We recently connected with Misael Villa and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Misael thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

Legacy is such a big word. With all the running around I do and the million things I juggle, it can be very frustrating at times which leads to a lot of stress. I was once asked why do I do this, why do I put myself in this position. When is enough going to be enough, what was my end goal. That made me think a lot, I had never asked myself that question. I was just operating and doing everything I can put on my plate and then some. After a lot of thought I came to the conclusion which circles back to the question of legacy, I wouldn’t necessarily say legacy that I want to leave behind but I would like to be known for wanting to grow business and open as many businesses as possible with the sole purpose of employing as many people as possible and knowing that the money they make is used to buy food, gifts or whatever it is but that money is being used to make others happy as well. I just want to help people grow at the end of the day. That’s the legacy id like to leave behind.

Misael, 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?

Everyone knows me as Misa, short for Misael. I’m for Puebla Mexico but have lived my whole life in LA, all over LA, south central, west adams, Hawthorne, downtown, but for the majority of my life I lived in Ktown and love to be able to say that I grew up in ktown. I went to school at cal state LA for business management and while in school I worked in restaurants to pay for school. I fell in love with the industry and most importantly the bar. I bartended for years and fell in love with the craft and learned a lot about agave spirits in particular. Once I had reached a level in the bar scene that I felt was the top, I asked myself what I wanted to do with all the knowledge I had acquired throughout the years behind the bar. I came to the conclusion that it only made sense to take the leap and start my own thing. When Pattern bar became available and the opportunity came up I knew it was my time to do everything I had been telling people I’d do. Pattern bar was a concept that had a following already and I didn’t want to change that but I wanted to add to that. It took sometime and a lot of trial and error, but when the pandemic came around it was a time that got the brain going because I needed to figure out how to keep money coming in. The pandemic showed me how much love people had for the bar and how much they went out of their way to support my staff. We made some changes to attract a broader clientele and it clicked and worked for the best. I Can proudly say that I’ve been able to double the revenue of the bar, of course non of it could be done without the right team. Everyone that is part of Pattern bar has shown their appreciation for the business which has translated into the increase in sales. Like I tell people now, pattern bar is now that most well known unknown venue.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

When managing your team, you need to know that everyone has their own personality. There’s no book that can teach you how to deal with multiple personalities. Being there for your team and always having an ear for them allows them to open up to you, it gives them that trust that you need your team to have. You’ll know when you have a good team, you’ll know when you can fully trust and when you don’t have the right team, it’s a waiting game. Sometimes it feels like a lot of moving parts when you’re constantly hiring new people but at the end of the day not everyone can fill the position even if they have the skills. Everything has to make sense for that person to click perfectly into your business, if they don’t feel happy or look for the best interest of the business then it’s not the right fit for you as a business owner or for them. An employee that understands that if the business grows they benefit from it as well is the perfect marriage you’re looking for.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I think the biggest pivot for the business was during the pandemic. During the pandemic we had to stay glued to the news because the way we were allowed to operate changed every week at times. We are known for our DJs, our parties. We needed to keep that alive during the pandemic and I knew it would be hard for us but we decided to turn our speakers facing out and let the tunes play while we soled ready to drink cocktails out the front door when no one was allowed to come in. Once regulations changed and we were allowed to operate as long as we served food, I knew the only right thing was to call my friend Billy (owner of carnitas el momo) and ask him if he wanted to join the party and team up so that we can open our doors. That time in the pandemic where carnitas el momo and Pattern bar teamed up had to be the most fun I ever had, it was just 2 young LA cats trying to make it happen. I remember the first night we sold out of carnitas we partied like as if we had won some kind of championship. To many maybe it wasn’t much but to us it meant that we were doing something that people enjoyed and to see the joy in everyone’s faces in a time of so much confusion was one of the best feelings ever. Shout out to carnitas el momo, Billy and all his team that were there for that period of time and rocked with us.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.patternbar.com
• Instagram: @patternbar