Meet Savanna Simons and Seirra Kilkenny of Medieval Pub

Today we’d like to introduce you to Savanna Simons and Seirra Kilkenny. 

Hi Savanna and Seirra, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Sierra and myself gravitated to each other because we both hold ourselves to almost impossible standards of success. We both graduated high school with an associate’s degree from Lorain County Community Collages’ Early College program. When we graduated, we seemed lost. We decided to embark on a mission to change the world. We wanted to end the differences between people. There is honor in work, and everyone should have a place to gather to share stories, their happiness, and their struggles. 

Growing up in the in the very diverse city of Lorain Ohio, Seirra and I quickly came to love the inclusiveness our city had to offer. With the help of a small group of friends, we deiced to set out to make our mark on the world. Gathering ideas of what we loved most, we decided there was nothing better than all-around inclusivity. Late in 2020, our dreams came to life, and we went to Cleveland and started what we now call Medieval Pub. Our young ideals allowed us to open a business during the heart of the pandemic. We persevered and now we have a growing business with our customers becoming some of our closest friends. We couldn’t have imagined in such a short time that we were able to impart our vision onto our new customers. No matter who you are, we welcome you as you are. This ideal has quickly spread to our customers and our community as well, 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Opening in the face of Covid, business was already assumed to be sluggish; we were unprepared for how slow it truly would become. With funds spent and no profit coming in, marketing budgets were obsolete. We spent nights in front our bar trying to convince cars passing by to stop and come in. At one point of desperation, we strung ourselves with battery-powered Christmas lights, and armed with kid light sabers we waved people in. No one came. Sometimes we had one customer in a night. Sometimes a very lonely night with no one showing up. One customer at a time they saw our energy and hopefulness. We shined and were overjoyed when someone came through our door. 

In need of a plan, we reached out to friends, family, and of course, social media. Targeting every platform we could think of, we offered discounted rates, specials, and fair prices. After months of trying new things, word got out, and we were able to serve our community they way we imagined. 

Another struggle was convincing our customers the idea of inclusivity. They said it wouldn’t work. At first, they were opposed to the idea. With time they noticed all of us are really the same. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business?
As a live music venue, we chose not to segregate to one genre. Offering an array of music types from Hip-Hop, Rock, R&B, Punk, and Electronic Dance Music, we bring a diverse crowd, and everyone is welcome. After sponsoring Evolutionarily Events and more, it brought forth the structure we had hoped for. When there is not a band, we cater to the Cleveland Chess Club and their stand-up comedy shows. For a more relaxed night, we offer every song on our jukebox. No song is deleted. We also offer daily games which include: Jumbo Jenga, Pool, Corn hole, and Pop-a-shot. We believe what truly sets us apart from others bars in our neighborhood is the safe environment we’ve created where people can have fun and truly be themselves. Due to our efforts in creating a friendly-neighborhood bar, we are most proud of being able to pack a bar that was once empty. 

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
We structured our business using the following resources: 

The Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks by August Turak. 

Understanding that there is honor in working hard, but working cannot be your entire life. Many times, when you see entrepreneurs, they always mention the hard work it took to get to a place of success, but very few mention how taking care of yourself along the way is just as important. This book helped us to understand that in order to run a successful business, we must first be operating at a good place within ourselves. Along with remaining humble enough to complete all task within our business to the best of our ability. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://medievalpub.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/medievalpubcle/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MedievalPubCLE/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/medievalpubcle?lang=en