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This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Jess Blakely and Willow Sprague, best friends from college who turned small business owners.Blakely and Sprague founded barbiesa woman-owned business that “offers connecting and celebratory cocktail classes for any occasion, any location” in 2019.
Image credit: Courtesy of BarBees. Jess Blakely, left. Willow Sprague, yes.
What was your main job when you started your side job?
I (Willow) had just graduated from Belmont University and Jess had two semesters left there when we started BarBees. I had no idea what to do with myself, so at the same time I started an internship at an executive coaching company and eventually he worked for his first four years building BarBees. Jess held several jobs for his first few years in business and attended law school for his third semester. Our goal has always been to build BarBees into something much bigger than a side hustle. We believed in our mission from the beginning and wanted to create as many connections and community as possible through our cocktail classes.
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When did you start your side hustle and where did you get the inspiration for it?
We started this business one as an excuse to spend more time together and two as a way to foster friendships and connections with others. We went to bartending school together purely on a whim. That’s where the idea for BarBees began (including the name!). We initially launched as an event bartending service focused on the Nashville wedding and event industry. Throughout COVID-19, we started offering virtual cocktail classes, which transitioned to in-person cocktail classes as the world reopened. We found this model to be more in line with the mission we had for our business from the beginning and more repeatable. Since then, we have expanded to 11 regions across the country and currently have a team of over 35 class instructors.
What was the first step you took to get your side hustle off the ground?
Our first step in getting BarBees off the ground was word of mouth and Instagram outreach to people in the events industry in Nashville. We got to make connections and learn about the industry. And once we started attracting people’s attention (and they knew we would charge much less than other competitors), small parties, music events, and Eventually we started inquiring about weddings (and, of course, lots of free promotional opportunities). We said yes to everything. If you’re like most people who jump at fun business ideas on a whim, [we didn’t] We really knew what we were getting ourselves into! Little did we know we were signing up to carry around a 100-pound mobile bar and wrestle bags of ice with our feet for hours on end. We quickly realized that mobile bartending didn’t inspire any desire to make connections. I thought.
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Then, when we pivoted to teaching cocktail classes, it was a completely new marketing model starting from scratch. We have changed our language, social content, and most importantly, our booking process.customer relationship management platform honey book A big part of this change was because we had all the tools we needed to completely rebuild the company.
What was the biggest challenge you faced when building your side hustle and how did you overcome it?
The pandemic was the biggest hurdle we faced in our first year and a half of business. When the world shut down and our entire event calendar disappeared, we started offering virtual cocktail classes to stay afloat, and that sparked our brand new model: The Cocktail Class Company . This inevitable pressure to adapt has given us the opportunity to do what we want to do with BarBees. It also gave us the opportunity to essentially invent a new industry. Cocktail classes are held at various restaurants and brick-and-mortar stores across the country. But no one was doing what so many places are doing: bringing class directly into your space. We have great respect for this great challenge that has driven us to build the company we are proud to represent today. We have become a company that can realize this. shark tank.
Image credit: Provided by BarBees
How long did it take you to start seeing steady income every month?
After our first year in business, and just as we were nearing a steady monthly income, the pandemic hit and we were forced to completely rebuild. It wasn’t until the end of 2021, when he was fully hooked on the new model (in-person cocktail classes), that revenue really became stable. We overcame the challenges because we believed in what BarBees offers people: connection and community.
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Is the business now a full-time venture or do you still consider it a side hustle?
While preparing shark tank, we both decided to take the plunge and work full time at BarBees. We wanted to give ourselves wholeheartedly to this business and this insane opportunity. It certainly worked and we were able to come out of the tank knowing that we were as prepared as humanly possible. Since the episode aired in January, we’ve built a great rhythm with our administrative team and class instructors. This has given Jess and I more time to focus on brand new initiatives within the business and explore other external passion projects that light us up as well.
What is your current growth and revenue?
Since broadcast shark tankmore than 40,000 people are engaging with us on site and social, which is a 220% increase compared to this time last year.
What do you enjoy most about this business?
We started BarBees as an excuse to spend more time together. And it certainly gave us that. Building something with your best friend is exhilarating and creates a unique level of connection unlike any other friendship. Additionally, we are both extremely honored to have been able to attract such great people to our team. We love the idea of giving them their own side hustle where they can put on a show and connect with others. Our classes are a super fun way for energetic, vibrant people to celebrate life’s best moments (and we celebrate them through craft cocktails and conversation).
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What advice would you give to people who want to start their own side hustle and be successful?
Start saying “yes”! It’s okay if you don’t have everything, or the perfect booking process, or even the big picture you want. You’ll learn and create all of these things as you go. Because no matter what, your venture will be different than you ever expected. That’s good! Be willing to say yes to new opportunities and requests outside of your normal scope. That’s exactly how we started offering classes. People asked for class. Saying “yes” to what people want, rather than forcing an original design, helps shape what people actually want. And what do they pay? “Yes” is the most powerful word in the first years of making your dreams come true.
This article is part of an ongoing Women Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges, and successes of running a business as a woman.