Meet Desiree Walters | Mobile Bar Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Desiree Walters and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Desiree, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I moved back to South Florida to give birth to my son in 2013, I had over 3 years of experience as a server and a little over a year as a bartender. Almost a year after giving birth, I shifted my career path over to education, working with grades K-12. Eventually, I missed being behind the bar as well as the customer interaction, so I dipped my toes back into the service industry part-time working from restaurants to clubs to private functions.

By 2019 I was still teaching but slowed down working part-time jobs as a server/bartender. During that year I decided to explore modeling since I have always been told I should try from as early as I could remember. Working in the modeling industry opened the door and my eyes to a multitude of events from festivals to corporate events to private events. Through some agencies, I started to once again pick up bartending events and then Covid happened!

As South Florida started to slowly open back up, I started to look into how I could obtain booking private events without having to go through an agency. As a result, YourBartenderDezire LLC Mobile Bar and Event Services were born on December 18, 2020! So with over 10 years in the hospitality industry working in various settings from high-volume establishments to special events, I was able to formulate the perfect balance of beautiful attentive professionals to meet the highest service standards every time for all wedding, corporate and special events.

What should our readers know about your business?
When I initially started YBD, we were hired for nightlife and day parties with a few special events in between. That quickly became overwhelming due to the late nights and continuous battle of getting proper pay for our services from promoters. Not to mention it was also pretty difficult finding reliable and professional individuals to have on the team. I was getting burnout more than I was establishing a profitable business and many times thought about throwing in the towel.

As I started to develop YourBartenderDezire’s mission and value statement, I realized two things instantly:
1. Just because I have years of experience in the field doesn’t mean I know how to operate a business.
2. Nightlife is not where this company’s niche lies.

After about a year, I decided to shift our target from nightlife services to luxury private event services such as weddings and corporate gatherings. This shift wasn’t the easiest to make as YBD as a whole had to go through a whole rebranding process as well as a business mindset change.

Today, YBD LLC- Mobile Bar and Event Services is a certified and insured grandeur event and promotional company specializing in mobile bar services; providing beautiful and attentive professionals for all Private, Corporate, and Promotional events with a promise of exceptional service.

With numerous five-star reviews across a multitude of platforms, YourBartenderDezire strives to enhance our client’s event experience with a compilation of dedicated and committed professionals ready to relieve them of the stress for their upcoming event making us the only service our clients desire to hire. YBD’s team of licensed bartenders and mixologists are all trained in the art of mixing delectable craft cocktails and mocktails.

Our flexibility and professionalism make our staff highly teachable and ready to learn about and represent a brand, product, or event with style. Whether creating an inclusive mobile bar experience to meet the style and ambiance of their party or simply providing staff such as a cocktail waitress for a wedding reception or brand ambassador for a company’s grand opening; Our clients will never have to wonder where they stand or whether they are important to us — their event desires will show in every interaction.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I first have to give credit to my cousin Ricardo Lewis. When I initially had the idea of looking into booking my private events, he gave me the idea of putting together a team. If it had not been for the conversations and advice he gave me I am not sure if I would have taken the steps of making this into business rather than a solo gig type of thing.

The next person I have to give an extremely big thanks to is my business coach Carolyn Phillips of Mixology Mixers located in CT. Carolyn allowed me to realize the potential of what YourBartenderDezire could be, I would probably either still be struggling in the nightlife area or completely have given up if it wasn’t for her guidance and mentorship.

Because of her, I understand things such as how important it is to have a mission and vision statement for my business so that I am aware of the direction I want this to evolve into. She also helped me realize how important it is to charge my worth as well as understand my expenses when it comes to creating packages and pricing. Thanks to Carolyn I have a better grasp on how to operate not only a profitable business but a meaningful business.

Of course, I am thankful to all of my family and friends that have either shared our business information, referred YourBartenderDezire to anyone looking for staff or mobile bar services, and/or book our services directly. I may not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the support of those that I love and who love me. Last but not least I have to give a special thank you to my YBD team!

We have been through some good and busy times to some slow and not-so-great times together yet my team understands the vision I have for this brand and has stuck by YBD through it all. Through this business, I have met some talented and amazingly beautiful individuals who I still appreciate and love to this day but these ladies have been with me from the beginning. Thank You all for being team players and never giving up on YBD!

Website: www.yourbartenderdezire.com

Instagram: Yourbartenderdezire

Linkedin: Yourbartenderdezire

Facebook: Yourbartenderdezire

Yelp: Yourbartenderdezire