IAM1099- Husband-and-Wife Team Brings the Best Barware

Chris and Julia Tunstall is a husband-and-wife team who love the service industry and are dedicated to treating all of their customers like they are their family. Inspired by Chris’ decade of experience as a bartender and bar manager, they created A Bar Above as a bar education site in 2013, growing over the years to add online training, a podcast, and a unique line of premium barware designed entirely by them. Chris and Julia are dedicated to growing a team of people in Carlsbad, California who love craft cocktails and the beverage/service industry as much as they do! Together, they continue to develop and personally test our custom line of bar tools so they can bring the best barware to our customers. In addition, they are looking to expand their mixology course offerings in 2022.

• CEO Hack: Coffee and protein-powder in the morning
• CEO Nugget: (i) Keep showing up (ii) Listen to your customers
• CEO Defined: Understanding the things your company needs to do and the talent that works for you (ii) Communicating your mission

Website: http://www.abarabove.com/

https://www.shop.abarabove.com/

Instagram – @abarabove
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ABarAboveMixology
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/abarabove/_created/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/Abarabove/featured

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Transcription

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00:26 – Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:53 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast, and I have two very special guests on the show today. I have Chris and Julia Tunstall of Abar Above. Chris and Julia, it's great to have you on the show.

01:04 – Chris Tunstall

Yeah. Thanks for, inviting us, Gresh. Appreciate it.

01:07 – Julia Tunstall

Excited to be here.

01:08 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Excited to have both of you on. And before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Chris and Julia so you can hear about all the awesome things that they're doing. And Chris and Julia are a husband and wife team who love the service industry and are dedicated to treating all of their customers like they are family. Inspired by Chris' decade of experience as a bartender and bar manager, they created Abar Above as a bar education site in twenty thirteen, growing over the years to add online training, a podcast, and a unique line of premium barware designed entirely by them.

They're dedicated to growing a team of people in Carlsbad, California who love craft cocktails and the beverage service industry as much as they do. Together, they continue to develop and personally test their custom line of bar tools so that they can bring the best barware to their customers. In addition, they are looking to expand their mixology course course offerings in twenty twenty-two. Chris and Julia, great to have you on the show again. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

[restrict paid=”true”]

02:04 – Chris Tunstall

I think so. But it's really impressive just to hear that, like, being spoken out loud. That's cool. Oh my god. Sound so great.

02:11 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. That's my virtual pat on the back for you both doing some phenomenal things. And it's great to hear when you're always grinding and doing all the work. Right.

02:19 – Julia Tunstall

It's true. We're very much in the weeds sometimes. It's amazing the sort of stuff I'm gonna go, wow, we did some cool stuff. Right.

02:25 – Gresham Harkless

Yes. Absolutely. And so, all this cool stuff you did, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit, hear a little bit more on how you got started, how you planted those seeds, so to speak. Could you take us through what I like to call your CEO story?

02:36 – Chris Tunstall

Yeah. I think the dates are a little bit fuzzy, so I think, Julie can probably nail down some of the dates for us. But, I had the idea of a business, gosh, back in two thousand-three. I had just started bartending, and I really, mixology and craft cocktails was just starting to kind of become a thing, and it was only in San Francisco, New York. And I started paying attention to it, and I realized it was gonna be a big thing and transform the industry. So I started paying attention to it. I got a domain of abarabove.com, I think in two thousand three.

03:12 – Julia Tunstall

I think it was five.

03:13 – Chris Tunstall

Two thousand-five. Still, a very good move. Right. So locked that down and then, just started learning as much as I possibly could about cocktails and cocktail techniques. And I think the biggest frustration for me, I think the business started as basically frustration, because within a craft cocktail world, nobody was, open to sharing their techniques, their ideas. It's very much a closely guarded community back in the day anyway. So I didn't have access to the information. I didn't have the mentors I needed to grow professionally. So a lot of my struggle was just learning on my own. So I wanted to open that up to a much broader audience and give them access to the best, most cutting-edge information and techniques, from a culinary perspective, on craft cocktails. So that's when we started the YouTube. And then grew from there.

04:08 – Julia Tunstall

Yeah. I was saying we started the joke that at twenty-thirteen, our landlord wouldn't let us build a bar in our apartment. So we had to buy a house. So we bought a house in twenty twelve. We built a bar in, twenty thirteen, and I learned WordPress. And the rest is history. In twenty fourteen, we started our podcast. And over those first couple of years, we were just a YouTube channel, a podcast, a blog, just a media company, and scraping by. We were not making a lot of money. It's hard to make money as a blog. And one of the few income sources we had was Amazon affiliates, which if my memory serves way back when it used to be a decent commission, it was, like, six or eight percent. It was a lot.

04:46 – Julia Tunstall

And so we wanted to send people to Amazon. So when people asked us to recommend barware, cocktail shakers, strainers, and things like that, we went to Amazon, and there was nothing there that we could even remotely recommend in good faith. It was terrible. And so two years later constant emails about what should we do? You know, what barware should I use? What should I buy? And finally, we just got tired of it. And that's when we created our line of barware. Right. And, I guess the rest is history.

05:16 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. Well, I appreciate that. And creating something that's the true entrepreneurial spirit. I always say a lot of times we're looking for somebody else to create it, but if you see something that's not being done, being an entrepreneur is just saying, okay. Let's take the bull by the head, so to speak, and just do it ourselves.

05:32 – Julia Tunstall

Right. So true.

05:34 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I know you touched on a little bit on what we can find online and some of the things that you're doing. I know I read it in your bio as well too. Could you take us through a little bit more about that and what we can find there?

05:44 – Julia Tunstall

Yeah. Definitely. I mean, we like to say internally and externally, we do three things. We as a company are dedicated to serving the people who serve great drinks. That's our company mission. And we do that in three ways. The first of which is through community, and we host a couple of amazing, highly engaged Facebook groups. We do a lot of things that we can do to try to build and grow the bar community by featuring other brands and other people on our Instagram and just sharing the spotlight. The second thing we do is education. This is both sort of paid and unpaid. We have a ton of, educational videos on YouTube.

We have our podcast. We're coming up on our two-hundredth episode this summer, which is shocking. Yep. And, then we also have a small number of training courses on our website, which as you mentioned earlier, we're gonna be digging down on doing more of that in twenty twenty-two. And then, of course, the third piece, which is perhaps what's most obvious, is our line of premium barware, which is frankly how we support the other sides of the business. It's how we support, creating tons and tons of educational content. It's how we support paying the moderators who moderate our Facebook groups. And so it lets us build this, I think, the awesome ecosystem of supporting the bar community.

07:04 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And so I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. And this could be for yourself or the business or a combination of both, but what do you feel kinda sets you apart and makes you unique?

07:14 – Julia Tunstall

As a lover of the Clover Club, I would say raspberry syrup. But joking aside, I think I kinda touched upon it earlier and that is, like, we didn't start as an e-commerce company. We started as a company dedicated to bar education. And frankly, ecommerce is what lets us do that. And I think that that's the opposite of, most companies you see out there. Other companies launch a product line and then begrudgingly start a blog to try to drive traffic.

And really, we've done it the other way around. We have the product line to enable us to keep providing free, amazing content to the community. And I think, honestly, I think people notice. I think that we are a very authentic brand. We put our face on things. We put our names on things. We care about the work that we're doing. And I think that shows what really sets us apart from the competition, and just puts us comfortably in a wonderful space of bar educators on the Internet.

08:12 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to, switch gears a little bit, and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

08:26 – Chris Tunstall

So I was actually, talking to Joy about this, before the podcast and joking with her. And I think one of mine is, cold brew coffee and protein powder in the morning. It's like if you want it's not gonna set you up right through your day, but if you wanna just get stuff done

08:43 – Julia Tunstall

It's rocket fuel.

08:44 – Chris Tunstall

It is rocket fuel. It is intense. And it's crazy because it's not like a coffee where you have this big spike of energy and then it falls. You know, pretty quick. It's a pretty long sustained energy boost.

08:58 – Julia Tunstall

Yeah. I would recommend, being careful with the flavors on the protein powder. I would say the best one is chocolate. Yes. Chocolate protein powder and cold brew coffee. And it doesn't taste the best, but you get used to it. And use sparingly.

09:13 – Chris Tunstall

Use sparingly. Yeah.

09:14 – Julia Tunstall

It'll get your day started. That's for sure.

09:16 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something if you were to hop into a time machine, it would tell your younger business self.

09:28 – Julia Tunstall

So it's funny because we were talking about, oh, I don't know. There's no such thing as a CEO nugget. There's no such thing as an easy, little tidbit that'll change everything. The real answer is just to keep showing up every day and keep showing up. And Chris looked at me and he's like, well, that's your nugget.

09:45 – Gresham Harkless

Right?

09:46 – Julia Tunstall

And I think it's true that I think it's so easy into the world of podcasts and TikTok and blogs. It's so easy to say, like, oh, read this listicle, and that's all you need to know as an entrepreneur. And I think the honest answer is no. Just show up for ten years. Just keep showing up and do your best work and know that sometimes it's not gonna work, and you gotta change it and do something else and learn. And we had lots of business ideas that didn't work, but we kept going.

And when we started our podcast in twenty fourteen, Chris looked at me and he was like, why on earth would we start a podcast in twenty fourteen? Every podcast that could have been started has already been begun. And now it's crazy. Right? Have one of the longest-standing podcasts in the mixology space. But at the time, it was like, oh, why bother? And I think just just show up and keep showing up. And I think that, if you build it, they will come to some extent, but also listen.

10:41 – Chris Tunstall

Yeah. I think that's a big one too. I think that's kind of the heart of the, the the barware for us, and that was listening to our customers. And I wish we would have done it earlier Yeah. Because they kept telling us, and we kept, like, having our blinders on to the opportunity. And I think once you can see the opportunity that comes your way and be able to have the bandwidth to focus on it, I think that's beneficial. But easier said than done on the bandwidth side. Right?

11:09 – Julia Tunstall

That's so true.

11:10 – Chris Tunstall

But if you keep hearing your customers say the same thing, there's probably something there, and start to dig a little bit deeper and see if there's, a way to monetize that and figure that out. I wish we would have done that many years earlier.

11:22 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Definitely. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So, Julia and Chris, what does being a CEO mean to you?

11:37 – Julia Tunstall

Oh gosh. It's such a hard question because there are so many facets of being a CEO. Right? And, actually, technically, I think, are you the CEO? I don't even know. We should figure this out.

11:47 – Chris Tunstall

Yeah. We need to figure that out.

11:49 – Julia Tunstall

But I think to me, in our company, I think I'm more of the operations person and Chris is more of the visionary. And so for me, from an operations perspective, I think what is becoming more and more important as we grow is really understanding all of the different things that your company needs to do, and then deeply understanding the talent that works for you and making sure that everything's in the right place. Being the one who is on one side fighting for the customer. Like, how do you fight to be the best possible, answer to your customer's needs? But then at the same time, fighting for your people. Right?

You are in some ways the leader of the pack, and you need to support them. If somebody is hitting a roadblock, you've gotta you've gotta help them get that out of their way. And so it's kind of this dichotomy of fighting to be the best company you can be while also fighting to support the people who do that for you on a day-to-day basis. But, again, my perspective is much more operational. So what would you say, Chris, from a more a higher level?

12:50 – Chris Tunstall

Yeah. I think for me, the CEO is leading the way and and pointing the ship in a very specific direction. Like, these are the goals. This is a strategy of how we're gonna get there. Let's go, and we're gonna make this happen. So, a lot of it is just having that target that everybody realizes and knows they're working towards and then can communicate that both internally and externally so that customers know who we are and what we're about. And as you mentioned earlier, what's our unique service, our unique angle that we are gonna come with our customers with and promise them. And I think that's our job of figuring all that out, the mission of our company, the structure of everything. I think that's where the CEO comes into play.

13:37 – Julia Tunstall

Yeah. I would agree with that.

13:39 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I think that's perfect, and I love that definition, that kind of a holistic definition from the operational standpoint and the visionary standpoint and being able to understand, I think both of them are so important to the success of an organization because you can have all the vision in the world if you're not executing regularly for your team and your clients, then it ends up not being a ship that you can find out where it's going. At the same time, you have to know where you're going or in all the operations and doing the right things. Doesn't make a difference if you don't have a vision of where you wanna ultimately go.

14:12 – Julia Tunstall

Yeah. You need an engine and you need a steering wheel. Right?

14:16 – Chris Tunstall

But I think it is the thumbprint of the culture. It all starts at the top and trickles down. So I think that's also another important part of being a CEO is, like, really curating and making sure that you're doing a very intentional job of creating the culture you want in your company. Because if you don't, it'll happen on its own, and that's a lot harder to dictate, repair, or guide. So I think the cultural element is super important for us as well. And, I think we did a pretty good job, but I hope anyway.

14:50 – Julia Tunstall

I'll let you know in ten years.

14:51 – Chris Tunstall

I think so.

14:54 – Gresham Harkless

Right. That's what I say. To be continued. Right. So, yeah, Chris and Julia, I truly appreciate that and all the awesomeness that you all have been able to do and build. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know, and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you, find out about the podcast, and all the awesome things that you're working on.

15:16 – Julia Tunstall

Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, I think we touched on the key points. I mean, I would agree, to be a CEO, it does take, the engine or the showing up every day. And then it also takes the steering wheel to know where you're going. Those are both very important. But, yeah, I mean, I think that's at least what it means for us.

15:33 – Chris Tunstall

Yeah.

15:34 – Julia Tunstall
In terms of finding us, you can find us at abarabove.com, and Abar Above on Instagram. If you just Google Abar Above, we're kinda there. If you wanna find our podcast, though, the podcast is called Mixology Talk, and we talk a lot about great cocktails, Chris interviews, and really interesting people from across the Abar community. There's some of the super, super nerdy, awesome stuff in there. It's a good time. If you're into cocktails, it'll be a good

15:58 – Chris Tunstall

Absolutely.

16:00 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, we'll have the links and information in the show notes, for your site, your podcast, and all the awesome things that you're working on. So truly appreciate you for charting that path and being able to listen to your clients and remind us of how important that is to create what solves their problems. So thank you so much for being a trailblazer, and and appreciate your time again, and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

16:21 – Outro