10/16/2026
Thanks again to Union County Women in Business for the spotlight opportunity.
🐝 Meet the Women Behind Local: Jackie Robbins of Honey Heist Mead Co!🍯
Behind every local business is a story worth sharing, and Jackie’s is one you won’t want to miss! She brings her own unique journey, passion, and perspective to our Southern Illinois business community.
Get to know Jackie a little better, learn more about the woman behind the business, and find out what makes her love what she does!
We’re proud to spotlight the incredible women who make our local business community such a special place to live, work, and grow. ❤️
1. 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆.
I joined the Marine Corps right out of high school—partly to help keep me out of trouble and partly to pay for college. After completing my five-year enlistment as a linguist, I earned my advertising degree from SIU. As a first-generation college graduate, I always thought I should just be grateful for the stability and opportunity that came with working for someone else. In my family, dreaming big meant being able to pay the bills every month. So for 14 years, I was happy building a career in retail management, eventually running districts with more than $150 million in annual sales.
If I had to identify what changed my trajectory, it would be two people: my best friend, whom I met in Marine Corps boot camp, and my husband. They believe in me more than I believe in myself some days. When I really started getting into making mead, they were the ones who encouraged me to stop treating the idea of opening a meadery like a crazy dream and start thinking about what it would take to actually do it.
Making the decision to leave my job was certainly scary. It almost felt selfish and irresponsible. Then I had to worry about whether or not we would fit in. We’re located along the Shawnee Hills W**e Trail, but what we make is very different from w**e, and I wasn’t sure how Honey Heist would be received. It turns out most of that worry was in my own head. We have an incredible community of local business owners who support one another, and they welcomed Honey Heist with open arms. I’m incredibly grateful for that.
2. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼?
I’m a mead maker at heart, so creating new recipes and perfecting existing ones is probably my favorite part of the job. I especially love looking at what’s growing in our own backyard and figuring out how to incorporate it into a batch. Pawpaw, sumac, basil, peaches—there are so many interesting ingredients that grow right here in Southern Illinois. Taking something local and seasonal and turning it into a mead that people have never tasted before is incredibly rewarding.
3. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿? I may have given some of this away in the first question, but I think my career path is probably a little unusual! I was a Spanish, French and Albanian linguist and a r***e range coach in the Marine Corps, then earned a degree in advertising, spent 14 years in retail management—and now I make mead professionally.
I’m not sure there was ever a career aptitude test that would have predicted that path.
4. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼?
I absolutely love educating people about mead. Most of the people who walk through our doors have never tasted it before, so they really have no idea what to expect.
Watching someone take that first sip and seeing their expression change is one of my favorite things. Then come the questions—and usually A LOT of them. I could answer the same questions about mead all day long and never get tired of it.
There’s something really fun about introducing someone to an entirely new category of beverage and watching them get excited about it right along with you.
5. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂?
We’re incredibly lucky to live in an area that brings in so many visitors to experience its natural beauty, businesses and events. Those of us who own local businesses understand that we have to take care of one another if we want people to keep coming back. There isn’t one business in Southern Illinois that could generate those tourism dollars on its own. It takes all of us.
Supporting local means helping make sure the businesses our residents love are still here in their backyard, while also creating the kind of experiences visitors want to return to year after year. It also allows us to give genuine recommendations. When someone walks through our doors and asks where they should eat, what they should do next or where they should stay, we can tell them about places we actually know and support.
We get to help people curate an entire Southern Illinois experience—a getaway, a date day, a birthday or just a great weekend. We can’t do that authentically if we aren’t getting out there and supporting one another ourselves.
6. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁, 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿—𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆?
Obviously, I’m a little biased as the mead maker—I think all of our meads are great!
But one thing I’m especially proud of is how many products in our tasting room come from other women-owned businesses. Our lip balm, jewelry, crocheted bees, lotion candles and several other items are all made by women entrepreneurs. Honey Heist being successful is important to me, but I also love that our shelves can provide a small platform for other women building businesses of their own. That’s something I’m really proud of.
