May 19th 2020 is our 2nd year anniversary! A special day in my life.
I still remember this day when we opened to the general public two years ago. I was so afraid. I felt I had just jumped out of a plane without a parachute. Same feeling I had after I signed the lease on the space. I had never paid so much money per month without any guarantee on the revenues I was going to make. Am I crazy?
Last year, we celebrated our first year anniversary and I made a little speech during the night. This year, since we cannot get together in person- I thought I would share a few thoughts I have on this day.
No regrets! is the first thing that comes to mind. Two years with peaks and valleys… smiles and tears… Wow! But it all started way before two years ago. The journey to execute on my idea started 5 years ago when I left Amazon. It took me 2.8 years to open this place and to figure everything out. I started with not knowing what a martini was back in August 2015 and almost three years later I opened Connect. Going to bartending school, working part time as a server and bartender, learning the operations of a bar, talking to professionals in the industry, writing down my vision, living it every day, it all helped. Dear God- I was so patient and persistent! It’s still mind-blowing to me how I was able to pull it off. And little did I know how hard it can be to bring people in the door. Never in my whole life have I worked so HARD for so LITTLE financial gain. Am I crazy?
The first year -especially the latter part of the first year- was extremely challenging. Challenges driving more business, tough business decisions with regards to loyal team members, tough negotiations with the landlord…Yet- we are still here. Am I crazy?
No – I’m not crazy. Because – to me- it’s all worth it! I can’t put a price tag on how I feel doing this. It’s invaluable. It’s what I’m supposed to be doing. And also because I KNOW we are GOING SOMEWHERE WITH CONNECT. This is a movement. We genuinely care about people and nothing (not even CORONAVIRUS 😊) will ever change this. Our key values of humanity and authenticity will never go away. It’s our essence and core.
The ride ahead will be bumpy and I don’t know where it’s going to take us- but I’m committed to make it a fun ride!
Thank you to all of our guests and friends for all your support during these two years. Can’t wait to see you all again.
Cheers to a fun ride! 😊
Iulia