by the Definitive Team - Saturday, August 10th, 2024
Over the past year, Definitive has done many events in different sizes ranging from 50 - 400+ people depending on the location. Most recently, Definitive entertained the Santa Monica community with a pop-up event in collaboration with Juneshine. The atmosphere was nothing short of smiles, with the energy spreading throughout the venue with Nate Katz and other local talent. Amidst the excitement, the team at Definitive, Ethan Han and Arrow Hubbard, took a moment to sit down with Owen Strassner (Field marketing) from Juneshine to dive into the synergy between the two brands and explore how Juneshine has been making waves in the local community of Santa Monica, California. See below for the exclusive interview.
How has Juneshine engaged with the Santa Monica community?
"Our goal was to have as many events as possible when we opened. We wanted to really be a part of the local community and build relationships with other brands, places around here, and the people."
"We’re technically a hard kombucha bar, but we’re a lot more than that too. We do trivia nights every Tuesday, product launches, private buyouts, DJ events, live music – that’s our goal, we wanted to be the first hard kombucha bar in LA but also have it be so much more than that."
How did you get associated with Juneshine and events?
"I went to USCB and worked at a brewery - helped open it when I was in college. It was a similar situation with beers on tap like we do here. We’d have events here and there but didn’t do a ton of stuff, however, I always really liked doing the events. I was always into different music stuff and going to events. When I moved to LA, I was doing field marketing and lived right next to this tasting room around the corner. Naturally, I would just come here all the time and that led to me helping out with a lot of the events."
How have music events impacted the overall business?
"The music events have been a huge part of it – huge part of it. If we were just a bar only serving kombucha all the time we wouldn’t have nearly as many people coming in here. We do a lot of stuff with such a small space - we’re always moving furniture around or trying to change the setup here, bring new things in, new people, new energy, and music is a big part of that."
Do you find other events being as successful as music events?
"I think it depends on how you define success. I feel like those music event nights go really well with Friday and Saturday nights or days - just because more people are out and looking to do stuff. But Trivia night has gone into a category where we have teams that come back every week - the same team for a year."
Does your community come to Juneshine for the events or for the brand?
"I think it’s a combination of everything. I think one thing we have done really well here, I’m not sure if it’s just luck or just hiring the right people, but everyone who works behind the bar is super close and super friendly which has created this core community of people - that’s the coolest part. I think that has grown into the wider community a little bit and we now have so many regulars that come through all the time and say what’s up. Because of the people that work here it’s become a lot more than just a bar on main street."
When you guys started, did you do events right away?
"It started slow. Once COVID passed was when things started to roll. Now it’s come to the point where it’s easier to do things all the time because we have the event structure down. We have our recurring events that happen a couple times a month and then a few one-offs here and there."
Do you prefer more intimate or big events?
"Intimate - definitely during the day for sure. For example, we’ve done a lot of little local markets of 4 or 5 brands that pop up in different places here. It’s pretty tight with space but we usually move everything out of here and it can create a nice flow of people coming in and out, and those are fun because you get to talk to a lot more people. But I like them both, then again if it’s 11 at night and the place is going crazy - that’s a blast."
What do you think sets this space at Juneshine apart in LA?
"I think what sets us apart is first and foremost we are a bar. We’re not a music venue, so it trips me out when I think of all the different stuff we do here in just this one space - so I think that’s what sets us apart. I feel like this space is a swiss army knife of events, very versatile. That’s in part because of the team, the people that want to do stuff here, and there’s not too many places where you can go and just drink kombucha!"
