Note to readers: This is the third in a series of profiles of community leaders running in the Greenville Journal during Black History Month.
Babette Jones wants to change the world with her spirit brand, Six Nineteen of 1865. Talking to her, it’s easy to believe she could will that ambition into reality.
Six Nineteen is the first Black-woman-owned spirit business in Greenville and the third Black-owned spirit in South Carolina. It launched in October 2024 but the idea began on June 19, 2022, when Jones took a trip with longtime friends, the “731 Group,” to Hilton Head Island.
There, attorney Charles Anderson started mixing a coconut-rum cocktail. The group dubbed it the “Juneteenth” in honor of the holiday.
Jones began to distill the idea for a business.
On Feb. 13, 2023, a member of the 731 Group, Jimmie Flythe Jr., passed away. The loss shook Jones. Flythe echoed her entrepreneurial spirit and desire to propel those around him forward. In April 2023, Jones left her position as major gift officer at Furman University for a position at Greenville Technical College as senior director of development.
“When I was at Furman, a part of my job was to develop relationships with parents and ask them for money for certain programs,” Jones said. “And one program was the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.”
Specifically, she was interested in the GVL Starts program. Not wanting to mix her personal and business aspirations, Jones admired the program from afar until she left the university.
Jones entered the nine-week program as part of the 2023 cohort. She won the cohort’s pitch competition, which earned her a $5,000 grant and seed money to get her spirit business started. She raised an additional $90,000 and got her enterprise underway.
The brand officially launched on Oct. 19, 2024, with a launch party at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Greenville. Jones is a believer in building genuine, organic connections and attributes that to her success.
The day the product launched, Jones also launched the Six Nineteen Foundation, which benefits philanthropic efforts and education. Launching them together was important because it ties back to her personal mission and purpose.
“To leave a legacy for my children, my grandchildren and generations to come,” she said. “Minorities have not had an opportunity to build generational wealth and it’s amazing that God has me doing this at 60.”
Currently, Six Nineteen is available at 19 Wine and Spirits on Verdae Boulevard. The goal is to distribute nationally within a year, with greater ambitions on the horizon.
“I’m going to live to be 100,” she said with a laugh.
