Videos

Live from Clive's Classic Lounge in Victoria, BC

I am late this week with the podcast and it's because we are getting back into events and tastings at the lounge; this week I did 4 tastings in 3 days and it was a lot but got me to thinking how these events, especially the general public sessions. The…

Elayne Duff has been championing brand ambassadorship through her BBAA , mentoring young bartenders on how to hit the ground running and maximizing their opportunities as brand ambassadors. The gap between what brand ambassadors actually do between marketing teams and the overall perception of bartenders becoming ambassadors has been known…

The supply chain issues that we are seeing across most of the industry aren't new but they are posing serious problems for small brands breaking into new markets. With increasing freight costs and long delays in shipping, small brands are being left on the outer for both government run monopolies…

Always a good time to have a throw back episode and chat Social Media for your restaurant, it is more important than ever to do and be at least relatively good at it. I have some pointers for you in this episode, hope it brings you value. TEXT ME on…

Been wanting to do this for a while, I reflect a lot for better or worse after 20 years in the industry. These are my ten points that I hope will help young bartenders and industry people look to the future and beyond in this fast changing industry. TEXT ME…

We chat to publisher, magazine editor, award wrangler and entrepreneur Kristin Ackerman Bacon from Sip Publishing about Pacific Northwest drinking culture, 10 years of Sip Magazine and awards and the future of print media, pivoting into digital during the pandemic and what's in store for the next 12 months for…

This one has been bugging me a lot as of late, the amount of money being thrown around by establishments to get staff; signing bonuses, increased wages (which as sorely needed regardless, but not in the manner they have been overinflated) and more. My main concern right now is that…

With all the spreadsheets I released a few weeks ago, this is a follow up on some tips and tricks to bar costings and leveraging sales mix to your benefits, you can check out the Ultimate Costings Sheet here. I think the little things are what are getting missed in…

This was a fun and inspirational episode with David Knapp Fisher, speaker and author of the Punch Failure in the Face: Adventures & Lessons From An Awesome-Yet Imperfect-Life. We chat about his start in the hospitality industry and his road to speaker at TedX and events worldwide, what pushed him…

Are you a bartender who wants to own a bar, a brand and be a community minded business leader all at the same time? Let's chat to Andrew Friedman from Industry Spirits about his journey from bar owner to brand builder and beyond. TEXT ME on COMMUNITY - +1 250…

I have been promising to do this seminar for a while now and finally got around to tying it off, you can watch the seminar on Youtube here. I truly don't believe that social media is properly used by brands in the macro, let alone piling on the added need…

I have been harping about the state of the industry these last few weeks, labor shortage, wages, tangible and intangible benefits, everything. I still keep reading articles, seeing memes and so forth about staff not wanting to show up. This is a special flashback to a live event I did…

I went on a long overdue vacation last week which is why I didn't put up much content or post podcasts. I was really struggling with my Why? Why do I do this? Work as hard as I do? What's my driver? While I probably could have spent a couple…

This is a throwback episode about making the transition to consulting in the hospitality industry. Lots of people want to make the switch into consulting but it is not the easiest step to take. I lay out some pointers to help younger industry people plot out a plan to make…

This week's Shot gets a little deep and heated, I really wanted to get my thoughts down about the conversation of the labor shortage in our industry. It's not because the next generation are lazy, but because they are smarter and understand the industry more than some of us older…

Join Mike Norbury, Patron Perfectionist Top 30 contender as he chats to Kelsey Ramage of the Trash Collective about sustainability and leaving the industry better than we found it.

Really enjoyed this one with Shaun de Vries of Open Pantry Consulting in Australia, we chat about the evolution of QSR's and fast casual restaurants during the pandemic, dark kitchens, the labor shortage along with the new frontier of suburban venues excelling with stay at home workers. Great chat and…

One of my good friends and mentees, Mike Norbury made it to the Top 30 of Patron Perfectionist in Canada and this year the them is leaving the industry better than we found it. This was the session we did on mental health in the industry, it gets deep and…

This is my final free document to download from the website, I wanted to work with this a little to give you a good framework on how to build out simple but more professional HR practices for your business. Hopefully this will give you the leg up on creating better…

This was a great conversation with award winning hospitality entrepreneur, Kelly Ann Woods of State B Beverages, we chat about the spark that put her on this journey along with creating and launching a niche cannabis brand during the pandemic. This is an inspiring episode for anyone looking at breaking…

I have been chatting about and obviously doing myself, readying for full reopening and it got me to thinking about how I personally breed loyalty in my team and hopefully in the teams that I have helped build. Here are my tips and tricks on how to breed loyalty in…

How do you combine an obscure base ingredient like honey into creating one of America's Most Awarded Gins? I chat to Ryan Christiansen of Barr Hill Gin this week about what drew him to honey, his striving to create stories behind the products that we consume and Mash Therapy Friday's.…

Had a great chat with TikTok influencer, Lucas Assis who has risen to fandom with his views on celebrity tequila through the use of TikTok and being unabashed about his opinions on the agave spirit market. We chat about how celebrities are not truly understanding the cultural significance of tequila…