Meet Steve Severance | Wine Bar Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve Severance and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steve, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
When we began the idea of having our own business, it was more from a forced career change than a plan. After working in Sales and Business Development for several businesses over the years, and then being laid off, the opportunity to consider doing our own thing presented itself. My wife and I (Karen) had been hosting wine dinners at our house for several years and many of those friends who attended suggested I might want to look at doing something with wine rather than continuing on the path I had been on for 30 years. That idea began to blossom as I investigated and started to craft a business plan around a wine tasting business. One thing led to another and the person I was working with to lease some property mentioned he knew of a wine bar for sale. I did not really plan on going into the bar business, but it was worth taking a look at and see if it would be a good fit. After consulting with several friends who had been in the restaurant business, had been part of franchise opportunities, and helping market new businesses, we decided to take the plunge and start our wine bar business which officially opened its doors as Steve’s Wine Bar in August of 2016.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
After graduating with a music performance degree from University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Steve jumped in the car with 3 friends and headed to Hollywood, CA to get into the music scene through teaching and performing. But prior to setting down a permanent place in the LA area, Steve married his college sweetheart, Karen. After a couple of years of “chasing the dream” of music, Steve and Karen had their first child. During this time the realization set in that maybe it’s time to find a “real job”. One of the first jobs Steve applied for was in sales at a company just starting to sell personal computers in Hollywood. That was the start of a career in the technology world that had Steve selling software to companies around the country for 30 years.

During that time, Steve worked for several companies providing software for desktop use, security, IT support, and HR, Payroll and Benefits. During these years Steve had the chance to do a lot of education and training on a variety of business techniques, styles of selling, and managing small teams of sales people. Through the years the companies were bought, sold, and jobs changed, and when the last change in the corporate world came about, Steve chose to look at doing something on his own, starting his own business.

Steve and Karen jokingly say, when asked about starting a wine bar, what made you do that? We respond that we tripped on the sidewalk, looked up, and there was a wine bar for sale. It’s not quite that simple, but pretty close.

Taking the love of drinking wine with friends, and moving it from their home to a small space in Downtown Denton, TX, worked well and they quickly found a strong following of customers through their wine club membership program, live jazz, and of course, great wine, beer, and cigars.

Many of my friends would tell me that they could never put themselves out there to try something on their own, and for a long time that was my mind set. But what I found is taking a vision, and writing it out, and consulting with friends and business associates who have different perspectives, and listen to them. Then take all that you learn and make it your, can work wonders. It was scary to start as neither Steve or Karen had a regular job to support them as they got the business off the ground, but the support from the community came quickly and after the first two years were done, we realized we had something special working and wanted to continue to develop it.

So here we are 6 years later and continuing to make changes for growth and developing further connections with the community around us.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As we are in the wine biz, we like to share our love for wine with friends and family by showing them a little bit about the Texas wine world. We will take them to some of the wineries in the North Texas region for tastings, and simply share experiences the countryside has to offer in the region. There are 30+ wineries within a two-hour drive, and over 500 in Texas. So taking a day trip is easy here in the DFW area, or along weekend to the Hill Country also is something we like to do.

The list is long on the various wineries we like to visit, but the short list includes here in North Texas, Arche, Edge of the Lake, and Eden Hill, are top choices. And then heading south to Hill Country, William Chris, Pedernales, Calais, and Vinovium are all special in their approach to wine making and hospitality.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are many people who have had influence in this business from the start as well as along the path. First, it is my wife, Karen. When we went into this business, she was a bit hesitant, but she stepped in worked side by side with me to get the business off the ground. We did not have another income stream at that time, so it was very important for us to work at the bar every day we were open. Eventually we were able to bring in some friends who wanted to help out like Wendy, Margie, Micah, Codie, and many others who were willing to jump in when they had time and help develop the business. There were several others who were very supportive with sharing their time, skills, ideas and concepts including our friends Marshall and Judy, Brian and Linda, Jeff and Mary Beth, and Barry and Amber. All had their hands in the process to help with the development and growth of the business.

Website: www.steveswinebar.com

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Image Credits
Images provided by Steve’s Wine Bar.