Using Zoom Helped A Business Owner To Raise Funds to Open a Storefront Featuring Cocktails

Creativity led to a business owner being able to afford a bigger dream. Axios reported that Tamu Curtis will open a storefront in Charlotte as the pilot location for The Cocktailery, which is a cocktail supply and beverage lifestyle shop. Curtis—who conducts cocktail classes through Liberate Your Palate—will also introduce The Cocktailery to customers who want to become immersed in a complete adult beverage experience. Axios said that the shop will carry Curtis’ own line of home bar supplies, including glassware, strainers, bitters, cocktail kits, apparel, trays, and other home goods, in addition to being a space for hands-on cocktail classes.

For Curtis, determination led to having access to the next phase of an exciting journey. Curtis runs a blog and website that also offers a series of in-person cocktail classes called “Liberate Your Palate. Axios reported that when the pandemic hit, the ambitious entrepreneur generated approximately $250,000 last year by leading virtual cocktail classes which were geared toward corporations. This is enabling Curtis to open the 1,500-square-foot space without bank loans or investors, according to Axios.

Travel Noire stated that Curtis is an Oakland, California, native who relocated to Charlotte.

“I’ve always been a food and cocktail kind of girl,” Curtis said to Travel Noire. “That’s what we did in LA; great dinners, great drinks all night long. I moved here, and it was a different culture.”

Curtis’s endeavors aligned with what intuitively spoke to her spirit and personality. Travel Noire added that Curtis started hosting cocktail classes in 2016. She even brought in Charlotte-area bartenders to lead the instruction, before the pandemic unfolded. Her classes sold out.

Axios reported that Curtis wanted to open a storefront to complement her cocktail classes. Plus, she could also share her mixology expertise with others there.

“Because of her successful pivot, she had the funds to do it,” Axios said, noting her successful generation of funds.

At a time when many businesses were struggling to stay afloat in 2020, Curtis told thirsty how she used Zoom in an ingenious way.

“I started doing my first paid virtual cocktail classes on Zoom by the end of March of last year, which really gave me a head start in that space. I was able to refine my offerings to adapt quickly to this virtual world and the needs of my corporate clients. My early start allowed me to grow a very robust roster of repeat customers and clients,” Curtis said.

According to the website, The Cocktailery opens in July.