We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Grace LeVeque a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Grace, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I feel so privileged to have the work ethic I do. From the time I was 14 I couldn’t wait to have my first job working at the local grocery store. The thought of putting in the work to have the opportunity to earn money for what I want was always appealing from a young age. Whether it was a lemonade stand, garage sales, or anywhere I could earn cash, I was willing to put in the work.
My parents both always had multiple jobs growing up, so for me it was a way of life. There was always a warm (and delicious) meal on the table, family time was always a priority, and I never knew any different. Looking back now I’m not sure how my parents did it all- but they did! They truly showed me a strong work ethic with a beautifully positive attitude day in and day out. I carry that with me every day as I navigate my business. I’m lucky to have learned from the best.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Howdy Hat Bar is a fully interactive pop-up hat bar based in Milwaukee. You can find us just about anywhere- bars, restaurants, craft fairs, holiday markets, etc., but we are also excited to be for hire for your private party! Whether it’s a bachelorette, birthday, wedding, company party- we bring the fun and your guest leaves with a one of a kind creation. Every customer has their image of a perfect hat, and we love bringing that vision to life. One thing that sets Howdy Hat Bar apart is our commitment to helping those in need- we donate a warm winter hat to someone in need for every hat we sell. We feel we are lucky enough to have such a fun business, the least we can do is help less fortunate neighbors in our community.
Howdy is excited to be launching new products soon! Stay tuned to our instagram and facebook pages for details. You never know what we will come out with next. The possibilities are endless!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think three qualities of mine that are most impactful to our business are 1. My work ethic. 2. Not being afraid of the word “no”, and 3. My confidence. My work ethic, like I mentioned before really comes form my parents; we’ve all had 15+ hour days and plenty of weeks if not months straight of working, but my Dad always said “you’ll never work a day in your life if you do what you love.” Howdy is truly something I love to do- seeing people’s faces when I turn their hats around after I’m done is something that makes my soul sparkle every time. It never gets old! I also love doing this entire crazy business with my fiancé- instead of us both working service industry jobs for extra income, we were able to quit those to be together and work events together. It’s time we get to spend together that we are so lucky to have.
Not being afraid of the word no- I am in sales for my day job, and I hear the word “no” about 100 times a day. For Howdy, we reach out to businesses every day, spreading the word of what we do. We get all types of responses, but we do occasionally get the word no. As much as I want to write back saying they should change their mind, I want to make sure we are the right pop up, and are attending the right events. I’m also proud of saying “no” when needed- I don’t want to fully compromise my business just to fit in the box someone wants us to. We love to collaborate, and saying no to jobs is scary, but we want the best outcome for all parties involved.
Confidence- Kind of piggybacking off of saying no, I am confident in my business sense. If the vibes are off, people are asking for discounts in the first email, I have to be confident in our product knowing we are charging the correct pricing. I have built this brand from the ground up and it takes a lot of effort. If something isn’t working, we pivot. Is something is going great, we capitalize. Being confident in who we are as a business is a major key to our success.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We are always looking for people to collaborate with! We love popping up at bars- we find people are always looking for something fun to do while they’re enjoying their night out. Another huge category for us are boutiques, it’s great to partner with local businesses in a similar category. Instead of seeing it as competition, we can build each other up and drive business for both of us. Our in home pop ups are great for girls nights, bachelorette parties, friendsgivings, birthday parties, weddings- you name it, we’ve done it- and we’re excited to do it again!
Lastly, we love a makers market. Any time a group of creators can come together it’s magic! The people who come and support these makers markets are so special, and we appreciate every single one of them.
You can find us on social media; @HowdyHatBarMKE, or email us at [email protected] to connect!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howdyhatbarmke/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Howdy-Hat-Bar-MKE/61563041830429/?_rdr
Image Credits
Grace LeVeque
