This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features college best friends turned small business owners Jess Blakely and Willow Sprague. Blakely and Sprague founded Barbletesa woman-owned business “offering networking and celebratory cocktail classes for any occasion, any location,” in 2019.

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of BarBees. Jess Blakely, left; Willow Sprague, right.}

What was your day job when you started? side hustle?
I (Willow) had just graduated from Belmont University and Jesse had two semesters left there when we started the BarBees. I had no idea what to do with myself, so at the same time I started an internship with an executive coaching firm, where I ended up working for the first four years of building BarBees. Jess held down several jobs during her early years in business and even attended law school for three semesters. Our goal was always 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 as possible and community through our cocktail classes as much as possible.

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When you have start your side hustleand where did you find the inspiration for it?
We started the business as one, an excuse to hang out more and two, a way to facilitate that kind of friendship and connection for others! We attended bartending school together on a whim, which is where the idea for BarBees (including the name!) began. We were originally launched as an event bartending service focused on weddings and events industry in Nashville. Through Covid, we started offering virtual cocktail classes, which turned into in-person cocktail classes as the world came back to life. We found that this model was 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 nationwide and now have a team of more than 35 classroom instructors.

What were some of the first steps you took to get yours side hustle from the ground?
Our first steps to get the BarBees off the ground were verbal and Instagram contact people in the Nashville events industry. We had to network and learn the industry. Then, once we were on people's radars (and they knew we'd charge much less than any other competitor), they started asking about small parties, music events, and eventually weddings (and also, yes, lots of promotional opportunities free). We said yes to everything. Like most people who jump into a fun business idea on a whim, (we didn't) really know what we were getting into! Of course we didn't realize we'd signed up to carry 100 pound mobile bars and wrestling bags of ice for hours on foot – we soon discovered the mobile bartender didn't scratch the itch to make a connection while we did. d thought

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Then, when we upside down in teaching cocktail classes, it was a new marketing model from scratch. We changed our wording, social content and, most importantly, the booking process. Customer relationship management platform Honey book was a big part of that change because it had all the tools we needed to completely restructure our company.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while building your side hustle and how did you navigate them?
The pandemic was the biggest obstacle we faced in the first year and a half of business. When the world shut down and our entire event calendar was wiped out, we started offering virtual cocktail classes to stay at sea, which sparked our new model – a cocktail class company. This is inevitable pressure to conform gave us the ability to dial in what we wanted to do with BarBees. It also gave us the opportunity to essentially invent a new industry. Various restaurants and brick-and-mortar locations offer cocktail classes across the country. However, no one was doing what we do in as many places as we do – bringing classes right to your space. We give a lot of credit to that massive challenge that drove us to build the company we're proud to represent today. It allowed us to become a company that could be opened Shark tank.

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of BarBees}

How long did it take you to see consistent monthly income?
After the first year of business, we were just approaching stable monthly revenue when the pandemic hit, forcing us to completely restructure. It wasn't until late 2021, when we were fully into the flow of our new model (in-person cocktail classes), that we saw our income become truly stable. We overcame the challenges because we believed in what BarBees was offering people – connection and community.

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Is the business a full-time venture now, or do you still consider it a side hustle?
During the preparation for Shark tank, we both took the plunge to go full-time with the BarBees. We wanted to make sure we gave the business and this crazy opportunity our full hearts and souls. It certainly paid off and we were able to exit the tank knowing we were as prepared as humanly possible. Since our episode aired in January, we've gotten into a great groove with our operations team and classroom instructors. This has given me and Jess more time to embark on brand new initiatives within the business and explore others outside passion projects that enlighten us too.

What does growth and/or revenue look like now?
Since the broadcast Shark tankmore than 40,000 people have engaged with us on our website and social media, a 220% increase from this time last year.

What do you like most about this business?
We started BarBees as an excuse to spend more time together – and it sure has! Building something together with your best friend is exciting and adds such a unique level of connection that is unlike any other friendship. In addition, we are both honored to have attracted such fabulous 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 such a fun way for living, vibrant people to celebrate people's greatest moments (and do it over craft cocktails and conversation).

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What is your advice to others hoping to start their own successful businesses?
Start saying yes! It doesn't matter if you don't have everything together, a perfect booking process or even the full picture of what you want done. You'll learn and create all of those things as you go, because no matter what, your venture will end up looking different than you ever expected. This is a good thing! Be willing to say yes to new opportunities and requests outside of your typical scope. That's how we started offering classes – people asked for them. Saying yes to what people want, rather than suppressing your original design, will help you craft your venture into what people actually want. And what will they pay for? “Yes” is the most powerful word in those early years of building your dream.

This article is part of our continuity Women Entrepreneurs® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman.