Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tatjana Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tatjana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Being a small business owner for me has always been about having the capacity and the reach to give back to the community in a bigger way than we ever could individually. We are retail wine shop, but we are so much more. We have dedicated ourselves to contributing to the community time and time again with offerings through fundraising orders, donation collection and always having a focus on giving back to our community.

Tatjana, 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?

My husband and I both started out in the corporate retail world, and when we moved to Westerville and we decided that it was the right time to start our business. We felt so compelled by the small town community vibe that Uptown Westerville has to offer. We have a love and passion for wine, as it is a family tradition and interest. But aside from wine the the businesses, the shop has become so much more. Most recently we made a transition to online sales and delivery model, in addition to our in-store retail hours. And we have focused on finding ways to give back to the community in a bigger way. That has been something that has stayed with us throughout this whole experience. Over the past few years, I have spent time mentoring other women, who have wanted to experience growing their own businesses and it has been one of my most valued experiences as a small business owner.

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

With the start of the pandemic, we had a major decision to face. Previous to Covid, we operated as a full-service wine shop and wine bar, serving in store 7 days a week. But with the start of the pandemic, we realized that we had to make a change in order to stay afloat during those times of shut down. Within two days, we decided to throw a couple options on our website to see if people would be interested in online ordering. Once we saw that there was an interest and that there was a need we decided to very very swiftly, put our entire inventory online and shift our entire business model to online ordering and delivery. I have to credit the quick shift to this model as to why we are still in business today. We watched many businesses go under as the times of pandemic shut down continued over the course of months into the following year.
Most importantly, though, this was a time of reflection for myself as a business owner and I realized that my time and resources were not being spent in the correct way. I felt depleted and strained and realized what I was currently doing was not providing me happiness any longer.
I Made a really difficult decision to move forward with this new business model to eliminate the in-store consumption portion of our business. And it turned out that listening to my gut was the absolute best decision I could’ve made for our business. We were able to stay strong through the pandemic, and to continue to grow the business without sacrificing our own sanity and balance. You cannot always measure your business growth in terms of monetary growth and contribution. You have to consider your happiness, your work life balance and your passion.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

There have been so many instances where we could’ve closed the business, because things were not monetarily working in our favor. There were times when we couldn’t pay our bills, that we were making literally no money, all the while working so hard to keep things afloat. It has just never been an option for me to quit. It felt like something we had to see through. We have constantly been faced with roadblocks, but also always trying to reinvent the wheel, thinking outside the box of ways to fix issues and move forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mezawineshop.com
• Instagram: mezawineshop
• Facebook: @mezawineshop

Image Credits
Ce Moment Photography