We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Pete + Jennifer Simpson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Pete + Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.
As we were renovating our historic space in downtown Brenham, our exterior patio (complete with loading dock stage, new landscaping and new lighting) was prime for business. We decided to start opening up as an in-place pop-up. We rented a portable restroom and hand-washing unit and got after it. Lots of social media marketing went into creating buzz. We also did a wine tasting giveaway event about a month prior.
The first pop-up was October 16, 2021. It’s was super hot, but we had our beer and wine license, so we had ice cold beer in coolers and chilled wine. We utilized the Square mobile credit card swipers, had food brought in by our baker and catering friend Kathleen Matthews (Mescalito Coffee/To Pieces Bakeshop), and hit it off with live music. We timed it perfectly (stars aligned) as the Texas Arts and Music Festival was that weekend in Brenham, drawing lots of out-of-town visitors and locals alike. Our good friend Karissa Presley played and sang awesome tunes and we had a big outdoor party!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
So we kind of got into the business because we thought our town needed and wanted a thoughtfully curated lounge experience. Our assumption was correct. Our interior and exterior design is eclectic and vibrantly colored. And the low lighting makes the space cozy and very different from other bars in the area. Comfortable seating and lounge areas really let folks relax, but feel like they are in an upscale environment. Our food + drink program is ever-changing and we use the highest-quality ingredients we can find. We work diligently to bring new musicians and our faves back on the weekends to provide solid live music folks can depend on.
That being said, our staff is the best in town. Hands down. We couldn’t have such a wonderful business without them. They truly are a blessing. Service and quality is what we hang our hat on, and they carry that torch day in and day out.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
So this past January we decided to go through with something we debated for some time. After a weekend in Austin, we came across a flyer for a drag show. We had been to these in the past and consider them to be quite harmless and entertaining. We knew if we did a show in Brenham, there would be pushback, but didn’t know the extent.
Fast forward to the “fun”. Little did we know, our announcement for the show was just days before national headlines about drag shows in schools and public libraries went viral. We were called out in social forums, folks came to city hall to demand they shut us down (thank goodness our council had a backbone, as we literally broke no laws), and were the subject of nasty letters, calls, and messages. However, we also were sent lots of praise and messages of hope from those in the LGBTQIA community telling us how this one event gave them a feeling of belonging. Just someone sticking their neck out on their behalf.
It was truly a wild few weeks leading up to our show. All we wanted was to have a fun drag show + brunch, yet so much drama and conversations were sparked.
Our two private shows sold out In less than one minute online. Crazy.
The day of the event we had The Texas Church Leaders organization protesting our event in two locations, local pride groups out in support, our street shut down with police, etc. We had to card folks to make sure they were over 18 at the door. We had the loudest DJ music ever. It was a blast inside.
If that ain’t a show of resilience, I don’t know what is.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
We are actually married, if you haven’t put that together! We met one night in Houston playing in an adult kickball league. Jennifer played regularly on a team with Pete’s roommate. Pete came one night as a substitute and that’s how they met. Pete also got to meet Floyd (Jennifer’s one year old lab puppy) who she brought with her as the teams’ official mascot and spilled beer cleaner. Floyd is who the lounge is named after. What fate!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.floydslounge.net
- Instagram: @floydswinelounge
- Facebook: @floydswinelounge
Image Credits
Natalie Lange Kayci Zinkgraf