07/17/2026
I've started this post about 15 times….
Because I'm not really sure how to explain what the last several months have felt like.
Everyone keeps asking me... "Are you excited?" Yes, I am. But if I'm being completely truthful...I'm also tired as s**t. 😂 Like...a level of tired where I walk into a room and have absolutely no clue why I'm there. I do believe that is because I currently have 72 tabs open in my brain and I'm am fairly certain that at least 14 of them are frozen 😵💫
Opening a cocktail bar sounds like such a fun idea. But nobody really tells you about the other side of it (because who am I gonna ask?). Nobody tells you how many decisions you will make. And I’m not talking about the big, exciting decisions, rather simple decisions like:
What size glasses do i need ? What kind of napkins? Where does the trash can go? How many ounces is this? Can I serve that? Do I need another sink? Why do I need another sink? Who makes this rule? Can I speak to them? (Pretty sure Dave Kaup may have a word or 2 to say about this one)!
Licenses. Permits. Inspections. Insurance. Liquor laws. Food regulations. Vendors. Distributors. Plumbing. Electrical. Security. Point-of-sale systems. Paperwork. At one point, I honestly thought 💭
“I'm an educated woman. I teach college students. I own another business. I can absolutely do this”. And then someone handed me another government form and apparently I can no longer read English 🤓… makes me very grateful for my lawyer friend!
There have been days when I have stood in the middle of Social completely alone and thought...What the hell did I do? And that's probably the part of starting a business people don't talk about enough; The fear. Because social media shows you the pretty part. The logo. The brick walls. The cocktails. The menus. What you don't see is me awake at 2:17 in the morning wondering if anyone is actually going to like my cocktails or even my taste in Marketplace furniture ( yes, you ‘heard’ that right). You don't see the bank account. You don't see the invoices. You don't see the second-guessing (😒). You don't see the moment when something you've worked toward gets delayed because of something completely outside your control (this may have something to do with getting my liquor license in the 11th hour). And you sure as hell don't see the internal temper tantrum I have when someone tells me... "You just have to be patient." Listen. I know myself. Patience was not included in my original factory settings. I may not be the best planner, but I make lists and I make lists for my lists. (I wish I would have saved all of my scribbled down lists). I like knowing what comes next despite being absolutely clueless. This whole process has basically looked me directly in the eye and said... "That's cute." And then set my timeline on fire.
Even with all of it...The delays.The frustration. The tears. The sleepless nights. The moments when I have questioned every decision I've made since approximately……….1992
I walk into Social...And I love it.
I love those old brick walls.
I love the worn wood floors that Dave Kaup swears he can see imprints from 1800’s boot spurs…
I love the imperfections, because that is what makes it so unique. I love that this place is so unique to our small town. And when something new happens here, people show up. And over the last several months, I have learned exactly what that means. I have learned that you don't need a huge circle of people. You don't need everyone cheering for you. You don't need everyone to understand your idea. You just need...the right people. People who let me talk through the same problem 14 different ways. People who made phone calls. People who gave me names and numbers. People who said... "I know someone." (honestly this should be the official motto of small-town Ohio.) And people who simply stood in the middle of Social with me and said... "Diana...this is going to be really cool." I don't know if those people realize how badly I needed to hear that. These are my people. I hope they know I see them, I see you, and I won’t forget. Because there have been moments when I wasn't sure. There have been moments when the fear was louder than the excitement. I’ve discovered that starting a small business is putting a piece of yourself out there and saying...
"Here. Judge this." and that is terrifying.
Social may technically be my business... But I didn't get here alone. It's not perfect.
There are things I will change. There are things I will learn. I will probably screw some s**t up. Well, actually... I can almost guarantee I will screw some s**t up. But I will learn, adjust, and keep on rolling. Because I believed in something... and someone believed in me (you know who you are). I am so incredibly proud to bring Social to Fort Recovery. Because why shouldn't we have something cool? Why shouldn't we have a place to sit with friends and drink a really good cocktail? Why shouldn't we have a bourbon bar hidden inside an old downtown building? Why wouldn't I invest in my own damn town? I truly believed there was something really special about taking an old building with a whole lot of history and giving it another story to tell.
So...here we are. A little later than I planned. A lot more stressed than I planned. And probably with significantly more gray hair than when this started (ok, so I had a lot before this started).
Last night I finally unlocked those front doors, tore the trash off the windows, and played my jazz, Frank and B.B., made pretty great cocktails and just watched in awe. Because here is was; my vision that came to life….
A place to just... escape the ordinary for a little while.
So, Fort Recovery...(and the surrounding towns!)…. Thank you.
For the messages. The shares.The excitement.The patience. And for supporting this slightly crazy idea of mine.And to the people who have been in the trenches with me...
You know who you are. I love you. I appreciate you. And I probably owe you a drink.
Or five 😅
Speak Easy. Drink Well.
Escape the ordinary.
