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The Politics Chicks is a progressive politics podcast and politics news show hosted by Christy Branham and Monica Healy.
Every week, we sit down with candidates, elected officials, journalists, historians, policy experts, advocates, and everyday Americans shaping the future of our democracy. We go beyond the headlines with thoughtful interviews, fact-based analysis, and candid conversations about the issues that affect our livesâfrom elections and public policy to healthcare, education, civil rights, and the economy.
Whether weâre interviewing members of Congress, first-time candidates, medical experts, or community leaders, our mission is the same: to inform, challenge, and inspire.
If youâre looking for a politics podcast that values evidence over outrage, curiosity over division, and hope over cynicism, welcome home.
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Monica: Welcome to the Politics Chicks Podcast. I'm Monica Healy.
Christy: And I'm Christy Branham.
Monica: Today we're joined by Jillian Hiscock. She's the owner of A Bar of Their Own in Minneapolis. And our connection came about in kind of a strange way. Uh, we had a follower reach out and suggest that we do, uh, an in-person event, and Jillian was so kind and responded on that thread that she would be willing to host, and that is how we connected. And she was so helpful in, in helping us plan things that, that we are still planning. So April 13th, people, get the, get the date on, on your calendar. Uh, so Jillian, thank you so much for, for that and for agreeing to be on the show.
Jillian: Absolutely.
Monica: Women's sports are having a moment and we'll go into more of that on how that connects with Jillian. But for a long time, fans were treated like they didn't matter.
Christy: And today's guest didn't just notice that â she built something to change it.
Monica: Jillian Hiscock is the owner of A Bar of Their Own, the Midwest's first sports bar dedicated entirely to women's sports, and it's quickly becoming a hub for community and visibility. Jillian, thanks for coming on the show and all your time and knowledge shared with us about event planning, and welcome to the show.
Jillian: Thanks so much for having me.
Christy: And we're gonna have pets coming in and out. Our audience knows that, so,
Monica: To Zeus.
Christy: Yep.
Monica: So Jillian, um, this was a, a relatively new venture. You opened the bar in March of 2024, and you're a big fan of women's sports. And because you didn't feel like your fandom mattered in traditional sports bars, this was sort of the impetus for, um, opening the bar. What was the moment where you went from frustration as a fan to deciding, hey, let's open my own bar?
Jillian: Yeah, I mean, I think that it started, um, really â the, the very first ever women's sports bar is called The Sports Bra and it's out in Portland, Oregon. And they opened in
Christy: I love
Jillian: And their slogan is, "We support women." It's like the most â
Christy: Oh my God.
Jillian: Um, yeah. They opened in April of 2022 and I was just obsessed with the idea and I wanted somebody to open one here so I could be a fan, and that was really what I was hoping for, was like, let's say I went in Minneapolis and, you know, have one that I can go to. And I kept waiting for people to do it, knowing that Minneapolis has a pretty robust food scene and nobody was doing it. And nobody was doing it. And then it was, it was kinda a combination of things. I did reach out to the owner of The Sports Bra and kind of talked with her about, like, is this crazy for me to think about doing this? And I socialized it a lot with my friends in terms of, you know, is this something that we thought could, could be a thing here in Minneapolis? But really kinda the moment for me was, the women's Gophers softball team was in, playing in the, in the College World Series.
And I was at a bar that was like a mile from campus, so like, not, not like in the middle of nowhere â like literally a mile from campus. And I was asking them to turn the game on. And again, they're playing in the College World Series. It's on major television. It's not on some obscure streaming network. And they were like, yeah, I'm not really sure we can get it on. And I was like, no, I know you can. Like it's on this channel. Tell me what cable package you have, I can figure it out. They're like, yeah, just gimme a second, and then â never saw them again. And I was just so frustrated that I was like, these women and these athletes that have been working so hard for this accomplishment. And it was this huge deal for Minnesota softball, and this sports bar a mile from their, their field just didn't care. And it just felt like such a dismissal of their hard work and the work that they'd done to get there. Um, and so that was kinda the moment where I was like, all right. Forget it â I'm doing it. We're, we just gotta make this happen, because this kind of stuff isn't fair to the athletes, um, or the fans that wanna support those athletes.
Christy: And I wanna just throw some kudos out there to a lot of these women athletes who are not only athletes but mothers at the same time. And male athletes, oftentimes their spouse kind of just takes over the parenting. And with mothers, we don't do that. Like, we don't just hand the kids off â because our kids would be feral if we did that. So, these women are still fulfilling the role of mother and wife and still putting in the time to be these elite athletes, and they just don't get the recognition that they deserve.
Jillian: Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy.
Christy: Yeah, and you spent years in higher ed and nonprofits prior to opening the bar. What skills from that world help you make this leap into bar owner entrepreneurship?
Jillian: Yeah, I always laugh, 'cause I say it was probably the best and worst preparation ever, because when you work in higher education and nonprofits, you have to learn how to do a lot of things with no money. Um, and that's basically what owning a bar is. So, um, you know, I don't have any formal marketing training. I don't have any formal, you know, business training. I don't have any formal communications training. But like, all of those things are things that I had to learn and develop in working in higher education and nonprofits, and so those translated very, very easily into the bar scene. It's a very different customer base, but same type of work.
Um, but I also think it's just so much of everything is project management, right? It's like being able to manage multiple things happening at the same time. And, and that was for sure helpful in the creation of the bar and in the build out of the bar. There's so many dependencies when you're, when you're doing a bar build out â can't do this until this happens, and the, the domino effects â and, and so that project management was really helpful for me in that build out process.
But I think it, more than anything, it's just the community building piece of it. Is, is what I did in higher education and nonprofits, and that's the most direct line, uh, to what we're doing at A Bar of Their Own.
Monica: What was the biggest risk you took in getting everything off the ground?
Jillian: Uh, quitting my job, uh, cleaning out my savings, and convincing my wife to somehow let us do something that neither of us had any experience in. I think is, you know, the financial risks, I think, are, um, are scary to a lot of people, and um, and I get it. I mean, I am, I'm in, I'm privileged to be in a position where, you know, my wife is still working her full-time job so that, you know, we have a sustained income in order to support ourselves financially.
But, uh, but the restaurant business is no joke when it comes to, to finances. And, if people don't do this to become millionaires, and I, I certainly wasn't trying to open a women's sports bar to become a millionaire, but I really did believe that, that our community deserved and needed something like this.
So I would say the financial risks, and just like the professional stability â uh, you know, I was in a good place in my professional career. I was successful, I was advancing, I was doing all the things that you're supposed to want to do in a professional career. But this is perhaps some of the most fulfilling work that I've done, just in terms of the day-to-day operations of being able to, to have people into the restaurant.
Monica: And restaurant ownership is super time intensive. Like how much â how many hours are you there a week?
Jillian: You know, it's actually interesting. I'm actually not there a lot. I'm behind the scenes a lot more. Um, I mean, I'm there a lot for like, big events and I'm there a lot for, you know, things like inventory and flooring. But, uh, but my staff is incredible and so my staff really runs a lot of the day-to-day operations of the restaurant at this point.
And so I'm doing a lot of the behind the scenes stuff and the event planning and the partnerships with other organizations and teams and things like that. So I'm doing a lot more of kind of the behind the scenes work than the actual day-to-day operations in the restaurant.
Monica: You, you mentioned your staff in your bio and how you have a huge percentage of them that are still with you since day one, and, and I think that says something about you and how you run things.
Jillian: Yeah,
Christy: A hundred percent.
Jillian: really fortunate. I've been really fortunate. Um, you know, we, we are two years in and 14 of our 16 staff members have been with us since we opened. So they've been with us over two years, which in the restaurant industry is insane. Again, I think that's where, honestly, a lot of the things that I learned in higher education and nonprofits â a lot of what I did in that work was team development, leadership development.
And it's really about, like, people ask me all the time, like, how do you do it? What's, what, how, how are you keeping your staff? And I'm like, I pay them well, I treat them well, and I trust them. It's not that hard. Like, those are the, those are my â those have been my three leadership principles when I was managing AmeriCorps members a million years ago. And that was also, you know, still the, the leadership principles that I embody as a restaurant manager â is, is really just trusting your people and treating them well.
Monica: So what does day-to-day look like? Because you have intentionally created a space around inclusivity. So what does that look like on a day-to-day basis?
Jillian: Yeah, I mean, I think that that is one of the things that for me was gonna be a, a non-negotiable for this space â is that we weren't just opening a sports bar. We wanted it to mean more, both for the community and for, again, the women's sports fans and the athletes themselves. And so a lot of what we do is just base it in intentionality, quite frankly.
It's, it's how are we creating spaces that various people from various backgrounds can walk in and see themselves and feel comfortable there. Um, some of the proudest moments I have are when I have people say like, you know, this is the first time that I've, like, let my shoulders relax in six months. Or, this is the first time that I've been comfortable introducing myself as a trans woman. Or this is the first time, you know, fill in the blank. Like, I think there's just so many things about really being intentional about the space that you're creating. Um, and there's like very, like there's physical logistical things for that. So for example, the building that we bought was a restaurant previously, and so they had tables and chairs already set up. But being an able-bodied woman, I was like, I have no idea what navigating this might look like if I was in a wheelchair. Um, and so I worked with some folks that were wheelchair bound to be able to say like, how can we make this place more accessible for you? What would this look like? Um, you know, those are easy things to do, but it's things that take work and that you have to think through. So that's like a physical representation of how we tried to make the place accessible. But then even, I think for us, one of the bigger things is just making sure that people feel like they belong there. And that's a harder tactical thing to do.
It's not necessarily like something that you can design a space to do physically. It's more about the people and how you show up in the space. But even simple things â like a lot of good women-owned restaurants, we have things like tampons and pads in our bathroom. And when we first opened, I had like feminine products below a sign that said, like, feminine products below. One of my staff members was like, hey, this might sound silly, but feminine products is kind of gendered in a weird way. Can you change the language? And I was like, oh, duh. Yeah. Like, yeah, we can just say period products. Period products below. Easy, like, simple fix. So, so small things like that just matter in terms of how you're showing up and how you're representing what's important to you as an organization.
And, and inclusivity has absolutely been the hallmark of what we've been trying to do from the jump.
Christy: That's intentional. When the podcast first started, we interviewed a parent and a teacher, Sher and Kelly. Kelly has a son who has multiple disabling conditions. He's in a wheelchair permanently. He is nonverbal, and this school raised money to create an inclusive playground. So these kids that normally would not get to go on a swing can then go on a swing, and they integrate these kids into the classroom with other students so they get that social interaction instead of keeping them separate the whole day. And the whole process of creating that bridge between those two places.
And that reminds me a lot of what you're talking about, where you are trying to look at this from multiple different angles, from multiple different perspectives, to try to see what you can do to make this space more accessible â not just to people who think and are like you or like me, but someone who is a trans woman, or a gay couple that feels comfortable that they can hold hands in this bar without people giving them the side eye. So yeah, that intentionality is something that definitely impresses me about how you set up this space.
Jillian: I think a lot of times people think of like inclusion as this big scary thing that you have to hire a consultant to learn how to do. And it's like, find people that you want to enjoy your space â or your, if you're a business, right? Like, find people that you want to engage with your business and ask them what they wanna see. Like, that's it, it's that easy. Taking yourself out as the primary consumer and just asking other people that aren't like you, that come from different backgrounds, that have different abilities.
All of those things. Again, like our large print menu â I would've never thought about having the large print menu, but I've never had problems with my vision. And I've had people that were like, hey, can you get a large print menu? Yeah. Duh. That's easy. Like, of course we can do that. You know what I mean? It's just thinking outside of yourself, uh, as a person. And I think women in particular are a lot better at that. And so I think that that makes it an easier thing for us to do, to ask for help. But I do think that it doesn't need to be this big scary thing â like, inclusion is not some big scary thing. It's simply just interacting with people that have differences than you do.
Christy: Yeah. And that culture you've built with your staff too â all kind of intertwines, and that's the fairy dust that makes this work, right.
Jillian: Oh yeah. I mean, my staff are the biggest culture bearers of our entire restaurant. People love coming in and knowing they'll see their favorite server and they know that they'll have this kind of banter with this bartender. But even if you're, you know, your first time coming in, I know and trust that my staff are gonna greet every single person that walks in that door with the same love and affection as they'll treat somebody who comes in every single day.
And I think that that's, that's that culture and that community that we really wanted to create.
Monica: It really sounds like, uh, A Bar of Their Own could be a model for, you know, government.
Christy: Society. Society.
Monica: In general. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. What, what surprised you the most when you first opened the doors?
Jillian: Oh goodness. I mean, everything. It is funny when I sit back now two years later and I'm like, how did we do that? Like, we literally knew nothing about owning a restaurant. Like, we just, um â I had been a host at an Applebee's in the nineties. That was really my only, uh, restaurant experience.
And so I think like, that's â I've always said that I think that is one of my superpowers. I'm very aware of what I do not know. Um, and that awareness just helps me expand my community and helps me expand my folks that I wanna reach out to and engage with. And so I think what surprised me, quite frankly, was how willing so many people were to share their knowledge with this, like, girl with a plan that had no â or girl, girl with a dream that had no plan, quite frankly, right? I was like, I wanna do this thing, but I have no idea how to do it. So many people were willing to step forward and, and share their information and share their knowledge and, you know, kind of help me piecemeal together this plan of what we wanted to do and what we wanted to create. Um, and again, that's, that was the hallmark of, of that community building from the beginning, was we built this place with community. Um, and so keeping community at the core of what we do is the most natural thing for us to do 'cause it's how we've been forever. Um, but that the learning curve was about a straight vertical line for approximately 18 months and I'm just slowly starting to feel like I've maybe figured some things out.
Monica: I think that point about being aware of what you don't know â another model for society.
Christy: And I can't remember who said this, but someone â oh, I wish I could remember who said it. Success is 90% passion and 10% knowhow, is how the saying goes. And I just kind of see that in you, where you had this passion, this heart project that you were putting together and wanted to put out into the world, and you just did what you needed to do to kind of learn. You know, you faked it until you made it probably right in the beginning and then just kept going with that.
Jillian: Yeah. And again, I think it's, it's, for me, collaboration is the most natural way to operate. And so I'm not only not afraid to admit what I don't know, but I'm not afraid to ask for help. And, and, you know, people that were far smarter than me helped me create things like our business plan and our, you know, food menu and our drink menu â and all of those things, I have no problem asking other people for help and helping me figure out how to do things.
And I think that that collaboration is really what made things come together as quickly and, and as smoothly as they did.
Christy: And I think Monica and I have learned that humility goes a long way. I think that's why we've built such a strong following on social media, because we'll admit when we're wrong and we admit it with humility and contriteness. And I â
Monica: I'm not wrong. I don't know what you're talking about.
Christy: I'm wrong quite often. So if you see something, someone posting about being wrong, it's probably me and not Monica. She's awesome. Um, but admitting â
Monica: Wrong.
Christy: â and admitting mistakes and being humble, or not knowing something and being humble enough to ask about it instead of trying to be someone who's slick and knows everything. We all know what happens when you do that. You end up with a government that's falling apart, right? When you have someone in charge who thinks they know everything and they really know nothing, so, yeah.
Jillian: Yep. For â
Christy: So let's jump to the sports piece because that, uh, is obviously a huge part of your business. And we've already alluded to, you know, the, the inequality between men and women's sports. Recently, the WNBA had a huge boost in their pay, but the lag is still huge, so. How do you think about that tension between progress and inequality?
Jillian: I mean, I think that it's, it's good to see progress, right? I mean, we, we gotta start somewhere. And I think, um, you know, I've been a WNBA fan for decades and I remember when these players were making, you know, less than I was as a nonprofit employee, which seemed insane to me. Um. So, so the progress feels really great. It feels, it feels good. I think really what we're seeing right now is that for the longest time, similar to how the bar existed, is that women's sports were just not prioritized on television. And so in marketing and in streaming and in any of those things. And so people can't support what they can't see.
And so when we, you know, people would not buy WNBA merch because you had to have a specific streaming service in order to have WNBA games in your house. So it's, it's this whole concept of like, put things on TV, make things available to people, and they'll tell you if they like it or not. And, and women's sports is such an incredible product that it's really surprising to me that it's taken as long as it has. But it's also not, because we know that the world is run by white men that don't know a lot. And so, um. So I think that the, the progress that we're seeing is not surprising to me because I think that we've, we've known â people that have watched the W for a long time have known that the product is great. It's just that it was really inaccessible for folks. And so the more and more that we continue to have this boost in viewership and in marketing deals and media deals and all of those things, that's just gonna help continue to, to push things forward. Um, I still think it's insane that they get paid what they get paid.
Again, if you think about â the last person off the bench in the NBA is probably making more than the highest paid player in the WNBA. Um, it'll, it'll drive you crazy. Uh, but I think trying to think about the fact that, you know, acknowledging the progress that the players have made in getting what they're getting now, um, even though we don't think it's enough yet â 'cause it's not â that progress is how we move forward. You know, I mean, that's the only thing that we can do, and, and we'll bring people along as much as we can and, and expand the network that they have reached, uh, which will only increase their, their financial abilities moving forward as well.
So I, I am, I'm super thrilled for this latest CBA. I think that it's incredible what they were able to accomplish. We still have a long way to go â you know, I mean, there's, there's no way to go around that. But I do think that how they stood up for what they were worth in this last negotiating period was really inspirational for a lot of us in terms of how, you know, it's possible to say no â like, this is, I'm not gonna accept that. I'm gonna accept what I think I'm worth. Um, and that's, that's a big, good lesson for all of us.
Christy: For us as women, I think that that's a good lesson for all of us. I think we're so used to just sitting back and being grateful for what we get instead of saying, hey, I am worth way more than this and I'm going to get what I deserve â and fuck the patriarchy. Right. Just enough with it. So, and we've also seen a major moment in college sports like UCLA's women's basketball championship run. Are you seeing that translate into energy in the bar? I just, I bet it's electric there, right?
Jillian: Yeah, it is really quite something. You know, we're just coming off of March Madness here in the, in the championship game this last weekend, and, it's â I, I always try to phrase it for people that, again, it, it is similar to the access piece â about professional athletes it's the same for college athletes, right?
Like, um, if you love the WNBA, those players come from somewhere. Where do they come from? College basketball. So, you know, start falling in love with the future WNBA players now as they're college students going through their college career. We say the same thing about hockey, right? Like, we're in the state of hockey and the PWHL is finally taking off. Here in Minnesota, we have back-to-back Walter Cup champions in the Minnesota Frost, and so many of those players that play in our favorite professional teams are coming from college hockey teams. And so really helping extend that pipeline of fandom also helps grow women's sports because it helps people tune in longer to fall in love with these athletes.
One of the things that I think women athletes in particular are so much better at than male athletes is marketing themselves as individuals and giving fans a peek into their lives, within reason. I think there's some weird parasocial things that sometimes fans get into, but women are, are really willing to open themselves up â their lives, and, you know, making fashion a part of their being an athlete, or making their relationships, their social issues, part of their identity as an athlete. And, and those are the things that I think make people fall in love with women athletes â is that we, we feel like we know them beyond just who they are on the court.
We know what they believe in, we know what they stand for. Natasha Cloud from the New York Liberty is a perfect example of this. She sat out the 2020 season because she wanted to work on social justice issues after the murder of George Floyd. And so, you know, she came out and she was like, nope, I'm not playing the W this year. Like, I need to do this â I play a game, like I play a game, and this is more important. And so, you can't imagine a male athlete doing that, uh, taking time to just like â I'll just forego my contracts. Now, again, we're talking about differences in dollars, but, but I think that so many of our women professional athletes are, are more than just athletes and they're willing to show that side of them.
And that really starts in college. They're, they're looking up to those athletes that are standing up and speaking for things, and so they wanna continue to do that, um, and start that even earlier in their college career. So it's been really, really cool to see the growth of the college game, which again, so much of it comes down to exposure. Now we can watch women's college sports on TV, where before you couldn't even watch women's professional sports on TV. Now we can see, we can even see high school games. Like there's high school girls basketball games that are on TV now. You know what I mean? So it's just like things have changed so much for the better in terms of that exposure, which helps people fall in love with, with athletes and with the game.
Christy: Yeah, so do you know who Katie King is, by any chance?
Jillian: Yeah.
Christy: My brother was a hockey player all the way through high school. Um, Katie King, when she started playing, played with my brother in Salem, New Hampshire on his hockey team because there was no girls hockey back then. And she ended up â out of all the people that my brother played hockey with â she was the one who made it to the Olympics. She was a gold medal winner. She was, I don't â is she still the coach at Boston College? I can't â
Jillian: I think she is still there. Yeah, I think she is still there. Yeah.
Christy: Yeah, but she started off in Salem, New Hampshire, playing hockey with my brother and his friends way back in the late 1970s, early eighties. I just think that that, that story in itself is just amazing to look at that.
Jillian: I mean, Title IX is only 50 years old. You know, I mean, like when we think about it, it's like â this is why when people talk about like, you know, stick to dribbling in the basketball or whatever, it's like women's sports are inherently political. Like, we had to have legislation to allow women to participate in sports.
Monica: Right.
Christy: Right.
Jillian: Don't tell me that sports aren't political â like women's sports have always been political, because the only way we could participate was when legislation was passed to allow us the ability to participate. You know? So, so that's where I think the other thing about women athletes that's so important to me in platforming them is that, you know, we've, we've gone through it to get to this point.
It's not like we've been handed anything when it comes to participating and excelling at our sports. Like women have had to work so hard to get to the point that we are right now, because people have been trying to keep women's sports down forever, and they still are. You know, I mean, that's the attack on trans athletes in sports. That's, you know, everything about that is all tied to the patriarchy and, and tied to fear mongering, and not really to letting people excel at the things they're great at.
Christy: And the fact that there's like five trans athletes in the entire NCAA is just â it's unbelievable. People have â
Jillian: about protecting women's sports â like, let's be real. It's not about protecting women's sports. Trans athletes are the least thing that is, is impacting women's sports right now. It's, it's funding and it's, you know, safety and coaching and all of those things. It's, it's not trans athletes that are ruining â
Christy: investing as much money into women recruiting and giving them scholarship opportunities. Because it used to be the only way black and brown men living in underserved communities could get out of that.
Generational poverty was to go to college and ideally be an athlete and make it as an athlete, right. And women have never really been given that opportunity. So it's definitely not fair to women.
Monica: Right, I'm always fighting against the patriarchy.
Christy: Yeah, so you just came off of March Madness and I'm sure that was insane and it was basketball, basketball, basketball. Um, through the course of a year, do you see one sport over another that people are most excited about?
Jillian: You know, that's the best part about being in Minneapolis, quite frankly, is that we have sports and like women's â almost all professional sports, basically year round. Um, I talked to women's sports bars in other parts of the country that, you know, maybe have one professional sports team in their community. And so all of their fandom is based around that one sport. And we're so lucky here in Minnesota with what we have for women's professional athletes and really high level club and collegiate athletics. So, we are very seasonally busy. So, yes, we're coming out of March Madness, but we're also in the middle of PWHL Frost season, which is our hockey team. The WNBA draft is starting next week, so the WNBA will be starting. During the summer we also get Minnesota Aurora, which is our semi-professional soccer team, and the Minnesota Strike, which is our women's ultimate Frisbee team that's professional. We also have women's professional tackle football in Minnesota.
I mean, so it's just like it's one thing after another after another that's happening. And we just got rugby â we just got professional rugby last year. Uh, we have two new women's professional volleyball leagues coming. So I mean, it's, it's literally a year-round thing for us when you look at the women's sports calendar, is that we have incredible women to cheer for year round.
That's another thing I think the bar feels a lot of responsibility in, is exposing people to those different and new sports. Because you might come to women's sports as a WNBA fan, and then you come to the bar someday and you're sitting and the game ends, and then a PWHL game comes on and you're like, oh, I don't know anything about hockey. Well, the person you're sitting next to came to watch the hockey game, so they're gonna start telling you about what's going on in the hockey game. And we hear it all the time, like people saying, do you know what's happening here? Like, what's going on? Can you explain that?
Um, my staff â like, very few of my staff are athletes themselves, which a lot of people find funny. Um. But it's actually, it was slightly intentional, uh, because I wanted to be able to have â I, I'm a huge sports nerd, right? Like I have a season ticket holder to a bunch of different teams, and I wanted to be able to go to games, and so I wanted to make sure that I had staff that wanted to â
Christy: Smart. Smart move.
Jillian: â watch a game. Um, but they've become â like, so many of them have become sports fans or become more knowledgeable in sports as a result of the bar opening, because people will come in and they'll say like, what sport is this? Or, do you know what team this is? And so it's been really â
Christy: Sports ball. It's sport.
Jillian: Yeah, we do still, we do still have some staff that would absolutely say sports ball, and that's fine. They don't need to be experts. But, um, but it is really cool to be able to see how the bar has enabled people to learn more about other women's sports, because again, I think that once people get exposed to women's sports, they find out that it is so different than men's sports. I mean, the product is a lot of the same, right?
Like high quality athleticism on display â that's consistent. But I think that â I have a staff member that I, I say this all the time and he probably gets sick of me saying it, but he told me very early on, he was like, I always thought I hated sports. But it turns out I hate the toxic masculinity of men's sports, because it's just like, true, of just like how that whole ooh-who thing just doesn't resonate with everybody.
And so to have people that care so passionately for a game and for the fans and for their teammates and for the coaches and for their community â like, these are just people that you wanna support, not just athletes that you wanna support. And so I love exposing people to new women's sports, um, and, and kind of again, expanding that fandom beyond what somebody might come into the bar for.
Christy: Yay.
Monica: I love that. So obviously sports is a huge part of your life, and like, even more now in the last couple years since you opened the bar. But you actually came from a history of music performance, and that resonated with me because I was a music teacher for 30 years. Um, and we already asked you â you said you don't sing anymore â but does any part of that still show up in your identity? Uh, in work?
Jillian: Yeah, and I, I mean, I should say my staff would probably tell you I sing all the time because I am one of those people that like, sings and doesn't even realize I'm doing it. But, uh, but no, I mean, I think, I think for me, people ask me all the time, like, how does a vocal music performance major end up doing, you know, anything that I'd been doing? Right? When I was in higher ed it was the same question, when I'm a bar owner it's the same question. Uh, but I think for me, I went to Gustavus, which is a small private liberal arts college. And so the liberal arts education was focused so much on developing the whole person, um, teaching people how to be curious and how to learn, and how to just be, you know, creative and curious. Those are the things that have really resonated and stuck with me. I knew pretty early on in my college career I didn't wanna be a professional opera singer. I loved singing and I loved performing.
Um, but I didn't wanna be a teacher 'cause I didn't like ninth grade boys, and I, I don't â
Monica: I feel that on such a â
Jillian: Like, I'm not even, I'm literally not even kidding. I did a shadowing my first January term at Gustavus â then I had to work with ninth grade boys and I was like, this is enough.
Christy: Same, same. I did student teaching and I was hell bent on being a high school history and English teacher, and I did my student teaching and I was like, U-turn.
Jillian: Yeah, had it figured out right away in our first year. So I made that pivot early. But, but I think that, you know, for me it's, um, the confidence â it's the, you know, problem solving. Like those are the things, like as a performance major, you know, getting up on a microphone and, and talking during a busy night at the bar, or shouting at our staff during a really crazy night, or leading â I host trivia every Thursday night. That's probably the most direct correlation between my major and what I do now. But, um, but those things have never been nerve wracking for me. Like speaking in front of other people is never nerve wracking. But that's because I spent four years learning how to be confident on stage and project, and so those things are, those are definitely direct correlations.
But really for me, I think more about just kind of the general liberal arts education that I received and, and being able to really make connections between different things. Like, I think that is probably one of the best lessons I learned â was how everything is connected and the opportunities for connection and collaboration make us so much stronger in terms of how we operate.
And so, yeah, I mean, again, I feel like a broken record, but connection and community, collaboration and community â I mean, those are the, the lessons that I learned as an 18 to 22-year-old in college. And those are still the things driving what I do now, just in a very different environment than what I was doing then.
Christy: Well, and I wanna touch upon what you said about getting a strong liberal arts education, because this is what the right hates about college education, because like you said, it teaches you to think critically, and it also teaches you to be curious. They don't want us thinking for ourselves. They don't want us curious, they don't want us questioning. And when people talk about going to college, it's not necessarily you're going to get book smart. You're going to learn how to frame the way you see the world, and to allow yourself to be open to learn things, and you need that curiosity to be able to have the motivation to go and learn new things and to question things as well.
Jillian: Yeah, I mean, again, when I worked in higher education, I worked in college admissions, right? So I was trying to convince 17 and 18-year-olds and their families that the, the product I was selling â this higher education â was worth their investment. And I, I'm just such a huge believer in higher education for so many different reasons.
Um, and for the various types of higher education, right? Like, absolutely â trade school is the best thing in the world for so many kids. And we need, we need people that â
Christy: We need plumbers. We need plumbers.
Jillian: But, but I'm just such a, I'm such a believer in, in allowing people to â like you said â the ability and the skills to help form their own opinions and to help develop their own identities, um, and, and really create the backbone for what they believe in.
And I think that that's what college really allowed me to do, was to, you know, make mistakes in a pretty safe environment. And say things out loud that I wasn't sure were right, but I needed to test out to make sure that I was like, is this really what I believe? And, um, and so yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm such a huge believer in higher education. I, I don't think everybody needs to go to higher education, but I do think that it, it can really, um, you know, it can really unlock a lot of things for folks in terms of their personal development on, on what they believe.
Monica: I took a look at your, uh, press page and clearly philanthropy plays a role in how you run your business. And I noticed at an event that you did about a year ago â let's see, what was it called? Uh, Dining Out for Life â an event that a number of Twin Cities restaurants participated in. At A Bar of Their Own, you donated 25% of daily sales to HIV AIDS Prevention and Care. So how does philanthropy fit in your business model, and does that particular cause have meaning for you?
Jillian: I mean, honestly, all of it has meaning for me. Again, it, it comes back, comes back to community. I feel like somebody could have a bingo card of how many times does Jillian say community in this, in this podcast. But, but again, for me, I knew that giving back to the community that we are part of was going to be a core part of our business function before we even had a business plan.
Because I feel like we have that responsibility as members of a community, and especially as small business owners, to really embody the people that make us functional and make us operate. And so, we've done a lot of different things in terms of community involvement. So, um, you know, obviously we do what we call give back nights. So those are usually once or twice a month where we have a different nonprofit that comes in and we donate a portion of our sales for that evening to that nonprofit. And we've done those for everything from the Minnesota Autism Society to â uh, we were seeing one of our local Montessori schools has a bunch of kids going to Space Camp this summer.
Uh, so, you know, just anything that, that we can do to help open up our space to members of our community, to help bring awareness to what they're doing. But yeah, I mean, there's larger things like Dining Out for Life. It's coming up again this year on April 30th, and we're really proud to participate in that.
Uh, we've been able to support a lot of different local nonprofits through silent auction donations and in-kind donations, to be able to help organizations continue to do the work that they do that make our community a place that people wanna live and survive and thrive. And so that's, that's a big thing for us is, is giving back to the people that, that make our community what it is.
We know that my â my phrase that I use all the time that my staff just gets annoyed with me at â is, is that I say community is a verb. You know, it's not something that we can sit back and just let happen. We have to be active participants in keeping our communities places that people wanna be.
And I think that as a business, that's a huge responsibility for us. Uh, we wouldn't be where we are, literally, without the financial support of our community. We had to go to crowdfunding in order to open our restaurant 'cause we were denied traditional financing. And so, um, you know, that made us really strongly connected to our community and build a strong base of followers right from the jump.
But maintaining that community takes work, and maintaining community and the connections that we have to people, um, is, is probably what takes honestly most of my brain space in building our space and maintaining our space â is, you know, how are there ways that we can continue to tap into the people that are supporting us and making, making the Twin Cities a vibrant place, uh, to live? And that's giving back in a lot of different ways that we can do that. And it's a, it's a huge part of who, who we are as a business, and, and who our employees are. You know, they're constantly bringing me ideas of different organizations that we can, we can work with and tap into. Um, because I want this to be a place that, again, everybody feels like, yeah, like we're doing their work â like we've earned our spot in this community. And that's something that, that we take very seriously. That's a huge responsibility that we wanna continue to work on forever. Um, because I think it's the only way that we make communities that are places that people wanna live.
Christy: Yeah, and I think we, we would â yeah, and we would be remiss since you are a business located in Minneapolis and we are just discussing community, if we did not bring up Operation Metro Surge and how that impacted your business and the community that your business is located in. Have you noticed a difference in the number of customers you're seeing on a daily basis? And how has that ICE enforcement impacted the community itself from your perspective as a business owner?
Jillian: Yeah, I mean, I think that there's been a lot of stuff written about this, but I think a lot of restaurants were experiencing it earlier than even, you know, when the official surge started. Because, you know, our employees that are black and brown were experiencing the fear long before Operation Metro Surge existed.
And so, we really, we started doing training for our staff back in November around what we would be doing when ICE arrived in Minneapolis. 'Cause we knew it was a matter of when, not if. You know, it's absolutely changed how we see ourselves as a business. It's absolutely changed the responsibility that we feel for our community.
We are in the Seward neighborhood, which is built on the backs of immigrants and maintained by so many wonderful immigrant communities. And that's something that we wanna be able to honor. So yeah, creating, creating safe spaces, um, not only for our neighbors but for people that were coming to and from different, you know, community actions.
I think that that was something that, we basically turned into a community hub for two and a half months in a different way. We were a constant place to get whistles. We were a poster making place before protests. We, um, you know, we donated so, so much in the last three months that we've gotta try to tighten the reins now here in the next three months in order to make up for the things that we had to do in the last three months.
But, um, but it does, again, it doesn't surprise me how the community has continued to show up for each other. Um, we're experienced at this, unfortunately. We did this after George Floyd's murder. And, you know, there's been countless other times that we in the Twin Cities have had to kind of rally together to support each other.
And I think that this latest iteration is, for me, more hopeful and optimistic than fear driven, particularly now that we're through, hopefully the worst of it â is that it, it really does show the value of community and how this community shows up for each other. People can say all they want about how, you know, they think Minneapolis or whatever, but there's nowhere else that I would rather build my business and create my community, because I think that we've done so much in the last â again, seven, eight years. Not even just Operation Metro Surge, but so many ways that we, we demonstrate how we show up and, and neighbor with each other. And that's the place I wanna be. That's the place I wanna, I wanna build my business. And I mean, yeah, restaurants were hit incredibly hard during this, and we continue to be.
But we were really more focused â it sounds glib to say, like, we weren't really worried about our bottom line, because obviously we have to pay people. But, but we were really more worried in those, in those height of those two and a half months of, of focusing on how we can make sure that we, our neighbors are still feeling safe coming out whenever this is done.
Whenever this is over â and we're not there, and it's gonna take a long time for us to get there, especially for our, for our black and brown neighbors that, you know, they're, they're not gonna feel safe for a long time. But we have to continue to show up and, and make people know that this isn't who we are as a community.
This is a way for us to demonstrate how we wanna show up for people. And businesses were in a unique position to be able to do that in, in a couple really cool ways. And we, we felt very privileged to be in a position to be able to do that for our community. So we literally just this weekend took down â we had an entire table that we had basically turned into a community resource table that was constantly full of whistles and know-your-rights cards and poster making supplies and, you know, all just different types of things. And literally just this weekend, in the first full weekend in April, kind of started dismantling that table because it didn't seem like it was as much a need.
So, so it's impacted everything that we do, and it, it will for a long time. Um, we still have food systems that are drastically impacted that are driving up our costs as a restaurant, because farmers aren't showing up to work and that impacts everything down the line. And, um, and we're, we're trying to figure out how to operate in this new normal.
So, but I, I couldn't be more proud about how our community showed up and how, um, we continue to show up for people long after these ICE agents have left.
Monica: I think Minnesota has, has really been a beacon around the country. And I, I have a home in California temporarily with a temporary job relocation for my husband. And I cannot tell you how many people I encounter around here that when they hear I'm from Minnesota are in awe. And Minnesota really has shown up, and I, I'm guessing Christy would say the same thing, that one of the best things about having this podcast is the people that we have encountered, like yourself, and the people that have just put so much into Minnesota. So thank you for what you've done.
Jillian: Yeah. No.
Monica: Gonna cry again. I cry. I was so easily â
Christy: You know, it's people like you that just give me hope that there are so many good people still left in the world, despite all of the horrible things that we're seeing happening right now in this fucking ridiculous timeline that we're on. There are still good people in the world, and I, in my heart, I believe that the good people outnumber the bad, and this just reinforces that belief for me, so thank you.
Jillian: Yeah, for sure.
Monica: Jillian, any, any final â before we sign off â or, you know, words of wisdom, teams we should be watching?
Jillian: Everyone. Everyone. Um. I mean, I think, I think more than anything, it's, um, you know, kind of two lenses on this, right? Like I think the, the big picture lens is, is that I think you're right, Christy â you know, I've always been told I was annoyingly optimistic my entire life. Like I've just always been a glass half full person and I've never been able to live in the opposite, mainly because I don't think my mental health could sustain living in the opposite. And so I really do think that, that finding the good in whatever corner of the universe you're in, that's really had to be my focus.
Honestly, since the second Trump election, it was, you know, I've, I've had to tune out so much of the noise because my mental health can't handle it. Like I just physically cannot handle it. And so finding whatever good you can do in your corner of the universe has been my kind of guiding mantra. And that will continue to, to be what guides me to figure out â what can we do in our community, on our block, on our day, on our whatever. Um, because I do think that it'll overpower, I think it'll overpower the, the bad and the pain and the hurt that's in our world. So I think that's, that's kind of a bigger picture thing for me. Um, and then, yeah, from a more like micro, uh, bar of their own version, I would say watch women's sports.
If you're looking for joy and if you're looking for power and resilience, like, there is no better thing than women's sports and the joy that you will see in the work that these athletes put in. We'd love to be a place that you can come learn about women's sports, or you can come geek out with other fans about women's sports.
I think visiting A Bar of Their Own is a, is a really incredible experience for folks because a lot of people tell me like, this is what I would love the world to be like â is just a welcoming, inclusive, supportive, positive place. And, and so we have a little bubble over there in Seward, in South Minneapolis, and, and we love that bubble.
And so, uh, you know, welcome people to, to come check us out and to, to support the women athletes that we're, we're making our living platforming.
Christy: Well, Jillian, we're gonna put information about A Bar of Their Own in the show notes, and I'm so grateful that we had the chance to have our paths cross. It all started with you posting back at us on Threads, and we've gotten to know you and we're so grateful to have you on the show today.
Thank you for creating something that brings people together and makes a space where there wasn't one before, for people to feel accepted, included, and to have a place to experience joy whenever you step through the door.
Jillian: Yep.
Monica: This is how culture shifts â because people like you decide that it's time.
Jillian: Yeah, I mean, we gotta do it ourselves, right? I mean, the, the government's not doing it for us, so we gotta try to make our rebuild and make our joy by ourselves, so we're happy â
Christy: Hundred percent.
Jillian: â of that.
Monica: Thank you very much.
Jillian: Absolutely.
Monica: To our listeners: if you're finding meaning in the stories we're sharing, if something moves you, challenges you, or makes you see the world a little differently, please like, comment, and share. It helps more than you know.
Christy: And follow us everywhere at The Politics Chicks on Substack, Threads, Blue Sky, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
Monica: Thanks for being a part of our community. Keep shining your light so we can find each other in the dark.
Christy: And remember, we're stronger together. Thanks folks. Thanks Jillian.
Jillian: Thank you.
Monica: Thanks.
Christy: I'm gonna leave the oop in.