'The Hub' with Michael Allen sponsored by Manpower Richmond
Ep. 2 | The Hub with Michael Allen featuring Cathy Hillard
Jul 18, 2023
Kevin Shook
Ever wondered how a manicurist ends up owning a renowned pub? Meet Cathy Hillard, the force behind Smiley's Pub. Starting her journey in the food industry at the tender age of 15, Cathy has traversed a unique path to become a pub owner. Along with her husband, Terry, she's not just running a business, but shaping a local institution. Hear how they defied norms, transformed Smiley's Pub into a non-smoking space, broadened its menu, and navigated the difficulties of road construction and the global pandemic. Get ready for an inside look at a beloved local pub's evolution.
We also venture into the wider picture, exploring the challenges and potential of the downtown area where Smiley's Pub has become a cornerstone. Cathy gives her opinion on the impact of road construction on local businesses and the untapped potential of the area for housing and retail. Plus, she shares her thoughts on the ongoing efforts of the Main Street organization to revitalize the downtown area and her vision for a more vibrant community. This episode promises a wealth of insights from a successful local business owner who is deeply invested in her community. Come join us, as we paint a picture of resilience, determination, and hope for a beloved downtown area's future.
Ever wondered how a manicurist ends up owning a renowned pub? Meet Cathy Hillard, the force behind Smiley's Pub. Starting her journey in the food industry at the tender age of 15, Cathy has traversed a unique path to become a pub owner. Along with her husband, Terry, she's not just running a business, but shaping a local institution. Hear how they defied norms, transformed Smiley's Pub into a non-smoking space, broadened its menu, and navigated the difficulties of road construction and the global pandemic. Get ready for an inside look at a beloved local pub's evolution.
We also venture into the wider picture, exploring the challenges and potential of the downtown area where Smiley's Pub has become a cornerstone. Cathy gives her opinion on the impact of road construction on local businesses and the untapped potential of the area for housing and retail. Plus, she shares her thoughts on the ongoing efforts of the Main Street organization to revitalize the downtown area and her vision for a more vibrant community. This episode promises a wealth of insights from a successful local business owner who is deeply invested in her community. Come join us, as we paint a picture of resilience, determination, and hope for a beloved downtown area's future.
Hello and welcome to the Hub sponsored by Manpower Richmond. I am your host, michael Allen, and on the Hub we interview local business leaders, community partners and various special guests and we want to share unique and untold stories of companies and organizations and people who are making a difference in our community. If you know of anyone looking for employment, check out our jobs at mprichmancom or you can send a resume to resume at mprichmancom. In addition to attempt or attempt to hire employment, we also have direct hire opportunities. So enough of that. Hey, I want to welcome Kathy Hillard from Smiley's Pub. Hello, welcome to the Hub.
Cathy Hillard:
Hello, thank you for having me.
Michael Allen:
So wonderful for you to be here today so a tradition. I'm trying to start here with the Hub is. The first thing I want to talk to you about is tell us about your first job, your very first job that you ever had.
Cathy Hillard:
You kind of got like a paycheck you know my first job I was 15 and I worked for a local chicken place famous recipe and that was my very first job.
Michael Allen:
So what was your? What did you do? What was your duties there?
Cathy Hillard:
Packed orders. That was my main duty at 15, so Did you enjoy it?
Michael Allen:
Was it fun or a good learning experience?
Cathy Hillard:
It was a great learning experience. Yes, good, good.
Michael Allen:
Well, they're definitely still around and they're doing well. Maybe, hopefully, you know you kind of helped them along the way with your participation there. So, kathy, did you grew up from Rich? Are you a Richmond I? Are you from Richmond or can you tell me about I?
Cathy Hillard:
grew up in Richmond. I was born in Chicago and we moved here when I was younger, but I've been here the rest of my time, so, yes, so how old were you when you came. I was two.
Michael Allen:
Two years old, so not a lot of memories of Chicago.
Cathy Hillard:
No.
Michael Allen:
So basically from Richmond. So Tell me I mean I ask about your first job but tell me a little bit about your kind of your career history, what you've done up to this point in your life.
Cathy Hillard:
Well, I went to school to be a licensed manicurist and I've done that for 25 years, and in the meantime we had several rental properties and purchased our first bar approximately 15 years ago.
Michael Allen:
And that was Birdie's music bar.
Cathy Hillard:
Correct, you get the name right.
Michael Allen:
Yes, so what made you decide to get into that kind of business?
Cathy Hillard:
My crazy husband.
Michael Allen:
I mean, what was appealing? I mean, did you like doing it? I mean, you're obviously into it still with. Smiley's, but you currently don't own Birdie's anymore.
Cathy Hillard:
No, we sold it. At the time the market was going with the rentals and so we sold them and we needed to reinvest some money. His idea was a bar, but we took it and ran with it and built it up and sold it.
Michael Allen:
And where did Smiley's come along in that process? I mean, you still had Birdie's.
Cathy Hillard:
Yes, we still had Birdie's and we needed to expand and we purchased Smiley's about five years ago.
Michael Allen:
And so I'm going to jump back a little bit. So you were a manicurist for like over 20 years right yes, and you're not doing that anymore.
Cathy Hillard:
No, okay.
Michael Allen:
So I mean I bet you met all kinds of people in the community doing that.
Cathy Hillard:
I have. I've met some wonderful people. I've had a lot of great mentors along the way too.
Michael Allen:
And these mentors are people that you just came in contact through the manicuring or just maybe jobs that you did.
Cathy Hillard:
I'm Joyce Thornberg opportunity for me and she taught me a lot and some other local Mary Hoppe was great to me. Business owners in town they were. They were super directional with me. They really helped on, you know, helping me understand business.
Michael Allen:
What kind of things did they kind of, you know, talk to you about, that kind of helped you along with? You know specific things that you guys would discuss.
Cathy Hillard:
Joyce taught me everything about food, from produce to meat. She taught me everything and that has helped me grow to where I am today, with catering and in the restaurant.
Michael Allen:
Okay, and we'll definitely talk about the catering a little bit more. So what was appealing to purchase Smiley's?
Cathy Hillard:
We really needed to expand. We had grown out of birdies. We had purchased another building next door and joined those together and we had just grown out of it and Smiley's is five buildings and it was much larger and it was a new opportunity and it needed to grow.
Michael Allen:
I mean, if you're from Richmond or you grew up in this area, you know about Smiley's pub. I mean it's been around for a long time. Do you know much about the history of Smiley's? I mean how far it goes back.
Cathy Hillard:
Originally it was one building and it was called bar 39 when Smiley purchased it. That was his nickname. His name is Harold Rankin and it was just called bar 39, which is that address 39.
Michael Allen:
Okay.
Cathy Hillard:
So, and then he just kept expanding and adding buildings on.
Michael Allen:
And do you happen to know kind of when that opened up? I mean, what kind of the timeline that?
Cathy Hillard:
I'm guessing in the 70s, 70s maybe, so you?
Michael Allen:
know we're talking about a local pub that's been around for about 50 years.
Cathy Hillard:
Yes.
Michael Allen:
So after you and your husband Terry purchased Smiley's, you kind of made some changes to it, though, right?
Cathy Hillard:
Right away. Yes, we went in and put all new equipment in the kitchen and we went non-smoking because it was a smoking establishment.
Michael Allen:
Thank you for doing that.
Cathy Hillard:
You're welcome. Neither of us smoked, so it was definitely a big change for us because Birdie's was smoking, but it's great and we wanted to allow families to come in and enjoy dining and but yet still people could come in after work and relax and have a cocktail.
Michael Allen:
So you have kind of, and then I think you've really expanded the food quite a bit. I mean, I don't remember going. I mean really I started going to Smiley's after the smoking went away, so that was a big for me. And then you know, you kind of expanded your food line and I've enjoyed going down there and having meals and hanging out with friends, and so that's was a draw for me at least.
Cathy Hillard:
Yes, we COVID hit. And when we first purchased Smiley's, there was a bulldozer at our front door for a year and they were doing row construction and I thought we just got through that and then COVID hit.
Michael Allen:
Right.
Cathy Hillard:
And I'll never forget going home and sitting down with my laptop going oh my gosh, I just got through the bulldozer, it's finally gone. You know, we're finally able to get people in the front door and now we have to close. So I came up with a menu of boxed lunches meals and I sent those out, emailed, to every human resource manager of every manufacturer that I have done business with and that spread rapidly.
Michael Allen:
So were you did that kind of help expand your catering, or was catering born out of that, or were you already?
Cathy Hillard:
it expanded it. I wasn't into it as much as what I was into, just getting Smiley's build up and from what it was and it just all kind of when it fell into place.
Michael Allen:
Well, you've done some kind of cool things. I know. A few times you just sent some stuff to our office. Yeah, and you know we we weren't, I'd say, really big clients, but that definitely grew. You know my staff's interest in Smiley's and and so I think you know we have several people are pretty regulars at this point. So that was those are smart. It was a smart idea. Is that just something you thought of, or something that?
Cathy Hillard:
Well, being new to this area, Bertie's was a few blocks away. I wanted everyone to know it's new owners. Things are changing. You know we're expanding our menu and you know for a chance to people to come in and see what we're all about. And food is always. It always wins everybody's heart.
Michael Allen:
Yeah, definitely. So this might be a tough question, but I mean kind of, what's your, what's the? Is there a big item that's super popular Down at Smiley's food item? It's kind of a leader that people order a lot or they like, or is it kind of across the board?
Cathy Hillard:
It's across the board. Honestly, I have looked at my POS on the top sellers, but it really is across the board.
Michael Allen:
Mm-hmm. So it's not just one thing, it's just a different combination of whatever. Yes, everybody hits somebody.
Cathy Hillard:
That and at different times. What our lunch is? A lot of salads, but then in the evening it's, you know, dinner and appetizers.
Michael Allen:
So you have, you have. Was the back patio there when you?
Cathy Hillard:
yes, we do have a beer garden.
Michael Allen:
Yes, was that there or?
Cathy Hillard:
yes.
Michael Allen:
You just kind of maybe improve it a little bit.
Cathy Hillard:
I did improve it.
Michael Allen:
And you have Music. How often do you have live music? So we have live music every Thursday and Friday night seems like more than that, but but if I from down there, maybe a Thursday when I've had the, had the. So who are some of the people you have come down here and play.
Cathy Hillard:
We have Scott Ross, brian Benedict, vintage, three band, jeffrey Rick.
Michael Allen:
If we forgot somebody.
Cathy Hillard:
Mike and Dudley.
Michael Allen:
Guys just hit her with this question. So, looking forward, what are some of your plans? Do you have any Different, different plans for smileys? Or I mean just kind of, where do you see yourself going with smileys now?
Cathy Hillard:
well, we've added a Bourbon selection, a really nice bourbon selection, and that has brought a lot of people in. There are a lot of bourbon drinkers around. We get a lot of a lot of people from Ohio that have heard about it. Yes, we had a couple from. They actually own a bar in Ohio and they came over because they heard about it and they were impressed. So Just keep adding unique Things to it. I I want people to come and relax and enjoy it and go wow, this is really a neat place to go.
Michael Allen:
I haven't really got into the bourbons yet. Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough. I think it's kind of a choir thing I love bourbon.
Cathy Hillard:
Yes, I mean it's definitely picked.
Michael Allen:
I mean, isn't it a growing popular drink? It?
Cathy Hillard:
is. We have a bourbon tasting this weekend, Friday. It is very popular.
Michael Allen:
Awesome, so tell me a little bit about your catering.
Cathy Hillard:
So we have grown significantly and our kitchen is not that big. So we recently purchased two more buildings downtown Richmond that has a full kitchen in it for catering and I am opening downtown Deli and Catering Company.
Michael Allen:
Nice. So what's the business plan for that?
Cathy Hillard:
Well, my business plan is I don't want to leave two empty storefronts and I really just need the kitchen. But I am going to. Since I cater so much every day to many of the factories and local businesses, I'm going to do a grab and go cooler, have fresh salads, hummus cups, fruit cups. We'll have breakfast coffee.
Michael Allen:
So you'd be able to go there and have breakfast.
Cathy Hillard:
You can go there and have breakfast. It just won't be table service. We'll have tables, but you can go up and order at the counter and then we'll bring it out to you.
Michael Allen:
But that's not. I find that interesting. I think there's not a lot of breakfast options in our community.
Cathy Hillard:
I mean there's some.
Michael Allen:
There's some good places, but definitely we could use some more options.
Cathy Hillard:
Yes.
Michael Allen:
Oh, that's great. So where do you see things going, like someone says, hey, what's? Where do you see things going in the next five years? You kind of thought that far, or just trying to get through this project.
Cathy Hillard:
Well, I always think five years ahead. I just expand the businesses that we have and hopefully by some more commercial real estate. I really am looking forward to downtown growing even more and being profitable for everyone.
Michael Allen:
Well, that kind of segues me into a little bit of discussion about downtown Richmond. I mean, my office is, I think, located in downtown. We're on the 5th and main, we're kind of at the I don't know if we're at the head or the toe of downtown.
Cathy Hillard:
I would say you're the head of downtown, so that's good.
Michael Allen:
So I mean, we want a vibrant downtown. So what do you think are some of the best parts, or best potential parts, of our downtown area? Start there.
Cathy Hillard:
We have a beautiful park. Elstrow Park is beautiful. The history down here. We have a lot of historical buildings that are really neat. Actually, we're in one right now and I think some of them just need a little TLC, but we're on our way with that.
Michael Allen:
What do you see the challenges? I mean because it seems like to me that it's been going on a while. Different initiatives, plans, different. I won't put it totally on the map. We have different mayors and they've all sometimes some have been more involved, others not so much, but it just seems like it still stalls. It's still. Maybe there's more progress than I'm aware of. I know you're involved, you're trying to become very involved into downtown area. Maybe you could even point, you know, talk about how you're involved.
Cathy Hillard:
Well, it's not moving as fast as I would like. We live in a world where everything is instant, I feel like, and I would love for it to turn around instantly. I think it will eventually, with more people being involved and pushing. I really, you know, traveling around. I travel when I can and there is so much potential here that we can do. The road construction hasn't helped, but once it's finished, I think it will be easier for people to be accessible down here.
Michael Allen:
Right, hopefully there's not any other plans to tear things up in that vein. You know, I guess we'd say like Death Street 10th or 11th, you know that stretch, that's the part we're talking about.
Cathy Hillard:
It's been going on for five years because, like I said, I had a bulldozer at my front door Smiley's when we first purchased it.
Michael Allen:
I mean that's just a challenge If you're wanting to invest in that property or into a business. I mean you want to have a full potential of people who have access to your business.
Cathy Hillard:
Yes, and that's not the case and I think that's one of the draws on new businesses coming to town right now is the construction?
Michael Allen:
Yes, Do you think there's potential for retail businesses to be there? Do you think it's going to look different than retail?
Cathy Hillard:
No, I think definitely retail will come. We need more housing and the more people we get down here, the more retail we will see.
Michael Allen:
Right. I mean I'm encouraged. I don't think there's anything signed, sealed and delivered. But I did like do like the idea of some housing going in this area, because you're bringing in a whole market of clients that could have easy access to the businesses down here and they just could walk and they don't have to walk very far at all.
Cathy Hillard:
No, they don't. And that is the housing. You know, with the elder bearman project, hopefully that will go through and to bring that housing down here you will see a flock of businesses want to come down here, because people will. You know, in bigger cities I'm from Chicago, I go there, I love it People walk there's, you know, they live upstairs. There's a grocery store right downstairs. They don't have to go far, you know, across the street to grab dinner. It's not far, so they're used to that. Most of them don't have vehicles.
Michael Allen:
Are you? You're involved in the main street. Organization yes, Organization, yes, so. So tell us a little bit about that organization, maybe give a plug.
Cathy Hillard:
We're really working. Our executive director, beth Newton, is working really hard to bring in businesses and you know work with the local businesses that are already here on. You know things that they might need to help. You know if their road was closed due to construction or whatever. Yes, and she's doing a great job at that and being a good, you know sound person between you, know the city and her as far as communicating to let us know what exactly is going on.
Michael Allen:
Right. Any other feelings about the opinions, about the downtown area, things you'd like to see?
Cathy Hillard:
I would just like to see more people active downtown. There's a lot to offer down here, and I would like to see more people come down here and see what it's all about.
Michael Allen:
Right. Well, hopefully we can get the construction signs and the barriers and do the finishing part of this and things can open up and be encouraging the people to want to invest in other businesses, like you have with this catering business, and we really wish you the best of luck with that. I think it's going to be a good thing for our downtown area and just for our community. So I appreciate the investment that you're making and the passion that you have for our community, especially the downtown area. So thank you for that. Any last parting words or anything that you want to comment on before we kind of wrap this up?
Cathy Hillard:
Well, I appreciate you having me on here and I appreciate what you do for our downtown and our community. Your building is always in perfect shape. I walk by it and it's like the grass is like carpet. Let me tell you it's great. It's great to see somebody take that pride.
Michael Allen:
Thank you.
Cathy Hillard:
And help make downtown beautiful.
Michael Allen:
Great. Well, I appreciate those comments. Well, kathy, thank you for joining us on the hub today and taking the time and visiting with us. Those are tuning in. You can catch us on YouTube and all the other podcast platforms, so please pass the word and thank you for listening today.