About one year ago, when Jocelyn and I realized that our book was actually going to be published the following summer, we decided that we wouldn't stop with the manuscript. We just knew that our bartending and home mixology guide would find a following and that our readers would be interested in more than a paperback (the business of cocktails has quite a captive audience).
Last December, during our 4-hour rainy car trip to Palm Desert, we mapped out our business plan. Within a year, we'd aim to launch a book, a t-shirt line, sell party invitations and cocktail products, and even debut another book. So far, not only is everything (miraculously) going to plan, the entire process has been a blast. I suspect that it has a lot to do with the sister thing.
Our partnership started a long time ago. Really at the birth of my little sis. Together we've built tree houses, designed masking tape shoe collections, shared a bathroom during high school, and stayed close during the college years when we were in different parts of the country, and sometimes the world.
I've heard that not every family can be in business together. Communication problems, creativity struggles, and power trips ruin relationships. Lucky for us, we worked most of our issues out in the sand box.