Entrepreneurship Series: Ben Williams of Highway Vodka
March 2, 2022
Hosted by Carliss Chatman
[Download MP3] [itunes] [Bookmark Episode]
Guest Information
Episode Description
In the inaugural episode of our Entrepreneurship Series, we will feature Ben Williams of Highway Vodka. Eight years ago, equipped with a 13-gallon still and a head full of knowledge acquired via books and YouTube videos on distillation, Williams took to his garage with grain, sugar, and yeast to make a vodka better than any he’d ever tried before. A Houston, TX native and member of a family with a lasting legacy of entrepreneurship, Ben has transformed his hobby into Highway Vodka, comprised of a mash of a unique strain of hemp, locally sourced corn, and water from their artesian aquifer. Highway Vodka is now sold at bars and liquor stores across the state of Texas, and is expanding nationally. Ben is planning to release a barrel-aged, limited-edition hemp-based whiskey later this year. We will discuss what motivates Ben Williams, his recipe for success, and what advice he has for those aspiring to start businesses of their own.
Getting Common
Wednesday at 8 AM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Empowerment Channel
Getting Common with Professor Carliss Chatman provides a refreshing common sense approach to business, law, women's rights, racial justice, and entrepreneurship. Featuring experts in law, business and entrepreneurship, politics and government, and education, Getting Common educates while exposing you to a fresh and new perspective. Listen live every Wednesday at 8 AM Pacific Time on the VoiceAmerica Empowerment Channel.
Carliss Chatman
Carliss Chatman is an Associate Professor specializing in corporate and commercial law. Her eleven years of legal practice before entering the academy lends a common sense approach to her teaching and scholarship. She specializes in bringing practical experience to all of her classes, making complex legal concepts within reach for students of all backgrounds. Through service on the Advisory Board of Compliance.ai, she has worked on the cutting edge of legal regulatory technology, helping to train the machine learning platform to anticipate the research needs of those in the compliance and regulatory legal space. Her experience in leadership of non-profit boards and over two decades of social activism has allowed Professor Chatman to develop expertise on matters involving race, women's rights, and educational access. Her scholarship, teaching and service have been celebrated and awarded by her faculty and peers. She is the 2021 Recipient of Derrick A. Bell, Jr. Award, presented by the Association of American Law Schools Section on Minority Groups, the 2020 Recipient Jessine A. Monaghan Fellowship, an award for experiential education, given in recognition of contributions to the transactional component of the Law School’s experiential program and the 2020 Recipient Lewis Prize for Excellence in Legal Scholarship.
