Some of the best STORIESin this industry start BY ACCIDENT. RYAN GARRISON came to NEW YORK CITY for a three-week VACATION. That was fifteen years ago. He never left.
Before NYC, Ryan’s idea of a drink was draft beer or a vodka Red Bull back home in Oklahoma — nothing close to a proper cocktail. This city changed that completely. What started as a short trip turned into a full reinvention, and Ryan found himself pulled into the craft cocktail world, eventually going deep enough to create his own amaro recipe from scratch. That’s not a small leap. That’s someone who fell in love with a craft and never looked back.
Today you can find Ryan behind the bar at SUGAR MONK in HARLEM and BITTER MONK in Industry City, and repping ATHERAS SPIRITS as brand ambassador. In this conversation, Ryan gets honest about what it actually looks like to build a career in an industry you didn’t grow up around — no formal training, no early exposure to cocktail culture, just curiosity, hard work, and a city that gave him room to grow.
This episode is about reinvention. It’s about how a short trip can turn into a completely different life when you stay open to it. And it’s a reminder that some of the most passionate voices in hospitality didn’t start with a plan — they just said yes and figured it out along the way.
If you’re into hospitality industry insights, this episode is for you!
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This podcast is designed for listeners aged 21 and over, or where the legal drinking age permits.
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