Alex Dann: Inside the Career

About This Episode

Alex Dann sits down with Ronan for the debut episode of Behind the Bar. Alex has one of the most winding and wild hospitality careers you'll ever hear — from Club Rivers RSL to running a five-star hotel bar in Tamworth, getting poached by a greyhound track (that immediately went into administration), managing venues for Trippas White Group, and now running his own mobile bartending empire, Sydney Mobile Hospitality Group.

Along the way: a surprise baby born in the bathroom, getting headbutted at 3am, his first gig being Jamie Durie's housewarming with 12 hours notice, and why adaptability is the only thing that matters in mobile bartending. Plus a rapid-fire round featuring bubblegum bacon vodka and a strong defence of the Trinidad Sour.

Key Topics & Timestamps

• 00:00 — How Ronan and Alex met on Sydney Bartender Exchange
• 02:08 — Starting at Club Rivers RSL as an 18-year-old
• 04:05 — Diploma of Hospitality Management, COVID lockdowns
• 06:32 — Moving to the country: Peel Inn, Nundle
• 06:43 — Graze at Willow Tree Inn (dry-aged steakhouse)
• 09:12 — The surprise baby story (born in the bathroom)
• 11:21 — Powerhouse Tamworth, five-star hotel, whiskey collection
• 11:56 — Cocktail innovation: fat washing, clarification, lacto ferments
• 14:01 — The greyhound track offer with an insane signing bonus (that immediately went into administration)
• 19:44 — Cafe and bar in Beresfield, rebuilding from the ground up
• 23:08 — Drag nights, live music, building community
• 25:58 — Trippas White Group: Taronga Zoo, Opera House, Sydney Tower
• 29:05 — Oxford Street private function venue — current role, 4 years
• 37:07 — Jamie Durie housewarming: first mobile bar gig, 12 hours notice
• 38:06 — Buying Let It Glow Parties
• 38:39 — Launching Sydney Mobile Hospitality Group
• 45:45 — Cocktail development consulting: 30 signature cocktails for a Melbourne venue
• 48:34 — What makes a great mobile bartender: adaptability above everything
• 55:34 — Getting headbutted at 3am, worst gigs, fake IDs at 18ths
• 01:15:57 — Cocktail competition rapid fire: wasabi liqueur vs bubblegum bacon vodka
• 01:18:05 — Last meal, final drinks, the Trinidad Sour defence

Full Transcript

None: Like it could be 45 minutes of me rambling about everything.

Alex: That's the whole goal. The goal is just to get you rambling.

Ronan: Alex, I want to say first of all, thanks so much for reaching out on uh the Sydney Bartender Exchange, I think, is where we first sort of interacted. Um, yeah, it was like those those small little interactions like that when I first started Cocktail Foamer that like really gave me the I don't know, gave me the confidence to like keep going.

Alex: Yeah, exactly. So, what was it? It was probably July, I think, last year. Yeah. You made your first posts and I looked at the product itself and I went, that's pretty cool. Let's have a look. And then, yeah, you know, over the months we've just progressed and developed in, you know, the personal and business relationship that we've got. So yeah, it's interesting that from one small interaction, it's growing into what it is.

Ronan: Um, but yeah, thank you again for having me in today. Um, yeah, excited to be here and see what it's all about. So yeah,

Alex: Dude, I did one with uh also I have to be like I did one with who did I do one with uh this dude from Dispatched Imports, Aaron. I got half his head out of the frame the whole time and I'm like like it's not stopping me from posting it.

Ronan: You just do like zoom in

Alex: For the most part.

Ronan: Um

Alex: Crazy.

Ronan: Dude, I guess I want to I want to find out a little bit about your hospitality career cuz all I really know is that um you've like dived head first into these uh sort of mobile bartending globe parties. But I guess we'll get into that. But where where did you start your hospitality journey? Have you always grown up in Sydney?

Alex: Yeah, so yeah, I'm Sydney born and bred uh southwest Sydney, so Canterbury Banktown area. Um lived out that way for 25 odd years. Um started my career as an 18-year-old. Finished school. you know, what are we going to do with ourselves? Yep, sweet. Sister works in hospital while she's studying. Yep, cool. I'll get you a job. Easy. So, I started off at an RSL. It was Club Rivers in Riverwood, gaming attendant, beverage attendant. Um, you know, working with the pokies, learning how to make really boiled coffees, the whole lot. Fast forward about 4 years and I'm still there and just puttering along, no plans. And it kind of hit a point where I got sick of it and I went, "All right, I'm going to move on to something else." started working at Watsons on the warf and it was peak summer season pre pre-COVID but back end of the lockout restrictions and you know corporate end of year parties on the water get pretty loose. So, got a bit of an experience with that in, you know, pumping out drinks, doing, you know, 18 G&Ts for a bunch of suits that, you know, can't even stand at this point because they're just pumping into it. Um, and that kind of got me conditioned to the old school hospital way before what we currently sit at. Uh through there I bounced around trying out a few different venues and positions uh working in gaming lounges, uh cocktail bars, uh just pubs, uh even had a short stint at the Star Savers, which was good fun. Um got that whole exposure and the old school way and thoughts behind it. Um fast forward a couple years, moved over to Newcastle, spent about 6 years there. Um, and that's when I got into supervisory and management roles, you know, just really trying to uh progress the career, but still just sat there. Had no idea what I wanted to do with myself. Um, looked into it and I went, "Oh, cool. I'll get my throat in hospitality." Went down to the local TAFE at Hamilton. I had a chat with them. They go, "Oh, yeah. We'll get you enrolled." And then they talked about just base experience and went, "No, do your diploma." So 12 months later, got my diploma of hospitality management and then COVID hit everyone. So we're locked down.

Ronan: Did you end up finishing the uh certificates?

Alex: Yeah, I did. It was about 6 months before. Um

Ronan: I'm always curious. I mean I think I've signed up like to them twice always

Alex: Certificates actually helped you get a gig.

Ronan: Yeah.

Alex: So that that was the next part I was getting into. So those certificates fasttracked me straight into upper management

Ronan: Straight off the bat. So, I had basic bar management experience in little kirky cocktail bars. Um, you know, they were pumping out 45, 50 grand in revenue per month,

Alex: Not much, opening like three nights a week, like enough for, you know, a small team of like three or four and, you know, the owner to uh take a little paycheck home. Um, CO hits, restrictions start easing, and then I get a notification on seek looking for a bar and venue manager for the Peel Inn. I went, "Where the is that? I've never heard of that." It was in the little town in Nundle next to Tamworth.

Ronan: Okay.

Alex: And I spoke to my partner and she went, "Fuck it. Let's do it." You know, why not? What's worse going to happen? Um applied, they contacted me, got us down there for the weekend to get a feel for the community, the pub, how it operates, and have a bit of a trial run on the floor just to make sure, you know, I'm not talking Um head over heels with it. We went, "Yeah, awesome. Let's give it a go in the country." Uh, worst decision of my life. I hate the country. Um, this our neighbors for 10 km were cows. Literally just these quiet little remote towns. Nothing's going on. You can hear just how still everything is. It's not my vibe. I'm, you know, more of a hustling and bustling kind of guy. Um, then with

Ronan: How long were you out there for before you before you called it? 18 months.

Alex: You gave it a good crack.

Ronan: Yeah. At 12 months is when we went, "No, we need a bail." Uh, so I was there for about six or eight months at the Peel Inn and I went, "No, I'm not enjoying this. It's not happening."

Alex: And I got a position at another place called Graze at the Willow Tree Inn, uh, which is a steakhouse on New England Highway on the way into Tamworth. So, you're three and a half hours and you drive and there's this random little hotel steakhouse thing and you think, "What the is this?" And you get in there and it's great um all farmed cattle that they've all got grainfed um minimum six weeks dryaged in their own chambers. Uh and it's not just a little cabinet. They have full walk-in uh cabinets there. And that was pretty cool. So all the passing through traffic that know that spot would go in there and it was yeah nuts. You know they were offering chateaubriands and um not just you know your classic rib eyes or anything like that like big proper cuts of like country mates um world class uh world-renowned chefs were in there as well um that had worked in England as like Michelin star chefs as well that were running this little quiet country place.

Ronan: So it was pretty cool. Um

Alex: Little gold mine in the middle of nowhere.

Ronan: It was so like

Alex: What's it called? Did you say

Ronan: Graze? So G R A Z E at the Willow Tree Inn.

Alex: Graze the Willow Tree in.

Ronan: Yeah, it's an odd one. So if you're ever going out to the Tamworth Country Music Festival, keep an eye out for that one on the left as you're heading in towards Tamworth. Thousand% you won't regret it.

Alex: It's literally one of the best stakes like houses I've come across. Um, so I was there for again only probably about 3 or 4 months cruising along with it. Um, and while I was there, funnily enough, that's when I had my youngest. So she was born and there's a whole plot and story behind that. But basically my partner was at work the night before. She happened to work at the same place because small towns, nothing to do when she's the chef. she had the seafood pasta for dinner. Again, you go and kind of go, "Oh, You're in the middle of the country and you're eating seafood." They got it um in fresh uh weekly and basically once it was getting past the fresh to serve date, not the use by, but the, you know, I wouldn't pay for this at this point.

Ronan: They'd go, "Okay, cool. Make staff meals." So, she had one of the seafood pastas that they made up. She went, "Oh, I've got really bad stomach pains and, you know, cramps." really lethargic and you know finish her shift. Um next morning I've got work getting the other kids ready for school and um she gave birth to our child in the bathroom at home and funnily enough we didn't know she was pregnant on top of all that. So alarm bells ring. Call up the boss. Great. Alicia is not coming in to work. Um again, you know, we've just had a kid. I'm going to take a couple days off. You know, like don't have time to put in, you know, paternity leave, but yep. Sweet. Good luck. Is she not showing?

Alex: No.

Ronan: No. So, um, with the placenta, it was, um, sitting on the front of her stomach. So, that actually hit the baby. So, she got a tiny little lump, but again, it was middle of co, so putting on what looked like maybe 5 kilos of weight. You know, you're not going to turn around and point fingers at anyone. But, you know, there was no indication or no signs. Everything was just normal. Going to work like nothing. Not complaining of extra fatigue or, you know, sickness like with the previous kids. It's just,

Alex: Yep, cool. Let's go with it. So, she had a baby. I took about a week or so off work, got back into it, and we're going, "All right, cool. We don't like the country. What are we going to do?" Fast forward a few weeks or months, have a customer come in, um, and he's seated down in one of the VIP sections that wasn't even open. Cool. No worries. Um, he knows the owner. Sweet. You know, small town. Yep. is important. Keep him away from general public. Yep, no worries. And I'm serving him. It's 2:30 in the afternoon. It's lunchtime. I'm sitting them down and you know your great seat lap off of drinks. Um and immediately he says I don't drink. Perfect. Didn't bat an eye. I just said to him, "That's fine. We've got plenty of non-alcoholic options as well. And if you are feeling a bit um quirky for the wines. Can't remember off the top of my head, but I said X, Y, and Zed. Otherwise, we've got soft drinks, mocktails, coffees, everything in between. I saw his eye light up a little bit. Just served him as usual. Come to the end of the lunch period, he's talking to the owner and asking questions, looking at me, don't think much of it. He beckons me over, hands me his business card, and he goes, "Oh, yep, cool. I'm the owner of the Powerhouse in Tamworth." So, that's the five-star hotels. He's like, "I want you to be my beverage manager." All right. Sweet. uh went over there, interviewed uh was looking after their whole beverage department. So they had 70 or 80 odd whisies in its display and shelf, 284 wines and I think it was a two glass rating at the time. So it was pretty fun. Uh at that point I was doing some experimental stuff with cocktails. Uh we were moving forward in developing new beverage trends. um you know clarification, lacto ferments, um fat washing was really on the trend at that point. It was still new and innovative with uh how social media was portraying bartending. Uh so I played around with that, added some quirky things to the lists and um that was good that I did that for the remainder of the tenure in um Tamworth and again what happened was I got poached by someone else. Uh, it's the nice.

Ronan: Everyone wants y,

Alex: Mate. I They used to That's when I had hair. Um,

Ronan: All fell out quite quickly. Uh, once that one finished up, um, we had all the high-end clients coming through Tamworth staying at that hotel because it's the only five-star hotel in the entire area and it was miles ahead of everything else. Um, I had my own separate bar to the restaurant area where, you know, everyone goes down and eats and, uh, all the drinks come from bar over to them. But I had my bar there. Uh, had some clients in there. Nothing unusual, you know, high high-end VIPs, company credit cards, does not matter. Uh, we had a Habiki 17 sitting in the shelf. Uh, it sat there for about four years and I killed it in 6 months. Um, we got Yamazaki in there. Um, I can't even think of half the whisies off the top of my head, but heaps of Leafroy, like Volins. Um,

Alex: Sounds like you stayed in the country for a while. Like, so

Ronan: This is just 18 months.

Alex: Oh, so this is all in the 18 months, right? So, you worked at several different places within those.

Ronan: Yeah. So, three three venues. Um, and as we're finishing up there, um, gentleman approached me and said, "Yep, cool. How do you like it here?" And jokingly said, "I'm from Sydney, was in Newcastle. We're out here at the moment." And, you know, I'm evaluating my options. And again, he passes me his business card as well as his lawyer that was sitting next to him, hands me his, and he goes, "Cool. We own a Greyhound track in well all the Greyhound tracks in Australia. I've got a position. How would you like to move to Newcastle? And I'm like, "Oh, yeah, cool." And he's like, "Yeah, the ones down at uh the gardens, which is just next to the university, basically. How would you like to do that?" And I said, "Oh, what do you want me to do?" And he's was a bit vague, but he went, "Yeah, cool. I basically want you to become my general manager for the entire track." Cool. I don't know anything about Greyhounds, the race, like that um aspect of the racing industry. He said, "No, don't worry. We've got all the staffing in that, but we need the infrastructure and the food and beverage in place." Cool. Went down for an interview and had everything arranged in line, went for the interview, was basically offered stupid stupid money. Um like cannot turn it down money on the spot. And I went, "Oh, okay, cool. I'm going to have to, you know, put my two weeks notice in. And the solicitor looks at me and he smiles and he goes, "If you call your boss right now, tell him to get and that you're not coming in and you start tomorrow." He goes, "I'll give you So, I sat there and I thought about it. I called my partner and full panic mode going, "Oh my god, what should I do?" And she's like, "Yeah, do it. it. Why not? It's our escape route." Called up the boss and I said, "Yeah, mate. Um, things have changed. I'm not coming back. Uh, so that bridge immediately got burnt. Um, yeah, that stip end got deposited into my account literally the next day. So, I covered moving fees. Then we're over there. First day that I started, I found out that the racetrack was going through administration that day. The administrators had turned up, sacked the entire department except for one person.

Alex: What What exactly does that mean?

Ronan: Basically, their finances weren't in line. That's why they were looking for someone to take the structure of everything and then administrators come in. They hold control of every single asset in finance. Uh re-evaluate where all the money is coming in and out of the business and then they have full control over everything. Um then once everything gets processes and systems are put in place, correct suppliers and agreements and trade um contracts are made, they reappoint a team and then continue operations. If they can't succeed with that, they shut the venue basically. So

Alex: Did that affect your role significantly?

Ronan: It amplified it significantly. I assumed that I'd have someone to reference um anything more or less basically I was um given keys um access to everything and they went cool this is your login good luck and I went what the

Alex: So you got like no one to report cuz the people who you would have

Ronan: Reported to got sacked yeah so I spoke directly to the administrators and it was the owner of the administration company and

Alex: About six of his team that were in there. Um the one person that wasn't terminated um did the sole operations of the legislation behind the greyhounds and making sure everything's adhering to what they have to do and making sure for the safety of the animals and compliance with racetrack and

Ronan: Yeah. I imagine the compliance would be through the roof for uh something like that.

Alex: Yeah. Um, and then I had to look after the facilities as a whole. Um, massive racetrack for what it was. Heaps of unutilized space. We've got dodgy rental ledges in place already from the old board director's brother that was leasing there without an agreement and it was all up in the air. And I went, "What the fuck?" And I went, "Okay, cool. What's our suppliers? What's our costs?" They looked and went, "What are you talking about?" I'm like, "How the do you get your stock?" Don't know. That's your job to figure out. Cool. What's your costings? What's anything? Nothing. We don't have anything. So, it was 6 months of hair falling out and long days. And I did that. Um, at that point, they came out of administration. They went, "Yep, great. We're appointing a new team and they looked at uh how they could cut costs and they went, "Okay, cool. We're going to cut the big costs first." Next day, the administrators came over. Thank you very much for your time. We will see you later. And I went, "Okay, great. We are done." Um,

Ronan: How long did it How long was the stint from when they got you in to when they

Alex: 6 to 8 months for that? Um, and it was just getting everything in line, you know, appointing new managers, staffing, getting policies, procedures, cleaning in place, uh, setting up new rental agreements.

Ronan: Did you smell it coming? the you get an indication, but while everything's up in the air, you kind of

Alex: You probably got so much else on your plate at that point that you're not really you're not really sniffing out in the first place.

Ronan: Exactly. Um like there was indication in a way, but at the same token,

Alex: Who else is going to do the job?

Ronan: So, you were just going along with everything and that was fine. That's no problems. Um but out of nowhere, just bang. Yep. Cool. We are no longer in administration. We're stepping back. We'll still assist with this. We no longer need X Y Z. Thank you. These guys now been promoted to this. This is new contracts. Great. Now saving ourselves 140 grand across the board. Sweet. Um and that got all of that sorted out. Um from there, where did I go? I ended up coming across an advertisement for a cafe and bar in Barisfield.

Alex: My coffee. Sorry. Real quick. Yep. No, that's ent totally fine.

Ronan: Um, cafe and bar.

Alex: Cafe and bar in Barersville. So, it was

Ronan: Where's Barisfield?

Alex: The industrial area of um the side of Newcastle.

Ronan: So, it's a very focused area in what was it? Primarily trades. Um, and you've got other little shops. Uh, Molton Brew, Molton Hops Brewery was just down the road. uh quite a lot of traffic through there. But the reason that they had the cafe there is because the owner also had multiple tiling shops and he'd sell the tiling and home decor and everything else. And he just opened up well 2 years prior he' just opened up his venue in Newcastle to expand his range between him and his brother. and they one of his little pet dreams forever was to have a bar. It's just one of those things, you know, when you're in tile and you need to have a bar. Uh, funnily enough, there's another company. Oh my god, what is it? There's another one in Newcastle. It's a tile company as well that does alcohol. I can't even remember off the top of my head.

Alex: So random.

Ronan: Yeah. Um, so that's what they had started off down really Everything costing was and he was running a loss of about 15 grand a month. Perfect. Uh but again, he's got other revenue streams in and he's going, "Yep, cool. I can wear the loss for now, but we need to improve." So, I became the ops manager for there. Um which was an interesting feat. Um I'd worked with coffee for a handful of years but not to the extent of pumping out barista work. Um but you know I had the management in place and processes and systems. So from there got the training the operations staffing in line for the day trade and they already traded Thursday to Saturday evenings with the same menu that they open with. that was cost friendly and this is when hyperinflation was going on and you were paying like $17 for a head of lettuce like it was stupid. Um, so I was there and we what did we do? It was a groundup rebuild basically. So it was niche marketing that I targeted uh because the demographics unique in itself um had to be very mindful in costing because um every supplier was charging you for fuel at that point. the levies and excesses they were chucking on top. Um you'd spend, you know, five bucks a kilo on tomatoes one week and the next week they were 22 bucks a kilo. It was just so volatile at that point. Um that was also a really fun point where no one wanted to work because everyone was on uh center link. So that was a show. Uh but we put a lot of innovation into that and menu development and planning and processing well planning and putting processes in. Um we started doing live nights where would have acoustics and solo performers on um I hosted a drag night as well over there. So the town loved it. There was only one other spot I think in Newcastle itself that did it. We were also close enough to Mland that that attracted that crowd. Uh we did uh Pino and Picasso nights just really innovated and made it a community space in a way. Um was there again for about a year and that's when my spouse returned to work after having our youngest. Uh we did that for a about a year, year and a half in total and we talked about our careers and what we're doing next with that. Um excuse me. Sorry, I'm just yapping at this point. Um, so what we decided was, okay, are we going to stick to Newcastle and, you know, we've basically hit the threshold of what we can do, or do we want to go to the land of opportunity for Australia and hit up Sydney again, you know, back to my home ground? Um, we both put feelers out on Sydney Bartender Exchange as well as Chef Exchange and Seek. Um, and it was again a very interesting and different dynamic to what it is now. I put a post out and I think I had about 700 comments on it. Um, and it was just venue after venue after venue contacting me.

Alex: Everything all right there?

Ronan: Yeah. The dude wanted to come in and water the plant.

Alex: Yeah, perfect. Cool.

Ronan: I was like,

Alex: Um, sorry. Give me two legs. Oh, what do you do? Um, yeah. So, had about 700 odd people commenting. It was just business after business after business going, "Yep, cool. We need this. We need a GM. We need not manager, group beverage manager. That was good." Um, my spouse put her fuelers out and it was a very similar conversation in looking for Sue's executive sho uh Sue's head chefs. Um, and we came down across two weekends and I think we pumped out about 30 or 40 interviews between the two of us while we carted the kids down. So, it was I don't know how we managed to orchestrate this. I drove down, kids are in the car with my spouse, go over to one interview location, great, one of us does the interview, bang, drive or finish that, drive over to the next spot immediately after. and we timed it for about 45 minute interviews plus travel time. Um, we managed to do that and just pumped out one after another after another interview. Um, what happened at that point was my spouse got a job at Baro prior to them closing. So, she was their s chef there and I started at Trippers White Group. So, um, have you heard of them or not really?

Ronan: Yeah. Perfect. Um,

Alex: I worked just down the road from uh from Batio. I was at the I was at the winery for like 4 years.

Ronan: Okay. Beautiful.

Alex: And then Trip is why I know I know them as a uh

Ronan: They're a powerhouse.

Alex: I know them as a group, but I couldn't tell you like individual venues that they own.

Ronan: Yeah. So, uh Turonga uh Zoo, they own the functions uh department across the board. Uh Infinity Sky Feast, um Bar 83, Rain Champagne Parloresque, um Sydney Opera House, um all the restaurants in there. They own a handful of them. Um I think it's like 190 premium. Well, venues across the board. Um, so I started up at Trippers and the

Alex: What role were you in there?

Ronan: Yeah, that's an interesting one. So it was a new position that they just opened. So they had Rain Champagne Power in the QVB on the opposite side of the QVB. They were reopening esque. It was previously aquire and what they were looking for was a precinct bar manager. Um, and that's the role I took on. So for the Champagne Parlor as well as Esk um I was tidying everything up as a whole because ESK was just all over the shop in that yes they're opening and they've got the group SOS and the beverage manager. So they're implementing XY Z stock. We've got X well this existing list that we're putting forward. Great. Here's the staff that are semi-trained. And then there's Rain. That is one of the key venues in Trippers. It's one of the originals. It was the first champagne par to my knowledge in Sydney and it's one of the most premium venues obviously stocking stupid stuff that you couldn't even imagine pronouncing. Um, we were there and from the get- go it was just insane. And it was coming into summer it was meeting the team, meeting the process, well, uh, understanding the processes across each as well as lists, the staff, the training, the rosters. Um, that was fun. I got through the year. Um, and what I found was big groups, not my vibe. Uh, to get anything done, I had to go through about five or six different people.

Alex: Oh, yeah. uh that would delay a lot of things and you know inevitably who cops to blame when something's not executed in time or correctly obviously the person that was allocated to X- roll um so there was a bit of conflict and butting heads backwards and forwards there um after probably about 6 months again I'm just jumping jumping ship everywhere at this point I'm just going one to another to another but you know a lot of things will get established and then move on um it was about 6 months at trippers before I went, "No, this. I can't do it. It's too hard." Um, I then came across a celebrity shift at a private function venue in Oxford Street and it was Australia Day 4 years ago. Did a shift there. Nothing happened. It was a ticketed event. Not a single person bought a ticket. I rocked up. The bar was And I just cleaned it. I just hung out, cleaned it. No worries. The owner was like, "Yep, cool." Paid me. I said, "Yep, cool. If you need me for any other gigs, let me know. No, I'll be fine. The manager was quite impressed in that I didn't just stand there and vape behind the bar or, you know, play on my phone the entire night. I actually gave half a about the venue. So, he said to the owner, "Yep, cool. This bloke's all right. Let's get him back in." Awesome. Sweet. So, I started getting regular shifts there when we'd open. Uh, we only open for private events. So, it's not open to the public. It's very sporadic work, but it's primarily Friday, Saturday nights for the most part. Uh was there for probably about 3 months before the manager uh his visa finished up. So at that point, uh the owners asked me to take the reigns. I've been there 4 years at this point. So yeah, um on the 26th of last month, we I just hit my four month uh four year mark. And what I've been dealing with there is uh a lot of compliance training and development. Uh bit of client uh sorry bit of supplier relations. Um we're quite limited in what we do in terms of expansion. We just keep it nice and simple. It's no frills kind of happy medium for people. Uh it's a lot of client uh relations and meeting their expectations. Um and compliance is another big thing. uh one of the only venues that does 18th, bucks nights, 21sts. Um and it's openly advertised in a way that yes, we accept them. So the juggle I've been doing for the last four years with that is we need to make sure that expectations um are met in a way, but also for our side as well as the clients. Sometimes we get clients in and their expectation is, "I've booked this venue. It's mine for the night. you. I'm going to do what I want." Uh, anyone that holds a RSA or a liquor license knows that's not how it works. So, it's a bit of a tricky reality check for some people and it's been a balancing act. Um, but overall, you've done a shift with us over there as well, haven't you?

Ronan: Um, yeah. So, we just

Alex: What's it called? Oxford. Oxford House.

Ronan: The Ox Darlinghurst.

Alex: Ox Darling Hurst.

Ronan: Yeah. So yeah, it's a quirky little venue. Um, it is what it is in it in its own aspect. Um, obviously, you know, it could have x improvement here and there, but for what the owner wants to do with it, we're just operating it, keeping it compliant, keeping it consistent, and just meeting expectations. Um, it was last March. Yeah. So March 25. um was doom scrolling on Facebook Marketplace and everywhere else and I saw an interesting opportunity where someone was selling glow bars and the whole business the whole client um the ABN behind that business name registration uh all inventory clients list and looked at it and I had a bit of you know um money in the kitty and I went all right it you know what's the worst is going to happen um I'd done a new little events periodically. Um, just random uh private events or for other mobile bar companies. And I figured, it, it can't be that hard.

Alex: Did you find out why that was selling?

Ronan: Um, yeah. So, the previous owner wanted to just pump out events, whatever you can do to again build your brand, do it cheap, get more returning clientele, post on your social media and grow that way. And what they found was as competition started increasing and the demand did um it just wasn't cutting it. Uh she basically said over the course of a year I think it was revenue was about 30 odd grand and as a little side thing it's not too bad but it was a lot of effort for what it was worth. Uh she just lost motivation and she was also studying externally and it wasn't hospitality she was studying so she was looking at moving out of that more or less. Um, so instead of just having the bars and everything sitting there, she decided to sell that off. Uh, so I purchased that and it was stagnant for about a month and a half. Um, I came across a sporadic post on one of my networks.

Alex: Stagnant as in like you couldn't find anyone to

Ronan: Uh, sorry, it's I couldn't find any work to begin with. So it was about a month or two of just nothing. So I've just invested all this money and

Alex: No one wants to have a glow party.

Ronan: No. and it's just sitting the bar's just sitting there taking up space. I'm going, "Oh, fuck." You know, the MS is in my ear about it and she's going, "Yep, cool." You know, what's game plan? And I came across this stray post at 11:00 at night for the following day. My caterers have just canled. My bartenders have just canled. Housewarming party tomorrow, Avalon. And I went, "Awesome." Inquired. Uh the client and I went backwards and forwards for a while. um shot myself a bit in the foot with pricing, but again, any money is good money at this point. And they didn't need bars, they just needed staff. Um yeah, to my knowledge, they'd set up catering team and service staff for the entirety of his housewarming and they somehow missed him in their scheduling and they had to cancel just before the event. So, he wanted decent food made up and served. Um, again, trying to source a caterer to do that the night before with no notice and get suppliers in line.

Alex: Didn't sleep that night.

Ronan: Wasn't going to work. Um, as I mentioned, my partner's a chef, so I lined the event up and explained to him we can't do that. If you can supply food, we can prep it, cook it, and get it going. But be realistic in your expectation with this because this is so last minute. There's how are we going to get supplies, sufficient stock, even prep work. You need to get your prep started the day before. We're not just turning up to your house and bang, we're doing it.

Alex: Um, but we'll give it a red crack. Spoke to my partner and I'm the king of con somehow. I managed to scam her into wanting to come down. Uh, we did that and the client called me the following morning because again, who's going to call you at 11 o'clock at night planning everything. Uh, he needed four bar staff and one person cooking and then the two of the bar staff would rotate out and help serve the food basically and just keep the function rolling. Um, the client's name was Jamie and he gives me a call. It's a little bit nondescript but gave away enough information. He said to me, "Oh, hey." "Yep, cool. I've just finished building my house in Avalon. Um, we're just doing a little house party for it." "Yep, cool. You may have seen it on TV." And I'm like, "Oh, what do you mean?" He's like, "Oh, it was televised." Okay. Yeah. Well, what's this? He's like, "Oh, I build houses." And yeah, that a lot of it's on TV. And I'm like, "Okay, cool." I'm like, "What was your name?" He's like, "Jamie." Yep. Cool. No worries. Yep. Sweet. We're expecting about 70 people. We just need this. Don't worry about your bars. Just bring your stuff. I've got XY Z sorted out. Perfect. Great. I've got all the staff organized, XY Z. We're going to be there on time. I've also got a chef coming in. I've managed to sort that out for you. Get off the phone and I mention it to my partner. I'm like, we've got a bloke named Jamie in Avalon who's just televised his house build and we're doing his house warming. She's like, "As your first gig?" I'm like, "Yeah, it's my first gig as you just do and it's less than 12 hours notice and we're getting this done." Yeah. Look it up. And it was Jamie Dury. So immediately we went, "Oh, What are the expectations on this?" Uh, but it was okay. Jamie said he had glassware, heaps of it, and heaps of stock and everything else. He was still moving into the house and hadn't fully unpacked everything. He couldn't find most of his glassware, so it was a nightmare. Also, with the alcohol that he had uh brought from his previous property, he could only find about half of it. So, it was just a nightmare from the get- go. Uh, but we managed to pull through somehow. It's just come through, made it work, quite happy with it, and you know, he was over the moon. Um, funnily enough, I've got his number at this point. We touch base periodically and line up any other events, but number one, first ever event was just balls to the wall. do it. And I went, "Okay, cool. There's some kind of market there. Let's keep going." Um, the company I purchased it was called Let It Glow Parties. And I immediately determined, well, sorry, figured out that Let It Glow Parties doesn't really work for corporate weddings or high-end clients.

Ronan: It's more, it's more a, you know, backyard house party, fun little engagements, or, you know, quirky occasions kind of company. Uh, for, you know, your big hitters or corporate professionals. Generally, when they get an invoice, they're not wanting it to be from Let It Glow Parties. Uh, that's when I've set up a new ABN and company name. So, it's Sydney Mobile Hospitality Group at this point. Um, again, it's concise and to the point. You know exactly what we do. Um, it doesn't have to be over the top or really posh, but it's clear and concise in what we do. Um, I've now found that that works quite well in that we are able to target all different markets. Uh, let a glow party still exist. It's just a subsidiary. So, when it comes to house parties and things like that and our social media presence with um the glow bars, it's still fine, but I'm able to target uh catering corporate and high-end clients. Um even in recent weeks, it was literally last weekend I bought another company. Um it still hospitality uh came with all the kid uh similar to Letter Glow parties, all the social media,

Alex: Another mobile bartending business.

Ronan: Yes. Uh but it's a little bit different in that it's a keg wall. So, it's one of the backdrop cutesy little uh displays. Uh and then it's got the beer taps on the front um that runs through to separate kegarator systems. I've got um CO2, beer gas, as well as nitrogen.

Alex: Oh, wow. Pretty much portable taps.

Ronan: Exactly. Yeah, that's exactly what it is. Um, so we're targeting for a lot of engagements and weddings at this point, but um I can really push that back and target different smaller groups. Um,

Alex: That's really interesting. Is anyone I know that I've seen the um

Ronan: Comi keg vans

Alex: Combi? Yeah. So they do it on the vans,

Ronan: But is anyone else doing

Alex: I think the walls

Ronan: I think there's one other person in competition with me at this point.

Alex: Yeah. Wow. Um, I've only come across one post, but yeah, it's exciting. It's literally last week that I've picked it up and then it's been raining for the last 2 days, so I haven't actually been able to set anything up and run the systems through. Um,

Ronan: Yeah, it' be interesting to see like I don't know, like obviously there's going to be some limitations of like where you can bring it, but

Alex: Yeah. Um it's interesting as well and I'm in contact at the moment with the office of liquor gaming and racing. Um because as you know to supply alcohol to a client you need a liquor license. So with the other two companies it is exclusively dry hire. With this one a lot of people have the expectation that there's alcohol in the kegs.

Ronan: Dry hire as in you're always using their booze.

Alex: Yes. Exactly. Oh, you never you never if you never bring your own booze, then you don't need

Ronan: Legal license. Correct. Yes, that's it's not exactly a loophole. It's just the phrasing and how it works. So, it's yeah, dry hire. Um, so we provide the service, they provide the product. Um, the issue with having the kegs though is obviously they would expect alcohol. So, there's a few ways that I'm looking at working around it. So, say they wanted a CC and dryer keg or a hard solo keg or mocktail kegs, that's fine. I can make it, but with the alcohol, I can't actually supply that. So, I could pre-make the keg um without the alcohol and then once I get to the client's house, add the alcohol in, get everything chilled down, and then run it through the systems.

Alex: So, like corny kegs like cocktail.

Ronan: Exactly. Um, the issue I'm running into is I am requesting information from um, licensing, but it's really vague in what the laws actually specify. If I go through a third party and I'm not making profit, is that legal or not? Because am I supplying the alcohol at that point or is the supplier that has the liquor license supplying the alcohol? Uh and that's a bit of a gray area that we're navigating through at the moment because ideally if I can have you know decent trade agreements with uh the uh keg suppliers and you know the breweries uh they can give us give me appropriate pricing for that. I can offset that same charge to the client keeps everyone happy and then I can personally deliver the kegs hook them up and run the events. Um but we're not sure exactly how that's going to work. Uh, and the last thing I want is to be halfway through a party. Cops come through for whatever reason where this can come from him. 50 grand fine. Thank you very much.

Alex: Um, so yeah, it's just a bit of a juggling act at the moment. Uh, as well as getting the marketing done for that. But yeah, that's a bit of a rundown of me as a whole. Um, and just the diversity of yeah, my roles. So

Ronan: Very diverse.

Alex: Yeah, I've been here, there, and everywhere. um quite a few stints during the co era. Um there were a bit more sporadic but yeah in recent years it's been much longer tenure and just finding stability and ground more or less. Yeah.

Ronan: I'm curious with the Greyhound racing tracks, do the dogs live at the track or do like people bring their pets in to just race them? Um yeah, so the when it comes to the compliance with that um the Greyhound track is just providing the track with that and the facilities um the individuals bringing their dogs, their their own pets, race dogs, whatever definition they may be, but all of the animals come from somewhere external and the owners and trainers bring them in, get them on the track and then they race to win. Similar to, you know, your horse racing.

Alex: Yeah. It's um a bit

Ronan: Controversial. It's definitely a bit It's a bit of a controversial uh

Alex: Topic, but it's It's interesting.

Ronan: It's interesting. Yeah. Um while I was there,

Alex: I'm I'm not going to say much. It's again too controversial. Uh it was very conflicting working there. Um, you know, you see the owners and the staff and, you know, everyone's doing their best and trying to be supportive and, you know, injuries happen. Whether the dog's just running and it pops its hip out or it trips over or anything worse happens, it's really disappointing and it gets a lot of negative feedback as well as some positive. Um, a lot of the owners were saying, "Oh, you know, the dogs if they weren't running, it's instinctual for them. They run, they chase. It's what they're instinctively bred to do. Um, without the tracks, you know, the jumping over the fence and chasing, you know, the rabbits down the paddics and things like that versus this is an outlet for the dog to do what it's doing. And then on the other side, there's the entire conversation of it morals behind that and the safety of everything. So, yeah, it's an Thanks so much for sharing. That's awesome.

Ronan: Yeah. Sorry, I've just babbled for a good 40 odd minutes. Um,

Alex: No, it gives me a good idea.

Ronan: Gives me a good idea where you've um where you've come from.

Alex: So, yeah, a lot of what I've done is um cocktail development um and beverage construction. Um there's a lot of uh prel not preliminary uh small roles have taken in recent years as well. Uh forgot to mention earlier uh there was a venue in Melbourne that is doing a I think it was 40 or $50 million fit out three levels on Spring Street in Melbourne. Um massive overtaking and their home base is in Sydney where they've got a few different venues and outlets. uh and they were looking for someone to innovate the space that they've got there, put in SOPs and lists, training plans, even floor plans for their excuse me, restaurant and bar areas. Um and yeah, I put my hand up for that one. This was 2 and a half years ago. It was three phases. Uh so it was uh beverage list, um suppliers, and then floor plans. Um, I'd got the first stage done. Second stage would be to physically inspect the venue once renovations progress on and help with the scheming and planning. And then the third step would actually be execution, training and development and then run through the first few weeks actually of service just to get the team in place. Um, we did the first stage and then we were cruising along with that. had about six to eight weeks of buffer timers. They were moving into the second stage and then they ran into a bit of a legal dispute with the actual property owner. Um I don't know if it was, you know, a conflict in its listing or heritage or DA approval. Uh but yeah, that's come to a screaming halt and nothing has happened with that one for the last 2 years. It's just been a legal dispute with the owner of the company versus the owner of the building and they're trying to still navigate that before anything else happens. But that one's just been sitting on the back burner for quite a while.

Ronan: Yeah. Right.

Alex: So yeah, uh that was I think 30 signature cocktails um as well as I think 15 to 20 uh classics. Um and again utilizing Australian fresh botanicals um Australian supplies as a whole. though pretty much all the spirits except for obviously you know like your classic rums and your scotches um anything that could be made in Australia uh they wanted in from Australia um seasonal menus and everything like that. So that was a interesting one that's still in the background in the works but yeah that's going to be an interesting one when that's finally done. What do you think makes a good bartender for mobile bartending? Make what makes it good different from that than a say venue bartending?

Ronan: Adapt uh adaptability. So when you're at a stationary venue or bar, it's very much great. We've got XTO on premise. We've got the cool room. We've got the kegs. We've got this. This is where everything's home is. Yep. Johnny can run down and, you know, talk to our neighbors down the road and steal a bottle of, you know, um, raspberry cordial if we need to or steal a keg if we run out. It's no worries. Um, when it comes to mobile bars, um, a lot of the time you can be as thorough as you can with the client and they still it up somehow. they forget something or one of your staff is illprepared or something goes wrong. It's never a perfect flawless event because there's always some kind of logistical issue. It's being able to have the ability to just ride the waves and adapt. So whether it's a stocking issue or a miscommunication, make it work. Don't make it be a stressful thing. Don't carry on like, "Oh my god, Cindy this up." Oh, who closed? You're here. You're in the moment. This is what you've got. Meet the client's expectations the best you can and have fun with it. Um, a lot of what that Well, with sorry, a lot of what the

Alex: It's almost like a little bit of a management uh mentality.

Ronan: Exactly. Um,

Alex: Like problem solving.

Ronan: Exactly. So, with the staff that I've got, um, everyone's pretty well seasoned in hospitality. um for the level of events I'm doing unless I need a multitude of staff. I can't just have greenies in. I can't have someone that you're going, "Oh, great. This is how you do this." The clients spending a significant amount of money and they've got an expectation. They don't want to watch you train someone on shift. They want, "Hey, great. This is the timings. This is the execution we need." And you just need to be able to go, "Okay, great. This is how we're going to run this." Um, everyone's got minimum five years experience. I've got a few staff that are 15 to 20 years in the industry experience. Yeah,

Alex: You found some pieces of gold.

Ronan: Yeah, exactly. So, thankfully I've got a handful of staff that can represent me um and the company itself when I can't actually physically be there. Uh, we've had multiple times where there's been three, four, five events at the same time across Sydney. So, you know, it's impossible to be the face and be physically there. Uh so having that really strong network of staff um is imperative more or less. Um another issue with that is generally with pop-up work you get no shows. So being able to have sustainability and loyalty from your staff is one of the foundational necessities that you have to have with the business. So, I've found the best way to do that is make sure my timings are always correct. Um, I need to make sure my organization is on point when it comes to all of this. I need to make sure the staff aren't stressing because when they get to the premise, there's going to be a up somehow. Whether it's my my fault, their fault, or the clients, something goes wrong, and they need to be composed, and they don't need to worry about all the extra going on. So, I make sure every process is in place that can be. Um, and then I'm prompt and efficient in, you know, remuneration for the staff. I make sure payroll is done to the minute. I'm, you know, no 3day delays, no ghosting them. If they've got a question or a concern, I'm always there. I'm always responsive. Even if they're on shift and they go, "Oh my god, what is going on? I need to contact Alex." I respond. It doesn't matter what I'm doing at another event or whatnot, I make sure that I've got the flexibility to be able to answer them. Um, it's just transparency as well. I outline what my expectations are from them and it's not unreasonable or excessive, but it's just clear and concise. There's no confusion in what they is expected of them. Um, and yeah, I do my best to look after them and show my appreciation at the same time because a lot of management either do too much or too little when it comes to praise and recognition for staff. Um, you get the over the tops that, oh my god, you've done amazing. Go team. Here's the A team.

Alex: High five.

Ronan: Yeah, exactly.

Alex: High five to everyone.

Ronan: Yeah. Makes me want to vomit. And then you've got the bloke that ignores everything. um and then only reprimands them if there's an issue. So, it's that really nice kind of balance between just recognizing the little things and identifying the hardships as well. Um yeah, because you know, just personally when something goes wrong and you beat yourself up about it, um it's yeah, reassuring your staff that everything's actually okay, it's not the end of the world, and then identifying what's gone right as well. Um, and yeah, it's just a fun little juggle. And yeah,

Alex: Have you got any um any nights that stand out that went particularly south?

Ronan: Uh, you have to you don't have to name any names, but

Alex: Are we talking about uh the function venue or for

Ronan: Oh, just in uh just in general in your entire

Alex: Career. Career. Yeah,

Ronan: A lot. Um so with mobile bars um again it was rectified relatively quickly but I had four staff for an event I always leers with the staff prior to the event and make sure great is everyone still on time there's no issues your dog hasn't died overnight you don't have pneumonia or you know whatever it is yep everyone's fine and two of them no showed thankfully I had two staff already there. I scrambled to get extra staff and had to pull some favors, but they came in I think it was half an hour late. Got the boys to stay back a little bit as well, so the client didn't feel like they missed out. Um, and then I just wed the loss on labor as well. So, I went, "Yep, cool. You guys are getting paid extra to be here and do that. Don't worry about paying me extra for the time that you've spent." But, yep, did that one. Um, communication breakdowns. Uh, some of the venues I've worked at, such as clubs and RSLs, uh, they've got strict signin policies and procedures. Um, and I used to be a bit of a tyrant when I was younger. U, making sure every eye was dotted and every tea was crossed. Uh, if something didn't line up, I didn't really have leniency, so I buted heads with quite a few people, uh, figuratively and literally. I remember getting headbutted at 3:00 in the morning once uh as a wee little 20-year-old. That was traumatizing. Um and in recent years, I've had quite a few fun ones uh as I've mentioned previously where some people have the expectation that I've booked your venue, this is my venue. Uh we've had interesting ones where gets a little bit loose and it's a bit hard to pull everyone back. Um, but probably the biggest one that would have stood out was we had an 18th birthday party. There's a few 18th birthday parties, funnily enough that I mention. Um, but received about three or four fake IDs. Nothing extraordinary. It's pretty standard with an 18th who's going to definitely be the youngest. Uh, particularly with, you know, current technology and how easy it is to get a fakeie. Uh, I got a few of them and then birthday boy turns up covered in tattoos. He's him and his dad had just stopped off at the pub beforehand. Cool. Do we let him in? Do we not let him in? You know, you've admitted that you've drunk before you can come in. Licensing doesn't allow you to weighing that up. All right, cool. We'll monitor you for now.

Alex: Cuz it's a Is that cuz it's a club license? What license is the uh is that place under?

Ronan: It's an onremise on premise restaurant and private function. So, it's three-way. It's a really unique one,

Alex: But any licensed venue, if you know someone's been drinking prior, you are meant to refuse them.

Ronan: And it's as simple as, oh, hey, I literally just stopped off at the pub, had a beer, and now I'm stepping in here. Technically, you should say no because

Alex: In theory, you don't know how much they've drunk. You can't monitor and control that. So, if you want to get really finicky with it. Yeah. Um, so we assessed it. We went, "All right, cool. Birthday boy is here. It's a private event. We'll monitor and see how we go. Get handed me this ID. I'll look at it and I'm like, "Ah, I'm like 21 and a half, eh?" I'm like, "This is your 18th birthday, isn't it?" Yeah. Like, cool. Like, who the ID is this? Oh, That's my uncle's or my cousins. Awesome. Can I get your actual ID? He's like, "Oh, yeah, man. No worries." You know, whatever. Cool. What you did beforehand is not my problem. Pulls his ID out, hands it to me, have a look. I think it was 17th March. I went, "Oh, yeah, cool. Today's the 16th of March." He was 17, having his 18th birthday Spoke to the parents and I said, "Whoa, you know, we've got a minor hosting an 18th birthday here." Yeah, but he turns 18 at midnight. I'm like, "But it's not his birthday right now. It's under false pretense technically." I'm like, "What would have to happen if I allow him in is a driver, so no service of alcohol until midnight at least." Oh. Oh. Oh, no. We can't do that. he just won't drink. Bit of back and forth with uh security who thankfully he's the director of the security company so he's quite well verssed in the compliance as well not just your standard

Ronan: I'm a security guard I know what's going on but he actually knows a lot of what's going on in you know high-risisk uh precincts um and touch base with the owner as well. There was a lot of reluctance but I just shut the venue down at 8:00 at night. Yeah. um got to the point where they didn't want to leave. Had to call the police. Had riot squad turn up about 40 cops. Um it wasn't that it turned violent, it's just it became hostile very quickly and a lot of confusion. So called the local cop shop and I said, "Yep, cool. I think we need to shut this down. I need to help with with a move on. Explain the situation." And they went, "Yep, cool." I'm like, "I don't want lights. I don't want sirens. I just want police presence just to help get everyone out. And then if there's any aggression, then it can just be diffused nicely. So that was another fun one. Um,

Alex: Nut jobs.

Ronan: Yeah, that was that was the most interesting. But the worst one I had was another 18th birthday. And I always speak with the parents. Is everyone definitely over 18? Yeah, of course. Great. Cuz you know, understand that fake IDs come through in circulation. You know,

Alex: Parents parents have no idea. They can they can say yes, but they've got no clue.

Ronan: Yeah. Uh we're expecting 120. 120 turned up. I refused 76 of them for Yeah. So, it became a game with the security guards and I. Um so, they'd line up and you'd look at the ID, look at them, have a good night, mate. Off you go. Um, other ones would try and give the benefit of the doubt if it looked a little bit close or just if it was just too comedic at that point. So on everyone's ID, you've got your signature written on there. So you'd ask questions. Great. What's your date of birth? And it's a robotic. Oh, 13th of June 1994 or whatever it is. Great. What's your address? Yep. Spitballing that to me. You ask him what's his star sign and that them up every time. Um, another good one is the signature. So, yep. Cool. This is your ID. Yep. So, this is your signature. Yep. Cool. I'm going to give you a pen and paper and I want you to do your signature. Oh, yeah. I'll just grab that. No, you won't. If you know your signature, do it and then I'll compare it.

Alex: I've not once had a single person pass the signature test.

Ronan: Yeah, cuz nobody ever tries to memorize

Alex: Yeah. No. Um, definitely not. Um,

Ronan: I'm even I'm even like trying to picture my ID in my head and I'm like, does my ID even have a signature on it? I don't ever remember seeing a signature on my ID.

Alex: It's just a mandatory thing. It's as you get your license and you're signing the documents, they give you that separate piece of paper and you give it a quick scribble and they just chuck it on there.

Ronan: That's a good one.

Alex: Yeah. Um, the other great ones as well are

Ronan: They give you the dodgy service New South Wales app or they log into their sister's account. Great. I'm looking at Graces. Cool. Open up your settings. Bang. Lucy. Grace. Lucy. cuz on your iPhone it links it to your iCloud address versus if you just log into someone's Service New South Wales it doesn't match. Um the final really good license that we had was this bloke. He was adamant and his ID was quite good but we could tell it was fake. We're going through everything and he couldn't fully prove it. He didn't have a bank card that fully lined up. His Instagram was vague. His Facebook wasn't logged in on his phone. logged onto his email, looked okay. And then we found his school email and it was surname.name or whatever it was and it just didn't line up. But he argued the point with this for 20 odd minutes before we went bang bang that one. No. Um it was about 6 months later he came back to the venue for another birthday and he's like here's my real idea now. Thank you. Because he was coming for another friend's birthday. But yeah, that was um one of the interesting ones. And um yeah, oddly enough, um yeah, my hospitality career has been one of those unique little journeys in that I haven't worked at the same venue and worked my way up the ranks. And

Alex: So out of everywhere, what what's the longest you've stayed? I guess the um Oxford Street one. Is that your longest stint? It's coming on to uh the probably the longest would be my first which is probably about four and a half just shy five years. Um most of the other spots were 6 months to a yearish. Um a lot of shorter gigs because again you know

Ronan: It's just the nature of the industry as well to be honest.

Alex: Exactly. Yeah. So finishing the administration or my spouse returning to work and both of us saying great let's do this and then navigating and moving through. Um, plus the current trend with a lot of people nowadays is job hop and get that pay rise, don't wait for it. Yeah. Um, and that's, yeah, that big trend that's been on the rise over the last almost 10 years. But what I found in Yeah. recent years is for the workload I'm doing, I find comfort in those jobs. Um, a lot of other venues, you know, you stuff something up or piss off the boss and you turn up the next day and you're going, "Oh, I really don't want to see Craig. I just don't want to deal with him." Um, the nature of the work that I'm doing is every single night's different and at the end of the day, I'm put in a position to make decisions on behalf of the owner uh, for the club. So when we have a dispute, the argument is then and there on that night and then the following day I'll speak with them and go great. This is why I've done this and that's the end of you're paying me to do this and we just move on. There's no, "Oh my god, remember how you did that or did this? It's great. This is the next event. This is what we're doing moving forward." Um, so it's refreshing in that every single event's different. there's different challenges and it the previous night shift or the previous week doesn't dwell on you. You just move on just carry on with it. So it's um been a nice change definitely and then obviously working for myself is lovely. So got its own challenges in itself um but I choose my own hours when they come up um and I can diversify and spread how I actually um acrew that revenue coming in. Yeah. It's a different type of pressure, but it's also like a different type of freedom.

Ronan: Exactly. Yes. Um the good thing is it's not a physical venue, so it's not ongoing rent per se and overheads. Um the main

Alex: Yeah. What is the main overhead?

Ronan: Labor.

Alex: Of course.

Ronan: Yeah. Yeah. Um and obviously um cost of goods which is the initial purchase of glassear or the bars themselves or any extra itinerary that I need. Um that's the biggest one. Um rent and storage is not overly expensive um in that I've just done it effectively. I've got some space where I reside as well as my warehouses that I've, you know, found quite good deals on. So yeah, slowly but surely I'll step up until I get a full warehouse space with commercial kitchen and then I'm going for the uh catering license. So then I can actually supply the alcohol.

Alex: Yeah, that'll be a huge one.

Ronan: Yeah, that will be astronomical um in the development of the business. But at the moment it's just little baby steps and just building the brand, the reputation and just revenue streams coming in. Um

Alex: How difficult is it going to be to get that license? Um, I've spoken with a few people that have catering licenses and it's a minimum 6 months of waiting. So, to get the catering license, at minimum, it has to be a place with a commercial kitchen. So, it's 6 months of rent that I'm going to have to be paying while I'm doing applications um to get the license because you just have to go backwards and forwards with council. So the nature of the business itself is interesting in that it's not consistent revenue. It's sporadic. So I have to build up again that revenue stream and consistency and just have the money sitting there that I can just afford to burn it essentially while I do that application. And then it will be six to 8 10 months of just back and forth with council making sure that's good and making sure the neighbors are happy with it. Um, the nature of getting the catering license would be great. I'm looking at applying for this. I need to contact everyone within 100 m of the premise. Um, and I have to notify them that I'm looking at getting a liquor license. So, it's going to be the sale of alcohol. Uh, and that gets misconstrued in that people will assume, oh great, there's going to have people coming in. It's going to be like a pub. And then you have to explain, no, this is the nature of the business. It's going to be a storing ground for the inventory. The events will happen. Everything will get loaded in, go out, the events are external, and then we'll come in. It's more or less just a hub

Ronan: I guess you can't use a storage unit.

Alex: No, that's what I was hoping to do. It has to have the commercial kitchen. So to get a commercial kitchen is not that hard. It just has to have I need to look exactly into it, but basically stainless steel um bench

Ronan: And some kind of refrigeration and adequate storage for that. Uh ventilation as well, I'm pretty sure.

Alex: What about plumbing?

Ronan: Yeah, it needs something in there. But again, with most warehouses, yeah, it just so it just depends on its phrasing and what's allowed. Um also, the main premise of your business must be food. So that's where it comes in tricky. What some places can do depending on the catering license is you can get store wedges in your freezer. Go great. This is what we do, but we also primarily outsource it through XY Z company and this is what they do.

Alex: Um because the government wants to reduce uh liquor related injuries. Um, it's very difficult in having a solely alcohol fueled company. It has to be an add-on to another service. So, it's just, yeah, restructuring that and making sure all the eyes are dotted and tees are crossed and everyone's happy.

Ronan: Yeah, sounds like it involves a little bit of outside of the box thinking as well. and making sure that your local licensing is happy with it because if you got a as head of licensing, they can just say no on certain things. So, it's just mitigating any risk.

Alex: Wow.

Ronan: The other fun part is being the venue manager of the um sorry, I'm sorry, the Surrey Hills precinct uh venue. If I get a warehouse in that um precinct, then I'm going to be dealing with the same licensing I already deal with. So, it's a matter of making sure that I'm not pissing them off on one end and then shooting myself in the foot on the other. It's a matter of keep them happy, keep them happy if that's where I'm going to go. Um but yeah, there's a land of opportunity more or less. It's just

Alex: Putting the processes in place to get it going.

Ronan: Wow. So yeah, and now the kids are all in school, so I can actually get like a more 9 toive job in the meantime while doing all this. So yeah, it's going to

Alex: How's your sleep? Do you get a lot of sleep?

Ronan: Um, no, no, that's the thing. And you adjust to it. So, you know, four or five hours pretty good.

Alex: Yeah. That's that's that's insanity. Yeah. Yeah. I've pumped out 20 22our days like across weekends because I've lined up multiple gigs and then work in the evening and then getting up with the kids.

Ronan: You get used to it, but it's not seven consecutive days. It's usually just a short burst of three or four and then you get that rest period. So, yeah.

Alex: Um, cocktails. Is there any What do you reckon your most sold cocktail is that's made it onto a menu? Uh,

Ronan: It's usually in my in my experience, it's usually like not the one that you think it's like you might like overgineer this cocktail and you're like, "Oh, this is going to

Alex: Okay, so we're talking about signatures instead of

Ronan: Yeah. signature cocktail that you've come up with that

Alex: Has outperformed the rest."

Ronan: Sticks out.

Alex: Bear with me for just a moment. I just need to break it down. Um,

Ronan: Flip through the archives. I made one called a slow day. So, S l o e day. Um, that was using mandarin olio, haymon slow gin, citric acid, and soda. Um, with the mandarin oolio, I decided to be a bit quirky. Instead of going a 1:1 sugar, I think I went 3 and 1/2 to one. So, it was very thick. Um, and it was done intentionally for oversweetness to contrast the tartness of the gin. Um, and then, uh, clear ice a whole lot, you know, the whole wanker bambble. Um, basically would be a layered drink. Um, and made up because it was so thick that all the sections would load up. It was low enough ABV, quite cost effective, and it wasn't one of the massive hitters on the menu in that the client's not looking at it going, "Oh, 25 bucks for it." Like, "Oh, cool. It's a I think it was 17 at the time, and the median was about 22." Um, so it was much more approachable, really diverse, sweet, citrusy, obscure drink um that you could smash 40 of them. like no worries. So once that started getting a bit of traction that moved really quickly. Um otherwise smoked pineapple dairies.

Alex: Oh yeah.

Ronan: That's just a crowd favorite. It always

Alex: Um it's a theatrics. It's the nuance of

Ronan: Doing something Instagram worthy.

Alex: They're the two big ones that just fly off the shelf more so than what you'd ever expect. I've got some um I've got some segments pre-prepared. I don't know if you've seen them. I've done a few of them before,

Ronan: But I don't have them memorized, so I better look it up.

Alex: No, that's fine.

Ronan: But let's find out what your bar luxuries are if you had to choose one. Um, so you can choose between a crushed ice machine or pre- chilled glassear.

Alex: Crushed ice.

Ronan: Crushed ice machine or a vertical rinser.

Alex: Crushed ice machine or a prep shift?

Ronan: Prep.

Alex: Prep shift or a barback?

Ronan: Barback.

Alex: A barback or clear ice?

Ronan: Yeah, barbacks. Barback's a pretty gun.

Alex: All right, next one.

Ronan: Just reduces the amount of work for me. I cannot complain with that.

Alex: Um, so we're going to find out what your favorite cocktail is. So,

Ronan: Favorite to drink or favorite to make.

Alex: Um, we're going to say drink. We're going to say drink. So, you can choose between high balls or margaritas.

Ronan: High balls.

Alex: High balls or martinis?

Ronan: High balls or daquiries? Daries.

Alex: Daiquiries or spritzes?

Ronan: Dairies.

Alex: Daries or tiki?

Ronan: Tiki.

Alex: Tiki or sours?

Ronan: Sours.

Alex: Sours or oldfashions?

Ronan: And sours or negronis?

Alex: Sour.

Ronan: All right.

Alex: Love a sour.

Ronan: That is correct. And anyone I'm sorry. I'm sorry if you post this, but anyone that likes a negroni is lying.

Alex: I love a Negroni. You're lying,

Ronan: You reckon?

Alex: I definitely didn't like my first Negrroni.

Ronan: Actually, these days I like an Americano better. You're right. Negrroni is a bit

Alex: A bit rocket fuely.

Ronan: Yeah, it's too much. Like just you're eating the peels of an orange and that is the extent of it. I'm sorry.

Alex: I say that about coffee. Anyone who says I like coffee, they're lying.

Ronan: You were just drinking black coffee a minute ago.

Alex: Yeah, but I lied to myself.

Ronan: Okay, fair enough. Yeah. It's a punishment thing though, isn't it? It's like, oh yeah, I like milk, but I prefer the stomach ache versus black coffee. Yeah, I'm punishing myself. That's Yeah. No, I agree with you. Um, what else have we got here? I've got a um so doing a cocktail competition.

Alex: Yep.

Ronan: You've got to choose one ingredient to use, but they're all they're all not great ingredients. Sorry. You can either choose between a wasabi lure or a garlic infused gin.

Alex: Wasabi.

Ronan: Uh wasabi lure or a bubble gum and bacon vodka.

Alex: Bubble gum and bacon vodka. That is sick.

Ronan: Uh bubble gum and bacon vodka or a lavender and hot chili tequila.

Alex: Bubble gum vodka.

Ronan: Um bubble gum and bacon vodka or a smoked salmon whiskey. We'll

Alex: Go the whiskey. Smack salmon whiskey or a blue cheese cream lure

Ronan: Salmon.

Alex: Smack.

Ronan: Um, we got smoked salmon whiskey or pepperoni pizza schnaps.

Alex: That actually sounds banging. We'll go. We'll keep the schnaps.

Ronan: Uh, pepperoni pizza schnaps or a tofu vodka?

Alex: Schnaps. and pepperoni pizza schnaps or a kimchi brandy.

Ronan: Oh, kimchi brandy.

Alex: And the last one, we got a kimchi brandy or a cotton candy bourbon.

Ronan: Got to thank uh chat GBT for those ones. I definitely didn't come up with those.

Alex: Yeah. No, they're quite um

Ronan: Doing a fat wash for that bubble gum vodka though would be nuts. Yeah, I googled it. There's I don't know if I don't know. Bubblegum bacon vodka is like one bubblegum bacon is like one flavor. I think they someone's created a fat wash vodka and then using bacon fat and then infused it with bubble gum afterwards.

Alex: I don't know if it tastes good, but

Ronan: I'm feeling inverive now. We'll find out.

Alex: All right, what have we got next?

Ronan: What do we have? is always a difficult one, but I love asking people what their last meal,

Alex: Oh, All right, I'm going to go take a le too easy.

Ronan: Drinks. I'm going to be difficult. There's three of them. There's three drinks. Um, it's got to be a Trinidad Zour, a Godfather, or a Charlie Chaplan.

Alex: Any of those three, I'll be complacent. Um,

Ronan: I didn't see Trinidad sour coming.

Alex: Yeah, it's um

Ronan: It's vulgar. I love it. Um, it's also bartenders, most bartenders, one of their least favorite drinks to make because I have to pop open that bottle of B. Uh, and most of them don't know how to make it because it's one of the obscure classics that most people don't know about. Um, for final meal, we'll go fried ice cream

Alex: Because again, this is a guilty pleasure.

Ronan: And I'm stumped on songs, so we'll just have to go the final countdown.

Alex: Amazing.

Ronan: Alex, thank you so much.

Alex: Likewise. Thank you very much for your

This transcript was auto-generated and lightly edited for readability. Some transcription errors may remain.

Published May 12, 2026. Behind the Bar is a Cocktail Foamer podcast.