How The World Works

Leah Ashburn, the Brewery CEO

Kevin D. Williamson Episode 35

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0:00 | 55:37

Kevin Williamson is joined by Leah Ashburn, CEO and family owner of Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, North Carolina. They discuss Ashburn’s path from journalism and sales into the family business, the legacy of her father who founded Asheville’s first brewery, and the challenges of leading a company through industry slowdowns, a pandemic, and natural disasters. The conversation also explores the role breweries can play as community institutions, the realities of hospitality and small business ownership, and how Ashburn and her husband have transformed their brewery into a gathering place for the wider community.

Watch the conversation on YouTube.