Most bars don’t fail because the drinks are bad. They fail because the owner breaks first.

In this episode, I sit down with Winston Greene, owner of Tonic in Santa Fe, to talk about what really happens when passion turns into ownership. Winston didn’t come up chasing clout or trends. He came up hauling ice, working twenty-hour shifts, and learning the business the hard way, then betting everything he had on one idea and one space.

We talk about what makes ownership hard: the point where the grind stops feeling noble and starts quietly destroying your health, your relationships, and your sense of time. Winston shares the wake-up call that forced him to rethink what success actually costs, and why ignoring sustainability almost ended his career before it really began.

From designing a bar that repels the wrong customer on purpose, to why most managers misunderstand labor, scheduling, and leadership, we get right into it.

If you’ve ever thought about opening a bar, running a restaurant, or turning your craft into a business, listen to this all the way through. It might save you years of damage you didn’t know you were signing up for. And we get to talk about tequila. Oh, so much tequila…

If your current approach feels exhausting, reactive, or quietly unsustainable, this episode offers a corrective truth most operators only learn after real damage is done.

Expect to Learn

• The hidden health cost that takes more bar owners out than bad margins
• Why working harder early almost guarantees long-term burnout
• The leadership mistake that silently destroys staff trust and retention
• How designing your bar for the right customer can save your business
• The mindset shift that turns ownership from survival into sustainability

Links

• Tonic Santa Fe official website (Visit Tonic in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the full experience)
• Tonic on Instagram

Service starts now.

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I talk mostly to people in and around the service industry space. I'm looking to hear from the people I wish I could have talked to when I was coming up in restaurants. Said another way: I am trying to make sense of this wild, beautiful mess of a life, and help others that are feeling similarly confused and/or lost. Check out the Podcast Website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and get in touch with me!

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As always, I’m just here taking notes, trying to figure out what it all means.

Cheers