May 15, 2017

Meet Gina Salim of Build Your Own Bar

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Salim.

Gina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Build Your Own Bar is a mobile bartender service that focuses on providing all of our clients with exceptional service. We are licensed, insured and currently serving Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire and San Diego.

Ryan Rodigues (owner) started BYOB in 2011 in San Diego, CA. He had a brilliant concept that he would build from scratch a classic portable wood bar & provide mobile bartending service to all types of events. He covered all of the San Diego area, from Private Backyard Parties, Corporate Events, Weddings, and so on. You name it, if someone needed a bartender, Ryan the Bar Guy- BYOB is who you called. Most of the business was booked through referrals and connections he made with venues along the way.

I, Gina Salim (Operations Manager) have known Ryan since we worked at several restaurants, catering companies, and bars together in San Diego as far back as 2001. I moved back to the Orange County area in 2004 to peruse my career in Television & Film Production. I did stay in touch with Ryan and started to work BYOB events with him in late 2012. I then partnered up with him in 2013 and requested for him to build me a wood bar to expand the business to the Orange County, Los Angeles & Inland Empire areas. As soon as we posted we were available in these counties, I began to book events and build up my team of bartenders, servers, and bar backs. It didn’t take long for us to be fully booked across all of Southern California.

BYOB offers a variety of services for your events. With everything we have, there is no need to look anywhere else.

We offer the following services for an additional fee:

* Bar backs, Servers and Bussers
* Our beautiful handcrafted wood bar
* Ice
* Glassware
* Cups
* Coffee, Espresso and Latte Bar
* Cocktail Tables
* Jockey Box draft system for keg beer for ice cold beer and no foam
* Drinks mixers package
* Garnishes

All of our bartender packages come with the necessary bartender tools such as a wine key, beer opener, shakers, strainer, ice bin, ice scoop, spill mat, bar towels, optional bins for chilling your wine and beer, a 6-foot table with a black linen, stir straws, beverage napkins, a small recycling bin and trash can for behind the bar.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are no such things as smooth roads when running a business. Some days are awesome and others, well…. they can always be brighter.

Of course, our main focus is always keeping the calendar booked with events. But our industry really runs on seasons. When the weather isn’t so great, we tend to slow down. What has made up for the absent booking dates are the larger events we are so fortunate to book, such as Corporate events and year-round Weddings!

Another challenge I would say is as we grow, finding the best people to bring on board to our team of bartenders and servers. Ryan and I work really hard to hire only the very best staff since they represent us and the BYOB name. We go through a detailed in person interview, check their background & referrals, as well as have them work an event with either of us to make sure they are a good fit for our company.

I would say the only other obstacle we have encountered is arriving to an event that is not organized. Unfortunately, whether the coordinator or person running the event is behind or there has been a lack of communication between who we book the event with and the people left in charge. Although these obstacles may cause a strain in our time to set up, due to our years of experience we always mange to make a difficult event a very successful one!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Build Your Own Bar- BYOB – what should we know?
I am the Operation Manager for BYOB and the Lead Bartender for the LA/OC/IE areas. I work closely with Ryan to book all of our events. I specialize in the administrative tasks and assist in all marketing & social media connections. I would like to say I am the sweet voice of BYOB.

We take pride in creating a fun, memorable, safe atmosphere for guests, and allow the host to enjoy their events care & stress free.

More than anything, I am upmost proud that in the 6+ years we have been in business, we have yet to have one single bad review across the board. That is truly unheard of in our industry as you know in the service industry, you will never make everyone happy. But I beg to differ on that, as our yelp, social media, and website reviews reflect nothing but very pleased and happy customers.

I believe that what sets us apart for other mobile bartending companies is our:

Classic Handcrafted Wood Bars.

We cater to events that want to provide their own alcohol which is more of the trend now and days.

Our outstanding level of customer service we have genuinely provided for the past 6+ years.

We listen to what our customer wants and implement every detail to make their event a memorable one.

We provide our customers with a stress-free event planning.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
We are Licensed and Insured.

We cater to hosted or an open bar concept for all events.

We provide personable, qualified & hard working staff.

Most customers look for something to bring their event up one level and our wood bars are unique and can be diversely used for both a Classic or Rustic touch.

We have a very professional work ethic.

Contact Info: