Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Hancock.
Hi Sarah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m from Orlando, FL and currently live in Deltona. I graduated double major from Stetson University in 2012. I worked at Brown & Brown as an Internal Financial and IT Analyst for two years before purchasing The Blind Pig DeLand in 2014. I became a business owner because the corporate work-life wasn’t for me.
I’ve owned The Pig for almost eight years now, my partner and I took over the existing business in July of 2014. Since then, we’ve updated some of the interior leaving the main character in the brick wall and imported wood bar. Being a small business with just a beer and wine license competing in a bar heavy DeLand has made us a strong staple in the community with plenty of potential still to improve.
I am personally on the executive committee for the Volusia Young Professionals Group, the board for the Rotaract Club of DeLand and a chair for the special events committee for the DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce. I also am an active member of the West Volusia Chamber of Commerce, the Mainstreet DeLand Association as well as some local women’s entrepreneurial groups.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Most of the struggles owning a business is financial. Being a small beer and wine bar with no formal kitchen there’s only small margins to work with. The town of DeLand is very loyal to the many businesses already established in the area who are very unique. We are still carving out our future potential. We are interested in purchasing a liquor license in 2022.
Apart from that COVID-19 closures were a struggle. Finding the proper governing ordinances to determine if we were allowed to be open or not was confusing. We were able to re-open after two months as we already had our restaurant license. This motivated us to improve our food menu, which still have more room for improvement.
Owning a business with my partner is also a difficult task. Navigating personal and professional relationships at the same time can be frustrating.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a small neighborhood bar. We offer Florida breweries on our modest draft menu as well as beer bottles and wine. We have a small self-ventilating fryer in which we offer our wings, fries, mozzarella sticks and jalapeño poppers. We make the mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers and sauces from scratch and our fries are hand-cut to order. We offer a happy hour from open -6pm daily. Karaoke Night is every Wednesday and we have a live musician or DJ every Friday at 9pm. We offer a paint and sip once a month on Thursdays at 7pm hosted by a local artist. The Blind Pig is involved and supports the community through volunteering, sponsoring and participation in local actives which benefit and bring business to the City of Deland.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We are an available hosting space for around 50 people. We host office parties, birthday parties, holiday parties and networking events usually at free/low cost. The Blind Pig likes to support local artists, musicians and artisans in creative ways. Contact us if you’d like to speak about collaborating or using our space in the future.
We can use the community’s support by giving a review, following and sharing us on social media, coming by for a drink, purchasing a gift card or t-shirt for yourself or a friend.
Pricing:
- Draft Beers $5-$12
- Bottled Beers $4-$8
- Food $5-$12
- T-Shirts/Hats $20
- Wine $6.50
Contact Info:
- Email: theblindpigdeland@outlook.com
- Website: http://www.blindpigdeland.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblindpigdeland/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlindPigDeLand
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlindPigDeland
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-blind-pig-deland
