We recently connected with Tyemerica Gbandawa and have shared our conversation below.
Tyemerica , thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
My mother Shirley has been the inspiration behind my generosity. She always instilled in us that generosity involves more than just money; your time, resources, and talents are also expressions of generosity. Growing up, I watched my mom give her time, money, our home, and literally the clothes off her back to those who were less fortunate. I recall coming home some nights to find homeless people at our dinner table. My mother would cook for them, allow them to shower, and pack them food to-go. My mother had a huge closet with TONS of clothes, that she would willing give as well. I witnessed this on several occasions and grew to understand that giving was the right thing to do. My mother has always been a giver, always reminded us to give from the heart, and to “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.”
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three key qualities I look for in bartenders are: their knowledge, customer service skills, and integrity.
Stay current with the newest trends is extremely important. Everything is evolving, why shouldn’t you? Learn the newest trends from knowing different cocktail recipes, new tools to use, and learning new and upcoming alcoholic AND non-alcoholic brands. This will help you to stay ahead of the game and allow you to be more marketable.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
A partnership, collab, or sponsorship with an upcoming spirit brand; a club, lounge, or restaurant would be awesome! Financial support is always great, but I’m looking more of a connection that would benefit my students or myself, long term. Supplies to help grow their mobile business can be fairly expensive. When I first start, I constantly worried about how I would get started without all of these items and little money to invest. Most of the items I acquired was given to me when I worked as a promotional model/ bartender for the SC Ciroc Fam, and I still have them to this day. Bar supplies can become fairly expensive!
Although, I do not offer job placement, opportunities for students who obtain certificates would be beneficial. Those who don’t start a mobile business are eagerly looking for an establishment to grow their talents and to secure a position. This would help students tremendously.
I’m always looking for ways to not only grow my brand, but also help others grow too. It would be important for us to discuss how we could help one another.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @kocktailkulture or @sip_mai_ty
Image Credits
Last two images are credited to Marcus Jones of Marcus Jones Photography
