Blog Viewer

Guiltiest pleasure drink? Ice cold martini with pickle juice

What is your favorite quote? “A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory.” -Albert Einstein The most interesting thing to me about this quote is that it was said over 75 years ago. I love to reflect on how much bartending has changed since then but also how much it has stayed the same.

What advice could you offer to others? At the end of the day, life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we choose to react to it. I used to work with someone who was ALWAYS in the weeds. Rather they would constantly *let* themselves fall into the weeds. Their work station was always a mess, their attitude always bad and their tips consistently underwhelming. Most of us have worked with someone like this before, and some of us are, unfortunately, that someone. The only thing out of my old coworkers control in those specific situations was how many tickets were coming in. Keeping a positive mindset is an important first step to solving many of life’s issues. If you take one thing away from this I hope it’s that being negative and stressing over things that cannot be helped benefits no one. TLDR Don’t let anyone dim your light and take away from your joy, especially not yourself. The weeds is a mindset!

Why did you join the USBG? It was 2015 and I was working at a burlesque club in Downtown Houston. I had gone for a nightcap after a shift and ran into someone who used to bartend next door to my old job (Hi Robby and Chieko!) They convinced me to RSVP for a pre-Negroni Week meeting that was happening at a bar called Anvil & Refuge that I had heard of before but never been inside of because it looked too fancy for me. The day of the event, I took a taxi there because I didn’t have a car then I stood outside for 20 minutes, anxiously going over everything that could possibly go wrong in my mind. I was afraid I would walk in to a pop quiz and be instantly outed as an imposter and banned from all future USBG events. What actually happened is I walked in and was immediately greeted by these people I hardly knew who had extended an invitation to me to this awesome event where I learned WHAT a Negroni even was and what Campari was doing to change the world for the better. I saw some familiar faces, I met a bunch of new people, I had a blast. I thought what that couple did was awesome and I wanted to be that person for the solo bartenders out there in my community too. That and all the free food is why I joined the USBG!

What is your #1 take-away from your USBG Member experience thus far? The number of doors that have opened for me though the connections I have made with the USBG are unbelievable. I am so grateful for all of the awesome opportunities and industry leaders I have met through events. I also love that from attending conferences I can find someone I know in so many major cities. I can’t wait for our Jubilee!

Anything else you'd like us to know? IG: @j_uicyj