Fawn Weaver (born in 1976) is an American entrepreneur and author who holds the position of CEO at Grant Sidney Inc. In 2017, Weaver co-founded Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey[1] where she serves as the chief historian.[2] She is the founder of the Nearest Green Foundation.[3][4] In March 2021, she was named to Endeavor's board of directors.[5][6]
Early years
Fawn Weaver grew up in Pasadena as the daughter of Frank and Philomina Wilson. Her father, a Motown recording artist, changed career to become a Christian minister in around 1975.[7] At a young age, Weaver was introduced to Motown stars like Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, they became a part of her father's ministry rather and not because her father was a renowned writer and producer.[7]
She left home at 15, staying with school friends in Jordan Downs, the Watts projects, for a short period.[7] Later, she resided in three different homeless shelters, with Covenant House in Hollywood being her final stop.[7]
Before turning 19, Weaver established her first company, FEW Entertainment, specializing in PR and special events.[7] Early on, she secured two corporate clients, enabling the business to grow.
Career
Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey
In 2016, Weaver went to Tennessee to interview Nearest Green's descendants for a book project.[8][9] Weaver's work helped reveal the history of Jack Daniel Distillery included Nearest Green as its first master distiller and mentor to a young Jack Daniel,[10][11] inspiring her to found and launch the Nearest Green Distillery and the Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey brand in 2017.[8][12] This made Weaver the first African-American woman to head a major spirits brand, and also the first American spirit brand with an all-female executive team.[12] In 2019, was the first African-American featured on the cover of American Whiskey magazine.[13]
By 2018, the brand had expanded to 12 countries,[12] and is now the best-selling African-American owned spirit ever.[14] In September 2019, Uncle Nearest opened its first distillery, set on a 270-acre ranch in Shelbyville, Tennessee.[9]
Weaver was named one of Food & Wine's Drinks Innovators of the Year in 2022, alongside Uncle Nearest master blender Victoria Eady Butler.[15]
Before establishing the distillery, Weaver also founded the Nearest Green Foundation, which honors the legacy of Green with a scholarship program, a museum, a memorial park, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and a book.[16] The foundation also provides full college scholarships for any of Green's descendants to attend the school of their choice.[17] She also helped create the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative, a joint venture between the foundation and Jack Daniel's.[18] It includes the Nearest Green School of Distilling certification program at Motlow State Community College, a Leadership Acceleration Program that offers apprenticeships to African-Americans, and a business incubation program for black micro distillers.[19]
In 2020, Weaver started the Black Business Booster program, to help ten Black-owned spirits companies with branding, distribution, and capital.[9] In June 2021, Weaver and Uncle Nearest formed the $50 million Uncle Nearest Venture Fund to invest in minority-owned spirits companies.[20]
Other work
Fawn's career began in 1994, when she formed special events and public relations company FEW Entertainment.[21] She worked as a restaurant and real estate executive through the early 2000s,[22] before founding Grant Sidney Inc. in March 2010.[5]
Weaver's first book, Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage was published in 2014 by Thomas Nelson, and debuted at #3 on the New York Times Nonfiction Paperback list.[23] In 2015, she wrote The Argument-Free Marriage: 28 Days to Creating the Marriage You've Always Wanted with the Spouse You Already Have, which offers a 28-day plan for marital happiness using conflict management.[24]
Weaver was named one of Time's "31 People Changing the South" in 2018.[25]
She was also an executive board member of Meet Each Need with Dignity and Slavery No More from January 2014 to December 2019.[5] In March 2021, she was named to Endeavor's board of directors.[5]
Born in 1976 as Fawn Evette Wilson, she is the daughter of Motown Records songwriter and producer Frank Wilson.[22][27] She has been married to Keith Weaver since 2003.[28]
