MixoloG

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MixoloG provides private and W-2 Bartending services.  I recently completed my work as the full time Lead Bistro Bartender at the Number 1 rated hotel property in Richmond Virginia: the Downtown Marriott Courtyard/Residence Inn on Cary St.  I was asked to "bring the Bistro Bar to a new level" back in March of 2021 and did just that. Currently, I work supporting new owners of several refurbished bars and restaurants with staff training, consultation, shift management and bartending duties.

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I am available to work private events, banquets, home cocktail parties, corporate

receptions, destination event centers, and catering firms too.  I currently support

the Barns of Kanak event center as a Bartender, and recently did work for Trolley

Hospitality in Richmond VA. I have also consulted with high income homeowners to

build an at home professional looking bar space. 

 

MixoloG offers nationally certified training for your Servers and Bartenders (T.I.P.S) to

sell and serve alcohol responsibly employing "best practices" to operate a bar safely,

efficiently, and profitably. Thank you for visiting my website!

MixoloG is a subsidiary of StrateG LLC, my Professional Services Company.  StrateG is a

Virginia State Corporation and Licensed Chesterfield County Small Business.

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A Little Background about Me

 

I retired in 2016 from a nearly 40-year career in the energy trade working first as a

Mate aboard ocean going

petroleum "supertanker" ships, a stint as a Development Officer while pursuing a

master's degree, and then

primarily as an energy sales and marketing executive pitching everything

from primary fuels, transportation, to research. 

 

I didn't do anything remarkable in my career, but I did

see a lot of remarkable things.  And for better and worse,

met a lot of remarkable people. 

 

MixoloG is my professional portal to social media

and the web.  I detest social media, its owners, and its censorship ... if it weren't a

necessary piece of business today, I wouldn't be on it. 

 

The following phrases from retirement planning pieces I researched resonated with

me as I developed a post corporate career and small business plan.

 

"Learn a skill you can take anywhere, and no one can take from you."  And 

 

"What do you like to do when you have nothing to do, and can you turn

it into an income stream." 

 

I was at a time in my life to broaden it, take a risk at starting my own business

from scratch and do what I wanted to do rather than had to do. 

 

A number of things came to mind in terms of what to do to supplement my

retirement pension.  At first, I thought I would simply leverage my

energy career experiences to do consulting work.  I secured a consulting contract

weeks after formally retiring.  Unfortunately, I found the same disingenuous and 

manipulative issues and people that prompted me to retire still existed.  My

first contract to consult for an energy research firm started out with promise, but

I learned that they essentially wanted a full-time employee on their payroll to control

and never paid me for months to boot after signing their contract!  It was a very 

"INFORMAtive" experience. 

 

Several friends recommended I become a physical trainer at a local gym or be a massage therapist. 

I loved working out but not very sociable when I did, and as to massage therapy ... there are people in my own family

I would be reluctant to touch, much less see with no clothes!  Other ideas included being a college professor or

band roadie.  The later always interested me when I was younger.  I imagined starting out with a small no name group eventually working my way up to landing a gig with my favorite band RUSH and moving them to their next gig.

  

Bartending was offered to me as an option to consider by several bartenders I knew from my corporate travels.  I 

researched the profession, consulted with my SCORE mentor, discussed it with several close bartenders I knew.  

I had a vessel of fuel arriving every other month for a few years in the Port of Portland Maine, and stayed at the

Portland Regency Hotel very frequently.  It was the hotels first rate bar crew that inspired me to be a bartender,

watching them engaging with Guests (and me), effortlessly handling a rush, and the almost ballet like way they

moved behind their stocked, organized, spotless clean bar.  Shout outs to Ben, Margaret, Ruby and Simone! 

 

I was born in New York City, raised in a small Maine beach town, growing up with my fellow Seagulls. 

My life and career took me to many countries around the world and reside in several States along the way. 

No matter the country, color or creed, there are two kinds of people in the world - smart ones and dumb ones. 

When I was a young boy, I got to sit on my "Pop Pop's" lap at the head of a large table in their modest

Brooklyn apartment he and "Nanny" shared.  The whole predominantly Italian family of "Ants", Uncle's, Mom, Dad,

Sisters, Cousins, and In-Laws would be there.  "Required attendance" was a tradition back then.  Food was not

hastily consumed with guests bolting for the door or a media device.  We spent hours at that table eating, talking

laughing, crying, learning, and being a Family.  It's where I first tasted alcohol, wine and beer,

and learned to enjoy and consume them responsibly. 

I can still smell the scent of fresh bread and pizza dough being baked in

the basement above the adjacent bakery.  A first-generation American Italian,

Pop Pop loved, worked and respected people of all cultures,

and they loved him back. 

 

Perhaps it's in my genes to be a bartender. 

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Pop Pop rowed a boat across Long Island Sound from the Bronx to Manhasset

in the 1920's bringing alcohol, beer and ice to the mansions on the other side

for their "roaring" parties. He would deliver the goods, tend the bar, and row home

with free beer and tips.  He shared many stories with me I could not confirm

or deny as he lived beyond 90 years old!

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If you've taken the time to read this far ... thank you.  Please follow me on Instagram at 

@gmixolog for great cocktails, recipes, and bartending adventures.  Cheers! 

         

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