We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daija Parker. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daija below.

Daija, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission is to “Serve the Best Spirits with The Best Spirit.” The meaning behind that is to serve quality craft cocktails and/or mocktails while having a great spirit. I have been in the hospitality industry for 5 years working in upscale dining. Throughout those years the most rewarding part was the people, relationships, and memories I’ve created with people from all backgrounds. One thing I have learned is that the smallest interaction could make someone’s day or lift one’s spirit. I interact with hundreds of people daily, and I take pride in sharing kindness and spreading love through my work.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Daija Parker and I am a native Memphian. Growing up, I have always started small businesses. I then entered the hospitality industry when I was 17 years old, and I grew a liking for serving people. I then started to work for local upscale diners improving my skills and creating connections. One day while working, I made a joke about becoming a mixologist to a colleague. They then urged me to go into training, encouraging and ensuring that I will be great at it. I took that advice, and I never looked back since. I grew a slight obsession with mixology and I worked day in and day out working to improve my craft. I started this business while enrolled at the University of Memphis. I earned my Bachelors degree in Hospitality Resort Management with a minor in Finance.

During COVID-19, I came up with the idea to do mobile bartending. I had years of experience and skills to manage and operate a luxury bartending service and I put the plan into play. In 2021 I introduced The Elixir Mixer LLC to the public. The Elixir Mixer provides a luxury experience while crafting quality cocktails. We have a team of experienced mixologist serving the best spirits with the best spirit.

Any advice for managing a team?

Some advice I would give for managing a team and maintaining high morale is to ensure that you have the right people are on your team. There should always be one common goal for the team and that is to live up to the culture of the company. As a small business it is important that you display leadership skills and high performance amongst your team. If you take short cuts, so will they. With great leaders comes great followers to lead themselves.

In my mission I state that we serve the best spirits with the best spirits, which means we should always perform with the best spirits. I also mention a luxury service, therefore, the quality and service should match it. If you note to your guest “what to expect” as a company it is vital you and your team live and perform for the company’s culture and mission. That will keep the high morale and quality reputation of your business.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Since we specialize in mobile bartending I target my audience on social media with cocktail videos. I also recently participated in a cocktail contest for the company Rap Snacks in honor of Nicki Minaj and was announced one of the winners. I post cocktail videos for my audience so the can experience me crafting it first hand. In most of my videos, I do add a flyer at the end to inform the about the booking process. Doing this, I am giving the audience an experience and after the video, inviting them to book the experience which is the main goal of the videos.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elixirmixer901.com/
• Instagram: @TheElixirMixer
• Facebook: The Elixir Mixer

Image Credits
Jacorri Washington CEO of Clouded Visuals