,080
Speaker 3: area was named Nathan Green. That's one reason. The other

518
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:27,680
Speaker 3: reason is the most successful, well known Confederate general in

519
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 3: this area is a man by the name of Nathan

520
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,360
Speaker 3: Bedford Forest. And by in this area, I mean he

521
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,520
Speaker 3: literally came through here recruiting men for forrest escorts. Well.

522
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 3: He also just happens to be the first Grand Wizard

523
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:44,160
Speaker 3: of the kou Klux Plam. So in this area, the

524
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:49,760
Speaker 3: name Nathan is not great Nathan, it's not awesome. And

525
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,160
Speaker 3: so when we were creating the brand, we had a

526
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:57,160
Speaker 3: pretty big challenge because we couldn't name it Nearest Green

527
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 3: because before we identified him as Neares Green and made

528
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,440
Speaker 3: him a household name, if you or I had seen

529
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:07,280
Speaker 3: Nearest Green on a whiskey label, it basically is like

530
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 3: the nearest golf the closest golf course. It's not a human,

531
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,239
Speaker 3: it's a thing. Nearest Green, correct, It's a thing. And

532
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 3: so we couldn't use Nearest Green until such time as

533
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 3: we identified him as a human being. And so we

534
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 3: really only had one choice of what name to use,

535
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,440
Speaker 3: and it was a name that everybody in Lynchberg, white

536
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,959
Speaker 3: and black, referred to him as, which is uncle Nears.

537
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,320
Speaker 3: And we struggled with that one because historically, when you

538
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 3: would call someone an aunt or an uncle and their

539
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:40,840
Speaker 3: African American, it was really to distinguish good Negro house Negro.

540
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,560
Speaker 3: That type of thing is aunt and uncle. In Lynchburg.

541
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 3: In that instance, the most well respected people that were

542
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:54,680
Speaker 3: there were Uncle Nearest, Uncle Jack, and Uncle Felix. Two

543
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:58,240
Speaker 3: of the three were white. Okay, So it wasn't a

544
00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:00,520
Speaker 3: matter of good negro. It was a matter it was

545
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:02,960
Speaker 3: a term of endearment. It was more importantly a term

546
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,040
Speaker 3: of respect. And so even though we knew we would

547
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 3: have to explain that, we decided we would go with

548
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 3: Uncle Nears. But if you look at the name of

549
00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,680
Speaker 3: the distillery we announced in twenty eighteen before we started

550
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,160
Speaker 3: building it, all the rest of that that was always

551
00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 3: named nears Green Distillery. It has never been named Uncle

552
00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:24,840
Speaker 3: Neris because we were confident that at some point we

553
00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,720
Speaker 3: would make Nearest Green's name known around the world where

554
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,640
Speaker 3: when people see it on a bottle, they know who

555
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:33,840
Speaker 3: it is. So about a month and a half ago

556
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:37,680
Speaker 3: we released nears Green, Tennessee and whiskey. Because now when

557
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,240
Speaker 3: people see that name on a bottle, they know it's all.

558
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,760
Speaker 1: Now, that's right. You've built the name. You've built the

559
00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:44,600
Speaker 1: Uncle Nearest name in a way in which people are

560
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:46,800
Speaker 1: very familiar and it is a part of our world

561
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,840
Speaker 1: in which we live. Congratulations to you on that business model.

562
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:53,880
Speaker 1: So smart, but so divine, but almost just it was

563
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,840
Speaker 1: appointed it was God knew that you needed it happened

564
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:02,120
Speaker 1: in every It feels to me very divine. If today,

565
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,520
Speaker 1: in this moment, God says, look at this article while

566
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,480
Speaker 1: you're in Singapore, have this vision. You want a book,

567
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,280
Speaker 1: you want a movie, but then there's just so much

568
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:11,760
Speaker 1: more to it. If everyone listening. I had that wonderful

569
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,840
Speaker 1: opportunity to visit and it is a beautiful property that

570
00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 1: you have, a beautiful You've created such a beautiful living

571
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,840
Speaker 1: legacy to Nearest Green, and it is for the world

572
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:27,560
Speaker 1: to see. But you've also done not even on the

573
00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:30,280
Speaker 1: business aspect, because we're going to get into that, because

574
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:34,320
Speaker 1: that's phenomenal, but you, to me, did the unnecessary step

575
00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 1: that most people forget to do, and you brought in

576
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,640
Speaker 1: his descendants and you said, I want you also to

577
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,320
Speaker 1: be a part of this. Now, that to me is

578
00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:48,000
Speaker 1: another divine appointment and why I believe there is so

579
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 1: much success because of the intention behind the product. Can

580
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,360
Speaker 1: you talk to us about how you were able to

581
00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,760
Speaker 1: find some of Green's descendants and incorporate a relationship, a

582
00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 1: work relationship, a mentorship if you will, to make sure

583
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,320
Speaker 1: that they can understand who he is and also benefit

584
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 1: from it. In many ways and perhaps come back and

585
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:09,680
Speaker 1: work for their uncle in there.

586
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:13,040
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, So before we ever sold a bottle of

587
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:16,239
Speaker 3: Uncle Nears, before any were in the marketplace, we had

588
00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 3: already begun paying for the college for college scholarships for

589
00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,000
Speaker 3: every single one of Nearest Green's descendants. We were paying

590
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,720
Speaker 3: for all of them to go to college. And so

591
00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:33,080
Speaker 3: Nearest Green's great great granddaughter, our Master Blinder, Victoria Ady Butler,

592
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:39,040
Speaker 3: who was phenomenal. I met her attending the graduation of

593
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,240
Speaker 3: her niece, who we had just put through college at

594
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:46,160
Speaker 3: the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, and she was graduating with honors.

595
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:49,280
Speaker 3: She invited us out, we came out. That's how Victoria

596
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:53,240
Speaker 3: and I met. And so the interesting thing is my

597
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,920
Speaker 3: dream was always to have the company full of Green descendants.

598
00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,760
Speaker 3: But I didn't think through this very well, because if

599
00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:01,680
Speaker 3: I had, I wouldn't have paid for them all to

600
00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:06,720
Speaker 3: go to college. Because now they're looking at me like,

601
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:08,759
Speaker 3: let me get this straight. So I now I have

602
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,359
Speaker 3: my JD, I have my masters, I have my and

603
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,960
Speaker 3: you want us to come work in Shelbyville, Tennessee, into

604
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:19,640
Speaker 3: New York and California and Texas. And I've had zero

605
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:24,160
Speaker 3: luck zero. So this is really just Victoria and I

606
00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:26,600
Speaker 3: and the rest of the Green family members. They come,

607
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,440
Speaker 3: they support, they bring their friends to the distillery, but

608
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,439
Speaker 3: they are like, yo, were not come. We're not coming

609
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,880
Speaker 3: to the middle of Shelbyville, Tennessee. When we have so

610
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:41,360
Speaker 3: many choices, Yeah, to do whatever we want. However, that

611
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,560
Speaker 3: being said, I have not given up hope that over

612
00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,760
Speaker 3: most time years that we're going to have so many

613
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:52,399
Speaker 3: Green family members working at the distillery and a part

614
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,120
Speaker 3: of the family business. I look at this as them

615
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:56,800
Speaker 3: out there sewing their royal oaths.

616
00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:57,080
Speaker 1: Right.

617
00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:59,440
Speaker 3: You know, you got one working at a PR firm,

618
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:02,440
Speaker 3: and and diego, you got one down A few of

619
00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:06,000
Speaker 3: them actually down in Texas, and it's just really special

620
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:10,200
Speaker 3: to be connected. The head of security for the leadership

621
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:12,880
Speaker 3: at Meta is actually one of Nearest's descendants.

622
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,600
Speaker 1: Von Weaver has written a New York Times bestselling book,

623
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:20,400
Speaker 1: Love and Whiskey, and she continues this great legacy of

624
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,799
Speaker 1: near a screen. But when we come back, she will

625
00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:27,040
Speaker 1: explain how playing offense has kept her head and shoulders

626
00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:30,160
Speaker 1: above the rest in this liquor game. But more importantly,

627
00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:42,120
Speaker 1: she's given out those gems back in a moment how

628
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:44,920
Speaker 1: do you create this business model that is now a

629
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,959
Speaker 1: billion dollar valuation. Congratulations to you and all your hard work,

630
00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,040
Speaker 1: and your husband and your family members, and your employees

631
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:55,680
Speaker 1: and your investors and everyone who believes in the vision.

632
00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:59,399
Speaker 1: Congratulations to you. You deserve to be celebrated. So when

633
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:02,520
Speaker 1: I see you celebrated, it warms my heart because you

634
00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,719
Speaker 1: deserve that. So thank you for showing us it can

635
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,439
Speaker 1: be done. But then now tell us how it was done.

636
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:12,280
Speaker 3: You know, it's so hard to condense because we did

637
00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:17,040
Speaker 3: so much so fast. So I think the easiest way

638
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:19,040
Speaker 3: to say it is is that most of the time,

639
00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,160
Speaker 3: when people start a business and they go out, they're

640
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:26,600
Speaker 3: focused on their marketing, their sales, their pr They're playing offense, right,

641
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,280
Speaker 3: It's about telling the story of their brand. It's about

642
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,400
Speaker 3: getting it out there to the public. In our instance,

643
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:34,799
Speaker 3: because our story was smack dab in the middle of

644
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 3: Jack Daniels, which is now owned by another company, we

645
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:41,759
Speaker 3: didn't have any way of knowing if whether or not

646
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,120
Speaker 3: they were going to point every rocket, every grenade, and

647
00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:49,480
Speaker 3: so we came into the business playing both offense and defense,

648
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,080
Speaker 3: and a part of our defense strategy was a little

649
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,680
Speaker 3: Tasmanian like, meaning we were going to do so many

650
00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,799
Speaker 3: things simultaneously that if they threw a grenade over here,

651
00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:02,600
Speaker 3: it's cool, we already moved to over here. If they

652
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:05,080
Speaker 3: pointed their rockets to us over there, it's all right,

653
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,400
Speaker 3: we already moved over here. And so we went peddled

654
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 3: to the metal in a way that no one has

655
00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:14,440
Speaker 3: ever come into this industry of any race, of any gender,

656
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:17,840
Speaker 3: No one has ever come into this industry as hard

657
00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:21,319
Speaker 3: as we did. But we did it out of survival.

658
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:25,080
Speaker 3: We did it out of a necessity to both defend

659
00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:28,480
Speaker 3: and to play offense at the same time.

660
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:31,400
Speaker 1: I love it. And so when you say play offense,

661
00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:33,919
Speaker 1: what did that look like? Just giving these Yeah?

662
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,959
Speaker 3: No, that part of it playing offense is getting out

663
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,480
Speaker 3: there and talking about the brand, being in the press

664
00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:44,520
Speaker 3: every single day, going out and pitching the distributors. And

665
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:48,240
Speaker 3: because every single market you can't sell to a consumer

666
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:49,920
Speaker 3: if you're in the alcohol business, you have to pick

667
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 3: sell to a distributor. That means the distributor is actually

668
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:55,720
Speaker 3: your buyer. They're the ones too you have to convince.

669
00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:59,759
Speaker 3: And so every day my chief brand officer, Kate, we

670
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,799
Speaker 3: had one other team member, Steven and I we would

671
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:06,080
Speaker 3: be on planes every day going and pitching distributors across

672
00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:10,200
Speaker 3: this country, and so there was no outside of the sabbath.

673
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:13,680
Speaker 3: This has been I have worked six days a week

674
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:19,120
Speaker 3: easily sixteen eighteen hours adays since the beginning, and we

675
00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:22,680
Speaker 3: look back on it and realize if we hadn't did that,

676
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:24,960
Speaker 3: if we hadn't done that, we would be dead. Not

677
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:30,000
Speaker 3: because Jack Daniel's parent company would have killed us, but

678
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:32,680
Speaker 3: because this business has a ninety nine point nine to

679
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:36,960
Speaker 3: nine percent failure rate that I mean, they didn't have

680
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 3: to do anything but sit back and do nothing. In

681
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,680
Speaker 3: the likelihood that we would have failed was really really high,

682
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:46,360
Speaker 3: and so for us, we had to do so much

683
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:50,719
Speaker 3: to represent, to build this brand, and to build it

684
00:38:50,719 --> 00:38:55,520
Speaker 3: with a coalition of everyone. People looking at this would think, okay, well,

685
00:38:55,520 --> 00:38:58,120
Speaker 3: it was an African American story. It was built by

686
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:02,319
Speaker 3: an African American woman, so surely the consumer is African Americans.

687
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:05,600
Speaker 3: But that's absolutely not true. In twenty sixteen, we weren't

688
00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:08,839
Speaker 3: drinking bourbon. Yeah, like you could, you know, you could

689
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:10,759
Speaker 3: count on a few hands the number of.

690
00:39:10,640 --> 00:39:14,760
Speaker 1: People, and so everybody was drinking Jack though, yeah, yeah, yeah.

691
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:18,719
Speaker 3: I mean, but actually, but when you looked at even

692
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:23,200
Speaker 3: Jack stats, African Americans didn't even represent a full percentage.

693
00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:26,279
Speaker 1: Oh really, why it was just the marketing of it, then,

694
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 1: just the.

695
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:31,719
Speaker 3: Marketing of it, Jack damn African Americans black people as

696
00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:35,600
Speaker 3: the Black Americans did not represent a full percentage. Wow

697
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,280
Speaker 3: that it was just and so a lot of people

698
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:41,960
Speaker 3: don't understand how difficult it was to build this brand

699
00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:44,360
Speaker 3: because we didn't have us as a base.

700
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:47,719
Speaker 1: Wow wow wow wow wow wow.

701
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,040
Speaker 3: So we have to build it to everybody who already

702
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:52,520
Speaker 3: were bourbon consumers.

703
00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:54,560
Speaker 1: What were the black folks drinking?

704
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:57,840
Speaker 3: Fun not that you have crowd and kognyak.

705
00:39:58,080 --> 00:39:59,799
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, whe're a purple bag at because

706
00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,040
Speaker 1: the dominoes. We put the dominoes in the purple bag.

707
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:04,800
Speaker 1: This is what you know.

708
00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:05,520
Speaker 3: You don't know why.

709
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:06,919
Speaker 1: It's just in the house.

710
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:11,040
Speaker 3: It's so the crown, it's so funny. Because Nerost's descendants

711
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,359
Speaker 3: were all drinking crown. I was like, I had never

712
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:18,200
Speaker 3: had crown. And so I said one day because one

713
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:21,560
Speaker 3: of his eldest descendant in Saint Louis, she would hide

714
00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:23,960
Speaker 3: the crown when I came over because he felt guilty.

715
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:27,759
Speaker 3: I meant, Antie just let me taste the crown since

716
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,760
Speaker 3: I know you hit it. She had it under the sink.

717
00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:31,399
Speaker 3: I was like, you don't have to hide it. When

718
00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:40,160
Speaker 3: I come around, I tasted it was terrible. I was like, no, wonder,

719
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:42,360
Speaker 3: we have a hard time drinking bourbon. We've been drinking

720
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:45,840
Speaker 3: trash for so long, so we don't know what quality

721
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:49,200
Speaker 3: tastes like. And so we really had to train the

722
00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:53,080
Speaker 3: palettes of a lot of women and people of color

723
00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:56,759
Speaker 3: to really be able to enjoy the quality of a

724
00:40:56,800 --> 00:40:57,440
Speaker 3: pure bourbon.

725
00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:01,680
Speaker 1: Do you tell me, I'm just gonna mirror back what

726
00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:03,759
Speaker 1: I think I hear and what I've noticed. What a

727
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:06,719
Speaker 1: lot of successful brands, even with individuals you made it.

728
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:12,040
Speaker 1: Your story was so very niche not your audience, but

729
00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:16,560
Speaker 1: the story of Nearest Green was so very particular, and

730
00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:19,960
Speaker 1: it was the story of this this master de sailor

731
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:24,080
Speaker 1: who created a hand in hand taught Jack Daniels in

732
00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:26,799
Speaker 1: many ways, right, would you? Is that fair?

733
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:29,840
Speaker 3: It absolutely is, I would say the way when we

734
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,480
Speaker 3: began this, we were always very clear in saying we

735
00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:34,839
Speaker 3: weren't just building a bourbon brand, a whiskey brand. We

736
00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:38,120
Speaker 3: were building the next great American brand. Hard stop. Yeah,

737
00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 3: we believe that we were creating the great, the next

738
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:45,120
Speaker 3: great American brand that would be embraced by every American

739
00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:49,680
Speaker 3: because it's in every brands and it's American story. You

740
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:53,080
Speaker 3: have an African American and a white man walking working

741
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:56,759
Speaker 3: side by side. You have the process that is being

742
00:41:56,880 --> 00:42:00,759
Speaker 3: utilized that makes it special as being credit with having

743
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:04,160
Speaker 3: come in with the enslaved people, having been perfected by

744
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,480
Speaker 3: Nearest Green and the folks that are there. And so

745
00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:10,719
Speaker 3: you're looking at this and saying, what story is more

746
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:11,600
Speaker 3: American than this?

747
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,880
Speaker 1: But fine? In a very polarized world. The reason what

748
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:18,040
Speaker 1: I say about you just in casual I'm like, she

749
00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:22,160
Speaker 1: has been able to create a brand, and most people

750
00:42:22,239 --> 00:42:24,799
Speaker 1: will think black woman, black brand. But there is the

751
00:42:24,840 --> 00:42:27,040
Speaker 1: way in which you tell the story, how you carry yourself,

752
00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:28,840
Speaker 1: the way you move, the way you conduct business. It

753
00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,719
Speaker 1: is something for everyone. But it's also the brand. You

754
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:36,160
Speaker 1: talk about a relationship, Jack and Nearest our friends. They

755
00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:40,000
Speaker 1: are mental as you said, mentor mentee. That is something

756
00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:43,799
Speaker 1: everybody can get behind because there is the unification in

757
00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:46,160
Speaker 1: the world where we are so polarized, especially in a

758
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,920
Speaker 1: time when during that time that we're all the same.

759
00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:49,640
Speaker 1: You know what I mean.

760
00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:53,240
Speaker 3: I think Okay, And when you look at so white

761
00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:56,360
Speaker 3: people are still about sixty percent of this country. African

762
00:42:56,400 --> 00:43:00,319
Speaker 3: Americans Black Americans thirteen point nine percent. Right, So the

763
00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:03,960
Speaker 3: two of us combined are about seventy five percent of

764
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,520
Speaker 3: the population of this country. And I'm telling a story

765
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:10,439
Speaker 3: that is uniquely credited with those two people, with those

766
00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:15,919
Speaker 3: two groups. So this story, even before it reaches Latinos

767
00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:18,440
Speaker 3: and Asians and Native Americans and all the rest of

768
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:22,200
Speaker 3: this we still it's still seventy five percent of this

769
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:24,719
Speaker 3: country that it already covers.

770
00:43:25,239 --> 00:43:29,320
Speaker 1: But I think also it's a story of a white

771
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:31,759
Speaker 1: man embracing a black man in a time when that

772
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:37,240
Speaker 1: was not considered appropriate and or legal and or kosher,

773
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:40,560
Speaker 1: whatever word you want to use. And when you see that,

774
00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:43,600
Speaker 1: that to me is hopeful. It's a hopeful story.

775
00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:46,799
Speaker 3: It's a hopeful story. We're looking at someone who was

776
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:51,799
Speaker 3: potentially the first known ally for us, and not just

777
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:55,719
Speaker 3: an ally of nearest and of his son George and

778
00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:58,920
Speaker 3: his son Eli, but you're talking about a man who

779
00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:03,279
Speaker 3: built a companympany in the nineteenth century in which he

780
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:07,719
Speaker 3: paid people on tenure, not race. That was unheard of,

781
00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:11,160
Speaker 3: and so there were I was really fortunate that when

782
00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:15,120
Speaker 3: I arrived in Lynchburg, Tennessee, Nears's granddaughter was one hundred

783
00:44:15,160 --> 00:44:18,520
Speaker 3: and six. She was still alive. But you also had

784
00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:22,920
Speaker 3: all these African American men who had spent their entire

785
00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:26,439
Speaker 3: careers working at Jack Daniel Distillery. And when I tell

786
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:29,800
Speaker 3: you, you're talking about men who were working there in the forties,

787
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:32,920
Speaker 3: in the fifties and the sixties, and every memory they

788
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:36,560
Speaker 3: had was found. How was that even possible? And they

789
00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:40,120
Speaker 3: would talk about how if they were doing a particular

790
00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:42,640
Speaker 3: job and they were paid a certain wage and a

791
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:46,720
Speaker 3: white person came in after them to do that same job,

792
00:44:47,239 --> 00:44:50,560
Speaker 3: they were paid more than the white person. That is

793
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:55,560
Speaker 3: unheard of in that day and age. And that continued

794
00:44:55,960 --> 00:45:00,920
Speaker 3: throughout the legacy of this distillery, of Jack's des Sendens continue,

795
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:02,320
Speaker 3: they continue to be allies.

796
00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:05,160
Speaker 1: It would be nice to find more of those allies.

797
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:07,200
Speaker 1: It would be nice to tell more of those stories.

798
00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:10,440
Speaker 1: It would be nice to have those allies at the forefront.

799
00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:14,959
Speaker 1: And in today's America I'm talking is in twenty twenty four,

800
00:45:15,440 --> 00:45:19,200
Speaker 1: telling those stories, finding them, highlighting them, celebrating the people

801
00:45:19,239 --> 00:45:22,520
Speaker 1: that they mentor and mentee with, work with teacher, student, whatever,

802
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:25,359
Speaker 1: that relationship is we could use so much of that.

803
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:29,000
Speaker 1: Do you ultimately know, because there's so much more than

804
00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:31,759
Speaker 1: just for you. I already know that you haven't shared

805
00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:33,480
Speaker 1: that with me. There's so much more than just the

806
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:35,799
Speaker 1: whiskey I know that you bought. You guys are working

807
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:37,560
Speaker 1: on a Cognak for my understand.

808
00:45:37,640 --> 00:45:41,720
Speaker 3: Absolutely, we're the largest Cognac vineyard, the largest vineyard owner

809
00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:44,919
Speaker 3: of Grand Champagne grapes, which is the Kreme dela Crome

810
00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:48,200
Speaker 3: of Cognac grapes in the city of Cognac, France. It

811
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:51,399
Speaker 3: is absolutely the first time an African American has bought

812
00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:54,279
Speaker 3: vineyards there. But I also believe it maybe the first

813
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:57,759
Speaker 3: time an American hass period because the process there. You

814
00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:01,439
Speaker 3: can't just go into Cognac and buys It doesn't work

815
00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:04,600
Speaker 3: that way. If you buy a property and it has

816
00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:07,080
Speaker 3: only if you try to buy a property, and this

817
00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:10,240
Speaker 3: could be a you know, a twenty million dollar property,

818
00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:14,960
Speaker 3: if it has even a half of an acre of vineyards,

819
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:18,680
Speaker 3: the city controls it. The city controls the purchase process.

820
00:46:18,840 --> 00:46:21,600
Speaker 3: So you could go in, you could you could actually

821
00:46:21,640 --> 00:46:24,680
Speaker 3: place an offer, you could have that offer received and

822
00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:27,040
Speaker 3: go into escrow, which by the way, happened with us,

823
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:30,680
Speaker 3: you get into escrow, it gets printed publicly in the

824
00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:34,000
Speaker 3: newspapers for people to bid against you, and there is

825
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:38,160
Speaker 3: a single person who oversees the process that makes the

826
00:46:38,239 --> 00:46:41,040
Speaker 3: determination of who in that bidding process gets to buy

827
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:41,920
Speaker 3: those vineyards.

828
00:46:42,360 --> 00:46:48,439
Speaker 1: Wow, it's no joke and so and understandably so, because

829
00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:50,560
Speaker 1: they want to keep it. Krem day la krem if

830
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,399
Speaker 1: you will. I'm assuming or well generational.

831
00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:57,960
Speaker 3: So the difference between cognac and other spirits is that

832
00:46:58,160 --> 00:47:01,319
Speaker 3: in cognac, the majority of cognac is not made by

833
00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:03,799
Speaker 3: the house. As we know, Hennessy only makes about two

834
00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:07,160
Speaker 3: percent of their own product. You have all of these

835
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:12,200
Speaker 3: generational farmers and distillers, small family businesses that have been

836
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:15,680
Speaker 3: doing this for twenty generations, for all the big guys

837
00:47:15,719 --> 00:47:20,160
Speaker 3: for Remy, for Martel, for Crevasier, and for Hennessy. So

838
00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:22,759
Speaker 3: when they're looking at it, they are looking at it

839
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:25,720
Speaker 3: and saying, who's going to take care of these vineyards

840
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:28,640
Speaker 3: the best and who is going to protect this for

841
00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:32,920
Speaker 3: generations to come? So smart and my mindset is so

842
00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:38,120
Speaker 3: focused on generations to come that they were comfortable and

843
00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:41,480
Speaker 3: when you think about it Americans in general, that's usually

844
00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:44,000
Speaker 3: not how we think, which is why I think Americans

845
00:47:44,000 --> 00:47:46,880
Speaker 3: have not been able to buy there before, because we

846
00:47:47,080 --> 00:47:49,719
Speaker 3: come in there and we're thinking about this generation, what

847
00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:52,440
Speaker 3: we can build in this generation. And I came in

848
00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:55,439
Speaker 3: and I shared the story, and I was focused on

849
00:47:55,760 --> 00:47:58,480
Speaker 3: how I'm going to keep those farmers and those distillers

850
00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:02,600
Speaker 3: working for the next twenty generations. My pitch was completely different,

851
00:48:02,880 --> 00:48:06,040
Speaker 3: but my pitch was from the heart, and they approved

852
00:48:06,040 --> 00:48:09,120
Speaker 3: it and we bought that property. So it's not named

853
00:48:09,200 --> 00:48:12,280
Speaker 3: Uncle Ners, but Uncle Nears Inc. Does own now that.

854
00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:16,560
Speaker 1: French company and the name of the company not sharing it.

855
00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:21,080
Speaker 1: Get it? When do we get this year?

856
00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:23,920
Speaker 3: In a wait, you'll begin hearing about it toward the

857
00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:24,640
Speaker 3: end of spring.

858
00:48:25,160 --> 00:48:27,480
Speaker 1: Okay, here, all right, I'm fine, I'm patient, I'm fine.

859
00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:29,680
Speaker 1: I'm here. I'm here to support and talk about all

860
00:48:29,719 --> 00:48:33,440
Speaker 1: the time. Yes, okay. So then I also, though, believe

861
00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:36,319
Speaker 1: on that there is still more beyond that.

862
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:40,279
Speaker 3: Oh well, we already bought a vodka company that releases.

863
00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:44,279
Speaker 3: We completely have completed the rebranding of that that goes

864
00:48:44,320 --> 00:48:47,200
Speaker 3: back into the market next year as well. So Uncle

865
00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:50,600
Speaker 3: Near's Inc. Will go from being a single whiskey brand

866
00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:55,040
Speaker 3: to being a portfolio company that owns a whiskey company,

867
00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:57,920
Speaker 3: a bourbon company, that owns a vodka company, and that

868
00:48:58,040 --> 00:49:01,400
Speaker 3: owns a cognac company. The only we'll be missing as tequila.

869
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:02,480
Speaker 3: And I'm not mad about that.

870
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:04,480
Speaker 1: I'm not mad about that we got enough. What do

871
00:49:04,520 --> 00:49:08,160
Speaker 1: you feel, Sally? I also feel not that it wouldn't matter,

872
00:49:08,200 --> 00:49:10,600
Speaker 1: if it would be wonderful to embrace, but how do

873
00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:13,279
Speaker 1: you feel? And I do know that there was some

874
00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:16,160
Speaker 1: pushback when you talked about other brands or stars or

875
00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:20,120
Speaker 1: celebrities aligning and creating their own, you know, their own

876
00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:25,200
Speaker 1: version of a kognak and or bourbon or tequila. What

877
00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:28,799
Speaker 1: was your philosophy on that You said you weren't necessarily

878
00:49:28,840 --> 00:49:32,080
Speaker 1: worried about that space because it was a different brand philosophy.

879
00:49:32,719 --> 00:49:36,960
Speaker 3: I don't worry about anybody so this thing. So I So,

880
00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:39,560
Speaker 3: if you've ever spent any time around Greg Popovich, I

881
00:49:39,600 --> 00:49:43,640
Speaker 3: am the school of Greg Popovich. And players would always

882
00:49:43,719 --> 00:49:45,960
Speaker 3: come to the Spurs and they you know, come to

883
00:49:46,160 --> 00:49:48,280
Speaker 3: and if they weren't a part of the Spurs poultry

884
00:49:48,360 --> 00:49:50,600
Speaker 3: yet and they got traded in or whatever, and they

885
00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:52,799
Speaker 3: look at these scouting reports and they're like, where's the

886
00:49:52,800 --> 00:49:57,440
Speaker 3: scouting report? It's a page long, and Pop's philosophy was always,

887
00:49:57,520 --> 00:49:59,520
Speaker 3: if you do your job, you don't have to worry

888
00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:02,880
Speaker 3: about what they do. You do your job with excellence,

889
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,160
Speaker 3: and so I don't care if it's a celebrity and

890
00:50:05,200 --> 00:50:08,799
Speaker 3: not a celebrity have. I come from a school of

891
00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:13,040
Speaker 3: thought where if we do our job, it doesn't matter

892
00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:17,040
Speaker 3: who else is in the industry. So I have every

893
00:50:17,080 --> 00:50:20,160
Speaker 3: celebrity that has come in, if they've reached into me

894
00:50:20,280 --> 00:50:22,680
Speaker 3: and asked for advice, I've given it to them. The

895
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:26,359
Speaker 3: number of celebrities and they're people who have reached into

896
00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:29,640
Speaker 3: me over the years, but they reach into me wanting

897
00:50:29,680 --> 00:50:32,080
Speaker 3: to do some type of partnership, and every time it's

898
00:50:32,120 --> 00:50:34,560
Speaker 3: a no for me. And the reason it's a no

899
00:50:34,760 --> 00:50:38,439
Speaker 3: for me is my focus is Nearest. I don't want

900
00:50:38,480 --> 00:50:43,759
Speaker 3: a single distraction and I want Nearest to be that star. Well,

901
00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:46,400
Speaker 3: the moment a celebrity comes in, even if they're just

902
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:49,600
Speaker 3: an investor, and their name is attached. So if you

903
00:50:49,680 --> 00:50:55,200
Speaker 3: look at it, Sincora right. Sincoro has always had five owners,

904
00:50:55,440 --> 00:50:59,160
Speaker 3: the husband and wife couple that own the Boston Celtics,

905
00:50:59,520 --> 00:51:02,719
Speaker 3: and the husband and wife owners that own another basketball team.

906
00:51:02,760 --> 00:51:06,319
Speaker 3: And then you had Jordan right. Jordan has never run it.

907
00:51:06,640 --> 00:51:09,560
Speaker 3: Jordan has never really been involved in it other than

908
00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:12,759
Speaker 3: he's one of five. That's why it's called Sinkoro. There

909
00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:16,280
Speaker 3: were always five equal partners. Who do we know from Cincoro?

910
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:18,080
Speaker 1: Jordan right?

911
00:51:18,560 --> 00:51:22,800
Speaker 3: And so it rises and falls on Jordan. Lobos tequila

912
00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:27,759
Speaker 3: that came out and the person who founded it. I

913
00:51:27,880 --> 00:51:33,320
Speaker 3: believe this, Diego his grandfather I think created Lobos in Mexico,

914
00:51:33,440 --> 00:51:37,600
Speaker 3: and it's got this amazing story to it. None of

915
00:51:37,680 --> 00:51:41,719
Speaker 3: us know that story. We know it's Lebron's to kill it.

916
00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:45,640
Speaker 3: Here's the thing. Lebron drinks red wine all the time.

917
00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:50,760
Speaker 3: Barn lies the problem, right, Yeah, Lebron wins a championship,

918
00:51:50,920 --> 00:51:53,560
Speaker 3: he's going and he's drinking a bottle of red wine.

919
00:51:53,680 --> 00:51:56,360
Speaker 3: If he wins a big game, he's drinking a bottle

920
00:51:56,400 --> 00:51:59,960
Speaker 3: of red wine. And so the challenge with celebrities being

921
00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:05,080
Speaker 3: connected to spirit brands is that if that is not

922
00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:09,160
Speaker 3: what they are investing their time and energy into, not

923
00:52:09,320 --> 00:52:12,480
Speaker 3: just posting a social media post every six weeks or

924
00:52:12,520 --> 00:52:16,120
Speaker 3: eight weeks or whatever the agreement says, but they're really

925
00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:20,720
Speaker 3: in there creatively helping to run the business. The very

926
00:52:20,760 --> 00:52:26,080
Speaker 3: few Spirit brands that have worked that had celebrity faces.

927
00:52:26,400 --> 00:52:29,560
Speaker 3: When you look at them, every single one of them

928
00:52:29,600 --> 00:52:33,719
Speaker 3: put their own careers on hold and began working for

929
00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:36,600
Speaker 3: that company. If you look at Ryan Reynolds, he did

930
00:52:36,840 --> 00:52:41,760
Speaker 3: aviation and Deadpoole, and he used Deadpoole to sell aviation products,

931
00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:44,719
Speaker 3: and he used aviation to sell But you couldn't go

932
00:52:45,239 --> 00:52:47,719
Speaker 3: around this country and not see Ryan Reynolds on the

933
00:52:47,800 --> 00:52:50,680
Speaker 3: side of a billboard. But he was truly the chief

934
00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:55,240
Speaker 3: creative officer those commercials, all that social media stuff Ryan

935
00:52:55,400 --> 00:52:58,080
Speaker 3: was doing that you had. George Crony just went back

936
00:52:58,120 --> 00:53:00,279
Speaker 3: to the red carpet in Venice, right, it was the

937
00:53:00,320 --> 00:53:02,680
Speaker 3: whole big deal. It's his first time at the Venice

938
00:53:02,680 --> 00:53:06,120
Speaker 3: Film Festival in the last decade, all this fanfare, Well,

939
00:53:06,120 --> 00:53:09,520
Speaker 3: what happened the last decade? It was building gotta migos

940
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:14,279
Speaker 3: and so you take the rock with Tearamana. He was

941
00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:18,480
Speaker 3: selling tequila before he had a brand, meaning he had

942
00:53:18,520 --> 00:53:21,280
Speaker 3: been building it up on his social media. He was

943
00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:24,600
Speaker 3: using tequila instead of milk for his corn flakes.

944
00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:28,120
Speaker 1: Like right, every one of his cheap mails, he'd always

945
00:53:28,120 --> 00:53:31,279
Speaker 1: have Teamana right there. We'd sit there and watch always.

946
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:33,480
Speaker 3: And so what most of the celebrities that are coming

947
00:53:33,520 --> 00:53:37,480
Speaker 3: into the Spirit's industry don't understand is you actually have

948
00:53:37,600 --> 00:53:39,880
Speaker 3: to be a part of the business. You can't just

949
00:53:40,080 --> 00:53:44,280
Speaker 3: take a few photos and do some you know, social

950
00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:47,920
Speaker 3: media posts and a commercial or billboard here or there.

951
00:53:48,360 --> 00:53:52,160
Speaker 3: The Spirits consumer is not moved by that, not for

952
00:53:52,239 --> 00:53:53,319
Speaker 3: any real period of time.

953
00:53:54,280 --> 00:53:59,480
Speaker 1: Was your intention, and obviously I mean initially because it changes, right,

954
00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:01,719
Speaker 1: It's almost like a TV show what it starts out

955
00:54:01,719 --> 00:54:04,560
Speaker 1: to be and ends up being something totally different. What

956
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:07,839
Speaker 1: was your intention to create a brand that would sit

957
00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:10,520
Speaker 1: in the culture, and I'm talking about the black culture specifically,

958
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:13,640
Speaker 1: that would sit and represent something for the culture.

959
00:54:14,160 --> 00:54:16,680
Speaker 3: No, there's no way for that to be a plan.

960
00:54:16,920 --> 00:54:22,799
Speaker 3: The culture wasn't drinking bourbon. So I created it it

961
00:54:22,960 --> 00:54:27,719
Speaker 3: for me. I wanted to create the next great American brand, Hardstock,

962
00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:32,759
Speaker 3: and you cannot look at America and not see the

963
00:54:32,840 --> 00:54:36,920
Speaker 3: influence of the culture. It's impossible for something to be

964
00:54:37,120 --> 00:54:40,360
Speaker 3: a great American brand and the culture not be a

965
00:54:40,520 --> 00:54:41,680
Speaker 3: huge part of that.

966
00:54:42,200 --> 00:54:44,319
Speaker 1: And that isn't clear. When you say the culture, you

967
00:54:44,360 --> 00:54:47,040
Speaker 1: mean the African American culture. Everything I mean what you

968
00:54:47,080 --> 00:54:47,760
Speaker 1: mean culture.

969
00:54:48,440 --> 00:54:51,799
Speaker 3: So it's really funny I was speaking at Jordan and

970
00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:54,279
Speaker 3: Jordan Brands and they said, you know, we keep hearing

971
00:54:54,280 --> 00:54:55,960
Speaker 3: about the culture of the culture. We know the culture

972
00:54:56,120 --> 00:54:59,320
Speaker 3: assumes a lot. Can you define for me the culture.

973
00:54:59,400 --> 00:55:01,879
Speaker 3: It was the first time I ever had the question asked,

974
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:05,960
Speaker 3: and the best way I could describe the culture. I

975
00:55:06,040 --> 00:55:09,200
Speaker 3: can't say it's black Americans are African American because I

976
00:55:09,200 --> 00:55:11,759
Speaker 3: don't think there's anybody in this world that would not

977
00:55:11,840 --> 00:55:14,240
Speaker 3: say that. Jlo and Eminem are a part of the culture,

978
00:55:15,120 --> 00:55:18,719
Speaker 3: very absolutely a part of the culture. I define the

979
00:55:18,840 --> 00:55:23,759
Speaker 3: culture is everybody who is moved and influenced by hip

980
00:55:23,760 --> 00:55:27,839
Speaker 3: hop and afrobeats, meaning they're on two and four. So

981
00:55:28,800 --> 00:55:32,200
Speaker 3: this is the best way to explain this. When Barry Gordy,

982
00:55:32,719 --> 00:55:36,640
Speaker 3: what made him so successful in Motown is he realized

983
00:55:37,160 --> 00:55:40,880
Speaker 3: that the culture this is Black America and everybody we

984
00:55:41,000 --> 00:55:44,719
Speaker 3: hang around, Everybody that hangs around us dances on two

985
00:55:44,760 --> 00:55:48,359
Speaker 3: and four, claps on two and four, all of ours.

986
00:55:48,640 --> 00:55:51,759
Speaker 3: You have friends on shore that are not black, but

987
00:55:51,880 --> 00:55:54,160
Speaker 3: they have a similar rhythm to you because they've been

988
00:55:54,160 --> 00:55:59,000
Speaker 3: around you a long time. Sure those people, Barry Gordy understood,

989
00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:01,040
Speaker 3: they're all on two and four. Okay, now you've got

990
00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:04,040
Speaker 3: American bandstand over here, they're all clapping and dancing all

991
00:56:04,080 --> 00:56:07,120
Speaker 3: one in three. So what Barry Gordy figured out is

992
00:56:07,120 --> 00:56:10,239
Speaker 3: if I can create music that hits one, two, three,

993
00:56:10,320 --> 00:56:13,120
Speaker 3: and four, I bring black people and white people to

994
00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:16,879
Speaker 3: the dance floor. But everybody that's on that two and four,

995
00:56:17,600 --> 00:56:20,680
Speaker 3: that's our culture. It's all been influenced by us. It's

996
00:56:20,719 --> 00:56:24,160
Speaker 3: all afrobeat. It started with our music. It's I think

997
00:56:24,200 --> 00:56:28,520
Speaker 3: Sidney Poitier has the best line ever in Guest Who's

998
00:56:28,560 --> 00:56:32,400
Speaker 3: Coming to Dinner where the Tracy Spencer is trying to

999
00:56:32,600 --> 00:56:37,440
Speaker 3: understand why black people have more rhythm than white people,

1000
00:56:37,480 --> 00:56:41,240
Speaker 3: and Sidney Poitier's response was, you do the watch to see.

1001
00:56:41,239 --> 00:56:44,720
Speaker 3: We are the watch two see. So every person who's

1002
00:56:44,760 --> 00:56:47,920
Speaker 3: a part of that I consider a part of the culture.

1003
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:52,160
Speaker 3: I don't think we can limit the culture to just

1004
00:56:52,480 --> 00:56:55,920
Speaker 3: us as African Americans are Black Americans, because you go

1005
00:56:56,040 --> 00:56:59,759
Speaker 3: into any hip hop concert, any hip hop concert.

1006
00:56:59,480 --> 00:57:02,560
Speaker 1: Everybody's there. But you're saying the culture is to what

1007
00:57:02,600 --> 00:57:05,360
Speaker 1: I'm trying to understand is the answer. So you're saying

1008
00:57:05,480 --> 00:57:08,040
Speaker 1: we are the culture, but everyone is a part of

1009
00:57:08,080 --> 00:57:10,120
Speaker 1: the culture. We create the culture.

1010
00:57:10,760 --> 00:57:13,880
Speaker 3: I am saying that African Americans as a general rule,

1011
00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:16,960
Speaker 3: those of us and not just African Americans Black Americans.

1012
00:57:17,280 --> 00:57:21,080
Speaker 3: We have created the culture, but we are no longer

1013
00:57:21,760 --> 00:57:24,680
Speaker 3: the full entirety of the culture because you're influenced so

1014
00:57:24,840 --> 00:57:27,880
Speaker 3: many that they've come into it. So when we look

1015
00:57:27,920 --> 00:57:31,000
Speaker 3: at the culture now, we will look at all these

1016
00:57:31,200 --> 00:57:34,640
Speaker 3: people and absolutely say they are part of the culture

1017
00:57:35,040 --> 00:57:39,040
Speaker 3: that aren't necessarily African American. I'll look at DJ Khalt.

1018
00:57:39,400 --> 00:57:41,800
Speaker 3: You cannot pay me to believe DJ Khalid at a

1019
00:57:41,840 --> 00:57:42,560
Speaker 3: part of the culture.

1020
00:57:42,840 --> 00:57:45,760
Speaker 1: Well, he's influenced by the culture. His music is influenced

1021
00:57:45,800 --> 00:57:47,320
Speaker 1: by the culture, and now he is a part of

1022
00:57:47,360 --> 00:57:47,720
Speaker 1: the culture.

1023
00:57:47,920 --> 00:57:50,640
Speaker 3: J Kalid is a part of the culture. He's a

1024
00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:55,000
Speaker 3: part of what moves the culture. And he's not African American,

1025
00:57:55,040 --> 00:57:58,840
Speaker 3: he's not Black American, but he was so influenced by

1026
00:57:58,920 --> 00:58:01,280
Speaker 3: it that he's now part of it. So my whole

1027
00:58:01,520 --> 00:58:04,640
Speaker 3: my point here is is that the culture has expanded

1028
00:58:05,440 --> 00:58:09,360
Speaker 3: to include people that have been moved by.

1029
00:58:09,240 --> 00:58:15,040
Speaker 1: Us, and you've created something that incorporates them as well.

1030
00:58:15,240 --> 00:58:19,680
Speaker 3: Everybody, like literally everybody. You come to Nears Green Distillery

1031
00:58:19,680 --> 00:58:24,000
Speaker 3: on any given day, you go see everybody under the sun.

1032
00:58:24,280 --> 00:58:27,360
Speaker 3: But I'm gonna tell you. You will see a group of

1033
00:58:27,440 --> 00:58:29,640
Speaker 3: people on one side, we have a bar. We have

1034
00:58:29,720 --> 00:58:34,360
Speaker 3: the world's longest bars at Nears Green Distillery and on isside. Saturdays,

1035
00:58:35,480 --> 00:58:39,200
Speaker 3: on any given that Saturday, we'll have a DJ. The

1036
00:58:39,320 --> 00:58:43,040
Speaker 3: DJ will be playing wobble. You will have one group

1037
00:58:43,080 --> 00:58:46,880
Speaker 3: of people on the dance floor wobbling. You will have

1038
00:58:46,960 --> 00:58:52,400
Speaker 3: another group of people same song line dancing. They're being

1039
00:58:52,560 --> 00:58:57,640
Speaker 3: influenced by the culture. And so I don't look at

1040
00:58:57,640 --> 00:59:00,000
Speaker 3: those people and say they're part of the culture. Absolutely not,

1041
00:59:00,240 --> 00:59:03,240
Speaker 3: But they are now influenced by it. They do have

1042
00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:06,880
Speaker 3: a curiosity about it and they want to embrace it.

1043
00:59:07,280 --> 00:59:09,480
Speaker 3: And so for us, when I look at the culture,

1044
00:59:09,520 --> 00:59:11,800
Speaker 3: I want to make sure that the culture is not

1045
00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:16,280
Speaker 3: so exclusive that we actually make the culture go away,

1046
00:59:16,800 --> 00:59:20,880
Speaker 3: because over time we haven't included it. But if again,

1047
00:59:21,040 --> 00:59:24,040
Speaker 3: let's go back to our population, thirteen point nine percent,

1048
00:59:24,360 --> 00:59:26,919
Speaker 3: are we saying the culture is limited to thirteen point

1049
00:59:26,960 --> 00:59:30,160
Speaker 3: nine percent of the not absolutely not? So then the

1050
00:59:30,240 --> 00:59:33,400
Speaker 3: question who else is included in the c culture? So

1051
00:59:33,440 --> 00:59:36,880
Speaker 3: the way I define it is the people that are

1052
00:59:36,920 --> 00:59:37,560
Speaker 3: on too and floor.

1053
00:59:39,560 --> 00:59:41,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's why you define it.

1054
00:59:41,080 --> 00:59:41,760
Speaker 3: People who are.

1055
00:59:41,600 --> 00:59:45,320
Speaker 1: Onto enforcement, people are on I think that the through line, though,

1056
00:59:45,520 --> 00:59:47,720
Speaker 1: is not too far off. The through line is that

1057
00:59:48,040 --> 00:59:51,080
Speaker 1: we have we are always a part of the culture.

1058
00:59:51,080 --> 00:59:54,080
Speaker 1: We create the culture, and we are inclusive of the culture.

1059
00:59:54,400 --> 00:59:56,600
Speaker 1: We are the wat to see, we are the what,

1060
00:59:56,960 --> 00:59:57,960
Speaker 1: we are the wa too.

1061
00:59:58,080 --> 01:00:00,440
Speaker 3: We are the way to sea so Lo where it

1062
01:00:00,480 --> 01:00:04,080
Speaker 3: all begins. Yes, so it all even though we now

1063
01:00:04,200 --> 01:00:08,840
Speaker 3: have so many people that we have influenced from. And

1064
01:00:08,840 --> 01:00:12,520
Speaker 3: that's not just in America, that's around the world. You

1065
01:00:12,680 --> 01:00:16,760
Speaker 3: go everywhere. You have reinfluenced the Backstreet Boys and in

1066
01:00:16,960 --> 01:00:19,120
Speaker 3: c who then country.

1067
01:00:19,360 --> 01:00:22,440
Speaker 1: All the rock and roll, you go down the lit absolutely, but.

1068
01:00:22,440 --> 01:00:24,680
Speaker 3: When you think of some of the biggest music now

1069
01:00:24,880 --> 01:00:30,080
Speaker 3: is K pop pop directly influenced by Backstreet Boys, in Sync,

1070
01:00:30,160 --> 01:00:33,160
Speaker 3: that whole boy band thing, and those boy bands were

1071
01:00:33,160 --> 01:00:35,640
Speaker 3: directly influenced by the culture.

1072
01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:39,000
Speaker 1: Yes, correct, I absolutely agree with that. Okay, sorry, before

1073
01:00:39,040 --> 01:00:40,680
Speaker 1: I let you go, I want to talk about the

1074
01:00:40,680 --> 01:00:42,680
Speaker 1: book because I know that you just said I feel

1075
01:00:42,720 --> 01:00:45,360
Speaker 1: that there's a movie coming. But this book, people, it's

1076
01:00:45,400 --> 01:00:48,120
Speaker 1: a great Christmas gift. You can buy a package. You

1077
01:00:48,120 --> 01:00:50,880
Speaker 1: can buy a book as well as I get some

1078
01:00:51,040 --> 01:00:54,360
Speaker 1: Uncle Nearest whiskey. That's a great package. That's a perfect

1079
01:00:54,360 --> 01:00:57,360
Speaker 1: package to have this whiskey and then understand the history

1080
01:00:57,400 --> 01:01:00,360
Speaker 1: behind it. Love and whiskey is what fond for people

1081
01:01:00,400 --> 01:01:03,040
Speaker 1: who will purchase it. You can get it anywhere on Amazon,

1082
01:01:03,120 --> 01:01:04,800
Speaker 1: wherever you buy your books. Go out and get it.

1083
01:01:04,840 --> 01:01:07,640
Speaker 1: Please to what is it? What is the goal? When

1084
01:01:07,640 --> 01:01:09,920
Speaker 1: people read that? What would you like them to walk

1085
01:01:09,960 --> 01:01:10,600
Speaker 1: away with?

1086
01:01:11,240 --> 01:01:14,800
Speaker 3: I think the subtitle almost tells it all, which is

1087
01:01:15,320 --> 01:01:18,960
Speaker 3: the remarkable true story of Jack Daniel, his master distiller

1088
01:01:19,000 --> 01:01:23,160
Speaker 3: nears Green and the improbable rise of Uncle Nears This story,

1089
01:01:23,200 --> 01:01:26,920
Speaker 3: this book, it tells all those things. So people who

1090
01:01:26,960 --> 01:01:30,960
Speaker 3: read it and they're looking for an incredible business book,

1091
01:01:31,200 --> 01:01:33,640
Speaker 3: This thing sat on the New York Times bestseller list

1092
01:01:33,720 --> 01:01:38,200
Speaker 3: on the business side for thirteen weeks and on the

1093
01:01:38,280 --> 01:01:42,520
Speaker 3: nonfiction side hardcover for five weeks. And so when you

1094
01:01:42,560 --> 01:01:45,120
Speaker 3: look at who it's appealing to, one of the things

1095
01:01:45,240 --> 01:01:48,880
Speaker 3: I've been so fascinated with is most men read it

1096
01:01:48,920 --> 01:01:52,840
Speaker 3: in two days. It's been and I kept seeing it

1097
01:01:52,880 --> 01:01:56,480
Speaker 3: on social media so much that I finally DMed one

1098
01:01:56,560 --> 01:01:59,120
Speaker 3: person who had posted it, and I said, can you

1099
01:01:59,160 --> 01:02:01,360
Speaker 3: tell me what it is? The two day thing? And

1100
01:02:01,400 --> 01:02:06,120
Speaker 3: he said, because what you're doing is so unbelievable, we

1101
01:02:06,200 --> 01:02:08,280
Speaker 3: know you're still living, so we know nobody killed you

1102
01:02:08,320 --> 01:02:11,200
Speaker 3: in this process, but we can't put it down till

1103
01:02:11,200 --> 01:02:13,120
Speaker 3: we get to the end to figure out how did

1104
01:02:13,160 --> 01:02:17,040
Speaker 3: you get to that gautlet? And so you get the

1105
01:02:17,560 --> 01:02:21,480
Speaker 3: unfiltered version of how this company was built, but you

1106
01:02:21,720 --> 01:02:26,760
Speaker 3: also get the unfiltered version of how Jack Daniel became

1107
01:02:26,880 --> 01:02:30,400
Speaker 3: who he was, how Nearest Green became who he was,

1108
01:02:30,920 --> 01:02:35,520
Speaker 3: and why we're still talking about both of them.

1109
01:02:35,640 --> 01:02:38,160
Speaker 1: And that is it? And is so shall it be done?

1110
01:02:38,240 --> 01:02:39,840
Speaker 1: What a great gift? That's a gift we need to

1111
01:02:39,880 --> 01:02:41,640
Speaker 1: give for everybody for the holidays. Like I feel like

1112
01:02:41,680 --> 01:02:44,320
Speaker 1: that's that's it makes no perfect sense. It's the only

1113
01:02:44,320 --> 01:02:46,040
Speaker 1: thing to give up, it's the only.

1114
01:02:45,880 --> 01:02:48,600
Speaker 3: Thing to I agree. Women are devouring it, and I

1115
01:02:48,680 --> 01:02:52,000
Speaker 3: knew that women would devour it. But I'm especially proud

1116
01:02:52,120 --> 01:02:54,680
Speaker 3: that men are reading it as quickly as women are,

1117
01:02:54,800 --> 01:02:57,200
Speaker 3: because it's it's very rare for there to be a

1118
01:02:57,240 --> 01:03:00,400
Speaker 3: book that men and women are equally touched by.

1119
01:03:01,400 --> 01:03:02,520
Speaker 1: What keeps you up at night?

1120
01:03:03,320 --> 01:03:05,880
Speaker 3: Nothing? I sleep? Real, well, what are.

1121
01:03:05,800 --> 01:03:09,960
Speaker 1: Your goals after you finish creating this huge dynasty that

1122
01:03:10,000 --> 01:03:12,800
Speaker 1: you've already created and are continuing to pour into. Is

1123
01:03:12,800 --> 01:03:14,840
Speaker 1: there another industry you'd like to delve into.

1124
01:03:15,200 --> 01:03:17,960
Speaker 3: Absolutely not. I'll spend all of my days building in

1125
01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:21,440
Speaker 3: this industry because when you look at the spirit conglomerates

1126
01:03:21,880 --> 01:03:25,400
Speaker 3: around the world, they've been doing this for generations, and

1127
01:03:25,480 --> 01:03:28,560
Speaker 3: so it will take me an entire generation just to

1128
01:03:28,600 --> 01:03:32,720
Speaker 3: get this to a place that can even really truly

1129
01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:35,080
Speaker 3: compete with these spirit conglomerates that have been doing this

1130
01:03:35,120 --> 01:03:38,760
Speaker 3: for generations. So no, the spirits industry has me for

1131
01:03:38,920 --> 01:03:42,880
Speaker 3: every breath that I'm here. But you will see the

1132
01:03:43,000 --> 01:03:47,040
Speaker 3: Cognac Company rise to be something extraordinary and go toe

1133
01:03:47,040 --> 01:03:49,800
Speaker 3: to toe with all the other big cognac houses that

1134
01:03:49,840 --> 01:03:52,080
Speaker 3: are out there. You will see the same thing from

1135
01:03:52,080 --> 01:03:55,440
Speaker 3: the vodka company across the board. You will begin to

1136
01:03:55,560 --> 01:03:59,640
Speaker 3: see my fingerprint in every single part of this spirit's

1137
01:03:59,640 --> 01:04:02,240
Speaker 3: industry street. And that'll take for me the better part

1138
01:04:02,280 --> 01:04:04,160
Speaker 3: of the next twenty five years. And after that, I

1139
01:04:04,240 --> 01:04:05,920
Speaker 3: just want to be chairman of the board and just

1140
01:04:06,000 --> 01:04:07,919
Speaker 3: kind of chill. I don't know, chill.

1141
01:04:08,440 --> 01:04:12,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, you deserve that. You deserve that when you are

1142
01:04:12,160 --> 01:04:14,960
Speaker 1: presented with the problem, How's what's the first thing you

1143
01:04:14,960 --> 01:04:18,680
Speaker 1: do when you when you begin to turn to solution, orient.

1144
01:04:18,560 --> 01:04:23,120
Speaker 3: Positively, pray, say it again, pause and pray, Pause and pray,

1145
01:04:23,400 --> 01:04:27,800
Speaker 3: Pause and pray, And it's probably the order is probably pause,

1146
01:04:28,480 --> 01:04:36,160
Speaker 3: bring my breath to a control place of calm, pray.

1147
01:04:36,200 --> 01:04:40,400
Speaker 3: Because I'm always looking for solutions when problems, when challenges

1148
01:04:40,480 --> 01:04:43,720
Speaker 3: come to me. I am a believer that every problem,

1149
01:04:43,880 --> 01:04:48,680
Speaker 3: every challenge, is essentially the shell of an opportunity. But

1150
01:04:48,800 --> 01:04:51,360
Speaker 3: you've got to get through the shell to get to

1151
01:04:51,400 --> 01:04:54,400
Speaker 3: the opportunity. The question becomes how long do you spend

1152
01:04:54,440 --> 01:04:58,360
Speaker 3: on the shell? And so for me, I'm always trying

1153
01:04:58,400 --> 01:05:02,040
Speaker 3: to get to the opportunity at the middle of it

1154
01:05:02,080 --> 01:05:05,040
Speaker 3: as quickly as I possibly can, so I do not

1155
01:05:05,240 --> 01:05:07,560
Speaker 3: waste my time or breadth on the shell.

1156
01:05:08,840 --> 01:05:10,919
Speaker 1: And when you say you pause and praise the prayer, God,

1157
01:05:11,000 --> 01:05:13,840
Speaker 1: lead me, show me, give me the solution. What is it.

1158
01:05:14,080 --> 01:05:17,480
Speaker 3: No, it's no particular prayer. It's just a continual conversation.

1159
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:22,000
Speaker 3: And it's usually I will pause and it's whatever the

1160
01:05:22,040 --> 01:05:24,680
Speaker 3: conversation is, because the thing is that I'm talking to

1161
01:05:24,720 --> 01:05:28,520
Speaker 3: God all day long, and so the pause is more

1162
01:05:28,640 --> 01:05:30,960
Speaker 3: so for Him to be able to share with me

1163
01:05:31,240 --> 01:05:34,480
Speaker 3: what direction to go in next than it is for

1164
01:05:34,560 --> 01:05:41,000
Speaker 3: anything else. I like shortcuts. Yeah, who saying so if

1165
01:05:41,040 --> 01:05:42,920
Speaker 3: he don't give me a shortcut. I want to hear

1166
01:05:42,960 --> 01:05:44,200
Speaker 3: it quick fasten, in a hurry.

1167
01:05:46,280 --> 01:05:51,280
Speaker 1: When you look back over your life and from the

1168
01:05:51,320 --> 01:05:53,720
Speaker 1: moment you read the article to where you are today,

1169
01:05:54,440 --> 01:05:58,240
Speaker 1: obviously you're in continual praise and gratefulness, but you also

1170
01:05:58,360 --> 01:06:00,920
Speaker 1: know that he gave this to you. It is so

1171
01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:06,240
Speaker 1: beautiful to watch the celebration of black women, and I

1172
01:06:06,320 --> 01:06:12,440
Speaker 1: think that oftentimes there is this narrative that we aren't celebrated.

1173
01:06:12,520 --> 01:06:15,240
Speaker 1: But if we take a moment to pause and pray

1174
01:06:15,400 --> 01:06:17,480
Speaker 1: and to acknowledge, we see more of it than we

1175
01:06:17,520 --> 01:06:22,000
Speaker 1: really think we do. And so I thank you today

1176
01:06:22,680 --> 01:06:26,840
Speaker 1: for me for one giving me encouragement, but two reminded

1177
01:06:26,880 --> 01:06:29,680
Speaker 1: me that we are celebrated and we are winning in

1178
01:06:29,720 --> 01:06:32,240
Speaker 1: a world that may make us feel some times, especially

1179
01:06:32,680 --> 01:06:35,440
Speaker 1: after the election. You put a post up, and I

1180
01:06:35,440 --> 01:06:37,680
Speaker 1: think that people may not have received it the way

1181
01:06:37,680 --> 01:06:39,000
Speaker 1: in which your intention was.

1182
01:06:39,040 --> 01:06:42,080
Speaker 3: And I understood, Oh they did ninety nine percent? Did

1183
01:06:42,280 --> 01:06:45,320
Speaker 3: I didn't get I didn't get negative responsiblity that I'm glad.

1184
01:06:45,440 --> 01:06:47,800
Speaker 1: I'm glad. I'm glad because I felt like people were

1185
01:06:47,800 --> 01:06:50,200
Speaker 1: pushing back. Maybe that was a private conversation, but I

1186
01:06:50,240 --> 01:06:53,800
Speaker 1: was like, I understand what she's saying. And I love that.

1187
01:06:53,920 --> 01:06:55,960
Speaker 1: I love what you said because you're like, look, no

1188
01:06:55,960 --> 01:06:58,800
Speaker 1: matter what, he's still in the throne.

1189
01:06:58,680 --> 01:07:01,400
Speaker 3: Y'all, this is gonna happen every four years, our every

1190
01:07:01,480 --> 01:07:05,200
Speaker 3: three Yes, you have a country in which people have

1191
01:07:05,320 --> 01:07:09,160
Speaker 3: different world views. People got so upset after that election,

1192
01:07:09,360 --> 01:07:12,280
Speaker 3: like Jesus died again. Okay, so we need to start

1193
01:07:12,320 --> 01:07:19,120
Speaker 3: there at understanding that she got further to the White

1194
01:07:19,160 --> 01:07:22,720
Speaker 3: House than any person. When you look at side by

1195
01:07:22,800 --> 01:07:27,880
Speaker 3: side how her performance was compared to Trump in twenty

1196
01:07:27,920 --> 01:07:31,720
Speaker 3: six in twenty twenty, wipe the floor with them. If

1197
01:07:31,760 --> 01:07:35,240
Speaker 3: you look at her performance compared to Hillary Clinton's performance,

1198
01:07:36,520 --> 01:07:38,880
Speaker 3: she I think she got four million more votes.

1199
01:07:39,040 --> 01:07:42,080
Speaker 1: Mean she Hillary or she no, Kamala.

1200
01:07:41,760 --> 01:07:45,080
Speaker 3: Got four I think it's four million more votes than

1201
01:07:45,360 --> 01:07:48,800
Speaker 3: Hillary did. And she got like six million more votes

1202
01:07:48,840 --> 01:07:50,600
Speaker 3: than Trump did on the last election.

1203
01:07:50,680 --> 01:07:53,280
Speaker 1: And Hillary won the popular vote, more people voted for her.

1204
01:07:53,360 --> 01:07:57,200
Speaker 1: It was the electoral college that stopped the wind. I

1205
01:07:57,240 --> 01:08:00,680
Speaker 1: hear what you're saying. What I took from your message

1206
01:08:00,720 --> 01:08:02,960
Speaker 1: was and everyone could receive it because there was so

1207
01:08:03,040 --> 01:08:05,800
Speaker 1: much pain, and it reminded us many of us. I'm

1208
01:08:05,800 --> 01:08:07,760
Speaker 1: not speaking for all black women but it reminded them

1209
01:08:07,800 --> 01:08:10,920
Speaker 1: of their personal experience, primarily at work, I would think,

1210
01:08:11,360 --> 01:08:15,640
Speaker 1: But the reality was, we have to dust ourselves off,

1211
01:08:15,800 --> 01:08:18,280
Speaker 1: figure this out and get back to not focusing on

1212
01:08:18,320 --> 01:08:21,040
Speaker 1: the shell. Let's get back to figuring out the solution.

1213
01:08:21,400 --> 01:08:24,599
Speaker 1: But most importantly, what did our ancestors go through. I'm

1214
01:08:24,640 --> 01:08:27,559
Speaker 1: speaking from somebody who was broken. I'm like, my ancestors

1215
01:08:27,560 --> 01:08:28,880
Speaker 1: would be embarrassed.

1216
01:08:30,200 --> 01:08:35,320
Speaker 3: Listen, they would, they would beat our tails. Yes, going on,

1217
01:08:35,439 --> 01:08:39,160
Speaker 3: They're like, you do realize we came here in change. Well,

1218
01:08:39,760 --> 01:08:42,160
Speaker 3: even if we just go back, even if we just

1219
01:08:42,240 --> 01:08:45,000
Speaker 3: go back to the sixties, y'all, we could be legally

1220
01:08:45,040 --> 01:08:51,200
Speaker 3: fire hoes. So we have to understand Number one, the

1221
01:08:51,360 --> 01:08:54,120
Speaker 3: progress has been that has been made has been great,

1222
01:08:54,600 --> 01:08:57,440
Speaker 3: and you cannot ripe and a peach with a blowtorch.

1223
01:08:58,200 --> 01:09:00,920
Speaker 3: Every four years, we keep trying to take a blow

1224
01:09:01,000 --> 01:09:05,240
Speaker 3: torch to this peach called America. We are still in

1225
01:09:05,600 --> 01:09:08,400
Speaker 3: our infancy. You try, I mean you travel the world

1226
01:09:08,479 --> 01:09:11,800
Speaker 3: like I do. There's literally bottles of cognac older than

1227
01:09:11,840 --> 01:09:15,799
Speaker 3: our entire country. Correct, So we have to remember every

1228
01:09:15,960 --> 01:09:19,960
Speaker 3: four years. Democracy is working as it's supposed to. But

1229
01:09:20,120 --> 01:09:23,560
Speaker 3: that means that you have people from different plate backgrounds,

1230
01:09:23,640 --> 01:09:27,560
Speaker 3: different worldviews that are not going to agree with your worldview.

1231
01:09:28,000 --> 01:09:30,680
Speaker 3: It's going to happen every four years. And if we

1232
01:09:30,760 --> 01:09:35,120
Speaker 3: allow ourselves to be rocked every four years like people

1233
01:09:35,160 --> 01:09:37,680
Speaker 3: were rocked in this election, come on.

1234
01:09:37,720 --> 01:09:41,160
Speaker 1: Now, we'd be we would be exhausted, we couldn't continue.

1235
01:09:41,200 --> 01:09:42,840
Speaker 1: And that's not what we're built from. It's not in

1236
01:09:42,880 --> 01:09:45,559
Speaker 1: our DNA and it's not our cellular memory. And I

1237
01:09:45,600 --> 01:09:48,680
Speaker 1: am aware of that. And I listened when you said that.

1238
01:09:49,240 --> 01:09:51,600
Speaker 1: I was like, get I get it. Listen, But you know,

1239
01:09:52,080 --> 01:09:55,639
Speaker 1: I think, and I'll be fair because I understand the hurt,

1240
01:09:55,760 --> 01:09:58,160
Speaker 1: like we've all been heard before. But the reality is,

1241
01:09:58,200 --> 01:10:00,439
Speaker 1: what do we do? Give this pain some per and.

1242
01:10:00,400 --> 01:10:04,000
Speaker 3: Remember absolutely, And it's here's the thing. It's okay to

1243
01:10:04,040 --> 01:10:08,160
Speaker 3: be hurt, it's pay to grief, but move move like

1244
01:10:08,360 --> 01:10:12,920
Speaker 3: what our ancestors did to get us to this place.

1245
01:10:13,760 --> 01:10:15,800
Speaker 3: It is disrespectful for them.

1246
01:10:16,160 --> 01:10:16,720
Speaker 1: It is this.

1247
01:10:18,400 --> 01:10:18,879
Speaker 3: Ground.

1248
01:10:19,320 --> 01:10:20,200
Speaker 1: It is just they.

1249
01:10:20,800 --> 01:10:23,400
Speaker 3: I mean, every when an African American doesn't show up

1250
01:10:23,400 --> 01:10:26,639
Speaker 3: to vote, if it is so annoying to me, because

1251
01:10:26,880 --> 01:10:30,519
Speaker 3: knowing what our ancestors went through to get us the

1252
01:10:30,640 --> 01:10:36,479
Speaker 3: right to vote, not voting to me is absolutely absurd

1253
01:10:36,600 --> 01:10:40,120
Speaker 3: because this was not something that was given to us. Yes,

1254
01:10:40,160 --> 01:10:44,000
Speaker 3: this is something that was fought for with blood.

1255
01:10:45,800 --> 01:10:47,920
Speaker 1: You talked about poll tax at the very beginning of

1256
01:10:47,920 --> 01:10:51,280
Speaker 1: this podcast, and it's just a reminder as we wrap

1257
01:10:51,320 --> 01:10:55,400
Speaker 1: this podcast, it's disrespectful. It really truly is if we

1258
01:10:55,439 --> 01:10:57,559
Speaker 1: don't go out there and vote and continue to fight

1259
01:10:57,720 --> 01:11:00,479
Speaker 1: in whatever way that looks for you, for me, whatever

1260
01:11:00,520 --> 01:11:05,280
Speaker 1: the mission is. I when I think about how successful

1261
01:11:05,320 --> 01:11:07,400
Speaker 1: you've been in business, which is why I wanted to

1262
01:11:07,439 --> 01:11:12,519
Speaker 1: talk to you, your mindset is different. This is why

1263
01:11:12,520 --> 01:11:17,400
Speaker 1: everybody doesn't have a billion dollar corporation right so as

1264
01:11:17,439 --> 01:11:21,120
Speaker 1: I everyone doesn't have it. But if we could incorporate that,

1265
01:11:21,240 --> 01:11:24,879
Speaker 1: if we could incorporate that mindset, what is your message?

1266
01:11:25,360 --> 01:11:27,280
Speaker 1: What is your message? Not just to black women, but

1267
01:11:27,320 --> 01:11:31,320
Speaker 1: what is your message when you go into any process?

1268
01:11:31,520 --> 01:11:35,160
Speaker 1: Your business philosophy is what it is? There an elevator

1269
01:11:35,200 --> 01:11:36,720
Speaker 1: pitch to your business philosophy.

1270
01:11:36,840 --> 01:11:41,080
Speaker 3: No, but stop getting stuck on the challenges. Stop focusing

1271
01:11:41,160 --> 01:11:43,800
Speaker 3: on the challenges the way that I describe it. Because

1272
01:11:43,800 --> 01:11:47,280
Speaker 3: people love to ask me the same question, what has

1273
01:11:47,360 --> 01:11:50,720
Speaker 3: been your biggest challenge? And I always respond to them

1274
01:11:50,760 --> 01:11:53,960
Speaker 3: that's like asking you Sidney with Laughlin, which hurdle is

1275
01:11:54,000 --> 01:11:57,559
Speaker 3: the most challenging hurdle. What the hell don't You're a hurdler,

1276
01:11:58,120 --> 01:12:02,799
Speaker 3: so every hurdle is. My job is to keep the pace,

1277
01:12:02,880 --> 01:12:06,280
Speaker 3: to know the rhythm in between those hurdles. That is

1278
01:12:06,360 --> 01:12:11,240
Speaker 3: my job. So as an entrepreneur, you can't get stuck

1279
01:12:11,520 --> 01:12:15,000
Speaker 3: on the challenges. Those are simply hurdles. They're supposed to

1280
01:12:15,080 --> 01:12:18,200
Speaker 3: be there if you want to be if you want

1281
01:12:18,200 --> 01:12:21,040
Speaker 3: to be a Shakatte Carrie Richardson or a Noah Alliles

1282
01:12:21,479 --> 01:12:23,719
Speaker 3: or any of those folks, don't.

1283
01:12:23,600 --> 01:12:27,400
Speaker 1: Be an entrepreneur. Yep, your track will not be clear.

1284
01:12:28,200 --> 01:12:31,840
Speaker 1: It won't, but that's in life. You know, I needed

1285
01:12:31,840 --> 01:12:34,840
Speaker 1: this in my spirit. Thank you for that. Don't get

1286
01:12:34,840 --> 01:12:37,519
Speaker 1: stuck on the challenge, don't don't look at the shell.

1287
01:12:37,600 --> 01:12:39,160
Speaker 1: Let's get to the middle of it. Let's get to

1288
01:12:39,160 --> 01:12:41,880
Speaker 1: the solution. Let's figure it out quick. It changes your

1289
01:12:41,880 --> 01:12:44,439
Speaker 1: whole philosophy. Not fine. I'm telling you, I don't know

1290
01:12:44,479 --> 01:12:47,280
Speaker 1: by anybody else, but this is for me. This word

1291
01:12:47,400 --> 01:12:50,040
Speaker 1: was for me. You always have a word, but this

1292
01:12:50,240 --> 01:12:52,320
Speaker 1: was for me. And we so need to hear that.

1293
01:12:52,800 --> 01:12:55,120
Speaker 1: We need to hear that. We need not when people

1294
01:12:55,160 --> 01:12:57,799
Speaker 1: were you know, we we have different people in our lives.

1295
01:12:57,880 --> 01:13:01,080
Speaker 1: And it's a mindset that's some people can't adopt. But

1296
01:13:01,120 --> 01:13:03,520
Speaker 1: once you show them it can be done.

1297
01:13:03,840 --> 01:13:06,360
Speaker 3: It can be done. I tell people all the time,

1298
01:13:06,520 --> 01:13:11,480
Speaker 3: I deal with challenges every day that have taken entrepreneurs

1299
01:13:11,520 --> 01:13:13,120
Speaker 3: out if they had to deal with it one time

1300
01:13:13,120 --> 01:13:16,000
Speaker 3: and a five year window, and I deal with them

1301
01:13:16,120 --> 01:13:20,640
Speaker 3: every day. And for me, when I look at something

1302
01:13:21,000 --> 01:13:23,880
Speaker 3: and there's a challenge that comes at me, I don't

1303
01:13:23,920 --> 01:13:26,360
Speaker 3: have time to sit there and focus on that challenge.

1304
01:13:26,560 --> 01:13:30,520
Speaker 3: I've got to find the solution as quickly as possible.

1305
01:13:30,800 --> 01:13:33,680
Speaker 3: And if I feel stalemate in that solution, guess what,

1306
01:13:34,080 --> 01:13:36,160
Speaker 3: I'm working on something else that I already know the

1307
01:13:36,160 --> 01:13:39,040
Speaker 3: solution for. Because when that happens, it's a little bit

1308
01:13:39,080 --> 01:13:42,120
Speaker 3: like if you're looking for if you're looking for keys,

1309
01:13:42,479 --> 01:13:44,280
Speaker 3: you can't find the keys. You can't find the keys,

1310
01:13:44,520 --> 01:13:46,960
Speaker 3: you finally stop looking for the keys, and all of

1311
01:13:47,000 --> 01:13:49,760
Speaker 3: a sudden keys are right in front of you. That's

1312
01:13:49,800 --> 01:13:52,759
Speaker 3: the same way it is with challenges. If you keep

1313
01:13:52,880 --> 01:13:56,320
Speaker 3: looking at the challenges, you missed the solution.

1314
01:13:56,880 --> 01:13:58,800
Speaker 1: I want to thank Fann Weaver for being our guest

1315
01:13:58,880 --> 01:14:02,719
Speaker 1: this week on Naked Sport. Words truly appreciate how candid

1316
01:14:02,720 --> 01:14:05,400
Speaker 1: she is, and more importantly, the way in which she

1317
01:14:05,760 --> 01:14:08,840
Speaker 1: only looks for solutions. I hope you all enjoyed this

1318
01:14:09,000 --> 01:14:15,320
Speaker 1: edition of Naked Sports. Talk to y'all later Naked Sports

1319
01:14:15,520 --> 01:14:19,240
Speaker 1: written and executive produced by me Carrie Champion, produced by

1320
01:14:19,320 --> 01:14:22,839
Speaker 1: Jock Vice Thomas, sound Design and mastered by Dwayne Crawford.

1321
01:14:22,920 --> 01:14:26,840
Speaker 1: Associate producer Olubusayl Shabby. Naked Sports is a part of

1322
01:14:26,880 --> 01:14:29,240
Speaker 1: the Black Effect podcast Network in iHeartMedia