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James Bedford (MBA 2025) smiles as he recalls growing up on a boat off the southwest coast of England. "It was just me and my dad in the most beautiful spot in the world," he says. Looking back now, he recognizes it was poverty—but at the time, "it was just life." Arriving at Harvard Business School in 2023, Bedford encountered some of the same challenges he faced at Harvard College years earlier: finding community and comfort in an unfamiliar culture.

In 2017 Fawn Weaver launched a premium American whiskey brand, Uncle Nearest. It became the fastest growing and most awarded whiskey brand in America, despite the challenges Weaver faced as a Black woman and outsider to the spirits industry. In 2023, Weaver announced plans to expand into cognac with the goal of building the next major alcoholic beverages conglomerate. Senior Lecturer Hise Gibson discusses Weaver’s leadership style, growth strategies, and her use of storytelling to connect customers with her brand in the case, “Uncle Nearest: Creating a Legacy.”