Fuck You Pay Me
People always look for respect in their work. Although each profession has its own merits and demerits, every job should really be valued in the community.
I have dedicated my entire life to re-establishing bartending as the respectable and well-paid profession we’re always told by cocktail historians it once was. This generation of bartenders, myself included, lives in the true golden age of cocktails; enjoys the attention of media, the thrill of international travel and lavish cocktail competitions, but we learned the hard way - when the global pandemic struck it became apparent that governments don’t give a flying fuck about supporting bartenders, bars or cocktail culture.
With the entire community too preoccupied with IG live streams instead of lobbying and fighting for our rights, we are often all to blame for not raising our profession on the pedestal.
There is a large group of businesses and individuals benefiting financially from cocktail culture, without being directly connected or even engaged in the bar community. These outsiders like to pretend they are invested in the wellbeing and growth of bartenders, but too often there are hidden agendas. Or not so hidden agendas – namely profiting on other people’s work.
Bar culture is created in bars, not in corporate boardrooms and until we earn the respect of those sitting at board meetings making key decisions, we will continue to receive unfair treatment. The fact that many people still expect us to work for free, or in exchange for “fantastic PR opportunities and exposure” is just plain ridiculous – and more importantly - doesn’t pay your rent.
On a weekly basis I get approached with incredible unpaid opportunities. On Monday it might be to promote someone else’s brand for free, on Tuesday to create a recipe for free for a massive drinks corporation, on Wednesday to speak for free at an industry convention that is run by one of the biggest exhibition firms on the planet - this goes on and on every single month. I am happy to work for free when it benefits our community, a not-for profit organisation, friend starting their own business, or a charity, but don’t let anyone ever ask you again to undertake free work and tell you there is no budget. When I work elsewhere it takes me away from my own work, my already time-poor private life, or a creative project I could be doing.
The biggest issue here is that every time I politely decline to do free work there is another fellow bartender friend jumping in because they feel they cannot miss this opportunity, and you know what? I see you guys. I know who you are, and you are doing a massive disservice to all of us.
Last year a magazine owner and event organizer told me that for the same cost I quoted he could get five other bartenders. Please go and get them, but I am not coming. It is perfectly fine to say no and to this day the biggest luxury I hold dear is to be able to decline and say straight no. You guys should drop your FOMO too.
The last time I discussed this publicly I was told I am privileged and that it is different case for me because I am Alex Kratena. I completely disagree with this; I enjoy this privilege and position because I always charged the right amount of money and most importantly I always do my very best to deliver the objective of a given project. And when people can’t afford what I charge, I am happy to say no and simply don’t do it. If you are unsure what you should charge for event, or a project the answer lies in a simple piece of advice; When in doubt what to charge, make sure it is enough that you will be happy with your cash even if the project goes south and you end up hating it and everyone involved in it. In other words you need to make sure you are still cool when things go bad, because you are getting the money.
Everything in business is negotiable, and people telling you how much budget they have shouldn’t fool you. A few weeks ago I was approached about a super exciting opportunity that included creating a recipe, hosting a journalist and posting on Instagram. The proposed fee was strictly set out in the email, but it didn’t match my cost structure so I simply sent an amended quote across that was more then twice the original proposed remuneration, after which I didn’t hear back.
Well guess what? Yesterday I got the gig.
You should never work for free, and you should never allow an organisation you work for, and get paid from, to force you to manipulate young up and coming bartenders to do unpaid work. It is unethical, betrays your own community, undermines cocktail culture and it devalues all the efforts of the generations of bartenders, who all dreamt that one day what they do will become a well-respected profession again. Don’t let anyone fool you by telling you there’s no budget because saying no is the most powerful and often the most difficult thing to do.
We must end this toxic relationship, because it is the very first step to start building a stronger community that one day will have the full respect of the public, and so when the next pandemic hits, governments and politicians won’t be able throw us overboard and screw us like they did in 2020. Until then?
FUCK YOU. PAY ME!