The BuzzBallz/Southern Champion mission is to create fun, innovative cocktails for people to enjoy around the world with a vision to reinvent happy hour. On a hot Texas afternoon in the mid-2000s, then-high school teacher Merrilee Kick was sitting by her pool grading papers when she had a hankering for an alcoholic beverage.Merrilee came up with BuzzBallz’s signature spherical shape thanks to a memento in her house—a glass votive from a recent family trip. She was at a sporting goods store when a can of tennis balls served as inspiration for a pop-top she could use.After graduating with an MBA, Merrilee tirelessly researched the industry and took out a loan to launch her company. She enlisted her family to help get the business off the ground and now BuzzBallz are sold nationally! These pre-mixed cocktails are also sold internationally.