Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jaqui Oviedo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Jaqui, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Evan Davis was living in Las Vegas and got the opportunity to do private bartending events for his instructor while he was in bartending school. Missing home (Evan is a Colorado Native) he thought about bringing his expertise and knowledge back to Colorado. Shortly after coming back, Evan and Jaqui met while opening the Centennial TopGolf. While there, a fellow bartender wanted to throw a party without having to bartend himself, so Evan offered to do it. He and the guests had so much fun at this party that they hired Evan as their bartender for their upcoming wedding! Knowing he needed help, he asked Jaqui to go on an adventure to the mountains for this bartenders wedding. It was a crazy night filled with lots of drinks, lots of laughs, and a ton of dancing! On the way down from the mountains with too much energy from the night, Evan and Jaqui discussed for hours making this dream of private event bartending into a reality. Since that night 6 years ago, we have transformed into more than just bartenders. We can help in every aspect of an event, whether it’s setting up the venue with tables, decorations, lighting, etc, to serving / running buffets, day of coordination, or even helping you plan it all. With the exception of cooking food, (Evan is a terrible cook!) we can help make your event the most memorable, well executed and stress-free experience possible!
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.
At Mix & Shoot, we love to call ourselves Hospitality Experts. While we LOVE bartending, we also love getting to help and make your event the best it can be! That’s why we offer more than just bartenders! We are there to give, guide, guard, and even entertain from the greeting to the goodbye. We do what ever is needed to ensure a successful event! From setup to takedown of the venue, decor, buffet management, bussing, bottle service, personal servers, alcohol concierge service, day of coordinating and even event planning, there is nothing we can’t be hired out for. All of our staff is fully Liquor Liability Insured, TIPS Certified, service industry working people who share our core value – Integrity Above All. We shoot you straight with everything we do, from our pricing (never any hidden fees), to how much alcohol we recommend you order when you do our alcohol concierge service and everything in between.
We strive to make every event go as smooth as possible and while there is no such thing as a perfect event, we do everything we can to ensure any and all hiccups go unnoticed.
For example, we got hired for a day of coordinating a wedding at a venue that had already hired a bar service that was not us. The bartender was over 2 hours late but we jumped in, set up the bar and poured the guests drinks during cocktail hour. They never even noticed the bartender that was hired was late and everyone got a drink in hand to cool of during the hot summer!
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Evan and I met while helping to open the Centennial TopGolf. If you’ve ever been to a TopGolf, you know just how massive these places are! With three floors of golfing bays, a massive kitchen, and three separate bars, there is a TON of staff constantly rotating through those places. Add on top of that, bartenders don’t always have a ton of room to maneuver in and with the fast paced setting, if you aren’t vibing with your fellow coworker, it can make for a long day. But he and I hit it off right away! We weren’t finishing each others sentences type of friends but we knew what each other needed and we were those bartenders who were throwing stuff to each other to help make drinks and putting a little flair into our day all while laughing and dancing. Evan is a super fun, super loud and crazy personality. I’m a little quieter but quick with a joke and always an ear to hear your story, and while he is definitely the dreamer and I’m more of the realist in life, our differences really work well together in our business. I truly believe that because we share the same values/mentality when it comes to work, that is what has helped us be so successful over these past six years.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
We keep in touch with clients throughout the whole event planning process via email, text, calls, zoom and in person meetings. We foster loyalty by keeping our promises, sending information / proposals when we say we will, etc but we mainly do this the day of events by being more than just staff at an event. We don’t just stand there, staring blankly off into space. We are constantly moving and finding ways to help whether it’s other vendors or the venue. We also entertain your guests by talking with them, getting to know them, cracking jokes and my favorite part, getting on the dance floor to help get the party started! I can’t tell you how many times we have noticed no one on the dance floor, everyone is kind of quiet, so we talk with the DJ and request The Wobble. We jump onto the dance floor, bring guests with us and teach them if they don’t know the dance! That always helps to get things moving!
Contact Info:
- Website: MixandShootbeverage.com
- Facebook: facebook.com/mixandshoot