McCauley Williams: Founder & CEO, Morningside Brands

He went to law school on a whim, launched a beer festival business out of a meat trailer, and turned a liquidated vodka distillery into one of the largest bourbon barrel storage operations around. Then he got fired from the company he built. In Part 1 of our conversation with McCauley Williams, founder and CEO of Memphis-based Morningside Brands, we hear how he rebuilt from nothing. With a six-month-old at home and just a laptop and a cell phone, he bought a one-way ticket to Guadalajara, spent weeks learning how tequila is made, and partnered with a fifth-generation tequila family to launch Alma del Jaguar Tequila. Today, his portfolio also includes Weymar Gin House and Duck Club Bourbon, which he co-founded with Riley Green. In this episode: → Why he went to law school knowing he never wanted to be a lawyer → How a late-night idea on a Mississippi farm became a beer festival business → Buying a vodka distillery and never making a drop of vodka → Getting fired as CEO and starting over → His favorite piece of entrepreneurial advice: just ask Part 2 drops next week, when we dig into the spirits industry and the branding behind Duck Club Bourbon. Follow along: @almadeljaguar | @duckclubbourbon almadeljaguar.com | duckclubbourbon.com  |  waymarginhouse.com  | morningsidebrands.com