Meet Tony Gonzales | Inventor and Owner of Ghost Ice

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

Hi Tony, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I always had a dream that I would be an inventor, and Ghost Ice allowed me to live that dream. I knew that with inventing a product I had two options: I could sell my idea, or I could sell my product. I decided to sell my product, because I wanted to have my hands on it and actually see my invention succeed. So I needed to learn how to run a business.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Ghost Ice was created from passion and dreams and my team is so proud to be able to transform the cocktail world, one bar at a time. We are incredibly passionate about clear ice and we get really excited for every person who purchases a Ghost Ice tray – because we know their whole bar is about to change. I’m most proud that you can now find Ghost Ice all over the world. It blows my mind that something I created is now global!

It has definitely not been easy getting to where we are now…we actually closed our business twice before we figured it out. My wife and I used to make each tray out of a vacuum former device I made on our patio in our Downtown Los Angeles apartment! We would be out there at all hours of the night cutting styrofoam with blades, sawing down wood, gluing each piece of the old box together (this part is no longer needed) and melting our own plastic molds with something that resembled a spaceship. HA! It was so time consuming but I was determined. We did all this while our baby girl was only 1 years old and I still worked full time in the bar.
I tried everything and then tried it again. I went basically door to door trying to get the word out and even partnered with a local manufacturing company for a little bit who was willing to let me use some of their equipment to make some of the newer models.

Getting the courage to start again and then again after closing, came from sheer determination that every bar really would benefit so much from this! I was tired of only the most expensive bars being able to afford clear ice. I felt that it should be attainable to anyone who valued it and desired it for their guests.

I learned that keeping up with this was not sustainable, and if I was going to enjoy the process on the way, I needed a good team. Trying to run Ghost Ice on my own didn’t get too far because I wasn’t able to focus on the parts I was really good at, and so my passion kept dying out. When I brought on my team and we went after this together, thats when we really saw Ghost Ice take off. Now, we can see the future, plan, dream, and create this thing together. It’s so much more fun this way! We were able to take it from my patio to a manufacturer and each tray is now perfect and so so beautiful.

It’s also fun to find ways to impact the world together. As much as we love clear Ice, we also understand that we solve a first world problem. We are excited this year to be donating a portion of our profits to Charity: Water to help get clear water to those who currently don’t have access to drinkable water. We believe running Ghost Ice is not just about us, but about legacy. How we can change the bar culture, and also, how we can change the world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take a visiting friend to:

Santa Monica Pier
District Bar and Restaurant
Universal Studios
The Biltmore Hotel

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate this to my wife, Lindsey. She is the whole reason I followed through with the creation of this product and company. She believed in me, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Website: www.ghosticesystem.com

Instagram: @livingtothebrim

Linkedin: 47554553

Twitter: livingtothebrim

Youtube: @livingtothebrim