Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Sacco.
Hi Melissa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a New York native who moved to Florida in 2004 (on Thanksgiving Day!) and was in need of a job immediately so I could provide proof of income to obtain an apartment.
The hospitality industry was all I knew, being in my 20s, so I ended up taking a job at a local restaurant in Boca Raton, FL. It was a busy restaurant and 10 minutes from where I was temporarily staying. I immediately started making money… but I wanted more.
With no formal education yet and a desire to succeed, I had limited options. I worked at this restaurant for months, and I recall the head bartender called out that particular day. My manager asked me to cover her shift, and I was terrified!
I had no actual knowledge of alcoholic beverages but knew enough to get by. Plus, I knew what I drank. I accepted the responsibility and gave it a go! It felt like second nature to me for some reason. After the initial shift, they asked me to continue bartending due to their regular customers’ positive feedback.
Months passed, and I was then asked if I wanted to be an Assistant Manager! I was thrilled! At that point, I was supervising a team of over 20 servers and bartenders while maintaining a few bartending shifts each week. However, that became tiring – long and late hours, juggling college courses, counting a register, and getting home after 2 am. It just wasn’t for me. One day the light switch flipped, and I said to myself, “I could probably do this privately and make my hours… and much more money.”
I put an ad on Craigslist (at that time, that was the primary way to advertise your side hustle). I began getting calls and emails from people who had weddings and parties coming up but no one to make drinks. I was the person they needed! At that time, I was also offering calligraphy for wedding invites, so I often booked a bartending gig AND did the client’s invites.
That got tiring, too… so eventually, I cut out the calligraphy part. I self-designed a website to advertise my mobile bar business and just booked clients who needed me for that. I was making my own hours, working in multi-million-dollar homes, and collecting a nice amount of cash. I worked from Miami to West Palm Beach and loved where the business was going between referrals and word of mouth.
Fast forward to 2014, when I decided to move to Central Florida- Orlando precisely. I realized at the time that I had to build an entirely new clientele base and could no longer keep working for clients I had in South Florida for so many years. I advertised, did a lot of networking, and revamped my website. I was getting quite a bit of bookings for a while.
In 2018, I decided to contact every public venue in Central Florida (there are over 300) to let them know that if their clients who were having weddings or private events wanted a bartender for their event, I was available and gave them an overview of my services, rates, etc. With that thought process, I started booking a lot more business in Central Florida, and by 2019, business was booming! Obviously, in 2020, my business took a hit due to the pandemic, but I did not let that discourage me because I still had a full-time job in a completely different industry.
Now in 2022, I am one of the highest-rated bartending vendors on over seven websites, have built a social media presence, revamped my website again, and have been consistently getting referrals from previous clients, current clients, and venues all over the Orlando market. I’m happy to say that I took my experience from a very minimal to top of the line. My ratings on every site I advertise on are five stars too!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been easy between moving to a new area and the pandemic where almost everyone was either postponing their events or not holding them at all…plus completion growing stronger, I’ve had many hurdles in getting consistent bookings. However, I have not given up!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have over 15 years of experience in the industry, I am Florida State certified to serve alcohol responsibly, and I am a five-star rated vendor on every site that I advertise on. I bartend for private events, weddings, corporate parties, golf tournaments, charity events, and more.
I have also had the privilege to hire three additional bartenders in an effort to expand my business.
What were you like growing up?
I was always the social butterfly.
The one who was a little bit awkward, but still had a lot of friends and participated in many events. I attended Catholic school from kindergarten to eighth grade, moved on to public school for high school, and bounced back-and-forth between my mother’s and father’s home during the high school period.
I’ve ventured out on my own literally on graduation day from high school. I have been on my own ever since.
Contact Info:
- Email: Inkanddrink@gmail.com
- Website: www.drinktilyoudrop.com
- Instagram: @_drinktilyoudrop
