We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ivo Peshev a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ivo, thanks for joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

My Answer:

Growing a business is never an easy task. It has taken us years to scale, and we’re still scaling and improving today. While numerous factors contribute to business growth, I’d like to share what I believe are the most critical elements of our journey.

Vision as the Foundation

First and foremost, you must aim high. If you’re going to invest your energy, capital, and most precious resource, time, into developing a business, I firmly believe you should shoot for the sky. I never wanted to build a business that merely pays the bills; any job can do that. Setting ambitious yet realistic goals and gaining absolute clarity on what those objectives were became the foundation that made scaling possible.

The Courage to Invest

Beyond vision, the second most important factor in scaling is courage. When you first launch a business, there’s a certain experimental quality to it. You’re testing ideas with relatively little at stake. However, once you begin scaling, the equation changes dramatically. Now there’s something substantial to lose, and you face the inevitable question: What comes first, investing in infrastructure and product development to attract more clients, or securing clients first and then building capacity to serve them?

From my experience, having the conviction to invest in your business and the faith that these investments will eventually yield results is what makes scaling possible.

The Art of Delegation

The third and fourth major steps in our scaling journey involved learning to delegate, which brought its own set of challenges. Relinquishing control over something you’ve built from the ground up is inherently difficult. Even when you’re mentally prepared to release that control, I strongly suggest seeking education on how to do it effectively. From hiring to training and everything in between, abundant online resources can teach business owners how to transform into leaders who not only delegate but inspire their teams to execute with the same passion and dedication.

Systematizing Operations

One crucial step I took before outsourcing and expanding our team was to systematize our business operations comprehensively. Every department, every role, every position received clearly defined workflows and key performance indicators (KPIs). This operational clarity became the backbone that allowed us to scale consistently while maintaining quality and vision across the organization.

Ivo, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve spent my entire career in hospitality, and it’s been a journey of continuous evolution. I started behind the bar as a bartender, eventually diving deep into flair bartending, which took me to international competitions around the world. Over the course of more than a decade, I worked my way through every position in the bar world, from barback all the way to beverage director. This comprehensive experience gave me an intimate understanding of hospitality from every angle.

The Transition to Entrepreneurship

Eventually, I transitioned into the business world, first launching my own bartending school, and later opening a restaurant. At the time, I was living in Santa Barbara, a community known for its tight connections. As my reputation in the hospitality domain grew within that close community, I naturally found myself drawn into the cocktail catering and events world. It was there that I noticed a significant gap.

Identifying the Opportunity

In an industry driven by the “wow” moment, there was surprisingly little intentionality, creativity, and genuine hospitality in the bar element of events. Bars were treated as service stations, transactional touchpoints where guests simply ordered drinks. The experience ended at the exchange.

The Evolution of Flair Project

Because of my flair bartending background, the company’s initial mission was to bring a level of entertainment and hospitality to events. However, as we grew and the bar industry evolved, particularly with the emergence of modern mixology, we underwent a fundamental transformation. We became something different: a team that actually thinks about how the bar fits into the bigger picture of an event.

What We Do Differently

Today, Flair Project creates intentional bar programs for events that are centered on how guests feel and move, not just what they drink. We use the bar to create guest experiences that feel personal and flow naturally with the overall event design. We’re not just a bar company or a staffing company. We’re a hospitality team that uses cocktails as a way to create meaningful moments and connections.

Our Approach

What truly sets us apart is our foundation in human psychology and emotional intelligence. We design experiences around how people actually think, feel, and move through a space. Rather than presenting pre-built menus or standard packages, we invest time in understanding who our clients are, what they’re creating, and what success looks like to them. Then we design experiences, cocktails, and moments specifically for that context.

Our team is trained internally through our own academy, ensuring every bartender understands our systems, values, and standards. This means the experience we design is the experience delivered on site, without dilution or inconsistency. We also offer unique services like our Tasting Room experiences, where clients can preview cocktails in a relaxed setting and connect with the experience before the event, and custom experience decks that help clients visualize and understand what we’re creating together.

Measuring Success Differently

We don’t measure success by drinks served, speed, or volume. We measure it by emotional shift. Our guests should feel cared for, energized, genuinely engaged, and included in something intentional. That shift can come from a thoughtfully designed edible cocktail format that creates a memorable moment, or from a simple drink served with presence, awareness, and real human connection.

What I’m Most Proud Of

What I’m most proud of is that we’ve created a brand that gives people a break from stress, from responsibility, from everything they’re carrying. Through intentional hospitality, we create moments of escape, giving people space to disconnect from the noise and reconnect with the moment they’re in. We’ve proven that hospitality, when executed with intention and intelligence, becomes something far more powerful than service. It becomes transformation.

For Potential Clients

If you’re planning an event where the guest experience truly matters, where you want the bar to support and enhance your vision rather than simply being another vendor to manage, we’d love to work with you. We’re best suited for clients who understand that exceptional experiences require intentional design, meticulous execution, and a team that brings emotional intelligence to every interaction.

Any advice for managing a team?

The foundation of any great team starts with hiring genuinely good people. I’ve learned that resumes matter far less than someone’s core values and character. When you bring on people who already have strong personal morals, they’re easier to train, easier to communicate with, and they naturally align with your company’s culture. Skills can be taught. Integrity cannot.

Treat people like people, not numbers.

This might be old school to some, but I believe in knowing my team on a personal level. Unless you’re managing hundreds of employees, you should take genuine interest in who they are beyond their job title. That’s what builds loyalty and trust. People don’t work hard for companies. They work hard for leaders who see them, value them, and treat them with respect.

Give them clarity and purpose.

A team can’t succeed without direction. I make sure everyone understands our company’s vision, why we do what we do, and what their role is in making that happen. Clear job descriptions, clear KPIs, and clear expectations eliminate confusion and create accountability. When people know what success looks like, they can aim for it.

Recognize effort, not just results.

One of the biggest mistakes I see leaders make is failing to give praise. And I’m not talking about empty compliments. I mean genuine recognition when someone puts in real effort or achieves something meaningful. Whether it’s verbal acknowledgment or, when feasible, a bonus, people need to feel appreciated. Recognition fuels motivation.

Bottom line:

Great teams are built on trust, clarity, and respect. Hire good humans. Lead with intention. Recognize their effort. That’s how you keep morale high and build something that lasts.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss had a tremendous impact on both me personally and my company as a whole.

It’s a negotiation book written by a former FBI hostage negotiator, and the tactics in it are incredibly practical. I’ve applied them across every part of my business: sales conversations, team communication, vendor relationships, and client partnerships.

What sets this book apart is that the negotiation tactics aren’t manipulative. They’re rooted in human psychology and genuine understanding. It’s not about pressuring someone into what you want. It’s about creating mutual understanding, uncovering what the other person actually needs, and delivering value in a way that feels natural, not transactional.

Why it matters for hospitality and events:

In our industry, everything is about connection and trust. Whether I’m designing an experience for a client, managing a team on-site, or working through logistics with a partner, the principles from this book help me communicate with empathy and clarity. It’s made me a better listener, a better leader, and a better business owner.

If you’re an entrepreneur in any people-driven industry, this book will change how you approach every conversation.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.flairprojectsb.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flair_projectsb/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flairprojectsb/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/flair-project
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/flair-project-westlake-village?osq=Flair+Project