Meet Bette Channell | Co-Owner (with Cindy Shinn) of Heights Margaritas

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bette Channell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bette, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?

Well, we love Margaritas!!! 

Cindy Shinn and I have been longtime friends who would often meet to catch up and have a nice frozen beverage. At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, I retired from 40 years of teaching. I reached out to Cindy, (jokingly) and asked her to “find me a part-time job”. All I can say is that when two minds get together, amazing things can happen! 

Little did we know what was ahead for us.! When the pandemic began and beverages became “to go” in Texas, Cindy and I noticed the price of a gallon of margaritas to be astronomical. We also discovered, when Cindy rented a machine for her backyard, that it was much more economical to rent a machine than buy margaritas by the gallon. However, there were no frozen drink rental companies inside the Beltway, so the companies around the area were charging a delivery fee to come into the city for deliveries. 

GAME CHANGER! 

We decided to take advantage of that, along with the effects of the pandemic, and created Heights Margaritas, LLC, focusing on the areas of Houston that seemed to need us! The short of it is that we began with 2 machines and now, after nearly 3 years, we are up to 12+ machines in our inventory. We also rent yard games that have shown to be popular for outside parties and children’s events. In fact, we are seeing quite a rise in popularity of frozen machines for kids parties for frozen slushies! All of our flavors are great with or without alcohol. We also enjoy supporting the local community when possible. We feel very blessed in our success and hope to pass our blessings forward. We are very excited to see where this journey takes us and look forward to serving more great Houstonians!!! 

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

We pride ourselves in being a women owned business, providing the customer with a fun and personable experience. We provide a total product set up and we make sure the machine is operating properly before we leave. We think that these aspects set us apart from the other delivery services. In addition, we provide the customer with a premium product that tastes great. Our mix contains natural flavors and pure cane sugar as opposed to the chemicals used in other syrups. It matters! Naturally, there have been and will continue to be challenges. There have been many logistics to figure out to help us work “smarter, not harder”. We have quickly realized that there are aspects of the business that we excel at individually. We capitalized on that and it has been a big bonus – making us a great TEAM – and yes, we have certainly made mistakes, but we have been determined to learn from them and do things differently when necessary. As we approach our 3rd year in business, we have continued to grow as a company as well as co-owners. We seem to be entering into a new dimension of success and we can’t wait to see where it takes us!! We will continue to provide a top notch product for our community because… 

We love our customers! �� 

Cheers!
Bette and Cindy 

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

Being a Heights resident for many years, I tend to stay near my “tribe”. In the 20+ years that I have lived here I have seen so many changes in the area. More retail shopping, restaurants, bars and coffee shops. It would be very hard to pick a favorite, however, a fun afternoon would be touring the various new and old ice houses and craft beer houses and ending with a great dinner on 19th Street. 

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

First and foremost, our significant others have been instrumental in supporting us, cheering for us and helping us in running the business. It is indeed a family affair and we are thankful to our partners for the support! In addition to our families, We owe so much to Uriah Dailey, the owner of The Margarita Man of Houston (The Woodlands). 

HE started it ALL….He’s the one that delivered the machine to Cindy’s house during the pandemic!!! He has been a godsend and has helped teach and mentor us in our start up as well as becoming a dear friend to all of us. 

To say “we could not have done it without him” is an understatement! Sure, we might have figured it out in time, but his expertise and experience was instrumental in getting us started. We have continued to work closely with him as he helps provide our inventory of mixes and supplies. Thank you Uriah!!! 

Website: www.heightsmargaritas.com

Instagram: @heightsmargs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeightsMargaritas

Image Credits
Bette Channell