An Interview with Bad Birdy

We are kicking off our Bar Ambassador interview series with a conversation between Krowne president Kyle Forman and Krowne Bar Ambassador Bad Birdy. Bad Birdy is known as “the One Woman Show” creating captivating cocktails and experiences for people around the world! She has captivated over 190,000 followers online with her incredible drink making videos. Recently she has launched KUDUOWL to bring her talent and skills in drink making to your home. Please enjoy Krowne’s conversation with Bad Birdy.

*Please note this conversation was recorded in October 2021

Kyle Forman 0:00 

I am with Bad Birdy, who is a Krowne ambassador. We are really excited to have you on the team. To give the audience a good idea of what you do and what you're all about, could you just bring us up to speed with what got you into this industry and where you see it going?

 

Bad Birdy 0:22

Yeah, so I've been in the hospitality industry for quite some time now. It’s one of the first jobs I had when I was 16 years old. Obviously, not as a bartender, but I've worked a lot of positions in a restaurant. And right around the time I was graduating from college, I was offered an opportunity to bartend at this craft cocktail bar in my hometown.

It was the first in the city, so I was really excited about it. And I met my mentor at the time, and decided, you know what, this sounds like fun. Let me go ahead and do this for a little while before I try and figure out what it is I really want to do with my degree. But little did I know that so many years later, this is what I fell in love with.

And I built my own brand. I’m currently building a second brand. I've been able to travel the world bartending at different bars, training teams from all different kinds of restaurants, and just making a name for myself globally.

 

Kyle Forman 1:28

Yeah. I think the interesting thing, and the unique aspect you bring to the table is on top of all your background and all these things that you've done, you've also been able to create some pretty incredible content for your social page. Which obviously has blown up pretty dramatically. So, was that the goal? When starting that page, did you think it would get to the place of 200,000 followers or did that sort of come through time?

 

Bad Birdy 1:50

It actually was the goal. When I first started bartending it was around 2014. And I think Instagram kind of started around 2013, or when we started to see it. I was on Instagram, and I was seeing how it worked. And I said, you know what, I can really use this page to market myself, market the place that I was working at, and kind of bring people to the restaurant and bar.

It started with me just loving the place I was working at so much that I just wanted people to come in. So, it was a way for me to kind of promote the restaurant as well, other than their Instagram, but I made a conscious decision to really use this page as my portfolio. That's when I started posting strictly content of cocktails and contests that I was doing, and anything cocktail related or bartender related.

 

Kyle Forman 2:45

Yeah, well, it definitely worked because that's how you got our attention. I think the interesting thing you've done, and you've done really well, is a lot of the bartender videos you see is just a camera sitting on the bar top and its night. Yours are really dynamic. Not only is there a lot of movement to the camera, but also the cocktails you're creating are really creative between the smoke effects and all the ingredients. Where do you come up with a lot of these ideas?

 

Bad Birdy 3:11

Most of the ideas I come up with are from chefs. I like watching different techniques that show I do a lot of my own research. I've actually considered going to culinary school just to enhance my bartending skills. So, it's just finding the time to do culinary school.

But I watch a lot of these chefs and the techniques that they do. I think of cocktails in a more progressive way. And I think of bartending as you know, when we show up to work, we're performers, people want to come and have a good time. They want to watch the bartender.

They watch how they move. They watch what they do, what they create, and stuff like that. So, I really wanted to make it a fun experience. And I have fun doing it.

 

Kyle Forman 4:02

That's interesting what you say about being interested in getting ideas from the chef or the culinary aspect, because I've been hearing a lot over the last few years that bartenders are the new chefs. When you look at workstations though, what happened is bartenders started taking this unique approach to these really creative cocktails.

But the stations weren't designed any differently, and the problem that bartenders run into is you don't have your ingredients in front of you. You're running all over the bar, and this complex fill now takes 20-25 minutes to make, which I'm sure you’ve run into some issues with that.

 

Bad Birdy 4:37

Oh, yeah, I mean, 100%. This is, I think, where cocktails eventually will go, or this is where I want it to go. It’s definitely where I'm going and doing these more multi-sensory cocktail experiences. Where you're stimulating all the senses: smell, taste, touch, sight, everything, and kind of make them fun for the guests. They can get involved in the way they approach this cocktail.

Bartenders have been really overlooked all these years. I've always felt that the bar comes secondary in a restaurant. People care more about the food, because everyone has to eat, but not everyone has to drink. So, a lot of these restaurant owners will concentrate more on making the food menu great. However, I think both should have just as much attention put in.

I think bartenders should be working with chefs and vice versa. It should be an overall team, not this separation of front of the house, back of the house. And that's definitely how I would run my own place.

Kyle Forman 5:46

Interesting that you bring that up, because that connects to why we established the ambassador program. What was happening originally, was a chef controlled all aspects of the design, the owner, and the chef, and like you said, the bar got left to last. And then there was no real communication.

By the time it gets to us as the manufacturer, these decisions have been made about how they want things laid out. With the ambassador program, infusing someone like yourself into a project, that's where someone can really get ahead of the ball and design the bar. With how it needs to be done prior to making these final decisions, or just listening to the owner or chef on something. They have a lot of experience behind, in the kitchen and in the back of house, but it's the bar where we can really help.

 

Bad Birdy 6:27

Some of the best bars that I've had a chance to bartend in were created by bartenders. They were designed by bartenders. Then I've been on the opposite end, where it's just a nightmare. Setups where it just makes it impossible. You can only be so fast when everything is all over the place.

 

Kyle Forman 10:55

I think that also ties to BarFlex3d, our 3d Bar configurator. I think that you've used it. I think we've all found it's a good tool to be able to experiment and find out how different layouts can work. Have you been utilizing that? If so, have you found anything interesting or helpful with that tool?

 

Bad Birdy 11:12

You know, what, I love that you guys have Barflex3D. It makes it easy to switch out components and see what works and what's not going to work, instead of just going to buy stuff and installing it. I've been in situations where the drain’s not in the right place, or maybe they forgot the drain altogether.

Having that tool to see what it's going to look like, and to see what we're going to need before we start construction is night and day. It's going to make all the difference.

 

Kyle Forman 15:51 

Okay. So, before we get to last question, I'll sort of answer it from our perspective first. My question to you is going to be what made you want to partner with us? From our perspective, why we wanted to partner with you. I think there was a lot of reasons I think on top of your ability to create these awesome, wildly creative cocktails.

Your ability to market them and come out with exciting things, but the biggest one is your knowledge in the industry. That's what we're always looking for and you've done an awesome job of not only learning all these amazing things about the industry, but showing others through your forum, which is social media.

So, we are so excited to have you on the team. From your perspective what made you want to partner with Krowne?

 

Bad Birdy 16:42

You know, the fact that you guys are even taking the time to have this ambassador program just already speaks volumes to me. Just because I find that a lot of brands are just concerned about making the sale, or just dealing with the restaurant owners and things like that.

You guys actually care about what equipment is going out and customizing the experience for that client. You know what I mean? And not only that, not only are you giving the client an opportunity, but you're giving me an opportunity as well.

This might open the doors for other bartenders, and I hope that's what it does. Because I feel the bartender position and bartending in general have always been overlooked, and it shouldn't be. We're just as important as every other aspect of the restaurant, and I appreciate you guys taking the time to reach out and offer this program to me.

 

Kyle Forman 17:39

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And for those of you who are wondering how to find out more information or get in contact with Bad Birdy. Your Instagram is at bad underscore Birdy (@bad_birdy). Is that correct?

And then on our page, Krowne.com, if you go to the Ambassador Page, you can see Bad Birdy‘s bio, all of your information. Also, there is the ability to request to spend time on a phone call with Bad Birdy going over your bar design, bar layout, and equipment ideas.

That's what the ambassador team is here for, and the great part is it's all covered. All the expenses are covered by Krowne.

So, I think we have a lot of great stuff in the works. Any last things you'd like to say before we close out here today?

 

Bad Birdy 18:20

We'll just I'm excited to share the big news for future projects. So, I know we'll have another conversation about that and let people know what the exciting things that we're doing.

 

Kyle Forman 18:31

Could not agree more.

See Bad Birdy in action below!