Sidewalk Conversations
"Let the one who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall..." (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Standing strong and remaining true to your calling is no easy task. No one sets out to crash and burn. In fact, it's actually the opposite, most people want to stand strong, remain effective, and be true to their values all the way through to the end. But, it is really hard to do.
In these interviews, Piet Van Waarde (a 40 year veteran of pastoral ministry) has heart-to-heart conversations with ordinary people about what it takes to stay faithful and effective in the things that matter most.
Sidewalk Conversations
The Fight for our Passion with Meg from the Wine Bar
Meg Hiney shares how she transformed her passion for wine into the Hutto Wine Bar, creating a unique space that spotlights female winemakers while balancing family life, entrepreneurship, and personal health challenges.
• Growing up with a father who loved exploring wines, especially from California
• Moving to Hutto in 2011 and recognizing the need for a local wine bar
• Creating a business that specifically showcases wines made or owned by women
• Starting the wine bar while maintaining a full-time career in software management
• Building relationships with building owners and other entrepreneurs that proved crucial
• Hosting community events including free bingo nights, live music, and wine tasting dinners
• Supporting other female entrepreneurs by providing space to showcase their products
• Balancing running a business with raising two young daughters
• Battling stage 3 breast cancer at age 30 while having an infant and toddler at home
• Finding strength through faith and focusing on being present for her children's futures
• Developing the philosophy of never accepting "no" as the final answer
Learn more about our amazing sponsor the Hutto Wine Bar.
I don't think you have to worry about going short, more about going long. We should probably wrap it up.
Piet Van Waarde:Was your hubby nervous about you doing this?
Meg Hiney:No, I think he was surprised that.
Piet Van Waarde:I was going to do it.
Meg Hiney:And then he reminded me that I did do another one before this. I did it with. His name is Tom and he came into the wine bar. I met him through other wine bar owners and when we opened the wine bar he wanted to do a spotlight on how to wine bar and we did it and his is on YouTube and I just totally forgot that I had done it, not because Tom's not memorable, because he is, but I I didn't really connect the two as of like a was that in your, in your spot, or did you go to a studio?
Piet Van Waarde:It was yeah it was right after we opened and it was in.
Meg Hiney:You know I have the blue couch now, so we've been able to upgrade all the furniture. Yeah, it was when we had just had those four chairs there and so we set up inside and it was really a great thing, because that day it was just a really busy day and it was one of those, I think, kind of a blessing so that people could see that we're a thriving business. But it was really nice, so he was focusing on his YouTube channel. Does a lot about Texas wines.
Piet Van Waarde:Okay.
Meg Hiney:And because I feature some Texas wines and I'm also a Texas wine bar owner, he wanted to chat.
Piet Van Waarde:All right, well, welcome to another Sidewalk Conversations. I am so grateful that you've joined us today, and we have another very interesting guest that I am very much looking forward to introducing you to. But before we get started, I want to tell you about our business, because it's our sponsor today and it's the Hutto Wine Bar in downtown Hutto and it's got a great environment and great specials and, of course, a very informed, well-mannered and fun proprietor. So I want you to help me welcome my guest today, meg Heine. Thank you for joining us.
Meg Hiney:Meg, thank you for the introduction. I was waiting to see who you were talking about under all those adjectives, but I really appreciate it.
Piet Van Waarde:Oh, I'm a wordsmith I tell you Well, one of the things that we want to do on this podcast and I tend to do it with most of my guests is I just love the story behind the story. So there is the public persona of Meg and her business and her influence within Hutto. But I want to go back and talk a little bit about kind of your upbringing, how you were raised, and so tell me a little bit about your family, how you were raised, where you were raised, maybe some key influences.
Meg Hiney:Yeah, I was born in Houston, originally from Fulcher, which is not so little anymore, but it's really near Katy, and when we lived there, I think the town had 250 people in it, oh my. And now you can buy a home there for a cool million dollars.
Meg Hiney:Oh there you go, fulcher has really grown up since the last time I was there. You go, fulcher has really grown up since the last time I was there. I spent the first 10, 11 years of my life there with my dad and my mom and my brother and we moved to Austin and I started going to middle school in the Lake Travis School District and that's where.
Piet Van Waarde:I, I guess. Oh wow, so you've been here for a bit.
Meg Hiney:We've been here for a long time. I won't tell you exactly how long without going into too much detail about me, but yeah, we spent a lot of time here in Austin, so I feel like I'm a Texan, born in Houston but really raised in Austin.
Piet Van Waarde:That's how I put it. Yeah, okay, yeah, now we met because I did a story on your business for Huddle Living Magazine and I'm hoping I okayed this. We became quick friends along the way, yes, and I'm now a regular participant in your specials and all the things you have going on.
Meg Hiney:Yeah, our wine club member. Yes, yeah, you have to shout out the wine club. Yes.
Piet Van Waarde:And you insist on showing me all kinds of new kinds of varieties.
Meg Hiney:And.
Piet Van Waarde:I kind of get stuck in my lane and you keep trying to push the boundaries.
Meg Hiney:I do Try this, I do. Hey, try this, I do.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, tell me how you got in the business.
Meg Hiney:Yes, when we first moved to Hutto, my husband and I moved here in 2011. And when we moved here, we said this place needs a wine bar, we need a tasting room, we need a wine bar. Where's this at? Because we're driving to Georgetown, we're going to Fredericksburg, we're going into Austin.
Meg Hiney:So I always like to say that the idea was born 13, 14 years ago when we first moved here, and obviously I didn't take it seriously until about four years ago, but that's where the idea for the business came from. But really, the passion for wine started when I was really young and watching my dad just kind of take his way through the wine world and explore things that he liked, things that he didn't like. We spent a lot of our time discussing really cool wines from California, and then he was kind of starting to dip into the old world style of wines you know that Western Europe type of place and his love, though, I would definitely say, was California wines, and so I kind of picked up on that, and then I became a Cali wine girl myself, and then, as I grew up, I realized well, there's a lot of really cool stuff outside of California, there's some great stuff in Texas and beyond, and so I spent probably.
Piet Van Waarde:And I mean like when you say that you grew up around wine.
Meg Hiney:I mean you had your graduation party at a winery.
Piet Van Waarde:You had your wedding at a winery. This is true.
Meg Hiney:Yeah, good reminder. So some sort of celebration always included really, really fine wine, and when I graduated high school my dad took it upon himself to buy himself a really nice bottle of wine to celebrate my graduation. When I graduated from college I went to A&M for my undergrad and we had our party. Two of my cousins and I had it at the Messina Hoff Winery in Bryan and then when my husband and I met we had our wedding at the Spicewood Vineyards out in Spicewood. So wine has definitely always been around a celebration of our lives. So it just kind of made an easy selection when I knew I was ready to kind of go out on my own and start my own business.
Piet Van Waarde:And you did this alongside of another full-time job, so this was kind of like you were doing your full-time work and then you were starting. I was.
Meg Hiney:I was. I was doing software management. I did corporate software management for almost 12, 13 years it was. It was wild to think that I was going to start a business while I was doing a full-time job, but I get bored really easily, and so it just made sense that I was going to do something that was going to overtax me and my family, you know, financially, emotionally and physically.
Piet Van Waarde:Um, but you know it's just that's me and that's what my husband always like. He's like oh, meg must be bored Cause she wants to start another business or something. Now, um I, there's a couple of things about your business that I want to get into. Uh, first of all, you have a very unique focus. Like you have decided from early on that you wanted to have a specialized focus for your winery or your wine bar, and it has to do with kind of women in that field.
Piet Van Waarde:So tell me a little bit about the thinking behind that.
Meg Hiney:Yeah, I started with that in mind, because I come from the tech world and there's a lot of dudes in the tech world. There's a lot of dudes that tell the girls how they should do their job better, and I'm not of the mindset of that kind of person that's like oh yes, thank you.
Piet Van Waarde:Please tell me more about how to do my own job.
Meg Hiney:And when I started to get into more wine, I was asking questions of like who's owning the vineyard, who's the winemaker, who's managing the business? And it was just a lot of male names and I thought this can't be it. There have to be more people out there that look like me, that think like me, that are in this and enjoying their passion of wine. And the moment that I started asking that question, it just exploded. And so there are women everywhere doing super fantastic things. And when I was looking at the wine bar and what's going to make us unique and stand out against other wine bars in the area?
Meg Hiney:I was like. This is it. I want to give women the platform to show their story and their passions, which they do through their wine in a bottle, and I want to take that to the people of Hutto and hopefully further than Hutto.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah right.
Meg Hiney:Start in Hutto. Start small and then grow big.
Piet Van Waarde:Well, and in your wine bar you have actually a whole section that if somebody is saying, okay, well, I want to explore these various wineries and wines from women who are in the field, you can go right to a particular place in your store and find them all, and there are a lot.
Meg Hiney:Exactly yeah, we want to make it as easy as possible for people to find our girl wines as I call them.
Meg Hiney:We have little tags that say crafted by women on all of our by-the-bottle options, and then on our by-the-glass menu we have a plus sign next to all of those that are somehow woman influenced. So when I say woman influenced, it's either owned by a woman the business is owned by a woman or it's a female winemaker. And if you're never really sure, you're like, oh, is this owned by a woman or made by a woman?
Piet Van Waarde:You just ask and we'll tell you and we have the story for all of them. Well, and your team one of the things I like about it is they are so willing to talk to people. Like, I won't consider myself a connoisseur. I can tell you know a little bit better wine from a cheaper wine, but I am by no means an expert. But your team is like, takes a lot of joy in helping inform people about wines. And is that like intentional, do you? Is that part of your pitch?
Meg Hiney:Yes, it is. I want to make sure that the people that I bring into my team, my wine family, it has as much passion about wine as I do Now. I always say when I'm hiring new people, what I'm really looking for is can you hold a conversation and are you friendly? Because those are things that you can't teach. I can teach you how to you know use a computer, I can teach you about the different facets of wine, but one of the expectations is that now that you're part of our family, you really need to be able to share these stories and really share things about the wine to encourage customers to hang out longer and to try new things, like I do with you.
Meg Hiney:You know, get to know one customer that comes in regularly enough that you get familiar with their taste, and then you can kind of start helping them branch out, find new things which is uh, yeah, so I really, I really do expect that from my staff, and they have done a really fantastic job because, we have people that come in specifically asking for certain people, and so I think that's wonderful. That's really a testament to them you know, not really to me, but to them to be able to stand on their own and like and handle that without my like, looking behind their back to make sure hey did you offer. Did you know you should offer that?
Piet Van Waarde:No micromanaging, Good for you Well and it was like it wasn't like you had a lot of previous business experience to launch this big business. I got the sense that you had some entrepreneurial gifting and passions, but this was kind of like your first real venture, if I'm remembering, right into like starting a business. And then when we went through the story, you told me like you learned lesson after lesson after lesson and I.
Piet Van Waarde:So if you had to go back and kind of think about, like what were some of the things that you just learned from the process of starting a business from scratch, Document the process, find somebody who already has a process documented, because that was the biggest problem is that you start with one entity.
Meg Hiney:You think let's start at the state level. I have to get my TVC, I have to be able to serve and I have to purchase and sell wine. Okay, great, that's one. And they make it really easy. They have an online system and they're like you have to go to Comptroller, you have to go here here Great. Well.
Meg Hiney:Then you get to the county and the county is like well, we don't have anything like that, but here's a step-by-step process on our website, but it turns out you have to talk to four different people to do that. And then we get to the city level and there's really no roadmap for that. And then sometimes you have to start at the state and go to the city and then go to the county and go back to the city and then go back to the state. So what I would have loved to have had was hey, meg, start here, and then you're going to talk to this person and you're going to go here.
Meg Hiney:Unfortunately, that's really hard to find, especially having a business. That has never been done in Hutto before. Hutto has never had a wine bar. Never had a tasting room been done in huddle before. Huddle has never had a wine bar, never had a tasting room. We have a lot of great bars in huddle, we have a lot of great restaurants, but when it comes to this specific business venture, nobody had done it before. So there wasn't really any way for me to feel guided through the process. I couldn't go to one person and be like, okay, I've had a really hard day. Tell me what to do tomorrow, and that was just something I had to keep. I had had to keep going on with myself.
Piet Van Waarde:Bless you for your tenaciousness. Thank you, yeah, that's one of the really great qualities I get from my dad, that's for sure. Now you did, along the way, build a relationship with the building owner that turned out to be quite serendipitous, absolutely. Talk to me about that a bit, yeah.
Meg Hiney:Gracie. She's great. I met her through my best friend, sarah. Her husband had worked with Gracie in the past, and when I met Gracie she was in the midst of trying to figure out what she was going to do next with the building that I'm in now, and she had a previous tenant. She knew she wanted to remodel the building and so I met her at just.
Meg Hiney:You know what a blessing to meet her at the time that I did because she hadn't started to tear the building down yet. She really hadn't started, like actively working on, I'm sure, paperwork wise.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah.
Meg Hiney:Yeah, she was on it, for sure, she's the kind of gal that's on things, and so for me I had my business plan. I sat on my business plan for about a year. I was like I, just I, but I don't know where to go with this from here Again, no path right, there's no guidance to the next step.
Meg Hiney:I met Gracie. I showed her my business plan and we hit it off immediately. We're great friends now. We're great business partners because, being in her building, I looked to her as a mentor too. So you know, hey, I think I'm I'm starting to consider what the next thing looks like, and she said, well, here's the, there's some things you should think about. And so it was just a really wonderful timing to meet her. And then she was super excited about the idea. She loves the fact that the wine bar is where it is, and I think our relationship, business and friendship wise, is going to continue to grow because, yeah, really great girl to meet.
Piet Van Waarde:So you have a variety of activities that you do there, like it's not just go in drink your wine, I mean, like you have. I happened to fall in on a night where you were doing, I think, a trivia night or a bingo night or something. Tell me about some of the. Yeah, we're trying.
Meg Hiney:We're still in the testing phase of what our events are going to be. One thing we know for sure is people love our bingo nights. We do free bingo. People love free bingo. You don't have to pay for your card. There's some really cool prizes for each game and it's family friendly is really nice yeah um, so we're yeah, we're rocking on bingo.
Meg Hiney:We do live music a lot, which is really cool. We have a great patio space, and so we put our musicians out there when the weather is that's right, because you have like that area outside, yeah, picnic tables, yeah, so as much of the of the indoor spaces we have. We have almost the exact amount of space outside on the patio so we're like our space is split half and half, which is perfect. We.
Meg Hiney:We've got picnic tables, great shade trees outside, um. So we do live music, bingo. I do tasting dinners. So I've offered in the past quite a few options of their three course dinners and I have paired wine specifically with each course so you can kind of enjoy the pairing specifically. For one of the times we had, like a shrimp Cristini and I had a really great white wine paired with that and then we have some big like ragu short ribs. Of course that comes with a big bold red wine and people enjoy that too. And then, just trying to branch out and trying to find other female entrepreneurs that maybe don't have a shop, I like to bring them into the space as well. They can set up their tables and sell their knickknacks and T-shirts.
Piet Van Waarde:Well, you did that for me too. I did, yeah, I had a book signing. You opened up your space for me.
Meg Hiney:I'm always happy to open up, because that's one of the beauties of having a brick-and-mortar space is that I can bring in other people that maybe don't get that level of exposure. I love not only being a platform for female in the wine industry, but just anybody in general that's just trying to get their name out there. You want to come set up for a couple of hours, set up on the patio or inside. Just give you an opportunity to share your business and your story with the world. I'm so happy to do that.
Piet Van Waarde:Awesome, yeah, and it's a great I mean, it's a great vibe for that. Yeah, all right. So I know you hate this question because I've had you try to answer before, but I'm sure there are people who are watching who want to know, like, what are some of your favorite wines?
Meg Hiney:What are some of?
Piet Van Waarde:my favorite wines. Like if somebody is thinking about let's pick a price point, let's say so if somebody is saying between $20 and $40.
Meg Hiney:$20 and $40. Right now we have a really great Cabernet Sauvignon from California called actually, this one's from Washington. I misspoke, it's called Green Wing and it's part of the Duckhorn Portfolio which, as you'll remember, is my favorite portfolio.
Meg Hiney:Dan and Margaret started this portfolio back in the 80s and now they have about nine wines in their book which is really cool, and Green Weaning was one of them. I've had it and it is. Yeah, it's a really good one, isn't it? That one, I think, is priced right about $40. And then we've got some really great Cote de Provence rosés that are really fun.
Meg Hiney:I just brought two in and I bought, I picked them. I love that type of rosé, but I also picked them because the labels are just really pretty, and I know that sounds silly, but sometimes you know, if you think about when you go to the store and you're looking for a wine on the shelf, you're going to gravitate towards those labels that are just a little bit more fun, maybe something that speaks to you in that moment. So both of these have really beautiful floral designs on them. One's called Summer in a Bottle and the other one's called Forever Young, and they're both French rosés, so they're going to have like a great, nice, clean finish on them, really like fruit forward, and they're both, I think, priced about $30 a bottle.
Piet Van Waarde:Now, what was the one that you gave me in the Wine of the Month Club? It was, I think it was a rosé and it had like a blue.
Meg Hiney:Matthiasson yes, so.
Piet Van Waarde:I brought that to a friend's house for dinner this past week and that was the first thing they said. They said that is such a cool label. Yeah, matthias.
Meg Hiney:and they do some really cool work. A lot of times their wine, though, can be a little bit higher on the price point, but this one was really comfortably priced, I think around $33. But Matthias and they've been making wine for a really long time Really well-known and really well-appreciated wine book, but known and really well appreciated wine book, but I wanted to pull that in. I was able to find some at a really nice price point so I brought that in for the wine club last month.
Meg Hiney:And we're about to do another wine club party next Monday, so you have to come in and figure it out, there you go. I don't ever share secrets beforehand.
Piet Van Waarde:You know that I keep everything very close to the vest until the day of the release. I find it in that little orange bag. Yeah right, All right, let me shift gears a little bit. You are obviously very good at your business, but you also have two little girls at home. Well, they're not that little anymore.
Meg Hiney:Oh no, they're little. Let's keep calling them little please, because I can't think about them getting much bigger or much older.
Piet Van Waarde:And so you have to manage family and business. I'm sure that some days it's just crazy, but are there some little tricks, tips, that you've learned that boy? If I can keep this straight, then that seems to work best.
Meg Hiney:Yes, I would say that I make a really strong point to be at home, when they're at home, as much as possible, and if I can't be at home with them, then I like to bring them with me to the wine bar just so that we can stay.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, they're there a lot.
Meg Hiney:And against a lot of their will. Sometimes they're like, oh, do we have to go back to the wine bar again? You know then we're puddling in the garage on the way to the car, but I really do. I try to take as many opportunities to just be close to them. Yeah, I think back a lot on the times that my brother and I had with our folks and then our grandparents. It was just more of just being around them really made an impact on my life, and so that proximity is really important to me. And then I am really critical about the time that I spend behind the bar, and when I'm there you know I'm am I doing something that I could probably pass off to one of my staff to?
Meg Hiney:do Is this something that I really really need to be here for Cause? If not, then I need to go and I need to go get them. Um, my husband is so supportive. He we kind of call ourselves morning and night parents. Where I'm the morning parent, he gets to kind of like take his time in the morning and then he's the evening parent. So right now we have the ability for him to do swim lessons and voice lessons and then you know whatever else is needed in the evening that I can't be there for, um, which is really wonderful.
Meg Hiney:So my support system is great and my best friend lives next door too, so having her there.
Piet Van Waarde:She was part of the whole reason that we have a wine bar as well she is.
Meg Hiney:she is the one that made the connection to Gracie and we started this thing together, which was really cool, and she works at the wine bar. Whenever we feel like we don't want to spend time together, just the two of us, then she'll be there and I'll be there working somewhere in the office. But, yeah, having a strong support system has made it really really easy. Easy is a good way to describe it, but it's not easy because I'm not always there with them when I want to be, but it's definitely much more manageable.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, yeah, now you talked about your husband's investment. I mean, it's not just he hasn't just been, you know, morally supportive, I mean he's like built stuff in the wine bar he has. Yeah.
Meg Hiney:Maybe more than he would have wanted to build for the wine bar. So we have a 30-foot bar that runs down the side of the store, and I did that because I wanted to mimic a lot of what tasting rooms in California and in Italy and France offer you. Right, the experience is you walk in, you educate on the wine, you pick out what you're going to enjoy and then you go find somewhere else to sit. There's no bar stools, we're not sitting down. We're not like spending three hours at the bar with the server.
Meg Hiney:And when I told him that we did, we got a quote from somebody and he said I can do that for like a third of the price. And I said put your money where your mouth is bud because I've got an opening date.
Piet Van Waarde:We got to get this done.
Meg Hiney:And so I was there every step of the way. I like to say that I, you know, I helped build it as well, I mean, but again, he did a lot of the work and he's my, he's my handyman. So I hope none of the tradesmen that I hire is listening because I always refer to my handyman so I don't have to be like, well, let me call my husband and figure that out, cause that kind of also removes a little bit of my power and so I say I have to talk to my handyman and see when he can get out to make that adjustment.
Piet Van Waarde:Love it All. Right Now. On a more serious note, you've also had your share of challenges of life. In fact, one of the things that we kind of connected over early on was we are fellow cancer warriors. So you've had a battle against cancer. However comfortable you feel, tell me a little bit about how that journey played out for you. Are you now in a good place? What helped you work through some of those challenges?
Meg Hiney:Yeah, I was diagnosed with breast cancer stage 3 breast cancer when I was 30. I had just had my youngest daughter. She was 8 months when I was diagnosed. So we had an almost three-year-old and an eight-month-old at home and it was a real shock. I knew that I had the BRCA1 gene mutation. So we knew. My husband and I found out right after we got married. We knew that at some point something was going to either occur or we would need to do something preventative. But you never have a time and a date on those things.
Meg Hiney:And so when I found my lump, went into the doctor. It was very fast growing and so immediately was put on to chemotherapy. I did two rounds of chemotherapy that lasted a total of 20 weeks, and then I did another 12, 15 weeks of radiation. I always say I don't remember exactly, because I went into fight mode and I just was like, whatever they're telling me to do, I'm doing it, I'm not questioning anything Like I just had a baby. This is not the thing that's going to keep me from like walking my kids down the aisle if they ask me to one day. And I remember telling my doctors that specifically I said am I going to be able to see my kids get married? And they said, if we start treatment now, this won't be the thing that tops you. And so I went through that.
Meg Hiney:I had three surgeries after that. I went ahead and I had cancer just in one breast, and so I went ahead and prophylactically took out the other breast because we're not going to revisit this. And then I had another surgery too because of the BRCA1. It's not just breast cancer, it's all female reproductive cancer. So you know it is what it is. You know you get handed these cards whenever they're dealt out to you, whenever things start going and you just do what you have to do to keep surviving, as you know.
Piet Van Waarde:And so during that process again my husband insurmountable support, took notes on everything, was actually paying attention when the doctors were talking, figuring out when the appointments were, which is not easy to do. It's not easy to do Because you're so like, so overwhelmed, emotionally as well.
Meg Hiney:It was, I know, and I never say I don't think I could do what he did. Being the patient, I think, was the easiest part, because I was doing everything that I was told to do. I was like this is what you need to do to survive and just go do it. But he's the one that's not going through treatment and he's having to watch all of this play out, plus with the kids at home. You know, and it's uh, you know, I just, I thank God every day that he was the man that God picked for me. And, um, through all of that, we, we made it on the other side. And now I'm five years later and I go in for every six month checkups. I think the type of cancer that I had I'll see my doctor every six months for the rest of my life is what she said. So we just became really good friends you know, first name basis sort of thing.
Meg Hiney:Unfortunately, during that treatment, my dad was also diagnosed with brain cancer, and so he passed away 18 months after he was diagnosed with his glioblastoma. So we shared a doctor's office, which you never want to do with a parent.
Meg Hiney:You know we shared a radiation office, which you never again, never want to do with parent Um, but it was a really it was an experience that I learned a lot from because again, it brought me so much closer to my dad and we were already very close, daddy's girl all the way. You know he raised me like a little boy, cause I have an older brother. He was like this is just easy enough to do. She can wear boys clothes and be a tomboy and do all the sports that Clark's doing.
Meg Hiney:And so we already had a really, really close relationship and it just kind of felt normal to bring him along and my brother and I were there to support him doctor's appointments, treatment appointment, whatever it was. Unfortunately, we lost him in 2020, after all of that, which is five years without him, which is really hard to say out loud, but I know that he's here all the time and we have some really great memories together. He lived with us for a few weeks because, you know, just telling your dad to do something and then him actually listening to you. He didn't want to. He was like you're my kid, you shouldn't be telling me when to take my medicine.
Piet Van Waarde:I'm like, well, except you're taking your uppers at night and your downers a day, and so I was like you're not good for anybody right now.
Meg Hiney:So that was really special and he got the girls got to spend a lot of good time with him before, before he eventually passed.
Piet Van Waarde:But now there, there are a number of people because of my own situation. I have a number of people here who've kind of worked through that same challenge and I always like to ask them like what were some of the keys that helped you survive the most difficult times? Were there some things that you look back on and say, boy, I'm really glad I either had this piece of advice or this thing that I did that helped me work through the most challenging of physical circumstances? Did you have anything like that?
Meg Hiney:Yes, I got very strong in my faith. I'm Catholic, I was raised Catholic, I'm still practicing. I had Ash Wednesday on Wednesday.
Meg Hiney:I get to walk around and have people look at you a little interestingly, like let something on your forehead. I got very strong in my faith and I really looked to Mary Jesus's mother for a lot of guidance, because she was a mother and she was going through something very, very difficult herself, watching her son grow and then his untimely death right and so I took a lot from her story of just that perseverance and support and looking and trusting that this is not something that's permanent, but these feelings are real. So feel the feelings you have, but this is just a season. The season after this is going to be something completely different. So I had to keep reminding myself of that, that nothing that I was experiencing in that moment was going to be permanent, that there was something on the other side waiting for me, holding my kids, just having them like sit in my lap, because they were still so little they would want to do that. Now I have a nine and an almost seven year old and they're like touching me with their pinky.
Meg Hiney:They're like this is, this is good physical contact, mom, I don't need much else, thank you, unless they need something. And then the hugs start. Um, but I would have. Yeah, I had Sadie, my youngest. I would just put her in my lap because that's all I could really do. I couldn't lift her, I couldn't carry her around, I was so physically weak from everything. So I would just plop her down in my lap and she'd eat crackers or whatever, watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and then with Emily too, she, just she would draw stuff for me, and then I think, just-.
Piet Van Waarde:I remember you actually when sorry, but when I was like in the middle of my treatment and I came into the wine bar one time and I said I need some encouragement. I said what helped you survive? And you said looking at my kids yeah, just knowing that you already referenced it, but knowing that if I get on the other side of this battle, I'll be able to watch them get married, I will be a part of their life, and that provided all kinds of motivation for you. It sounded like Absolutely.
Meg Hiney:Yeah, they really were. They were the thing that just said. You know, this is really hard and this is really crappy. I don't know what I can say on this.
Piet Van Waarde:I was going to say the best word, but I'll keep it to myself.
Meg Hiney:I just had to keep reminding myself that there are things bigger than me in this moment and I just couldn't, I couldn't imagine, I wouldn't let myself imagine them not having me.
Piet Van Waarde:Right.
Meg Hiney:And it's like, because I'm going to be here, I'm going to do this, and so I yeah, I encourage anybody if they have, even if it's like kids of their own, if just their spouses, their partners or whoever it is. There are things outside of you that you will create a very big void if you're not there for, and so that's one of the best ways to keep fighting.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, and I think that mindset itself is so critical, just to be able to say you know, it's about more than me and I'm going to fight for this because it is about more than me. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, all right. So when you think about, thank you for sharing that, yeah, absolutely.
Meg Hiney:That was really really great.
Piet Van Waarde:As you think about your future, kind of, what are you looking forward to? Oh, I'm looking forward to.
Meg Hiney:You got other things on the horizon, so I have so many things in my head that some of them are on paper and some of them are not. None of the thing is officially started yet is officially started yet. I created a vision board this year, which I've never done. I was outside of my comfort zone with that Cause. It's like pictures of things you think might happen or that might want to happen.
Meg Hiney:It was definitely not a Meg thing to do, but I did it, which I'm really glad, and I have it up in my office. So I see it every single day. I see the things that I have planned out, and I was actually at a little panel discussion on Tuesday for Hutto entrepreneurs and business owners and one of the panelists asked me afterwards. He said what is Hutto Wine Bar 2.0 look like? And I said well, I got to get to 1.5 first.
Meg Hiney:I have a 1.5 plan, but there is a 2.0 plan and definitely this isn't it. There's definitely going to be more coming. It just takes a little bit of time and resources, as you know.
Meg Hiney:It takes resources, including money and time myself you know, so one of the things that I'm doing right now to prepare for all the things that are coming is setting up a really great team at the wine bar so I have a manager in training right now. She's doing fantastic. Up a really great team at the wine bar so I have a manager in training right now, she's doing fantastic. And then once I feel like I can not be there every day, then the next things really start.
Piet Van Waarde:Can you give us a sneak peek, maybe?
Meg Hiney:There may be something that looks a lot like HWB, maybe somewhere else, or there might be something that has to do with sports somewhere else. I don't want to put too much out there, because what I have also found is the moment that you say something out loud people that's what they want to know about. When can we expect that to happen? And so one of the lessons learned of being an entrepreneur and a business owner is that, until you know for sure, please don't share dates.
Piet Van Waarde:I do remember that when we had done the magazine, it was like okay, this is going to be like our date, and I think it was like three months later. Yeah, I know.
Meg Hiney:I know what a bummer that was, but that's another thing about. There's no roadmap and so there's no timeline either. Now, you know who to talk to, but you have to wait for them to respond. You who to talk to, but you have to wait for them to respond. You can ask the question, but waiting for that response is kind of what lags out. I think we were supposed to open like in summer of 2023, and then October of 2023, and then December of 2023. And then finally, in February of 2024, we opened. Lesson learned.
Piet Van Waarde:Yeah, right, at the right time.
Meg Hiney:Yeah.
Piet Van Waarde:All right, last question, right at the right time. Yeah, all right. Last question um, do you, do you find yourself with a like a life theme life message that kind of provides your true north and how you kind of think about life and how you want to live your life? Is there something like that that you kind of use as a guiding principle or or maybe a life message?
Meg Hiney:I don't ever let no be the first and final answer. You can sav it as your first answer, but it shouldn't be the final answer that you accept. I think that every no is an opportunity for a discussion and an understanding of why you would react with a no first, and I think anybody that wants to go into business. That's the thing that you have to learn immediately. You cannot accept no, because if you accept no, everything will stop and you can tell yourself no or it can be an external no. So I never let no be the first and final answer.
Piet Van Waarde:I love that. Yeah, wow, cool, thanks, well, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been such a fun time to have this conversation. Thank you for saying yes.
Meg Hiney:Yeah, thank you, all right.
Piet Van Waarde:Thank you for joining us. It's been so good to have you. Please join us again on our next Sidewalk Conversations.
