A portrait of who I am writing about
I researched Stephen L. Hightower Ii’s public life. He leads a second-generation family business that evolved from small entrepreneurial roots into a major U.S. petroleum distributor. Because the story feels personal, I write about him in the first person. His family business switched from janitorial to energy distribution in the late 20th century. The company surpassed sales milestones that read like a ledger of ambition: $157 million in 2010, $308 million in 2019, and more recent reports placing the company in the high hundreds of millions with a goal of $1 billion.
Family, home, and the private public life
Family anchors this story. The Hightowers are a multigenerational clan. They run a privately held company and they keep certain details inside the family. Still, enough is public that I can describe names, ties, and snapshots of life.
Family profiles
Julia Pace Mitchell
Stephen L. Hightower Ii married Julia. A working actress with television credits, her public persona combines entertainment and family. Their wedding was September 4, 2011. As the wife of a corporate executive, she balances work and family. I see her life as a balance between stage lights and scripts and a family table and motherhood.
Stephen L. Hightower III
Their son, Stephen L. Hightower III, was born on May 22, 2013. Public notices captured his arrival and the parents celebrated the new addition. He is young, and his presence reshapes the couple’s priorities and calendar. Dates like May 22, 2013 feel like waypoints in a family map.
Yudell Hightower
Yudell represents the older generation, the family patriarch whose obituary and remembrances set out the genealogy. He is the connective tissue between the early entrepreneurial days and the company that followed. In family stories he is the mode switch from small service contracts to larger commercial opportunities. Obituaries listed children, grandchildren, and the seeds of the business.
Don Mitchell
Don is the father of Julia Pace Mitchell and therefore a father-in-law in the Hightower household. His identity as an actor contributes a legacy of performance to Julia’s background and by extension to the family’s public narrative.
Judy Pace
Judy is Julia’s mother and an actress as well. Her presence completes a trio of performers across generations in Julia’s lineage. Together, Don and Judy frame an entertainment heritage that contrasts with the business heritage of the Hightowers.
Hightowers Petroleum Co.
The company is family owned and privately held. That combination means public financial filings are limited. Still, the company’s growth trajectory is evident from public profiles and business listings. Roles attributed to members of the family have included titles like vice president of strategic affairs and chief operating officer. The firm has expanded geographically and moved into conversations about diversification, including conversations about renewable fuels and electric vehicle logistics.
Career and achievements
Stephen manages momentum. He has led operations and strategic initiatives as an executive. The story is familiar: early 1980s roots, size in the 2000s and 2010s, and public prominence as a Black-owned, regional downstream petroleum leader. Revenue data, industry awards, supplier recognitions, and media features highlighting the family firm as a growth model are milestones. FUELING: From Zero to $1 Billion, his business book, outlines the company’s expansion goals in numbers.
The numbers that matter
I like numbers because they are anchors in a story full of character. Here are the key ones I keep returning to.
| Year or Date | Event |
|---|---|
| early 1980s | Foundational contracts and origins of the family fuel business |
| 2010 | Reported revenue around $157 million |
| 2011-09-04 | Marriage of Stephen L. Hightower Ii and Julia Pace Mitchell |
| 2013-05-22 | Birth of Stephen L. Hightower III |
| 2019 | Listed revenue around $308 million on some business lists |
| 2024-2025 | Marketing and release activity around the business book FUELING |
| present | Company revenue in the high hundreds of millions with a goal toward $1 billion |
An extended timeline in narrative form
I read the timeline as chapters. The first chapter is small contracts and everyday hustle. The second chapter is rapid scaling in the 2000s. The third chapter is visibility and national recognition in the 2010s. The fourth chapter is diversification and authorship in the 2020s. Each chapter has specific years and figures attached. I note that the family business stayed privately held throughout, which shaped how the family managed growth and privacy.
FAQ
Who is Stephen L. Hightower Ii?
He is a family executive and leader in a multigenerational business that operates in fuel distribution. I see him as a manager of legacy and a strategist looking at markets where fuel and energy intersect.
How is his family tied to the business?
The Hightowers run the company as a family enterprise. Multiple family members have taken on leadership roles. Younger generations, like Stephen III, are part of the ongoing family narrative but are not public business figures yet.
When did he marry and when was his child born?
He married on September 4, 2011. His son was born on May 22, 2013. Those dates are anchor points for the family timeline.
What are the companys revenue milestones?
Publicly cited figures include about $157 million around 2010 and about $308 million in 2019 on certain lists. More recent reportage places the firm in the high hundreds of millions with active goals to reach $1 billion. Because the company is private exact year to year filings are not public.
Has he written any books or public thought pieces?
Yes. The business book FUELING: From Zero to $1 Billion has been presented as part of the family and executive narrative, with promotional activity in the mid 2020s.
What makes this family story interesting to me
It is the collision of performance and petroleum, of stage and storage tanks. Actors and entrepreneurs sit around the same family table. That contrast gives the story texture. I think of the Hightowers as craftsmen of scale who learned to turn small contracts into large regional infrastructure. The dates and numbers make the strategy concrete. The people make the story human.
