At tha age of 15 I began my career tossing salads and bruleeing tha creme at an Italian American restaurant in Small Town East Texas. Y’all… It was love at first grease trap. Seeing my family, friends, teachers and complete strangers enjoy tha dishes that I was sending out, sparked a fire within me. This is when I knew that absolutely without a doubt, creating special moments that make people happy was my thing. 

Before long, standing behind a counter serving salads and desserts was not enough, I needed something more to feed my passion. This dish of employment and desire for social gratification, needed a change of scenery. I told my manager that I wanted to be a server, he chuckled and threw me behind tha bar. As a barback I earned my way up to bartender and eventually bar manager. But it was there I found my stage, my platform to bring my personality to tha guests while serving products that bring joy and happiness. Tha Bar became my new home for many years to come. From there, life has taken me on a journey that has been tha most wonderful ride. 

At 23 I moved from my Small Town to Austin TX. Austin is a wonderful city that exposed me to more diversity than I knew what to do with. Growing up in a Small Town there’s not a lot of exposure to different cuisines, so this is where I found flavor. Austin has an amazing BBQ scene, that has so much competition, it produces tha best BBQ in tha country, in my humble opinion. But BBQ is not what I mean when I say I found flavor. Austin offered up so many different cuisines, cocktails  and management styles which provided me tha opportunity to get outside of tha basic knowledge that up until this point had been all I knew. 

As I was approaching a decade of life in Austin, a new opportunity revealed itself to me. Tha opportunity to tend bar on a remote Luxury Ranch Resort in Wyoming. Of course I jumped on this opportunity. Travel tha US while doing what I love? Umm yeah sign me up! Working in Wyoming gave me my first taste of true high end service and what it takes to provide this. I gained invaluable knowledge on how to operate F&B to luxury standards.

Luxury resorts kept me moving about tha country for a few years, working seasonally for some of tha top names in tha business. Then one day I decided to plant my feet in Denver. This is where I discovered that everything I thought I knew about bartending and running a successful bar program was merely tha tip of the iceberg. 

After a hefty learning curve and industry catch up, from one of tha most prestigious cocktail lounges in Denver at tha time, I was back in tha game and more enamored than ever. Managing bar programs became my new career. I mean truly running and creating tha programs. Before Denver I merely fell in line and did as tha managers before me did. To survive here I needed to get creative with tha product I brought to tha people and hone my business skills and practices. It was all consuming. I ate, slept and drank in the bar scene for all it was worth. Tastings, classes, collabs, competitions, every opportunity I could attend or consume.

Then, after two years living in Denver I met tha love of my life, Hannah, when she walked into my bar. It just took me a couple of weeks to call her back, as she likes to remind me. I now had a beautiful, intelligent, self proclaimed “painfully logical” partner to my passion. She has supported me through these many trials and transitions and been a steadfast anchor of love and encouragement.

I was thriving in Denver. Honing my skills, advancing my career, on tha cusp of opening my own bar, and then tha world came to a screeching halt. Covid-19. Tha industry as we knew it was forever changed. There were a few weeks there, during the shutdown, where I thought maybe this was it, this was how I left hospitality. 

During tha Covid shut down I worked on take out programs with a couple of restaurant groups in tha Denver area. As Covid restrictions were being lifted, I was having a tough time deciding my next move. I was asking myself, “Do I stay a bar manager, do I strive to be a GM? Do I try something else?” 

It felt as though at that very moment, tha moment that I had this thought, I received a phone call from a friend from Austin. He was in Denver and wanted to catch up over a Beer. Next thing I know, I was made an offer I couldn’t possibly pass up. When I say this was tha opportunity of a lifetime, Y’all, I ran away to join tha Circus! The best part is that Hannah joined with me. My whole little family was hitting tha open road.

I began working for tha Circus as their Concessions Manager, which presented challenges that I had not yet faced before. Bars and restaurants get regular deliveries, well so does a circus, but we were a moving target. This made logistics tricky to say tha least and timing very important. Being a moving target and living on tha road meant expertly managing inventory, storage, production and hiring staff that was willing and able to be a part of that lifestyle. You are forced to understand and embody the true meaning of “Running away with the Circus." I look forward to tha day we can share a delicious pint and stories from my Circus life. 

After a couple of years on tha Circus I began to feel that itch again, that little voice asking me, ”What’s next?” I swear the universe was listening because a mentor and former colleague reached out to tell me about their dream. She concluded her presentation with an offer, to Hannah and I, for our dream job which also included a seat at her company. Yet another offer I simply could not refuse. So I packed my bags and ran away from tha Circus. Fired up and ready to save tha world through healthy, environmentally friendly, Travel & Hospitality services. 

During this transition period I have utilized my time by reconnecting with and enjoying tha company of family that I have not seen in many years. Living and loving life with my own little family. Hannah and I are proud dog parents of Truffle and Ango. With this time I have also found the motivation to bring this little dream into fruition, Burn Tha Ice.