We were lucky to catch up with Lisa Dorton Cramer recently and have shared our conversation below.
Lisa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?
Regularly! There was a time in my past corporate life where I worked, worked, worked. It led to me no longer enjoying my job and I found myself sitting in massive burnout. When I finally decided to take a leap of faith and invest in a career change, I knew I was going to have to find something I was passionate about and that would provide flexibility for a good work-life balance. Starting my company has afforded my family and I the ability to travel and vacation several times a year. I have never felt more relaxed and comfortable with the amount of time I have to spend with my family.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Lisa. I am a Florida native and graduate of the University of Central Florida (Go Knights!). After attending and admiring a friend’s wedding in 2020, acknowledging I was no longer happy in my healthcare management career, I found myself starting completely over, in the middle of the pandemic, as the business owner of Cheeky Street Mobile Bar. We provide bartending services on location for weddings, private parties, corporate events, and many other types of gatherings. Something that sets us apart from other bartending companies in the central Florida area is our vintage horse trailer that has been converted into a mobile bar! She is affectionately called the Ally O’Malley and we love to dress her up for the various events we are fortunate enough to be apart of. I pride myself in spending time working with our clients to customize their bar services based on their specific vision. All events are not created equally and I work to make sure every detail is taken care of for my clients. Each Cheeky Street bartender is amazing at what they do and their ability to engage with guests at our events is amazing to watch. We all truly love what we do!
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
The best source of new clients for Cheeky Street Mobile Bar has been networking and partnering up with local venues. It is important for me to foster positive relationships with venues that have a good reputation, as well as high booking rates. If you are able to become a preferred vendor with these types of venues, it can heavily increase the amount of bookings you contract with.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
When I decided to pivot from a healthcare business manager into a small business owner, I was very scared! I sat down and planned out what my budget and finances were at that time, what I needed financially to get the business off the ground, and what I wanted my financial future to look like over the course of a few years. When I resigned from my position, I cashed out the paid time off I had accrued and was able to pay all of my bills for a period of six months. I used credit cards to purchase any and all equipment I needed to start a viable bartending business. Once I started to see a return, I was able to begin paying down my credit cards, purchase additional or upgraded equipment, and staff additional bartenders, which then gave me the ability to book more events and increase revenue.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cheekystreetmobilebar.com
- Instagram: @cheekystreetbar
- Facebook: @cheekystreetbar
Image Credits
Carolina Irais Photography Oak and Iron Photography