An overview of starting a speakeasy
Wrapping up my senior year as well as wrapping up the Zest Club in Madison
This was by far the most interesting project I’ve worked on so far
Meeting the most interesting & authentic people with the most impactful, crazy & funny stories
It made my last semester at Wisconsin the best it could possibly be
This was the first idea of mine that received some what of attention & had a buzz going around campus.
He are a few things I’ve realized about starting things:
Great ideas are usually polarizing. You have people that love it, and you have people that hate it. Same with the Zest Club (I’d like to believe this was a good idea). People that loved it were the ones that took their time to apply and be vulnerable, sharing some very personal stories. The people that really loved it were the ones that got a chance to attend. The people that hated it were the ones that took their time to respond to my emails with negative comments lol…
Another thing I realized is things are never going to go smooth. Here are some challenges I faced.
- First being banned from Mailchimp (a marketing platform) since I was promoting a “speakeasy” and that was against their company policies. So I had to find a different service.
- Second I got reported to the dean for sending out mass emails, & they told me my club will be suspended (even though it’s not affiliated with the university, so they can’t really do that haha).
- Third was loosing the apartment I hosted the club at the first 4 times right before the last one, & had to a scramble to find a new place.
What I learned is to not have any expectations & to try to be relaxed because you can always find a solution. One of the most common question I received from the people that attended was — “Are you nervous and anxious before hosting this event?”. And my response was always no.
- One this was an experiment, so even if something did go wrong it would be a learning experience.
- Two I tend to believe that if you have good intentions, things usually turn out your way.
The whole point of starting this was to meet and connect with new people during zoom university. And after hosting 5 events — I can say this was awesome. All the people that attended were genuine, interesting and different in their own way, and will remain lifelong connections ❤️
I’m planning on starting this wherever I’m off to next
If you’re in the same city there hit me up Badgers will always be welcome to @thezestclub
(p.s heres a collection of some of my favorite stories received)
With ❤️ The Zest Club
