We were lucky to catch up with Allie Lisiecki recently and have shared our conversation below.

Allie, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Great question! So, picture it; it’s July of 2020 – we’re all bored and scrolling instagram like crazy. My brother’s girlfriend had been at a bridal shower and they had a Prosecco tap truck – she posted a picture on instagram and I immediately texted her with “oh my god, tell me more about that little tap trailer you just posted”. So, she sent me the businesses website, after going down a rabbit hole of my own; I set out on a quest to do some additional research.
At the time I was working part-time at a popular brewery in Northern Virginia and knew there was a market for off-site events that brought local craft beer to the market. I began contacting companies that did tap truck build-outs to get pricing and a timeline for the build-out.. which rolled into me just creating an entire business plan on how I my business would be the pollinator between the every evolving craft beverage industry and its loyal following.
Fast forward to December of 2020 – I finally had my tap truck…. AND then our governor at the time decided to enforce the “50 person max at events” to help slow the spread of COVID-19. And my world came crashing down. I thought to myself “did I just make the biggest mistake of my life”. Turns out, I did not. I spent the next 4 months building out my brand, having conversations with other business owners both in my industry and outside of it and really honing in on who my ideal customer was and what problem I could solve for them.
I LOVE to celebrate life’s special events and I knew if I put that same excitement out into the market opportunities would roll in.

Allie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a perfect mix of wild, witty and wonderful. I grew up on the Eastern side of Pennsylvania – food, beverage and tourism had a strong place in our community. I started working in the Hospitality industry around the age of 15. I truly have worked every job and position you can think of. From bartender, to server, to dishwasher and everything in between. I learned how to work hard, care about the customer and respect the person employing me. I went on to complete a Bachelor of Science in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management from a small state school in Pennsylvania. Upon graduation I was thrown right into an event planning position at a locally owned Hilton property. Boy, did I learn a lot! I learned a lot about myself and people in general.
As I worked my way through those fundamental years early in my career, I decided I wanted to go back to school; fast forward a few years and I graduated with my Master’s of Business Administration and moved to Virginia. That is really where my career started. I fell into a restaurant franchise development role. So, I was working with small business owners, daily. I was always so fascinated at what they were building and had built. Many of them were no different than me with their experience and background.
I recently relocated to the Charleston, SC market and could not be happier with this life and business decision.
The Wandering Taps was built out of an insatiable desire to educate the general public on good craft beer, the many varietals of wine and how to get creative with custom cocktails.
The core values of this business are what sets me apart in this growing industry: Integrity, Intentionality, Locally Focused, Approachable and Transparent.
I am a small business, therefore, I make it a point to support other small businesses – I am intentional as to where I source my products from, most of them are local to South Carolina; however, if I cannot source a product local, I always make it a point to still work with small businesses.
A mobile bar business is so much more than just serving a cold beer or a pretty cocktail. We are event planners, problem solvers and party creators. This type of service ranks up their with any other type of concierge service someone would seek out. We come to you. We bring the party to you!
This business embodies everything I would want when hiring a service based business for an event I was planning.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I initially built The Wandering Taps as a side hustle, knowing full well I would go full-time with it…someday. Well, that someday came much quicker than I had ever anticipated.
About the same time I had LLC’d myself, a job of a lifetime fell on my lap. It was a Director level position with a large publicly traded company; in the Food & Beverage vertical. I could not pass it up. So, I accepted the offer and dove right in. But, every night and every weekend I was feverishly building my side hustle – booking events, setting up strategic partnerships and educating myself in all things business.
I was comfortable, I had a great paying 9-5 job, benefits and a fantastic work/life balance. Until my whole world came crashing down one Monday morning in August of 2022. Our company was going through a mass layoff. We’re talking 800 people lost their jobs. I unfortunately was one of them.
So, I sat down with my husband and tried to wrap my head around all of it and I looked at him and I said “do you trust me to go full-time with The Wandering Taps”? The answer was immediately yes. So, I took my cash reserves and I injected that capital into my business and built out the necessary systems and processes I had been dragging my feet on for 2 years. Within two weeks of going full-time with my once side hustle – I was getting calls, responding back to website lead forms and setting up some of my most lucrative strategic partnerships to date. I never looked back. I didn’t dwell on my life being turned upside down; I just flipped the script and promised myself I would never let myself get comfortable again and I would determine my own success.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I don’t call myself an influencer by any means. Let’s just put that out there.

But, I started social media just like any other business owner – sending the link to my family and friends and asking them to share it with their inner circle of contacts. I sat at less than 250 followers on Instagram for like a year. I was a nobody. I had no idea how to build a theme for my page – I just posted what I was doing on a daily basis whether it was interesting or not… like cleaning the tap lines. That’s not a pretty job, but hey, its a reality of the business.
As I started booking more and more events, I would take photos of the set-up, I would ask other people to take photos of me, I encouraged people to tag me in the photos they took so I could re-share them. And slowly… I mean slowly, my following grew a few people per day or per week.
It wasn’t until I moved to Charleston and was booked out solid that my audience exploded. I used relevant hashtags, I tagged other business owners I worked alongside of and I always asked the event host to leave me a review so I could share that to my platform.
What I have noticed about using highly interactive platforms like Instagram and TikTok is that people want to see the bright and shiny objects. They want to see me pouring the beer or mixing the cocktail. They want to feel like they are part of the party. You are telling a story without having to speak.

One other action that grows your following… giveaways. While, they are short lived and sometimes you will get people to follow you; only to find they unfollow you if they don’t win the giveaway – it’s okay because the 10% that stayed following you are the ones you want to speak to.
Just be real. Be relevant. Be authentic. And the right people will appreciate you and support you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thewanderingtaps.com
• Instagram: @thewanderingtaps
• Facebook: @thewanderingtaps
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/80073474/admin/

Image Credits
Alexandra Rostad – @littlerunawayphotos Jennifer El-Hadded – @jennifermaryphotography