Meet Luke Miller

We had the good fortune of connecting with Luke Miller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Luke, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I was working very hard to grow and represent somebody else’s business with my name on it but zero hand in quality control.

I wanted to start a business that offered what I would want as a customer for the price I would want to pay. I wanted to “break the mold” and actually offer the best possible service at the lowest possible rate.

What should our readers know about your business?
I started Smoking gun Bar Staffing in 2018 at the new year. I had a background in sales and had just helped grow a different mobile bartending company from 5 to 30 events per weekend. Unfortunately that company wasn’t paying me what the stress deserved and I had zero quality control over the end product as the company would sent new bartending students to events that I had been corresponding with for months, people that were not properly trained or even should have been bartending to begin with.

I kept the same business model, a high quantity of events at a low price (unlike many individual bartending companies who can only be in one place at a time and charge as much as possible for that reason). However, unlike all other cheap companies like the one I came from or other app based companies, I wanted to break the mold and give a better service than the individual companies. Thats exactly what we do.

Founded on smoked cocktails using a tool called the smoking gun, we started doing all in-house training of every person we hired.

We grew quickly and today average $1,200+ events per year. Our goal this year is $1,500.
It has not always been easy. Two years into our business Covid shut down the entire industry. We had a very customer friendly contract that made every deposit refundable. Getting through this was extremely hard but on the other side came one of the biggest booms on the industry. For those that stuck it out it was very worth it.

A great staff and a great system that is ever changing is key to consistency and quality control. Today I have a great woman in charge of staff and a wife that handles social media. Work-life balance was terrible in the beginning but now has greatly improved due to a support system we can trust.

Today we run various venues, have a converted horse trailer bar, offer handmade mixers and craft cocktails, coordinate many weddings a year with our team of in-house coordinators and work closely with many other vendors such as other coordinators and caterers. I am on the board of a great networking group for event professionals that is ever growing and take pride in the event community and collaborating with others!!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I do most of my work in LA but I always say the best places in Southern California are 30 min to an hour and a half outside LA in basically any direction.

If I had a week long trip I would cram as much as humanly possible in because that’s what I do.

Let’s say starting with Solvang and wine country I would take them to my favorite wineries we are members at and restaurants in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley.

I would then spend a day in Santa Barbara where my sister runs a few bars on state street, the funk zone is great and the pier has some good food.

I would then head down to my hometown of Ventura where I would enjoy another pier and beach before catching a concert at my favorite venue the Ventura theatre.

I would then do a half day at Universal Studios, stop by Hollywood Blvd and catch a Laker or Kings game in DTLA. We would then stay the night at the haunted Queen Mary in Long Beach.

I think Disneyland would obviously be next.

I would then grab breakfast at Cappy’s Cafe in Newport Beach before shooting down to San Diego to spend the day. Tijuana is a great place for dinner too!

Lastly I would head up to Temecula for more wineries, casinos and maybe a hot air balloon ride, ending the day at the Mission Inn in Riverside.

If there’s more time we are certainly adding the desert town of Palm Springs and the snowy mountain village of Big Bear!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I feel it necessary to give a shout out to my old boss who taught me not only the basics in bartending but also what to do (and without meaning to, what not to do) to run a mobile bartending business in the model that I started with.

R.I.P.
Paul Schnaufer

Website: https://smokinggunbartending.com

Instagram: @smokinggunbarstaffing

Yelp: Smoking Gun Bar Staffing