Cha Cha's Bar Project

[chachasbartendingandstuff-blog]

I bartended for a few years before i decided to get a “real job,” and by that I mean a job that comes with benefits and legit hourly wage because i was knee deep in debt from going to college and subsequently not finishing, not my fault though; had a family member die near the end of the semester and had to drop out. I was charged a late drop out fee and then my financial aid decided not to pay for the rest. So I was stuck with a few thousand that I couldnt pay and then my FAFSA debt. I LOVED bartending, I met my current love whilst bartending, but I couldn’t do it forever. Recently though, my current job as a dental assistant has been causing so much stress and imbalance in my life, I needed a refreshing change of pace and also to rake in some extra money to help pay my debt. It all started with a party to do on my moms behalf, she and some friends paid for the liquor, all they wanted me to do was just pour drinks and make margaritas. Well that night I learned a few lessons about ergonomically working well, I also learned that working private events brings in a LOT of money. Now the town I was in is not known for people tipping their bartenders, which is why I only charged 50 bucks as a favor for my mom, I ended up leaving with close to 200 dollars in tips for 3 hours of work. Which is more than I’ve made in my time as a bartender at other bars, after that I got 2 more jobs working at parties and my mind was SET; I wanted this to be my side hustle now, and I really hope it grows more now.

[chachasbartendingandstuff-blog]

My Calling.

So my mom calls me ChaCha, my mom started calling me that after we saw the movie the country bears, there was this character played by Queen Latifah named so; she was a bartender and said she hated being called that, then a bear says “Set me up Cha Cha!” I always walked around saying that, it stuck after awhile. I’m your usual South Texas hispanic 20 something year old women, went to college for a bit, didn’t work out, and now I’m back home working as a Dental Assistant. This wasn’t my first career choice though. I started as a server at a couple of local joints in my hometown, after a while bossman said I had the personality of a bartender, so I moved up and started making a couple extra hundred bucks a night. Well where I live, people don’t tip for shit. I was making 40 percent less than I should’ve every night, because people down here in the Valley just don’t tip their servers/bartenders what they deserve because either A.) They dont have enough money, which if you dont have enough money to tip, you dont have enough  money to eat. or B.) They don’t care, they don’t give a shit if their Server goes home with their hard earned money or not, they want their drinks and give no craps about what their bartender deserves. Now its understandable if the customer got crap service to no fault other than their bartenders, but it’s not if it is just from complete apathy. 

As much as I wanted too, I couldn’t stay a bartender for long, i had to get a “Real” stable job that had stable money coming in with stable hours and benefits. Reason being, is because even though I only went to school for less than a year, I had a debt that I needed (still do) to pay off. I went to school and got a pretty nice cozy job as a dental assistant with a pretty successful dentist. Problem was, with all comfortable safety net I had, I was missing the bar life. I had a knack for it, I was good at it, I would run it patrons at my clinic asking why I left when I was so good at what I did. I did miss it, then opportunity came with a ring on my phone. Long story short, I started bartending a parties from my friends request; first it was one now its thankfully become more. I want more. I wanted my own bar, to take to parties and make own money while having fun doing what I love. 

So this is my journey in bar life.