Today we’d like to introduce you to Ernesto Vela.
Hi Ernesto, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Liquid Courage started in 2017 as a fun side hustle. I always liked making drinks at parties with friends and family. I soon realized that I was pretty good and I could possibly start my own business as a mobile bartender. I remember starting with a little bar table I purchased on Amazon. Thanks to my close friends that trusted my skills, they started hiring me for their parties and my business took off. Word of mouth is how I gained most of my clients in the beginning. Now social media has helped me gain a lot more. Things got a little slow in 2020 when COVID-19 hit. Thankfully, in 2021 everyone was ready to celebrate missed milestones. I was able to quit my full-time corporate job and go full force into my business.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Aside from 2020s pandemic, balancing running a business, working full time and being family man was my biggest struggle.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Liquid Courage Bartending Services?
Liquid Courage is a mobile bartending service that specializes in catering to private events. We are known for our quality craft cocktails, amazing service, and our luxury trailer bar, Onyx. Being in this business is quite a challenge when it comes to trying to set yourself apart. We do so by using fresh ingredients in all our cocktails. This small detail makes all the difference in how our cocktails taste and how they are presented.
As small business owner, I’m most proud of seeing the growth of Liquid Courage. I went from just me working events with my little Amazon bar table to having a team of 10 awesome bartenders that have enabled the brand to branch out more throughout all of California.
One thing I love about being a bartender is that we are able to provide cocktails to any event, whether it be a backyard Carne Asada with your friends to a big corporate holiday party with 500+ guests.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
As a kid, you always hear older people say “hard work pays off”, or the word “hustle” gets engraved into your brain. But I don’t think we ever grasp the concept of it or even take it serious until life tells us we’re ready. After starting Liquid Courage, I understand what that means now. As a business owner, you don’t really know what you’re getting yourself into until you’re in it. If you believe in your business and want it to be successful you have to do whatever it takes. And that can be really hard sometimes. It’s hard labor, hard decisions, hard letdowns and even hard mentally and emotionally. But all the effort and work you put into it leads to your business thriving. You see the payoff little by little.
Contact Info:
- Website: Liquidcouragela.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/liquidcouragela?utm_medium=copy_link
- Yelp: Liquid Courage Bartending Services https://yelp.to/0W1f2IXWPlb
- Other: Https://Vm.tiktok.com/TTPDJXO35p/
Image Credits
Julian Guevara Photo
