In the 14 years since former public school teacher Merrilee Kick founded ready-to-drink cocktail brand BuzzBallz, Kick has built the brand into an alcohol industry powerhouse. In addition to distribution across the United States, the brand is now sold in 29 countries with annual revenue that Forbes estimates is roughly $500 million. “I’ve been living in the American Dream,” she says “We’ve built a legacy. We’ve become a contender in a space where women never went.”