As a spirit’s enthusiast, with over 10 years’ experience, collectively, working in the service industry and “behind the bar,” Tyemerica has successfully executed spirits promotions, helping to launch various spirit brand activations for Ciroc, Crown Royal, Hypnotic, Fireball, BelAire, Jose Cuervo, Titos, Seagrams, Bacardi (and many more). Frequenting large scale events such as Black Bike Week and CIAA, this provided her with the exposure and the ability to personally secure business working as a bottle girl and bartending with various party promoters in South Carolina and North Carolina. In addition, she landed the opportunity to work as a brand ambassador/ model/ bartender for the former SC Ciroc Fam, where she trained under the leadership of Charleston, SC’s Nightlife guru “Twenty.” She executed activations for high celebrity profile concerts, club appearances, booking events; college tailgating and homecoming parties by helping to create brand awareness and educating consumers for Ciroc Ultra-Premium Vodka. This eventually landed her a lead spirits promotional model position with a national agency, MKTG, Inc. and head bartender position with High Star Entertainment, based out of Charleston, SC. She has also been featured on the former Media and Arts, hosted by H-Dub, on-air personality for a top urban radio station in Columbia, SC. During the segment she discussed her love for the service industry, “modeling,” and the adult cocktail industry. This gave her visibility in the southeast region of the nation.
When not bartending or executing spirits promotions, she is juggling parenthood as a mother of 2, volunteering as the Operations Coordinator of the “Purple Stilettos” Women’s Empowerment Group, and creating content to grow her mobile bartending school and cocktail business “Kocktail Kulture.”
Patrice: What motivated/inspired you to start a business?
Tyemerica: The love and passion I develop for the hospitality industry and the need to support my family by legitimate means. It began in 2013 when I had little experience, I was given a shot at being a spirit’s promotional model and it took off from there. I’m not getting any younger. Sometimes the industry is vain, so I needed a backup plan for when my looks fade, lol. And of course the money!
Patrice: What makes you a pretty woman that hustles?
Tyemerica: My passion and drive to succeed; to make it to the top and bring others with me.
Patrice: What is the name of your business(es) and what are they all about?
Tyemerica: Kocktail Kulture is a mobile bartending school that travels throughout the state of South Carolina instructing individuals in the fundamentals of bartending; a beginners bartending class.
Patrice: Have you faced any challenges in your business?
Tyemerica: Yes, anyone who tells you they don’t face challenges in running a business is lying, lol. From having enough people in class or staffing for a party to not having enough funds for supplies like alcohol which is needed for class, you’re bound to run into challenges. I overcame them by praying for guidence and taking a step back from the challenge to approach it another day, so I can have a clear head to think it out.
Patrice: What projects are you currently working on?
Tyemerica: My plans are to partner with various venues/ locations to offer staffing and job placement for bartenders, shot girls, bottle girls, and spirits promotional models. In addition to other classes within the industry.
Patrice: How do you face diversity as a woman entrepreneur?
Tyemerica: Diversity is extremely hard, especially here in the south. I face it by remembering who I’m doing this for, by remembering who my audience and target demographic is and why I’m doing this. Also, when first starting out in this industry, people never wanted to help or give you their info. So I wanted to be that person who gave people direction and info to get started and to help them grow in the hospitality industry as a bartender.
Patrice: Is balancing your personal life, work life and business life difficult for you at times?
Tyemerica: Balancing is extremely difficult…work and business life. Other than taking care of family, I leave the personal life out of it because I’m a Capricorn and we’re all about our business and coins, lol, no time for personal lives 😉
Patrice: What does being an entrepreneur or business owner mean to you?
Tyemerica: It means having the freedom to work on your terms and work in your purpose and passion—when I want, how I want, and where I want. I quit a full-time job I use to have because I was tired of clocking in and out, day-to-day NOT doing what I love, waking up every day knowing I had to deal with a rude client, an incompetent boss, and not being trained on procedures but expected to produce outstanding work…you grow tired of chaos.
Connect with Tyemerica:
Instagram: @kocktailkulture
Facebook: @kocktailkulture
Snapchat: @kocktailkulture
PRETTY WOMEN HUSTLE ONLINE 