Today we’d like to introduce you to Wayne Neal.
Hi Wayne, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I moved from North Carolina to Sacramento, CA, at 19 with three bags and a goal of graduating from college. Now I am a teacher and business owner in Las Vegas.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I graduated from Sacramento State University with a BA in Government. I had done so originally to prepare for law school, but after learning so much about the governance of society in general, and the lack of creativity involved in law, I decided to put law in the backburner until further notice. Whilst studying, I also intensified my passion for environmental policy as a result of the Gulf oil spill back in 2010. Upon graduation, I joined AmeriCorps as a Construction Crew Leader (i.e. Assistant Site Supervisor) for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento. There, I helped rebuild the “most dangerous neighborhood in town” according to SacPD, as well as developing an entire community of Habitat homeowners in Sacramento along with renovating a home in Des Moines, IA, during my 10-month term. After which, I visited my family in High Point, NC, for what was supposed to be a 2-week visit as I was to return as an AmeriCorps for HfH Orange County. However, my newborn niece had just arrived at the time, and so I stayed for six months because I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. I moved to LA 6 months later in 2015 because an ex really wanted me to be there. I gave her a list of reasons why it wasn’t a good idea, but I conceded. We gave it another shot, and three weeks later, we were done. So, I at least had some income. Yet, I had nowhere to go, so I stayed in a hotel in North Hollywood. Little did I know, it had a 28 consecutive day policy, meaning that I could stay for 28 consecutive days and wait for 28 consecutive days to be allowed to visit again. July 5, 2015, at 4am, I walked around looking for somewhere to sleep.
After thinking “I’m really gonna sleep on the ground tonight… No I’m not”, I looked up, saw a store that I’d frequented near Lankershim and Magnolia, climbed the roof, and thought a lot about everything that I wanted to accomplish before falling asleep. I woke up determined to do what I sought out to do in government, education, and music. The next day, I bumped into a security guard at a popular bar on Lankershim who had asked me where I was sleeping, a question that I had to answer by saying “I don’t know”. He let me stay with him as a result, which was a huge relief. Later, I would find out that he sold drugs and throw parties from time to time. One occasion, I found out that I could’ve been killed as a guy (high af) who had come through after I had fallen asleep said “I will shoot everyone in this apartment!”. Focused, I shrugged it off and kept it moving. A few weeks later, I DJed my first event for the guy that introduced me to DJing; a birthday party for Ralph Reickermann from the German hard rock group, The Scorpions (knowing Ralph, he was probably too inebriated to remember me at all). I would eventually move out and into a bunk bed at a hostel-type place. I eventually joined AmeriCorps again, this time as an Academic Success Coordinator VISTA for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Monica at Mar Vista Gardens. A few months later, I was elected onto the Education Committee of the Del Rey Neighborhood Council before becoming Co-Chair alongside Melissa Aczon.
Our first project was the Del Rey Bee, a community-wide spelling bee where two students per school within the jurisdiction would compete for spelling dominance. I tried to coach a Club member, but she became spitefully apprehensive towards participating. Never the one to shy away from spite, I used my lunch breaks to go to her classroom where I coached the two students representing her school (she was representing the Club). She scowled as she knew what was going on. That weekend, both kids placed; 1 champion and 1 bronze (one word from being in the finals). After that, I was collecting report cards from parents of the Club members. It is a predominantly Spanish speaking community, but after saying “Yo necesito la boleta de calificaciones” 11 times straight, I worked out a deal with the Housing Authority of the City of LA (HACLA) and West LA College to bring free ESL courses to the Mar Vista Gardens community. I had done a lot for the city of LA, including being a committee member to organize the Congress of Neighborhoods and helping it set an attendance record (which was broken the following year). The whole time I was doing this, I was AmeriPoor ($16,000 year salary), and I was only able to survive in LA due to hopping around with random ass living arrangements and bartending on the side. After living in a hostel for nearly two years, I moved in with my cousin, William Hayes, after he and his teammates relocated from St. Louis to LA. Even then, we moved from Calabasas to Manhattan Beach.
After he was traded to Miami, I moved into a trailer in East LA. Though I went from an ex’s bed to her couch, to a hotel, to a roof, to a drug dealers couch, to a bunk bed, to a mansion, and finally a trailer, the changes in environment only strengthened my resolve and confidence as there are a lot of people that are not in the place or have the capacity to continue in this manner. Yet, after interviewing for the Watts Community Manager position, and having the Senior Advisor for Joe Busciano tell the Housing Policy Manager from across the table “this is something we can do right now, write this down” when I had answered a question with an idea, and receiving an email saying that I was not invited back for a second interview (yes, someone else is getting paid $75,000 to start to implement my interview thought), I decided to focus on bartending and education. After sharing my support for pushing oil refineries back 2600ft from residential areas on March 14, 2019, and there being an oil refinery explosion on March 15, 2019 (I have witnesses), I retired from giving af about LA policy since being broke and being well equipped to do a job are very uncomfortable things to be simultaneously. I moved to Las Vegas, NV, in 2019 to become a teacher (which is another long story), but I missed bartending so much because I loved helping people enjoy themselves. |
In LA, I bartended at the Emmys, Complex Con, NAACP Image Awards (where I rapped for Lil Mama between Old Fashioneds), among others. I also qualified for the national championship of cocktails in 2019 but did not qualify for worlds. So, I began working at a steakhouse here in Vegas July 2020 where my reception was lukewarm at best. 23 days later, during probation period, I was told not to come in. After questioning why and receiving illogical answers, I finally told the manager that it’s more than likely due to the fact that I am taking hours away from people that had just come back to work after the shutdown while I don’t necessarily need the job in their eyes. He agreed. 2 weeks later, through my business, Barman LLC, I booked my first mobile bartending gig in North Carolina. Since then, I have taken my services to 11 states between Aug-Dec 2020, created my own soft drink, and am currently developing two apps for hospitality and law, respectively. I don’t know what is gonna happen next, I just know that I’m gonna make the best out of the situation.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Barman LLC?
Barman LLC specializes in hospitality, beverage development, and alcohol policy. The company has a reputation for being flexible and willingness to travel far and wide in order to serve up a great time. I am very proud to have the opportunity to make something that I needed to do to survive and organizing it. I am most proud of the fact that I never stopped moving forward despite much negativity. I still have a lot of work to do, but you’ll hit the bullseye at some point so long as you stick to your guns.
What makes you happy?
Being able to do everything I love, even if I have to make time to do so.
Products & Services:
- Bar Professional: Starting at $75/hr
- DJ Services: Starting at $125/hr
- Event Management & Talent Procurement: Dependent upon assignment
- *Travel fees associated with price variation
- Soft drink to be released Fall 2021
- Fintech application currently in development
- Techniques of Alcohol Management (TAM) certification: Use promo code “Barman0” to receive a 10% discount on your certification. Go to www.TAMNevada.com to register. For group instruction and test proctoring, call 1-877-Barman-0 (877-227-6260), and select Option 4.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: IamBarman.com
- YouTube: https://youtu.be/92AEGX-dxww
Image Credits:
Preston Brown Renold Kampa Daniel Perez Laine Himmelmann
