Professional Partiers Bar

📙 The REAL story on how it’s going: PART 2
The Shift

2023 was the year I knew we had to level up.

This was the year I officially handed off event planning to who would become our Lead Planner, Ashlyn. While she stepped further into planning and client experience, I slowly shifted my focus toward BOH operations, systems, hiring, and building the actual foundation of the company.

Up until then, so much of Professional Partiers depended on me.
My name.
My presence.
My direct involvement.

And honestly… I knew that wasn’t sustainable.

I didn’t want every review to mention only me anymore.
I wanted to see a shift.
I wanted clients to trust the team — not just me.

So I started delegating more.
Building systems.
Writing SOPs.
Creating structure.
Training intentionally.

I wanted every bartender, planner, and team member to feel empowered and fully set up for success. I wanted us to provide the same level of service whether I was physically there or not.

Because to me, a real company isn’t built around one person.
It’s built around a team that can deliver consistently together.

2023 was also the year I went all in on networking and industry involvement. I served on two boards, built relationships in the industry, and really started figuring out what I wanted our brand identity to be.

Not just bartending.
Not just drinks.
An experience.

I wanted Professional Partiers to feel intentional, elevated, creative, welcoming, and community driven.

It was also the year sustainability became important to me. I started learning about growing our own produce, supporting local farms, composting our waste, and finding environmentally friendlier products for the private event world.

But behind the scenes… financially, things were tight.

I knew if I truly wanted to grow this company, I needed more capital. More gear. More inventory. More stability.

At the same time, our bartenders were asking for more shifts, shifts I was working.

So while building the company during the week…
I started working at a local bar again to make ends meet.

And by the end of 2023, I decided the only way to truly grow the company…
was to step away from it.