EPISODE · May 5, 2026 · 1H 5M
#95 Ryan Fitzgerald: Fired to On Fire, an Entrepreneurial Journey
from Serves You Right · host Andrew Roy
Most bartenders who want to open a bar think the barrier is capital. A lot of people think if they get fired, their life and future work prospects will be ruined. Ryan Fitzgerald disproves both ideas. The San Francisco cocktail scene is one of the most competitive hospitality markets in the world, and ABV has operated there for over a decade by rejecting the playbook everyone else follows: no silverware, no batched drinks, no dedicated servers, no Instagrammable cocktails, and a TV hidden behind a wall. If your bar ownership plan starts with investors taking the majority, or your cocktail bar is built around what photographs well instead of what drinks well, or you think serepisode is vers and bartenders can stay in their lanes, this the missing insight…from a man who co-founded a bar with equal ownership and equal work, and who learned agave spirits from Julio Bermejo himself before that was a résumé line people bragged about.EXPECT TO LEARN:Why Ryan deliberately waited years to open a bar when everyone told him to do it soonerThe exact ownership structure Ryan and his partners insisted on (and the investor deal he walked away from) that he credits as the single biggest reason ABV survivedHow getting fired while already invited to Tales of the Cocktail led directly to a brand ambassador offer from Del Maguey, and what he did on the way out the door that made the offer possibleThe no-silverware, no-server, bartenders-only floor model ABV runs on, and why it solved their training pipeline problem in a way traditional bar staffing never couldWhat Julio Bermejo taught him in three eight-hour tequila education sessions that changed how he thinks about spirits, and the single thing Ron Cooper told visiting groups at Oaxacan distilleries that Ryan still carries with him todayLINKS:ABV Bar, San Francisco\Instagram: @abvsfInstagram: @ihatecocktailsService starts now.Follow the show: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTubeI talk to people in and around the service industry space. I'm looking to hear from the people I wish I could have talked to when I was coming up in bars. Said another way: I am trying to make sense of this wild, beautiful mess that can be a life working in bars, and help others that are feeling similarly confused and/or lost. Check out the Podcast Website Here and get in touch with me!Classic Episodes You May Like:Doug Frost MW MSJeffrey MorgenthalerET: Entrepreneur (and creator of Surfer on Acid)Edward Slingerland's Masterful work on IntoxicationAndrew Hurley of Vegas.WineChris Tunstall of A Bar AboveTony Abou-GanimBobby "G" GleasonAs always, I’m just here taking notes, trying to figure out what it all means.Cheers
What this episode covers
Most bartenders who want to open a bar think the barrier is capital. A lot of people think if they get fired, their life and future work prospects will be ruined. Ryan Fitzgerald disproves both ideas. The San Francisco cocktail scene is one of the most competitive hospitality markets in the world, and ABV has operated there for over a decade by rejecting the playbook everyone else follows: no silverware, no batched drinks, no dedicated servers, no Instagrammable cocktails, and a TV hidden behind a wall. If your bar ownership plan starts with investors taking the majority, or your cocktail bar is built around what photographs well instead of what drinks well, or you think serepisode is vers and bartenders can stay in their lanes, this the missing insight…from a man who co-founded a bar with equal ownership and equal work, and who learned agave spirits from Julio Bermejo himself before that was a résumé line people bragged about.EXPECT TO LEARN:Why Ryan deliberately waited years to open a bar when everyone told him to do it soonerThe exact ownership structure Ryan and his partners insisted on (and the investor deal he walked away from) that he credits as the single biggest reason ABV survivedHow getting fired while already invited to Tales of the Cocktail led directly to a brand ambassador offer from Del Maguey, and what he did on the way out the door that made the offer possibleThe no-silverware, no-server, bartenders-only floor model ABV runs on, and why it solved their training pipeline problem in a way traditional bar staffing never couldWhat Julio Bermejo taught him in three eight-hour tequila education sessions that changed how he thinks about spirits, and the single thing Ron Cooper told visiting groups at Oaxacan distilleries that Ryan still carries with him todayLINKS:ABV Bar, San Francisco\Instagram: @abvsfInstagram: @ihatecocktailsService starts now.Follow the show: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTubeI talk to people in and around the service industry space. I'm looking to hear from the people I wish I could have talked to when I was coming up in bars. Said another way: I am trying to make sense of this wild, beautiful mess that can be a life working in bars, and help others that are feeling similarly confused and/or lost. Check out the Podcast Website Here and get in touch with me!Classic Episodes You May Like:Doug Frost MW MSJeffrey MorgenthalerET: Entrepreneur (and creator of Surfer on Acid)Edward Slingerland's Masterful work on IntoxicationAndrew Hurley of Vegas.WineChris Tunstall of A Bar AboveTony Abou-GanimBobby "G" GleasonAs always, I’m just here taking notes, trying to figure out what it all means.Cheers
NOW PLAYING
#95 Ryan Fitzgerald: Fired to On Fire, an Entrepreneurial Journey
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
No similar episodes found.
Similar Podcasts
No similar podcasts found.