We recently connected with Kayla Walls and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kayla, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Within the bartending world it is easy to stick to the “rules” of how to make a drink. There are classic ways to make drinks and traditional flavor profiles we are taught to replicate, however I choose to shake things up a bit. While I do agree with the traditional ways of bartending and greatly appreciate the art of making drinks; I decided to have my own twist to it. My “niche” is Adult Capri Suns as well as creating my own juice blends rather than using the store brands. Creating my own juices and switching up flavor profiles allows me to give the comedic statement of tasting like “juice”. A large amount of my customers don’t necessarily enjoy the taste of liquor, but they have found with my drinks that they end up not tasting the liquor while still being able to feel its effects.

In addition to how I make my taste a little different than traditional recipes; I also pride myself on always remaining affordable. I believe that everyone deserves good service regardless of their budget. In this world and especially this economy it’s easy to upcharge and exclude yourself to only high paying clientele however, I feel you can be both a luxury service as well as service the everyday man. My day to day customers are the people who really keep my business afloat, while I do appreciate my higher end clients the regular clients mean just as much to me. Many create their own businesses in hopes of becoming stupidly rich; my goal is to comfortable and build a community amongst those who continuously support me. While I judge no one on the way they choose to conduct their business and support all entrepreneurs; this is how I choose to conduct mine.

Kayla, 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 got into “making drinks” early on, don’t judge but I’d say as early as the age of 10. While I wasn’t drinking that early on I did enjoy watching my mom host get togethers and would copy what she was doing in the kitchen. So while I was enjoying seeing her cook, I was also watching her make drinks. The first drink I ever made was a frozen strawberry daquiri, which started my craze for fruity cocktails.

My business now is based off “adult Capri Suns” and mobile bartending, the goal is making drinking comfortable, affordable and fun. What sets me apart from others is simply the experience I provide; making customers happy is my main goal at the end of the day. There is a load of things I’m proud of within my business; from working with celebrities to Nike and more brands like it. I honestly could never pick just one thing I’m most proud of, however, my favorite events have to be graduations. Celebrating graduations always hit different and I thoroughly enjoy celebrating the success of others!

I hope when my potential customers/clients read this article they learn I’m a good damn time and provide a great service. Regardless of budget, brand, theme or interest I can make your vision happen. No booking is too small nor large and I’m happy to service you. While the business is Kayla’s Kocktailz we don’t only service liquor based clientele, my services vary and I welcome all to check us out on IG and see if we can be of service to you. Even if you don’t drink I’m sure there’s something I can offer, from chocolate covered desserts to mocktails and room decoration, I’m the girl for you.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Starting my business was without shame a drunk thought turned into action. Commonly my mother and I would make “Jungle Juice” for friends and family. One day I jokingly mentioned to my friends I should start selling the drinks I make and they quickly agreed and encouraged me. Shortly later I created my IG business page and coincidentally it was the same day as the Monica & Brandy Versus Battle. During the height of Covid this was a highly anticipated event amongst the black community especially; so day 1 of my business launch I received my first order ever for 2 jungle juices. With it being day 1 I had no labels, no bags, no pictures, no anything; just an IG page, a few mason jars and some leftover jungle juice from the night before. While confused I nonetheless packed that jungle juice up in those mason jars, got a dollar tree bag and made my first sale; from there the rest is history. Quickly the business skyrocketed and orders start coming from every direction; because of this my start up capital was the money from every order in that first month. Within the first month I was able to pay for packaging, labels, a proper logo and more supplies. From there everything I made within the first year went back into the business until I began to turn a proper profit.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What I think most helped with my reputation within the market is honestly my customers. I am extremely blessed to have customers who promote me loudly and proudly; they speak of me in rooms I’m not in and bring fellow friends and family to me every chance they get. The love I have for those who support me is honestly indescribable and once I enter into a new room I can always assure they’ll want me back. With the coverage of God, the support of my following and the encouragement of my family and friends the foundation that has allowed my business to flourish in the manner it has is rock solid. While I would love to have plenty more followers than I do, I’m happy to say I have a high retention rate on everyone that books and supports me. I’ve learned a lot of time people have a mass following but don’t have the actual engagement from those individuals and I’m blessed to not have that issue currently. My reputation is growing daily and allowed me in rooms with Metta Worldpeace, Justnesh, RHOA, Queen Naija, Jayda Cheaves, Nike Executives and so so so many more, if God has done these things for me already I can only imagine the doors being laid out for me to open in the future. There is nothing specific I’ve done to be in these rooms or book these events beyond being authentic and providing the experiences I personally would like to have when out and about.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylaskocktailz?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaylasKocktailz?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Twitter: https://x.com/KaylasKocktailz?t=hlJ0RoG0nfjNkLG2imCo-g&s=03