Online MBA Student Co-Founds Historic Whiskey Brand, Shares Career Experience with Whitman Students 

You might say that Keith Weaver ’25 MBA is taking things one sip at a time—with a number of fascinating business opportunities in whiskey, real estate development and hospitality that has taken him from his hometown of Los Angeles to the heart of Tennessee. Along the way, he has detoured through Syracuse—virtually, anyway—to earn an online MBA from the Whitman School of Management.

For over 20 years, Weaver enjoyed a career at SONY Pictures Entertainment in California, most recently as executive vice president, global public policy. A first generation college student, he already had a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in public affairs from California State University, but he decided an MBA would help him round out his business skills as he continued on his career path.

After some research, he found the Whitman School’s Online MBA Program. “There weren’t a ton of schools offering online programs that had the reputation and gravitas of Syracuse University,” he says.

Weaver started with just one class at a time in 2015, working each into his already full calendar as a movie executive. While this supported his professional and entrepreneurial goals, he soon realized that he also gained personal satisfaction and intellectual stimulation from the Whitman program.

While taking online classes, Weaver has also attended several in-person residencies, two on the Syracuse University campus, most recently for a session on Conflict Solution Resolution, and two in London, including Doing Business in Post-Brexit London.

“I’ve been quite impressed by the caliber of the residencies,” he says. “One, for the staff and faculty interactions, which are enriching, but really for the chance to get to know the others in the program better. I’m an older student, and it has been fun for me to interact in-person with younger students and understand their journeys and ambitions, as well as be a thought partner for them.”

As Weaver worked on his MBA, he and his wife, Fawn Weaver, made a major life and career shift that took them across the country and into the whiskey business.

Eight years ago, Fawn read a story in The New York Times about how Jack Daniel had a “secret ingredient” essential to the development of his iconic whiskey brand in Nathan “Nearest” Green, an enslaved man who taught Daniel the distilling process. Green, however, had never been recognized for his important contribution to the brand until 2016. The Weavers were drawn to the story, and Fawn did a great deal of research, including talking to Green’s descendants, who had always wanted “Uncle Nearest’” to have his name on a whiskey bottle. The Jack Daniel’s company was not interested in pursuing the idea, but the Weavers were.

In 2017, the couple launched Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, and the company became the first spirits brand in the world named after an African American. Over the past 8 years, Uncle Nearest has become the fastest-growing whiskey company in the U.S., and, in 2019, the Weavers opened the Nearest Green Distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee, a destination that boasts Humble Baron, the longest bar in the world at 518 linear feet (one-tenth of a mile!). The brand has won more than 1,000 awards and sold more than $100 million in product to date. Most importantly, the story of Uncle Nearest has been carefully woven into the brand, a nod to his contributions to the crafting of outstanding American whiskey.

“Never did I expect to go from working in a movie studio in L.A. to relocating my life and livelihood to Tennessee,” says Weaver, “but, for some reason, I felt a connection to the South, and Fawn did, too. It seemed divinely appointed, and we had this journey and this whimsy, so we just kind of went for it.” (Fawn, a successful entrepreneur in her own right, is the current CEO of the company and the author of “Love & Whiskey,” a book that tells the story of Green, as well as the Weavers’ quest to create Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey.)

With the success of the Nearest Green Distillery, which is about an hour from Nashville, Weaver recently launched a new company, Nashwood (the name is a combination of Nashville and Hollywood), focusing on real estate development and hospitality venues that will give a further economic boost to the community around the distillery and make it a true destination stop. In addition, he and his wife are also expanding the whiskey business with the recent acquisition of Square One, a vodka company, and are planning to launch a cognac company next year, which will be headquartered in their newly purchased chateau in the Grand Champagne region of France.

Weaver believes that having “lived some life” has helped him succeed in business and better understand many of the lessons learned as he works towards completing his MBA in Spring 2025.

“I always knew it was going to be a ‘slow and steady wins the race’ journey for me at Whitman, but I think everything has happened in the right time for me,” he says. “I don’t think I would have been able to make Uncle Nearest or some of my other business ideas happen in my earlier years. I’ve learned a great deal and achieved many things I never could have dreamed of— and Whitman’s Online MBA Program has only enhanced the experience along the way.”

By Caroline K. Reff