Today we’d like to introduce you to Brianna & Michael Sheak & Mellor.
Hi Brianna & Michael, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Sunshine Sips started at family parties, not with a business plan. Bri had been bartending for years, and at every holiday get-together she ended up behind the counter anyway, mixing cocktails for the people who drink and fresh mocktails for the people who don’t. The drink that changed everything was for Michael’s mom. She quit drinking four years ago, and after one of Bri’s mocktails she told us it was the first time since then that a drink felt like a real drink, not a consolation prize. That stuck with us. A bar should be for everyone at the party. Nobody should feel like the odd one out because there’s nothing good in their cup, and everyone deserves the sips, the smiles, and the cheers with the people closest to them.
In January 2025 Bri said it out loud: what if we did this for other people’s events? A dry-hire mobile bar, where the host buys the alcohol and we bring everything else. The bartenders, the setup, signature cocktails and mocktails, the mixers and garnishes and ice, a printed menu with the guests’ names on it, and the cleanup at the end of the night. Michael had been pushing for it from the day she mentioned it. He works full-time in banking and had always wanted to build something of his own, something harder and more meaningful than a 9-5.
The push came in July 2025. The restaurant Bri bartended at closed. She picked up two more restaurant jobs, and neither one felt like a future. One afternoon she called Michael and said she was ready to take the leap and start a business together. We were in our early twenties, and had no idea how to start or run a company. We started anyway, because we wanted a better future for us and the family we’re planning.
Since then we’ve bartended a wedding, milestone birthdays, engagement parties, bridal and baby showers, corporate parties, small-business celebrations, a content-creator event, community events where we served nothing but mocktails, and plenty of good old-fashioned backyard parties. We do all of it as a team of two. We shop, prep the garnishes, play Tetris with an entire bar in two little sedans, set up, pour, break down, follow up with the host, and then go to work Monday morning. Bri just started her first teaching job this fall, second grade, and Michael is still a full-time banker. Sunshine Sips happens on weeknights and weekends.
Running a business as a couple is its own adventure. There were long nights, a few arguments over who forgot the limes, a lot of prayers, and more laughs than either of us expected. What got us here is stubbornness and the people we met along the way. Every event taught us something. There’s always a problem, and honestly that’s the fun part: figure it out, fix it, grow a little, and walk face-first into the next one.
What’s next is more of the same, but bigger. We’re growing into more weddings and holiday parties, bringing on help so the two of us aren’t doing every job ourselves, and holding on to the thing we started with: everyone at your party gets a great drink, and you get to be a guest at your own event. If you’re planning something in South Jersey, we’d love to bring the bar to you!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not even close, and we’d be lying if we said otherwise.
The first struggle was time. We both work full-time, so Sunshine Sips lives in the hours everyone else uses to rest. A Saturday event means a Friday night of shopping and prep, a Saturday of loading, setting up, pouring for four hours, breaking down and cleaning up, and a Sunday of follow-ups and content. Then Monday comes. What nobody tells you is how much of owning a business isn’t the part you love. We got into this to make drinks and make people’s day. We spend more time on quotes, contracts, sales tax filings, insurance, licensing, invoices, follow-up messages and social media than we ever spend behind the bar.
The second was money, and the honest order of it. Our jobs pay the monthly bills, so every dollar Sunshine Sips makes goes back into the business. Growing revenue enough to hire help, so the two of us aren’t doing every single job ourselves, is the whole game right now. Revenue also isn’t steady. Summer is packed and January is quiet, and learning to plan around that took a full year.
The third was getting anyone to notice us. In the beginning it was friends, family, and whoever we could talk to. Getting strangers to find us and trust us with the biggest day of their year takes reviews, photos, word of mouth, and a lot of patience. South Jersey has other mobile bars, and some of them are really good. Standing out meant getting clear on who we are: a dry-hire bar that plans the whole thing with you, from the exact shopping list to the last pour, with mocktails that are a real menu and not an afterthought.
And the fourth was us. Running a business with the person you’re going to marry means the business comes home with you. We’ve had the late-night arguments about money and priorities. We’ve also learned to tell each other the truth, split the work by who’s better at it, and leave the business at the door some nights. Prayer helped. So did laughing at ourselves.
Every one of those problems is still here in some form. The difference now is that we know we can solve them, because we’ve solved the last ten. That’s the part of the story we’re proudest of.
We’ve been impressed with Sunshine Sips Mobile Bar , but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Sunshine Sips is a mobile bar and beverage service for South Jersey. We’re a dry-hire bar, which means you buy the alcohol and we do everything else. We plan the menu with you, build signature drinks around your event, tell you exactly how much to buy so you’re not guessing at the liquor store, and then show up with the bartenders, the bar, the mixers, garnishes, ice and cups, a printed menu with your names on it, and we set up, pour, and clean up. Dry-hire also means it costs you less: no supplier fees or markup on the alcohol, and whatever’s left at the end of the night is yours to keep or return for your money back. Weddings, milestone birthdays, showers, engagement parties, corporate and holiday parties, graduations, and backyard parties. Anywhere without a bar is somewhere we can bring one.
What we specialize in is the plan, not just the pour. Most bartending services show up and serve. We’re the people who help you figure out the whole bar before the day: what to serve, how much of it, how it should look, how it fits your timeline. Our clients tell us the best part is that they didn’t have to think about the bar once the party started. That’s the job.
What we’re known for is mocktails that people actually want. At public and community events we set up as a vendor and make fresh, handcrafted drinks right in front of you, instead of the sodas, dirty sodas, lemonades and coffee at the next table. It’s family friendly, so kids, grandparents and the friend who’s driving all get a drink that looks and tastes like it belongs at the party. Those events are how a lot of our local communities got to know us, and we bring the same mocktails to private events whenever a host asks. That started with Michael’s mom and it’s still the thing we care about most: the guest who isn’t drinking should get a drink just as good as everyone else’s.
What sets us apart at private events is what our clients keep telling us. Fast service, no long lines. Two bartenders with real personalities. Communication before you book, while you plan, and on the day itself. A bar that looks the part. Two people who genuinely care about your day and your guests’ experience. And signature drinks your taste buds won’t forget, though legally we’ll make sure you never get to the point of forgetting anything else.
What we’re most proud of is the reviews, because they say the same thing in different words. A bride wrote that “nobody had an empty cup” and that we made sure she and her husband were always taken care of. A mom booked us for her daughter’s first birthday and extended an extra hour on the spot because her guests didn’t want the bar to close. That’s the brand: fast, warm, and nobody left out.
What we’d want readers to know is simple. Impress, don’t stress. If you’re hosting something in South Jersey and the bar is the part you’re dreading, that’s our favorite problem. Send us the date and the guest count and we’ll send you a plan. It’s an experience you and your guests won’t regret.
What were you like growing up?
Michael: Strong willed, dramatic, and confident, usually before I had any reason to be. I was born in Cape May and spent my early years in Wildwood and North Wildwood, where my dad, my aunt and my grandmother raised me. My dad worked constantly to keep us afloat, and we moved more than once because of flooding, so my aunt and grandmother were the ones watching out for me day to day.
What I wanted, from as early as I can remember, was to be an actor. I did theater every chance I got, and as I got older I started booking real work: a Six Flags summer promo, an extra spot on Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries, and an anti-vaping PSA where they put me in front of the camera and let me improvise. I was cast to play the younger version of Pete Davidson in a film, and then COVID shut the project down for me. That one still stings. But acting gave me something better than a credit. I learned to ignore the naysayers and the bullies, believe in myself and keep showing up, and that habit has paid for itself a hundred times since.
The biggest turn in my life came in 2012, when my dad met the woman who became my mom. She adopted me, and the lessons and values she put into me made me the man I am. We moved to Franklinville together in 2014, I graduated from Delsea Regional in 2020.
The other turn I made myself. I grew up obese. At some point I decided I was done with it, got serious in the gym, and did a complete 180 on my health. That’s where I learned the pattern I’ve run on ever since: pick the thing, get curious about it, get confident, and become the best at it around me. Nobody gets to tell me what I can or can’t do, which my parents and teachers will tell you was not always easy to live with. It’s also why a standard 9-to-5 never felt right, and why I wanted to build something of my own.
Bri: Hard-working and always on the go. I grew up in Washington Township with both my parents, and competitive dance took most of my days. When I wasn’t dancing I was studying or with my friends. If I had to pick one word for myself, it’s honest. I’ve always believed the honest road is the right one even when it’s the hard one, and I’ve tried to be someone people can trust in every part of my life.
I didn’t have the hosting gene as a kid. We were never home long enough to cook or host. That came at 16, with my first restaurant job, when I found out how much I loved taking care of people and being part of the big moments in their lives, even as a stranger at the edge of the room. When I started bartending in my hometown, the skilled bartenders there trained me, and I took to the creative side right away, writing the drink specials for the night.
I also always knew I’d be a teacher. There’s nothing like making a difference in a kid’s life, and it turns out it’s the same job behind a bar: patience, and real appreciation for people from every kind of background. Teaching taught me to make an impact on children. Sunshine Sips lets me do it for adults.
Both: We met on Tinder, which we laugh about, because it turned out Bri spent her childhood riding golf carts next to Michael’s house with a family friend. The first date made up for the unromantic start: an arcade, the gym, mini golf, lunch, and a drive down to Wildwood, all in one day. We’re the same person in two bodies, and we’ve grown up together ever since.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sunshinesipsbar.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunshinesipsmobilebar/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577258112189
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sunshinesipsmobilebar?lang=en
