Merrilee Kick

Merrilee Kick is Founder of BuzzBallz/Southern Champion, a Dallas based Distillery/Winery/Brewery. The Carrollton, Texas company manufactures ready-to-drink cocktails called BuzzBallz and Uptown Cocktails, as well as spirits like rum, vodka, gin, bourbon, and some private label brands for 7-Eleven and H-E-B. With products sold in 50 states and 30 countries, the company is home to over 1000 employees in the Dallas area. She sold the company in May 2024 to Sazerac, the 3rd largest liquor manufacturer in the world.

Kick has received numerous accolades, such as: Dallas Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO Award; Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Athena Award; EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award; Enterprising Women's Hall of Fame Award; JP Morgan Chase’s “50 Fastest Woman Owned Companies”; D CEO’s Top 50 DFW Businesses; Top Women in Grocery; and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Texas Woman’s University, where she got her MBA.

To return the favor, Kick recently donated $30m to build the Merrilee Alexander Kick College of Business & Entrepreneurship at TWU in Denton Texas.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Montana, an MBA from Texas Woman’s University, and is also an alumni of Harvard Business School.

Kick works with her two sons Alex and Andrew, and her husband Tim, where they all are Strategic Advisors to the company.