We Can and We Will Fight This

I would like to acknowledge that while my voice to this platform has come late, my support did not. For some, words and opinions flow easily, for others like myself, it is necessary to sit and wrestle with feelings prior to expressing them. So here I go…. I had flown down to LA to work a pop-up …

“It’s Fine.”

New Orleans 2016. Good fucking grief. I was fresh into a relationship with somebody I was and am, madly in love with. I was excited to go to New Orleans with all my friends and NOT commit any semblance of infidelity. I was excited to tell my friends about how I'm finally in a really …

Y.V. On Some Loud Shit

As I sit here after spending 7 hours of my evening with 5 women whom I greatly admire, discussing the way your wrongdoings have affected us and how we plan to forge a way forward, I feel a number of different things. A. ANGER. This is a feeling I can gratefully say I don't experience often. …

M.K. This is Our Reality

I didn’t even know who Alex was. I was too new to meeting people on a national level and was just beginning my steps towards becoming involved in our greater community. The first time I “met” him, I was stumbling out of the bathroom of a bar during a party at SACC. It was pretty …

Jeanelle Owings: Not the Kind of Business I Want

I met him last year at an industry brunch in LA, while I was visiting from out of town. I sat next to his wife, and we chatted throughout. It seemed a close knit and happy group of people. Overall, it was a positive experience. I left feeling good about the people I had just …

My Story

The first time Alex and I met, I was excited to know that I had found myself in the good graces of industry leaders that I admired. The first time he assaulted me, I was sitting on the patio of a crowded bar having a cigarette when he sat down next to me and told …

Ashley Afferino: Why Me?

I first met this man while working as a bartender at a new spot in West Hollywood. He was consulting on their bar program. Such a nice, friendly, passionate person and was refreshing to meet, as much of my experience being new to LA was of quite the opposite. Over the years of working in …

Tina Ross: I didn’t see it coming.

It's taken me over a year to acknowlege that what happened to me was sexual assault and battery. I keep telling myself that if the person who attacked me had been a stranger, I would have gone straight to the police. But what would you do when your friend attacks you while he's under the influence of alcohol? I …

Untitled Account

The cocktail community in LA is a tight knit group. I entered the scene about 4 years ago thanks to a close friend at the time. We went to one bar specifically and I was taught the tricks and trades of the cocktail world and introduced to absolutely everyone. I frequented this bar and others …

Brittney Olsen: Wait, you too?

My friend, who just hired me, has a crush on me. My friend tried to kiss me. I’m going through a massive break up and subsequent depression. My friend tried to kiss me again. My friend won’t stop trying. I’m drinking. I don’t remember the first time we kissed. I know I kind of “came …