In August 2021, while the world was adjusting to its new normal following the global pandemic, Leslie and LeAnn Jones made history. The sisters opened 1010 Wine and Events, the first and only wine bar in Inglewood. Home to the largest selection of Black-owned spirits including wines, champagnes, and craft beers, 1010 Wine and Events has already become a local favorite for brunch, dinner, date nights, and girls’ nights. 1010 has also hosted a plethora of celebrity guests including Nas, Cedric the Entertainer, Nicey Nash, and Jessica Betts. The sisters have also appeared on Ellen, KTLA 5, and On Air with Ryan Secrest. What makes the success of 1010 within the last year even more astounding is the fact that LeAnn is also a practicing attorney and Leslie is a wedding and event planner. The sisters speak with the LA Sentinel about balancing their careers with their entrepreneurial endeavors, their most memorable moments thus far, and their plans for expansion.
LAS: What goals do you have for year two after having such an amazing first year?
Leslie Jones: We have three main goals for this year. Firstly, we want to keep the momentum going. As people that like to dine out a lot, we hate when we go to a place that we’ve loved, after they’ve been open for a while, the food, service, and the vibe become inconsistent. We want to maintain the same level of service and excellence that we provided in our first year. Our second goal is to be able to expand the reach of the winemakers that we carry and become even more of an advocate for those winemakers. The purpose of exposing them in our space is so our customers will ask for them at other restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and liquor stores that they frequent so that those brands continue to grow as we’re growing. And lastly, we want to expand. We’re looking to open another location this year so we’ve been trying to figure out what space is the best fit for us.
LAS: Can you share some advice for entrepreneurs on how to best work with someone that you love like your sibling, spouse, or friend?
LeAnn Jones: The reason why we’ve been able to work together so seamlessly is that we know our strengths and weaknesses so well. When people come and approach me about events, for example, I refer them to Leslie because it’s what she does. This allows us to stay in our lanes and it lessens the burden because we’re not trying to do everything. We do a great job of allowing each person to work within their strengths.
Leslie: When looking for a business partner, not only is LeAnn my sibling, she’s my best friend. I trust her more than anyone else in the world so even if we disagree, I know who she is at her core and because I trust her so much, even if she does something that I don’t agree with, I know that her ultimate goal is to push our business forward so I always try to keep that in mind.
LAS: With LeAnn’s background in the legal field and Leslie’s experience as an event planner, can you share the learning curve coming into the hospitality industry?
Leslie: That’s probably been one of the hardest things thus far, juggling our other businesses and other responsibilities. On Sunday we had our big finale to our anniversary week. We had a South African winemaker and a local celebrity chef do a wine pairing dinner. I also had a wedding that day. My responsibility for the dinner at 1010 was the design, the tablescape, and creating all of the decor. I woke up at 7 am, set the table for dinner, then I went and met with my bride. Then I came back to 1010 to make sure the team knew how to execute the design and then I went to the ceremony space where my bride was getting married. There was a lot of back and forth that day and I think LeAnn and I have been trying to manage our other careers as well as our personal lives. We’re very close to our family and in committed relationships. It’s kind of hard to do all of those things at once but we’re working on figuring it out as well as giving each other grace because we know how hard we work.
LeAnn: After being successful in our other careers, it can be difficult to come into something new and have a learning curve. Leslie and I are very grateful that we had mentors and people pour into us, give us information and support us. It’s important to have an open mind knowing that we haven’t been in this space before so what can we learn from it? We’re grateful that we’ve made it a year. We also know that there is so much for us to learn.
LAS: What’s been your most proud moment within the last year?
LeAnn: It’s been amazing the number of things we’ve been included in within the last year so it’s hard to narrow down but Nicey Nash and Jessica Betts (the first same-sex couple to cover ESSENCE Magazine celebrated this milestone at 1010 Wine and Events) is amongst my favorite. As a member of the LGBTQIA community, it’s something I’m very proud of. To have that moment be documented was pretty cool and personal and my favorite event of the year.
Leslie: The Ellen DeGeneres Show was really big because I’ve watched her show for a long time so it was cool to be on set and behind the scenes. Then to have Yvonne Orji, someone that we look up to, as the guest host, was very special.
The anniversary week made us pause and reflect on what has happened in the last year and it was an extremely humbling experience because we’ve been doing so many events day in and day out and meeting so many people on a regular basis it was cool to look back and say ‘this person was in our space’ or ‘this person launched their wine at 1010, this person did their event here’ and it was surreal. LeAnn and I don’t like a lot of attention so I’m not saying this because of the attention aspect but there have been very few times when we’re not stopped and recognized when we go out. And it’s not about people knowing who we are, it’s the fact that they recognize that we’ve built something in the community that means something to them and that means a lot to us. It really grounds us in the fact that what we’re building and what we’re working towards isn’t just for us, people appreciate the hard work and the excellence we’ve put into everything which is something you don’t always realize when you have your head down working. So that’s been cool over the last couple of months, having people acknowledge our space and our hard work.
CAPTION[Text Wrapping Break]Sisters LeAnn and Leslie Jones celebrate the first anniversary of their bar and restaurant, 1010 Wine and Events. Credit: Zon D’Amour
