Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiori Gardner
Hi Tiori, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My name is Tiori but everyone knows me by TT or T. I am a 29 year old entrepreneur, bartender, instructor and officially an author after publishing my e-book in April. I started my bartending venture when I was 22 years old and hungry for the hustle. I bartended my first party on NYE going into the year 2018 and I never looked back.
I’ve now bartended over 500 events all over the city as well as La Vegas. I am not only a certified bartender but I now certify other aspiring bartenders and teach them the tricks of the trade. I have bartended in some of the hottest bars in Los Angeles and have experience helping build bartending business from the ground up.
In 2020, I started a non-profit called Queens By Ay Means. QBAM held weekly group chat discussions with women’s topics such as hygiene, pregnancy, and other private conversations that are healthy for women to have together. It sparked my brain to host a luncheon for us all to finally get together, make vision boards, play games, eat, drink and enjoy each other’s company. The luncheon was a complete success and continued to help more ideas come to life.
Now, my mobile bartending business, The Cocktail Queens hosts, curate and sponsor women events that are intended to bring women from all parts of our community together to drink, eat, network, and have a great time. We’ve done a few paint & sips, a Galentine’s Day Bartending Class event, a Sip & Stretch Yoga event and so much more. I will continue to put these events together to not only bring the women in our community closer but to give back as well. I have big plans for the business that I plan to execute effectively.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. Being an entrepreneur is tough for anyone but in your 20’s it seems to be so hard to separate your hustle from your business. Learning how to operate as an actual business owner instead of a hustler was hard to grasp at first.
Having to start my business all over from the ground up in 2022 was a very difficult time as well. Most people were very familiar with my first business I started back in 2018. I was a co-owner and once I parted ways with the business, it wasn’t easy being able to get myself reestablished. I had to work 10 times as hard to get myself back in booked & busy mode. I started my bartending instagram that started doing very well very fast. I also started teaching at that time. I was able to take a step back and see what I really wanted from my business since I had 100% control of every thing. At first, it was a very discouraging process but now I am so thankful I was able to take a risk on myself and my future. My first event under my new business name The Cocktail Queens, was a Gran Coramino event for Kevin Hart’s new tequila only 2 months after I officially restarted.
Giving birth and losing my mother were also very hard parts of 2023 and 2024 where business had to take a backseat. I am finally getting back into the groove of things and ready to keep taking my business to new heights.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The Cocktail Queens is a luxury mobile bartending brand. We bartend private events, host our own private events, and provide 1 on 1 bartender training for aspiring bartenders. We certify bartenders and help them qualify for future jobs in their city. We make bottled cocktails for local pop up shops and to-go orders that are sent directly to us.
We set ourselves aside by providing outstanding service anywhere we are, creative minds that make our bar set up stand out from other events, different, fun garnishes and drink accessories, and mostly importantly delicious cocktails through and through.
I am most proud of the quality of every bar set up we provide for guests and clients. Every time someone walks up to our bar, they want to take a picture of their drinks and us making them.
Our brand is a big step for events where we not only provide bartenders but we bring an entire new feel of having a bar at your event. We curate specialty cocktail menus, we have a variety of packages that satisfy all needs of the client and everyone is specifically trained by me personally. My team is equipped for any kind of atmosphere. We provide every one with the guarantee of memories for a life time.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
My work ethic is a quality I feel is most important to my success. I have been working since I was 16 years old and it instilled so many things in me. One being that if you want something, you have to work hard for it. Things that come easy are not usually things of value. I learned that I had to work on my craft. I had to work my way up to what I wanted to be and what I wanted my business to be. I couldn’t just say I was a business women or “the best” bartender, I had to actual do the work to build myself up to be those things.
Being resilient is also a great quality. You have to know how to get back up every time you fall because you will fall. Being able to pick yourself back up, get back in beast mode and attack your goals head on with positive tunnel vision is very important in entrepreneurship.
Pricing:
- Bottled Cocktails – $12
- Bar Kits- $65
- 1 on 1 Trainings- $350
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.instagram.com/tt.thetender?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecocktailqueensco?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==
Image Credits
@reemworks.co – photographer for some of the photos
