We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Lawrence. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.

Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Everything we do is different from the industry standard.

The amount of phone calls where I’ve had people say “well the other bartending companies all do it like this”, after I’ve told them that what they’re asking is not efficient or the best way to do it. I don’t care what “the other bartending companies” think is ok. I do not. There is a reason I employ who I do, there is a reason we make drinks the way we do, there is a reason we insist on full-service only, there is a reason why we need a 12′ deep space to set up in and there is a reason we have custom built fifteen separate bars that we take onsite instead of using the “bars” we were previously given at different venues around town. It is all in the name of efficiency and output. It is MUCH harder for us to setup, but we don’t mind, because it makes us that much better when the bar opens.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been behind the bar for 15+ years now and have been running Cali Craft since its inception in 2014/2015. There was a gap in the wedding market at the time for high-end craft cocktail bartenders and mobile bar services. We came in and did very well and along the way learned that sharing duties with the client AKA providing them a “shopping list” was incredibly detrimental to their menu. 100% of the time it was wrong and things were missing. It was at this point that we insisted that we were full-service only. Too many times we showed up to events and the host would tell us they “forgot” to get lime juice because they were busy. Now the entire menu is ruined and WE look bad.

We satisfy that gap in the market for high-functioning people who expect and appreciate quality work and do not have time to organize an entire event, figure out rentals and get bogged down in the details. We do one thing, we do it better than the rest and there is absolutely nothing for you to do on your end.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During the pandemic of course was absolutely terrifying. I was in disbelief that I would lose everything I had worked so hard for and believed that events would go away forever.

In March of 2020, I had just signed to extend my warehouse lease by three years. My landlord was nice enough to let me out of the whole thing! I made the call incredibly early on in the pandemic to shut the entire place down and put everything into storage. I knew that we would be out of commission for at least a year. This was heartbreaking and I even filmed the progress in my Instagram stories, called “Moving” where you can see me breaking down in tears ;)

Two of my friends/employees very nicely volunteered to help me pack up my entire life’s work and move it into storage. I ended up with a 40′ x 8′ shipping container + two more 24sqft containers to house all my stuff.

I started working out of these hot, hot units toward the end of 2020, when things were KIND OF picking up again. This was horrible. It was an hour drive, I would be unloading and loading in the sun in the middle of a scary outdoor shipping container yard and would need to leave before sundown as once it got dark, there were no lights. There was of course no running water, so any jobs I had to lug all of the dirty equipment back up the stairs to my apartment each time and wash them in my little sink.

I finally found another warehouse mid way through 2021 which was advertised as 1,000sqft, but it was only 800sqft. 1,000sqft was already pushing it in terms of space, so 800 was way too small. This whole year was a nightmare from start to finish. The place was infested with roaches, it flooded, my van was stolen, there was no security and I got absolutely taken advantage of. I finally moved again in 2022 and am now in love with my new warehouse!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The business was started in 2015 with $127.79. That got one set of cocktail tins, some black rubber mats, some squeeze bottles and other assorted bar tools. I was charging NOTHING for YEARS. Just to build up my reputation and portfolio. I remember I once provided a completely open bar for 50 people at an engagement party and charged $200. I do not recommend this.

First there was a 5’x5′ storage unit, then an 8’x8′, then a second 8’x8′, then a 900sqft warehouse (then downgraded to the shipping container and nightmare warehouse) and now I am bursting out of the seams of my new 2,000sqft warehouse :D

Contact Info:

• Website: calicraftcocktails.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/calicraftcocktails
• Facebook: facebook.com/calicraftcocktails
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-lawrence-b9382928/
• Twitter: twitter.com/CaliCocktails
• Youtube: youtube.com/calicraftcocktails
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/cali-craft-cocktails-los-angeles-4?select=CW6xc1mwwPkwrgQvP1uuzw
• Other: tiktok.com/@calicraftcocktails pinterest.com/calicraftcocktails

Image Credits
1. Fox11 News – Good Day LA 2. instagram.com/taylorkinziephoto 3. Instagram.com/ peterson.design.photo 4. Instagram.com/image.ap 5. Instagram.com/victoriagoldphotography 6. Instagram.com/image.ap 7. Instagram.com/image.ap 8. Instagram.com/image.ap 9. Instagram.com/image.ap 10. Instagram.com/victoriagoldphotography 11. Instagram.com/victoriagoldphotography