I've lived in Salt Lake now for almost 12 years. When I first moved here I was ::ahem:: a bit younger and loved to go out on the town for dancing and drinks. Good Grammar was one of my go-to's with girlfriends as it's a fun cozy bar with cool decor and great DJ's. I have a friend in town who builds nearly all the bars in town (maybe we will have to interview him next :)) and he told me that the owner of Good Grammar and another woman were opening a bar on main. Excuse me? Good Grammar is owned by a woman?? I love that, can I have her number? So stoked that Fallan agreed to sit down with me for an interview as I am beyond stoked to learn more about woman owned businesses, locals who have "made it" and entrepreneurs in general! Enjoy my chat with Fallan and be sure to like, follow, and GO THERE!
OK, so I'm sitting here with Fallan Keyser. And why don't you give us a little background, like, are you local, where are you from? Just give us a little introduction.
Yeah. I grew up in Taylorsville but now reside in Millcreek. I opened Good Grammar almost 8 years ago.
Could you give us a little background; like did you go to college here or you know, what did you do before you opened the bar? Because you said you've been open for eight years, right?
Yeah. So, I started in the insurance industry as a claims adjuster for a long time and hated it. So I went back to school at the University of Utah and I got my degree in psychology. I had my daughter shortly after graduation so I put that master's degree on hold and decided to open a business instead, thinking that would give me a more flexible schedule, haha. I think I've always leaned towards the entrepreneurial side. I definitely didn’t grow up with money and have four siblings, so if I wanted something, I had to work for it, go out, and earn money somehow, nothing was ever handed to me. I had numerous businesses as a kid to earn money so that I could get the things that I wanted. So I think that's kind of where I started with business is, as a kid. My most memorable business was a dance studio I opened up out of my garage. I got carpet that my parents had ripped out of the basement and would roll it out for classes. I had 6 students for a time period of two years, their parents each paid $25 a month, that was a lot back then!
I love that. And are your parents entrepreneurs?
No, they're not.
I was just chatting with a friend about that because he's an entrepreneur, but his dad was too. I'm an entrepreneur, but my parents were too. So a lot of times I feel like it's generational. So it's cool that you've like split that generation, you know, starting a new venture without having your parents have done that. Because I feel like a lot of times that's how it goes with people.
Do you have any, do you have any business partners in this?
So originally there were three other partners.
OK.
And then after the first year, it was just me.
So you bought them out?
Yeah. I mean the first year of business is extremely hard, especially in this industry and some people find out quickly they can't work around alcohol and it's just not for them, as well as the stress that comes with running a business and managing it. So it's been me for the last seven years.
That's amazing. And you've been in this location the whole time, right? Yeah.
Yeah, that's so cool. I feel like that's unique. I mean, there are a few old bars in town that have been in the same spots forever, but not all of them in this very changing city!
Any thoughts on just having a woman-owned business in Salt Lake in general?
Hmm, I think often we're undervalued or not as respected. When I tell people what I do, they're often surprised. And then comes the, Oh that must be so fun, or that's so cool. And I don't think most people realize the amount of work that comes with it.
Cute.
Yes, more like, That’s cute, rather view me as a business woman. I mean on top of being a woman, I also combat the general stigma of being a bar owner in Utah, which comes with it’s own challenges. But I do have valuable insight that I am happy to share but I feel like that's often just overlooked or not sought after.
But yeah, there are some advantages too, right? I feel like managing a staff is much different but in a positive way. I feel like I have a different approach and that's been to my benefit, finding a really good team and making sure they know they are valued for their contributions. I have worked every position within my business so can easily empathize with them and also know all the in’s and outs’.
Yeah!
How many people do you employ?
About 20 right now.
Oh, amazing. That alone. I've managed businesses before, so I cannot imagine though, being responsible for your own business and then having 20 employees- it’s impressive!
Yeah, it's a little like having children sometimes. But I have a great team and I'm super lucky to have found good people.
That's awesome. Um, what does a typical day look like for you?
My day typically starts at 6:30am so that I can get my 10 year old up and ready for school. And then I basically have between 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM to do all of my business ownership stuff. So it's payroll every other week. Emails. Event planning. I do meetings with my management staff and marketing every week, to make sure everybody's on the same page. Errand running. Always out of something. Inventory pickups. Yeah, it kind of varies week by week, but that’s the gist of it. I worked bar shifts for the first 4 years we were open but finally got to a place that I could hire appropriate staff so I didn’t have to. I'm also currently in the process of opening another business. I don't know if they told you, I'm opening another bar.
Yes! I heard- with another woman right? Want to talk about it? Our mutual friend calls you “the girls”
Yeah, I can. So this new venture, I'm going to have a business partner, right? The girls.
The girls.
The girls, okay then. So it's going to be a wine and cocktail bar. Smaller, more intimate. A little bit more geared towards our age demographic. We just signed a lease, got financing approved and so now the real work begins. So my day-to-day also includes a lot of phone calls and design meetings.
Yeah, that's impressive! And so will it be, it'll be totally separate from this business?
Yes, yeah, so it's a different entity but there's going to be some overlap. My management staff will help out and they are very very excited about the project. We're not going to have a kitchen in the new space, so we're going to utilize my kitchen here. Prep out stuff to be transported over there. So there's going to be some crossover. But technically they're separate.
OK. And the other woman, does she own another business or will this be her first venture?
This is her first brick-and-mortar venture. She does private contracting for Salesforce and then she does set design for commercials, music videos, and stuff.
So she'll have a good design-eye.
Yeah, exactly. Absolutely.
Do you have any advice? I mean, it's her first brick-and-mortar place. Do you have any advice for the burgeoning entrepreneur? Like things, you wish that you had known eight years ago?
So many things! I tried to think about what my top answers would be on this, but I think first off, if you're just starting out and you have an idea, you need to concretely decide that it is what you are going to do. I feel like a lot of times people have good ideas but they waver in them, like, oh, this is something cool and eventually, I want to do it. But once you actually make the decision to do it, it will happen, because that’s when you will actually start taking the necessary steps to get there.
Secondly, find a good team of people. I tried to do everything by myself for the first several years, and I think it's a common mistake. I’m not good at everything and I realize that. So why I thought I could do everything by myself is beyond me. But I think when you're starting, you believe you're going to save money by trying to do it by yourself. And what actually happens is that so many things fall through the cracks and you can't catch up because you're wearing all the hats. I feel like my business started to propel once I hired the right people, you know, like starting with a good manager who could hire bar staff. And then somebody who knows the marketing piece to handle all of the social media content, because that's such a huge part of it. So finding a good team to have behind you and then learning how to delegate. Then you can actually start to work on your business rather than just in your business.
In real estate, we call it leverage. I've learned the same lesson over the years of like, yeah, can't do it all yourself, yeah. I want to design every Instagram post.
No. Oh my gosh. Yeah. No, it does not work!
I think that's really good advice.
What do you think sets good grammar apart? What makes it unique?
Well, there are numerous bars now in Salt Lake. We have a really solid cocktail menu and a really good mocktail menu if you aren’t feeling like drinking but want to socialize. We also have a really good small food menu. If you come in here on the weekday, it's all chill vibes, you could bring a book and sip on a cocktail. That's when I recommend all my friends to come.
We are going to start vinyl Wednesdays in January and we have a live jazz trio on Thursdays, which is so nice. And it's free. Once a month on a Wednesday night we do a local artist showcase, which has been great and lots of really wonderful Salt Lake artists come to perform. And then the late nights and we've got DJs Friday and Saturday, so if you really want to…
… Cut a rug. Yeah, that's what the old people say.
Yeah, it turns into a fun dance club here.
Is there anything you want to add as to what to know about good Grammar?
We recently won the Farm to Glass cocktail competition. Yeah. And it was the judge's choice award too.
That's so cool!
Yeah. So we have a really great cocktail menu and what we put on the board, this is more of our late-night menu because that's what the younger crowd orders off of and those are quicker drinks. But we have actual menus. So like if you come in from 5:00 to 9:00. We have a really nice cocktail menu.
Awesome! Yeah. OK. I'll have to come for the jazz night and try the food. Because I don't think we remember the food back then? (lols)
The kitchen closes at 10. Yeah, if you're coming to dance, that's probably close enough.
OK. And how do people follow what you've got going on?
Our handle is @goodgrammarbar on Instagram and on Facebook and Twitter. We also have a website that we list all of our events and menus on www.goodgrammar.bar
Yeah. OK. And does a new venture have any Instagrams yet? Should people start?
Yeah. @Melancholyloungeslc.. Follow us now and we will keep you update on when we anticipate opening.