Balanced Bartender
Stay healthy, Bar Meisters
A bartender and a native of Detroit, John is a Hospitality Professional and Activist. His focus is on creating spaces in hospitality that are truly equal and doing everything in his power to close the education gap for people of color in the hospitality world. Detroit is the focus of his work, along with spreading the gospel of Detroit across the land. Along with doing work at a number of different cocktail conferences and events across the country. Divergent Hospitality is all about taking the time to focus on what others need of you, and targeting how you can be of service. With all things taking time is key, When it comes to the art of servicing others.. it is truly Paramount. This focus is taken into all areas of the work from pops-up, consultant, training, and beyond. John is now working under Tony Abou Ganim (The Modern Mixologist) Running the Highbar as the Bar Manager and Beverage Director.
Young gun| Beverage consultant|Detroit Champion| Freelance beverage Journalist| bartender|2020 TOTC Spirited awards judge|2021 TOTC midwest regional Committee
Detroit-based craft cocktail bartender for the past 10 years. Getting her start in the fast bar industry, she gained interest in spirits quickly - learning the basics through taste - she began to understand the beauty of a well-balanced drink. Lisa’s love for cooking at home and the intimacy behind developing something out of passion, putting yourself on a plate (or a glass, in this case) was the highest form of sharing for her and that kind of care pivoted her from shots at the strip club and mules at dive bars to the craft cocktail scene.
In its opening in 2019, Lisa got her start where she became more comfortable with the diversity and complexities of spirits and how bringing unusual things to the palate is an art form in itself. From there she moved to California, returning home due to the pandemic to be with her mother and daughter.
During the pandemic, she used her love of people and drinks to continue the relationship between the two and created the Carielle Table, a homemade video production making drinks with a quirky twist, talking you through the process. This production led her to do a virtual company-wide cocktail class for Ideo, an interview with big Sean sponsored by Budweiser, and an e-book in collaboration with The Noble Brand, a candle and fragrance company based in California. Once the pandemic settled, she went back into the industry coming across the opportunity to turn a venue space into an intimate cocktail bar in Ann Arbor, MI. Opening the cocktail bar allowed Lisa to not only aid in the creation of an experimental cocktail menu but to expand her wings as a bar manager, fostering an energy that made you want to come back over and over again.
Lisa is currently the Bar Manager in Royal Oak.
As a Black man from Detroit, the road is already lined with hazards meant to hinder success. So Andre decided to charge headfirst to destroy those barriers. He chose to write poetry in order to pave a different road. That road led him to study poetry in college and learn the rules before he shattered them. After college, he fell by happenstance, into the hospitality industry. Starting the old-fashioned way as a barback, Andre was mentored by a brilliant woman named Trish. She drilled into him the foundation of bartending; guest-centric experiences, proper technique, palate development, but most importantly, tending to one’s bar as if home resided there.
From there, Andre learned at the pace of a dry sponge, hungrily absorbing knowledge from mentors such as Katrell Thomas, Melanie Mack, Yani Frye, Scott Poole, Shelby Minnix, and a host of friends and family that egged him to be the best, most complete bartender he could be. That fervor led him behind the sticks at some of Detroit’s most renowned bars, pushing the envelope of what craft cocktails can be in the midwest. At every junction, Andre learned more and more. He pushed himself harder to become something more than just a bartender or mixologist; A true agent of hospitality. His love of hospitality has garnered accolades and much recognition across America. In 2022, Andre received a nomination and was a semifinalist for the prestigious James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Bar Program for his program in Detroit, Michigan. Andre became the Bar Director and Principal Bartender at the first Black-owned and operated craft cocktail bar in the state of Michigan.
Outside of his professional career, Andre is a published Poet, an avid activist, and a doting father to his daughter Nova. He believes that working hard, especially when no one is watching, is the foundation for success in all areas of life. Andre currently resides in Detroit, MI, and is working as the Bar Manager/Head Bartender.
Amie Ward is a Veteran Bartender, exercise physiologist and has been outspoken on her fellow service industry members' health and wellness. When she is not pulling trucks and training for Strongwoman competitions, you can find Amie appreciating the finer things in life like Jägermeister.
IG: @thehealthtender
Website: The Healthtender
