We were lucky to catch up with Tony Gonzales recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission for both of my companies is to help bars and restaurants create meaningful experiences with the products I create. I believe that you first drink with your eyes, and this means that the visual appearance of your drink can be just as important as the balance and taste. Ice is more than just keeping your drink cold, it’s an ingredient in your drink. And at high end cocktail bars and restaurants, ingredients matter – a lot. We want to change the way people think about ice and we want to educate people on how having clear and pure ingredients – especially ice – will enhance their drink and overall experience.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My Name is Tony Gonzales, and I’m a Serial Entrepreneur and Inventor. I was a bartender / mixologist for almost 16 years, and during my time there, I honed in on skillsets to helped to project what I truly was; a Creator. I own two bar industry related companies. For the bar related companies; there is Ghost Ice, a company that aims to simplify clear ice creation for bars, restaurants, and home. Then there is The Ice Designer, which is a company that creates and sells fun bar tools to raise the level of presentation for the cocktail lover.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Ghost Ice was a passion project that turned into a side hustle. I created the Ghost Ice System in my outside patio in my Downtown LA apartment. I have band saws, wood, miter saws. sealant, glue, and a lot of nails. I also made an enclosed oven out of a shop heat lamp to melt plastic to put on my homemade vacuum forming table. I did this so I could create my products without having to manufacture. I learned a lot during this time. I made many mistakes, and even put my oppressions on hold while I went back to the drawing board, to figure out how to scale. 1 year later I decided to bring on partners to handle the things like shipping, and finances. This was the best decision, because I was able to focus on how to grow the business.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Be the client. That is my strategy… I am my own target market. I have learned to think about the things I need and want, and then I try to achieve that. I listen to my customers and ask for feedback often. What gets people excited? What do they care about? Then we go after those things. If they don’t exist yet, I create them. If they simply need to be educated on how to enhance their guests’ experience, we’re here to help. Our bottom line is not a dollar amount, but our customers. That’s how and why we’ve grown to where we are today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theicedesigner.com
• Instagram: @theicedesigner
• Instagram: @ghosticesystem website – www.ghosticesystem.com