Episode Summary:
What if the secret to unforgettable events isn’t perfection — but trust? In this episode of Beats Working, hosts Alysse Bryson and Libby Sundgren sit down with April Wachtel, founder and CEO of Cheeky Cocktails, to explore how trusting your palate, your instincts, and your people can transform events from stressful to spectacular. Drawing from 20+ years in hospitality, April shares lessons learned behind the bar, in packed cocktail classes, and across the rapidly evolving non‑alcoholic beverage space. This is a masterclass in confidence, creativity, and creating emotional safety — whether you’re mixing drinks or managing a room.
Takeaways:
- Trust beats rules. When people trust their own palate (or instincts), creativity flourishes.
- Emotional safety fuels excellence. Low‑stakes environments unlock better results.
- Hospitality skills translate everywhere. Adaptability, empathy, and teamwork scale beyond restaurants.
- Simplicity scales. Ratios, frameworks, and repeatable systems beat overwhelm.
- Non‑alcoholic doesn’t mean non‑special. Intentional drinks belong at every event.
Timestamps:
[01:00] — Meet April Wachtel and the story behind Cheeky Cocktails
[03:00] — Why hospitality builds better humans (and leaders)
[08:14] — What people really want from cocktail classes
[09:40] — “Trust your palate”: creating confidence through low‑stakes learning
[11:45] — Translating classic cocktail ratios to non‑alcoholic drinks
[13:30] — The future of NA beverages and event culture
Resources & Links:
-April Wachtel: LinkedIn
-Cheeky Cocktails: Website, Facebook, Instagram
-Alysse & Libby: Bios & LinkedIn
Connect with Us:
-Website: www.beatsworkingpodcast.com
-LinkedIn: @Beats Working Podcast
-Instagram: @beatsworkingpodcast
-Facebook: @Beats Working
-YouTube: @beatsworkingpodcast
Follow & Subscribe:
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Send Feedback:
If you have a show idea, feedback, or just want to connect, email us at info@beatsworking.show.
Beats Working is a platform on a mission to redeem work—the word, the place, and the way. We believe that work is the most honorable act in the universe, and through inspiring stories and practical insights, we want to transform the way people think about work and help them discover greater fulfillment in their lives. We invite you to join us as we build community through sharing and actively demonstrating what we learn.
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Transcript
The following transcript is not certified. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. The information contained within this document is for general information purposes only.
Ep 52 April Wachtel Part Full
[00:00:00] April Wachtel: I think of the most important things that you can teach in that environment. One is like, trust your palate. Like the, there’s, there’s no like hard and fast rule that’s always right, that you always have to adhere to. It’s like when you taste something, I’m gonna teach you how to taste, but. Listen to yourself of like what you think tastes good and what is not, what doesn’t serve you and what doesn’t suit your palate.
[00:00:21] Welcome to BEATS WORKING, winning the Game of Events where we share stories and strategies to turn any event or life moment into something Unforgettable. Events are wild and the people who work in them are some of the most resilient humans on earth, if you know, you know. So come with us behind the curtain for a look at their most memorable experiences, as they say, the show must go on.
[00:00:47] So let’s get on with the show.
[00:00:55] Libby Sundgren: Welcome to another episode of BEATS WORKING, winning The Game of [00:01:00] Events. April Wachtel is the founder and CEO of Cheeky Cocktails, a Brooklyn based company making premium non-alcoholic mixers that pair with both NA and foolproof spirits. Best of both worlds with 20 plus years in the beverage industry.
[00:01:15] From Bacardi brand ambassador to Diageo consultant, she’s taught 12,000 students how to craft cocktails and has been featured on the Today Show, Fox and Friends, and the Sundance Channel. Her mission is to make great drinks, simple, fun, and accessible for everyone. April, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us.
[00:01:36] April Wachtel: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here.
[00:01:40] Libby Sundgren: The crowd goes wild. And, uh, for those of you following along, April was actually also on the Sober Curator Podcast a few weeks back. For those of you that know that I show up on two different shows. So I love it when the two different worlds [00:02:00] collide because I love not drinking alcohol and I love to party.
[00:02:04] So those two things and with cheek go together. In all people. That’s right. That’s
[00:02:11] right.
[00:02:11] We
[00:02:11] can’t,
[00:02:11] especially
[00:02:12] right now in dry January and throughout the rest of the year too. It’s not just for dry January. Mm-hmm. So April, what first pulled you into the world of cocktails and hospitality and? How did that evolve into cheeky cocktails?
[00:02:27] That’s a very big question. Basically tell us your whole life story.
[00:02:30] Yes,
[00:02:31] April Wachtel: yes, yes. Well, I started in bars and, well, not really in bars, but I started in restaurants when I was 13. So I just kind of grew up in the food world learning, um, firstly how to be less shy ’cause I was like a super shy kid. Secondly, learning about.
[00:02:47] I think cuisine that was like more elevated than my parents, like burgers and like Chinese food that they made. And then I think thirdly, I started really learning about hospitality, both when I was in high school and then when I continued in the industry as a a college [00:03:00] student. And then I just stayed in the industry for years.
[00:03:02] And you know, I think that people in the industry, you can decide, I wanna stay in restaurants, I wanna stay front of the house, back of the house, I’m gonna move into events, I’m gonna sort of deep dive into bar. And so for me, I felt like. The intersection or like the areas that I was most interested in were beverage and the creativity around beverage, and then events as well.
[00:03:23] And so ultimately just after many years of, um, experimentation and a ton of different jobs, I figured out that essentially like executing and helping people execute great cocktails in high stakes environments, that was like kind of my, my wheelhouse and something that made me feel really good helping other people have great events.
[00:03:43] So that’s how it all evolved. I have said this before on other episodes, I, if I was picking a, a different career for myself, I think I would’ve picked hospitality if I had.
[00:03:59] [00:04:00] Known, but also I love my job, so you know, this is what I wanna do. But in another life, I think I was worked in the restaurant industry because whenever we had events in restaurants, I just, the, the comradery between the team.
[00:04:17] Just working, just like I was helping bus at one event and I was, it was a Bloody Mary event, so there were lots, there’s too much glassware. We weren’t, I don’t know, there was more than anticipated, so I was helping like bus and like go around corners. I was like, oh, I could, I could, could have done this.
[00:04:34] It’s, you know, I, I think there’s a lot of bad things about restaurants. Mind you, the lifestyle, not for everyone, whatever. Um, you’re always working holidays, vaca, whatever, but at the same time, what you said is 100 true is that you do form a bond and a relationship with the team around you.
[00:04:51] That’s amazing. It’s very rewarding to be moving sort of like in a symphony with other
[00:04:58] people.
[00:04:58] Libby Sundgren: Mm-hmm.
[00:04:59] April Wachtel: And I [00:05:00] think most. But like really it felt, it felt and still does feel rewarding to me, like when you help make somebody’s night and when they can tell that they’re experiencing excellence. Like it’s just so rewarding helping people like celebrate their best moments.
[00:05:16] , and that’s ultimately, you know, that’s I think, part of my transition out of restaurants into owning my own. Cocktail mixer brand. Part of it was saying, okay, I can’t physically do this forever. Like this is a sort of a young person’s game. And then the other piece saying like, I want to put in a unit of effort and get more than one unit of like productivity out, which is a problem with restaurants. But when you have a brand or you know, when you’re building a creative asset, like a podcast for example, you’re, you’re investing in something that gains momentum and grows more, um, in the future. So that was something that was very compelling to me about, about the transition.
[00:05:52] Libby Sundgren: Mm-hmm.
[00:05:53] Alysse Bryson: Don’t you both think, though? I think everyone should start in restaurants and [00:06:00] hospitality
[00:06:00] because it’ll make you a better human and how you treat those that will serve you later on.
[00:06:08] Uh, my first job was in a , truck shop, restaurant bill and be’s. It’s still there halfway between Seattle and
[00:06:16] April Wachtel: Oh, cute.
[00:06:17] Alysse Bryson: And, I, everything I, I needed to learn about events. I’m pretty sure I learned at Bill and Be’s.
[00:06:24] April Wachtel: Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who, um, he, he’s, you know, many years in the industry, beverage director. He is owned his own beverage brand as well. His name is John DeBerry. He, um, did a lot of
[00:06:36] Alysse Bryson: I love John.
[00:06:37] April Wachtel: know him. Okay. So
[00:06:39] Alysse Bryson: I.
[00:06:39] April Wachtel: he’s amazing. So we had this whole long conversation about how, , you know, I think that, well, and he thinks that. The experience in restaurants, it prepares you for so many potential careers or interests in the future because you have to be versatile, you have to be adaptable, you have to think on your feet. You have to learn [00:07:00] how to deal with humans in really challenging situations. , and I think taking all of those skills, you can literally do anything that you want if you’re willing to put in the work, you know,
[00:07:08] afterwards.
[00:07:09] So I think it’s great training for everybody.
[00:07:11] Libby Sundgren: It is everything I know. I learned waitressing at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church holiday. Bizarre
[00:07:18] when I was 12.
[00:07:19] April Wachtel: That’s, by the way, the first time I ever worked for tips, it was at a church. I think I was also 12. ’cause this was before my career started
[00:07:26] as at 13. And it was a church. We, I think we made like three doll. Oh no, sorry. We made $12 in tips and, and I was like,
[00:07:33] Alysse Bryson: Well, that’s big money
[00:07:34] April Wachtel: We’re, oh my God. I was like, we’re so rich. Oh yeah.
[00:07:38] It
[00:07:39] Libby Sundgren: Oh my gosh. Especially ’cause you were volunteering, you know, you weren’t getting paid to, to waitress for these, you know, all these blue hairs at this holiday. Bizarre. It was, you know, you’re doing good, but then you got tips. Ugh.
[00:07:52] April Wachtel: that.
[00:07:52] Alysse Bryson: So, okay, so we’ve talked about what we’ve learned in our early, uh, hospitality days. What have [00:08:00] you noticed April, about what people really want to learn when it comes to. The cocktail classes that you’ve taught to thousands and thousands of people, whether they’re making a cocktail with alcohol or zero proof, doesn’t matter.
[00:08:14] It’s still learning how to craft a, a specialty drink. What, what have you noticed that people really wanna learn or what stops them? Where does the, where, where do people get intimidated to try new things? Like what does that all look like?
[00:08:28] April Wachtel: I mean, I think that people obviously want the ability to make something that tastes great. I also think oftentimes people want, I mean most of the time people are doing it for other people, not themselves. Meaning like they wanna know how to do it for themselves, but it’s more important to them what other people think of what they’ve made.
[00:08:50] So I found that in hospitality in general and very much so in cocktails. It’s such a high stakes environment that’s like so [00:09:00] emotionally loaded. There’s so many people who are like, judged on the hospitality. They extend to other people and like, you know, , the bread or the quality of the Thanksgiving meal that they put out or whatever, whatever that may be. Um, and so I think that at least in my experience, people would come into my classes super intimidated. You know, in, in many of these, it’s like you come into a room where it’s like stadium seating and there’s like, you know, a hundred bottles of spirits and like whatever, 10 different syrups and juice. A lot going on. And so I think for, for me anyway, I think of the most important things that you can teach in that environment. One is like, trust your palate. Like the, there’s, there’s no like hard and fast rule that’s always right, that you always have to adhere to. It’s like when you taste something, I’m gonna teach you how to taste, but. Listen to yourself of like what you think tastes good and what is not, what doesn’t serve you and what doesn’t suit your palate. So I think conveying that and like the, , the emotional safety, like just making it. Very [00:10:00] low stakes for people to mess up. Like just, just, you know, me doing dumb stuff in the front of the class that makes them feel more comfortable or, you know, just, just being very kind to people so they again, feel comfortable experimenting and getting creative.
[00:10:13] I think those are really important. , and then beyond that, and I’ll just sort of fast forward ’cause I could talk about this for a very long time, but I think beyond that of the favorite things that I like to teach, it’s like. There are a few sort of hard and fast principles of like flavor pairing or ratios where like, you know, without fail, if I use roughly this ratio, it’s not gonna taste terrible and I can adapt the ratio and I’m gonna try three different versions where, let’s just say an example is like more citrusy or more sweet, or, you know, I would normally say like more spirit forward, but in the case of non elk, it’s like the non elk spirit shines more than the other ingredients. So there’s a few sort of ratios that I use to get people comfortable such that they can say, great, I’ve got the general formula and I’m gonna get creative from [00:11:00] here.
[00:11:00] Libby Sundgren: What made you, what was the transition like going from, you know, living in a world of. You know, all like foolproof spirits and then crossing over into the non-A space and, you know, really serving both audiences because I feel like that could be scary to the unknown, you know, to, to some people.
[00:11:25] April Wachtel: For me, it’s, it’s very natural. So, so just rewinding a little bit, I am not like a natural flavor expert, like I had to learn this stuff and I, I still, there’s a lot of other people who have like much better intuition around like the nuances of flavor pairings than I do. But I have a lot of training in at this, in it at this point. So I would say that like, I didn’t really understand how cocktails taste balanced until I learned. For example, like one of the most common sour style ratios is it’s like two parts spirit, one part [00:12:00] citrus, one part sweet. In practice, we’re just gonna say it in ounces. In practice, a very common version of that is one and a half ounces of the spirit or the non elk spirit, and then three quarter ounces, each of the citrus, like lemon or lime juice, and then whatever the sweet ingredient is. So because I learned with that framework. It was really easy when all these non-A spirits alternatives started popping up on the market because there’s a lot that are like, oh, it’s like a non-A gin, or a non-A tequila, or a, and so you can just pop them into those ratios. The rules are gonna a little bit different because there’s no rules with what they can and can’t do as a non elk spirit.
[00:12:38] So you do have to customize the recipe a bit more by the brand of non elk spirit,
[00:12:44] but for me, it felt very intuitive. And again, as we see, there’s like some other products that are coming to market, um, like whatever Pathfinder or, um, GIA or you know, some of these products that they’re like more a parif. [00:13:00] Focused where they, they’re not like a vodka or they’re not like a gin. And those are more complicated to work with in a standard cocktail ratio because there’s just like not really precedence for it. So it’s a learning experience in some, but like it’s pretty easy, like especially using products like Cheeky to say, I love margaritas.
[00:13:18] I’m gonna do a non one tonight. This like the ratio, the recipe, I can just adapt it.
[00:13:23] Alysse Bryson: Mm-hmm.
[00:13:23] April Wachtel: Does that make sense? I feel like I was just talking for forever.
[00:13:26] Alysse Bryson: No,
[00:13:26] total.
[00:13:26] Libby Sundgren: it totally does.
[00:13:27] Alysse Bryson: It totally
[00:13:28] Libby Sundgren: It just seems like it felt very natural.
[00:13:31] April Wachtel: Yeah. And, and I do think, again, I do think a lot of people have struggled in the transition because it’s like there’s all of these rules and regulations with spirits, and guess what? There’s no rules and regulations with non alc. and I think if you, if you actually like really look at the industry and like everybody’s making moves and launching new brands, I think the industry as a whole is trying to figure it out. Because again, like THC beverages didn’t exist either,
[00:13:57] you know, before a handful of
[00:13:59] years ago
[00:13:59] Libby Sundgren: Mm-hmm.
[00:13:59] April Wachtel: [00:14:00] And so people are like, well, where does this fit in in our lives and in drinks and rituals and all that stuff.
[00:14:05] Alysse Bryson: Absolutely. And you know, to the event pros that are listening, ’cause that is like the core audience that we serve here at BEATS, WORKING, winning the game of events. We know that you know how much your guests appreciate when a beverage offered at an event, regardless of the scale. If it’s 20 people or 20,000 people, they want it to be both elevated and inclusive.
[00:14:28] And we’re seeing that more and more and more and more. You have to be thinking. For both sets of drinkers and do it in a way that that. Makes it, it’s not a big deal. Like I’ve had people ask me like, do you think that, you know, the alcohol bar should be separate from the non-alcohol bar? And I’m like, no.
[00:14:50] Like, that’s like giving me a different glass. Like, why? That’s like putting me at the kids’ table. Please don’t do that. , you know, and um, just because someone chooses not [00:15:00] to, to drink zero proof for whatever reason, doesn’t mean that they don’t still want to enjoy an elevated experience like. The ones that are drinkers.
[00:15:09] I’ve also, in the last five years, um, with the sober curator, I’ve tasted a lot of terrible. Terrible things in the non ALK world like so bad. And so it’s like so bad that I’m like, you don’t really want me to write a review, do you? Because I’m gonna be honest, as part of, part of my sobriety journey is to be honest as well.
[00:15:30] And so, you know, I think that it’s been an interesting landscape to watch for sure. . And I know, and, and it, that’s, that’s, everybody’s taste is different. Right. I might think something tastes amazing that Libby is like gross. Although that doesn’t usually happen, but you know, you know what I’m saying?
[00:15:48] April Wachtel: Yeah, no, I mean there, there’s always been a need for, for elevated non-no options at events.
[00:15:56] Like without fail every si I mean, I’ve, I’ve bartended a gabillion events, you [00:16:00] know, like, and I’ve, I’ve produced a ability, like, and every time there’s always somebody who, who. Typically more than one person. It’s typically a handful of people way before the non alc.
[00:16:11] This current era, you know who, who. Absolutely wanna be included in every way that everybody else is, but just don’t wanna drink for whatever reason. Doesn’t matter
[00:16:20] why. Sometimes it’s serious where it’s like something, you’ll have a medical reaction, but for so many people it’s like, why do I have to explain or provide an excuse for why I don’t want to
[00:16:31] drink alcohol and be part of the social occasion?
[00:16:35] So it’s, I mean, it’s amazing that it took like this long for. This realization to surface in a, in a really significant way. , but I do think that, you know, the consumers are making bartenders, restaurants, caterers, provide these options, which is great.
[00:16:53] Alysse Bryson: I mean, it’s in the headlines. All the time now and okay, this, this episode, it’s [00:17:00] January, so I know it’s probably in the headlines more than usual because it’s dry January and that’s become a whole thing. But regardless of the time of year, I have no problem finding major news organizations dropping headlines that. What is the demand is for a nightlife experience? An event experience. sans booze, right? Because people wanna feel good the next day. They wanna remember what they did. They wanna have, you know, they wanna be fully present for the event that they’re experiencing.
[00:17:31] April Wachtel: Totally.
[00:17:32] Libby Sundgren: I have a friend who, uh, he and his wife stopped drinking last year at some point. I can’t remember when and when we were over at their house and he was telling me about it, that he had stopped drinking alcohol and you know, they’re in their forties and.
[00:17:52] Very successful, very healthy, like very fun people. And he was like, I just, I’ve done [00:18:00] everything you could imagine with alcohol. I’ve traveled, done events, concerts, comedy show. We were actually going to a comedy show that night and he was like, I mean, how. Like exciting is it to think about doing things without alcohol.
[00:18:16] Like he’s like, I wanna do that. I wanna travel and see what it’s like. I wanna go to this comedy show with you guys tonight and see what it’s like to, , have mocktails all night and just like truly laugh, not just because of what I’m drinking, making me laugh, but really enjoying the experience and, , it’s just.
[00:18:39] So like refreshing that you can go to a comedy show and that there are drinks, you know, options that are not just a giant Diet Coke, which is what I got because you know, you know me and the Diet Coke
[00:18:54] Alysse Bryson: April, aren’t you seeing a lot of people that they might start with a foolproof cocktail [00:19:00] first, but then they switch over to a zero proof? Are you seeing that trend as well? I think the phrase, they’ve called it a zebra tri striping or something like that,
[00:19:08] where
[00:19:09] Libby Sundgren: That’s what I’m doing this weekend.
[00:19:10] Alysse Bryson: they. They still wanna drink, but they don’t wanna drink every single drink all night with alcohol.
[00:19:16] April Wachtel: Totally. Yeah, no, I mean like, absolutely. And mind you, I also do that personally.
[00:19:21] and, and I think it’s, it’s interesting because sort of before the, before this whole non-A phenomenon popped off, so we’re talking like 2014 ish, there was already a migration, so like. In my evolution, in the sort of hardcore like craft cocktail speakeasy world, there was a real return to like very spirit forward cocktails.
[00:19:45] Like that’s, you know, a lot of the prohibition, pre-prohibition cocktails are super spirit forward, like boozy. , and there was already like a clear migration where people started offering low a BV options as well. So that might be like a [00:20:00] drink with Sherry, which is like a lower. Proof thing. It could be drinks with wine, like alternatives to a sangria. So varying ways that people could have like a full cocktail with less alcohol. Now, I think that’s like a, a really lovely and elevated way to, you know, drink a sherry cocktail with oysters or whatever. Like, it feels like pretty fancy. But I do think most consumers would rather. No, this is a full drink.
[00:20:27] This is not a full drink. It has nothing in it. Rather than being
[00:20:30] like, I just don’t know, like it could have like a quarter drink in it, or it
[00:20:32] could like have a, an eighth of a drink and like, I just kind of don’t know what I’m consuming.
[00:20:36] So I think it’s a really, a really nice way for people to be like, I know I can handle one drink, or I know I can handle two drinks and then anything else is gonna be non elk. So it’s just that it’s, it’s really cool to see so many different ways of like incorporating into your lifestyle. But like, I, yeah, I mean, we see, we see all of it. So.
[00:20:54] Alysse Bryson: Well, let’s talk more. I wanna get back to talking specifically about cheeky ’cause the [00:21:00] branding is such a good vibe. It’s so clean. It’s so fresh, it’s so approachable. It’s, it’s something if you are an event, event planner, you want displayed at your bar, right? It looks good. And you know, if you’re in the event world, we care very much about aesthetics as much as we care about experiences. So talk to us a little bit about what that journey was like for you.
[00:21:22] April Wachtel: Yeah, let me actually grab a bottle from behind me for reference. my lighting is so like shiny and bright right now, but hopefully, yeah, hopefully it’s not gonna reflect too crazy here, but, so yeah. So this is, uh, this is our espresso syrup. this is a 16 ounce version and actually this product won or we were on. Bon Appetit, New York Magazine and Food and Wine’s best, um, gifts, best beverage or food gifts for foodies, cocktail connoisseurs, or home mixologists with this exact
[00:21:50] Libby Sundgren: to you guys. That’s amazing.
[00:21:52] April Wachtel: Thank you. It’s, it’s, I mean, you know, it’s, it’s a very. Artisanal product. Um, we source this [00:22:00] locally roasted small batch, um, single origin Nicaraguan Coffee to make it.
[00:22:03] Anyway. It’s a very high, very, very expensive, very high quality raw ingredients. So we just do a little bit of stuff to it, and that’s how we get away with it. Um, but anyway, so, so the branding journey, the first version of my business, it was called Swig and Swallow, ran that for like five years. We had no idea what we were doing.
[00:22:20] Like we came from restaurants, but we had never built a product company. We didn’t understand marketing or like how to sell the pro. Like there was so much that we were just learning. And so that one, we really just like slapped together the design and it was like, oh, it says swig and swallow on the bottle.
[00:22:35] And then I was like, oh, it needs to say cocktail mixers. And then like, I like put it on the label in the wrong place. You know what I’m saying? So it was like, so like. It was really, not like crazy embarrassed by it, but I’m embarrassed by it. You know what I’m saying?
[00:22:47] Alysse Bryson: Mistakes at full speed. April.
[00:22:48] April Wachtel: Yeah. And, and that’s the thi
[00:22:51] Libby Sundgren: you didn’t know, you
[00:22:52] April Wachtel: that’s the Yeah. And that’s the thing is like, I’m not like kicking myself about it, but like in retrospect you’re like, damn, how did that happen that [00:23:00] way? You know, like, just whatever. , but anyway, so with this, the, so the funny thing with this is. This time I was like, okay, now we’ve learned so much of the things that I learned. It’s really you have to invest in branding, whether it be via money or time, or just like really figuring out who your target consumer is and you know what they care about and all of that. So I hired several different agencies. None of them really worked out, but I hired several different agencies to take a stab at the branding. I was waiting for the, I think third iteration. , to come from this Brazilian agency in March of 2020, and they were like, give us a month to turn this around. And I was like, no, that is so long.
[00:23:41] And then COVID hit. It was wild. Yeah, it was wild. COVID hits and I’m like, I just can’t wait because like, we don’t know what’s going to happen. We have to launch now. So the, the first version of, of this branding, I slapped together in probably less than two hours, and it was just like color [00:24:00] blocking. So just like. Very minimalist, clean label that the hierarchy just said, like the brand name and then essentially what it says right now, which is the product name, and then the critical elements below that. , and then since then we invested in the logo. We spent a ton of money on an agency for that, but that’s the only, like major change is. Logo and then that agency chose the two other fonts that we use on the label. So it’s a very long-winded way of saying that, like it was not like the perfect dialed in thing from the start that I was hoping for, but ultimately it worked out and allowed us to test the product, see how people reacted, and then modify the things that we needed to when we realized that they were important.
[00:24:41] Alysse Bryson: Well, and I think that’s a really good lesson because to the mini event. Planners listening, you probably have some side hustles you’ve been dreaming about because you have all these ideas that you get from all the events that you produce.
[00:24:54] And I think April’s example there is that you just have to start before you’re ready
[00:24:59] because if you [00:25:00] wait, if you wait to
[00:25:00] get it all perfect, you, you might not never, you might never start.
[00:25:04] April Wachtel: And that’s, I mean, that’s something that we continually find, and again, I’m not sure how it works exactly with your community, but. I throw ideas out there all the time that are like very early. And again, I’m not misleading anyone saying, oh, it’s done, it’s like produced. It’s waiting for you. But like we, we just ask our audience for their feedback and their, you know, general thoughts and just observe their reactions
[00:25:31] and see if things are resonating or not.
[00:25:34] , and I think that that is, honestly, I think especially as you get to know your audience better. It forms like an amazing, it’s like an amazing relationship building thing in addition to actually helping you craft the new product or, or launch whatever you’re trying to launch.
[00:25:49] Alysse Bryson: ‘ cause they feel like they’re a part of your brand, right? Like I think that’s actually incredibly smart
[00:25:55] and I bet that does. I bet that plays very well with [00:26:00] millennials and Gen Z for sure.
[00:26:02] April Wachtel: Yeah. , we do have, you know, a sort of broad range of ages. Um, so again, the types of, the types of considerations and requests that we get from different age groups tend to be kind of different.
[00:26:16] But again, we have, we, yeah, we have relationships with, with, you know, a ton of our customers, so always like to hear them.
[00:26:22] And I’ll, I’ll be honest too, if I’m like, there’s no way we can ever do that. But I love you. You know, like, sorry.
[00:26:28] Libby Sundgren: Absolutely not, but thank you for bringing that to my attention. That’s also so brave I just feel like that is a very brave thing to be vulnerable enough to ask for honest feedback from an audience and to really, to really actually listen to it.
[00:26:47] , it’s really easy to get feedback from people and think, oh my God, well this client, they just like, dunno what they’re talking about. You know? They dunno. They dunno. But.
[00:26:56] April Wachtel: in our case. I think it’s like, it’s literally, [00:27:00] besides the fact that I love making people happy and I want them to enjoy our product and all of that, it’s also like a survival skill because guess what happens if you don’t listen to your customers? With my type of business, nobody buys your
[00:27:13] can, I swear.
[00:27:14] Alysse Bryson: Oh,
[00:27:15] Libby Sundgren: Yeah,
[00:27:15] April Wachtel: Nobody, nobody buys your shit. Like if
[00:27:17] you’re, if you’re just like, thanks for the feedback never happening, or like, you know, these shipping issues that we’re having, like, we’re not gonna fix them. Guess what people do? They don’t come back.
[00:27:26] You know, so like, it’s also helpful from a sales perspective and a, and a, and a, uh, customer retention perspective.
[00:27:32] Alysse Bryson: Was that hard to figure out the shipping so things don’t get broken?
[00:27:37] April Wachtel: No, not really. I mean, there’s definitely some trial and error. Like there’s actually, we have a, we have a video, , probably from, I dunno, four years ago on our Instagram where it’s me putting on, like, I didn’t even have safety glasses at the time, so I had like, I put on sunglasses inside and I like am testing out like our new case packaging.
[00:27:55] And so I like dropped it ’cause it’s, you know, that particular case, I think it was 12 pounds, [00:28:00] six glass bottles, 12 pounds. Heavy and fragile. And so I dropped it like three times being like, oh, you know, how does it, like, is it protecting it? And then on the last one I was like, you know, I’m just gonna throw it and I throw it and immediately everything shatters.
[00:28:12] So it’s like you just figure out like what’s reasonable, you know, like what, what is, what makes sense from a cost perspective, um, versus like a, we’re gonna be dealing with a lot of, uh, breakage
[00:28:23] and, you know, customer complaints as well. , but yeah, just trial and error and also talking to people who’ve done it before helps.
[00:28:28] Alysse Bryson: Yeah.
[00:28:29] Well, that’s a really good transition. We have a segment that we do called What Went Wrong because we know that every event pro has a story of near disaster. Uh, a time when something went sideways in your world, uh, what happened? And April, how did you bounce back?
[00:28:46] April Wachtel: I’m just trying to think which one I wanna highlight. ’cause there’s so many, like
[00:28:51] Libby Sundgren: I know,
[00:28:52] April Wachtel: many. Okay. Well, do you want, do you want one that actually was like a huge problem or one that almost was a huge problem?
[00:28:59] Alysse Bryson: Ooh. Well [00:29:00] now I
[00:29:00] Libby Sundgren: whichever one’s a better story,
[00:29:01] Alysse Bryson: I want both, actually.
[00:29:03] Libby Sundgren: know.
[00:29:03] April Wachtel: Mm.
[00:29:03] Alysse Bryson: But take your pick.
[00:29:04] April Wachtel: I will start with one where things almost became a huge problem. And this was really recent. This was like two weeks ago.
[00:29:11] Um,
[00:29:11] Alysse Bryson: Ooh.
[00:29:12] April Wachtel: oh yeah. So we got an order from 600 stores, , and this particular customer always wants it in three weeks. Now. We don’t stock anything in these quantities and we manufacture in-house at this point entirely.
[00:29:27] Like everything we make is in-house. We do work with Comans as well to produce our product, but not. Not any of these for this order. so anyway, so they want the order in three weeks. This is a huge order for us and it essentially completely prohibited us from doing anything else for like, I got them to extend the deadline.
[00:29:44] So four weeks. But the problem with this is they’re massive. You have to meet the deadline. If you miss the deadline, they can cancel the order and you’re stuck with everything you’ve made. So just
[00:29:57] Libby Sundgren: shipping it to 600 different locations.
[00:29:59] April Wachtel: [00:30:00] No, they came and picked up it. Ultimately it was, , they came up, they, they came and picked up and then they, they distributed to nine different, uh, sorry, eight different distribution centers.
[00:30:08] Libby Sundgren: Oh
[00:30:08] April Wachtel: Yeah. So they pick, they pick it up, but there’s a ton of paperwork involved. There’s a ton of like special, um, like labeling that has to be done that’s like dramatically different than what we normally do. But anyway, so the raw materials to get, to get the raw materials for this order, normally it’s. Two to three weeks between
[00:30:29] Alysse Bryson: Just to get the
[00:30:30] April Wachtel: just to get it in, not to make it. And
[00:30:31] Alysse Bryson: the math. I’m math.
[00:30:32] April Wachtel: yeah, yeah. So we need minimally, we need minimally, we need three weeks fully booked with everyone on our staff, plus hire a bunch of new people to get this done in four weeks. So, anyway, so long story short is I have become, I, I would say that I’m, I’m probably an expert in two things.
[00:30:49] One is. Getting shit done like this, like with no time and like, just by the skin of our teeth. Um, and then the other is like finding sources of capital when you [00:31:00] think that there’s no options left, which is a huge reality for businesses like mine. So anyway, so yeah, a lot of experience with that. So, so anyway, so, so, so with this, we, I like strategically plot out the production, the hiring, the, the whole thing. And then, um, we have all this stuff on route, and the way I staggered it, I was like, okay, here’s the interim solution so we can actually start manufacturing tomorrow. Because we have all, like, we have what’s called a three dimensional supply chain, which is you have a bunch of different vendors who supply the same thing.
[00:31:28] They have different terms, they have different turnaround time. Some of this stuff like I can emergency pick up the same day if I’m desperate, uh, which is what I did anyway, so. Have that happening. And then my two biggest orders of raw materials coming in, I think it was, it was nine or 12 pallets of stuff coming into the facility that we had to immediately turn around and manu and like put into production. Both of them got stuck and one of them was perishable. And it was like, it’s, yeah. And then it was
[00:31:59] Alysse Bryson: Stuck in [00:32:00] customs.
[00:32:00] April Wachtel: no stuck in, in a, it was actually. Both of them were stuck in different. I think they’re technical called distribution centers. So like when
[00:32:10] you do freight, it’ll be like one truck takes it to one location, then
[00:32:14] they take it off loaded on whatever. So they’re stuck in the middle essentially. And so I was like freaking out about one of them. And the second one I was like, we’re, we really have a huge problem if it doesn’t happen, like, if it doesn’t come through. And so ultimately, you know, I’m like harassing the, the freight people. I’m calling every customer service thing, whatever. , and ultimately two of these orders that were. They should have been delivered two to three days after they shipped. Both of them were at like 10 and 11 days in transit, and they both arrived the same day that we would’ve had to, like we, I would’ve had to cancel. I would’ve had to tell my entire staff, don’t even come in this next week because we don’t have anything to make.
[00:32:55] And they came in the one day that we needed to get them. Yeah. [00:33:00] So that is just one example and mind you, I had all like, there were other things that we could have done, but it’s just one of those things where like I have been learning you need to plan for the most catastrophic scenario, which is very similar with events. Hope it doesn’t happen. And also like I think trigger the emergency action. Early, which is like the frantically calling the freight people, but try to stave off panic for as long as you possibly can because you might just be wasting your like, allocation of panic on something that works out
[00:33:31] okay. Anyway, you know,
[00:33:33] Alysse Bryson: Mm-hmm.
[00:33:34] April Wachtel: it was wild.
[00:33:36] Um, yeah. And
[00:33:37] Libby Sundgren: That makes me feel really sweaty hearing this
[00:33:40] Alysse Bryson: I am, I, I feel very anxious right now.
[00:33:43] April Wachtel: I’m sorry. Well, it worked out though.
[00:33:45] Alysse Bryson: I’m so glad that it did. I mean, I had a mentor who used to say, I worried. And I worried. And I worried right up until the time it never happened. So, um.
[00:33:53] April Wachtel: I love that.
[00:33:54] Alysse Bryson: But I love that like you were just in it to win it. Like you were just gonna figure it out. Like, I, [00:34:00] I love Hu Hustle culture for that reason.
[00:34:02] ’cause I’m just like there. There’s gotta be a part of it though. Like when it did work out, like you felt really good. Right?
[00:34:09] April Wachtel: yeah. I mean. with that particular order, so we actually also finished the, like we finished all of the crazy markings and packaging things on, on every single case. We finished those like half an hour after the end of the pickup window stopped for the, for the, for the, um, pickup. Fortunately, they were like six hours late, but like, and, and
[00:34:32] mind you, the, the, but, but this is no, each time this cu this customer orders. We finish like an hour before, before it has to ship. It’s like,
[00:34:40] but again,
[00:34:42] no, but like I, again, I think so, so the, the, the reason this is like a positive story besides the fact that it did work out and it enabled so many other things that we’ve been like racing towards over the past, whatever, two, three weeks since that pickup happened. Like we are in so much of a stronger place as a [00:35:00] result of everything going. Right with that. , but also, you know, the more times we go through these like really frenetic, crazy experiences, the better you get at them and then the stronger you are because you have more resources like , the experience of like. Whatever these things went wrong, I’m never gonna do those again. Or like, you know, I utilize like our COO to do like all of the additional hiring. Now he like, he’s great at that anyway, but like we now have an excellent system where it’s like, if I need to staff up and get people in the next day, I. Send him a text.
[00:35:32] I’m like, this is what we’re gonna do. And he goes, you got it. And I’m like, this is how many people we have. We need, this is when we need them. This is how many days we need them. And he’s got the playbook. So like I think it’s actually a cool thing because like it’s like a muscle, like the more times
[00:35:44] you exercise and you do it consistently, like you’re stronger.
[00:35:48] Alysse Bryson: I love that. That has a happy ending.
[00:35:50] April Wachtel: Yeah. It does.
[00:35:51] Alysse Bryson: not just because, not just because it all worked out, just, but for that reason that you just,
[00:35:56] you just, uh, explained
[00:35:58] April Wachtel: Yeah. And it’s very rewarding.
[00:35:59] Alysse Bryson: [00:36:00] cheeky, which you’re obviously very passionate and proud about, do you have another big win in your career that, that you could attribute to?
[00:36:09] Like if that hadn’t happened, there might not be a cheeky.
[00:36:12] April Wachtel: I wouldn’t say it in that exact way because I tend to think that like, the harder you work, the luckier you get, like. you, if you take unreasonable action, if you get up to bat a thousand times or 10,000 times or whatever, something positive is gonna happen. So like, I don’t, I don’t tend to think about it.
[00:36:31] Like, if this didn’t, then that would be completely out of the picture. But I would say that I feel like I’ve had a tremendous amount of luck, like a tremendous amount of luck in. My entire, like, career. I put that loosely because I’m like, I feel like I’ve had 25 different things happening, like, like different careers. , but like from, from day one, you know, like when I was in, when I was in restaurants, like my first big career break, 2010, I like randomly. I guess it was auditioned. I kind of [00:37:00] auditioned for like a cocktail competition and that was how I got on the Sundance channel because I won for Boston. And then because of that, you know, press loves to write about press and so like the sort of local press started writing about, oh, this, you know, this bar Boston bartender who is, who did this?
[00:37:15] And then I whatever, got on like randomly got on a couple of covers of magazine, like industry magazines for like no good reason. You know, like I just was there,
[00:37:23] you know, and
[00:37:25] no like.
[00:37:25] Alysse Bryson: right time.
[00:37:26] April Wachtel: Serious. Serious. But so like there have been a lot of things like that where it’s like these things have snowballed. And even like with the Today Show, like that happened because I was teaching the cocktail classes and I, at one point I was like, okay, I’m teaching at like three different schools. I should have like a central place to like. Show that I do these things. And so I put like a little website together and then they found me from one of the schools that I was teaching, and then they went to my website and then they found my contact information and they reach out. So like, there’s been so many things like that where I’m like, if the first one didn’t [00:38:00] happen or if the 12th one didn’t happen,
[00:38:02] like I might be in a different place right
[00:38:03] now.
[00:38:04] Um, but it all, it all, you know, accumulates.
[00:38:07] Alysse Bryson: The big takeaway is just work hard. People
[00:38:09] Libby Sundgren: Just work hard and just do it. Just make the website. Just take the jump. Just do it.
[00:38:15] April Wachtel: Yeah.
[00:38:15] Alysse Bryson: the logo in the wrong place or
[00:38:17] whatever.
[00:38:18] April Wachtel: Oh, hell
[00:38:18] Alysse Bryson: fine.
[00:38:19] Libby Sundgren: Get it out there.
[00:38:20] April Wachtel: Yeah,
[00:38:21] Alysse Bryson: Well, we’re gonna drop all of your information in the show notes, but uh, for people that are still listening, where can they find you?
[00:38:29] April Wachtel: Yes. So cheeky is at cheeky cocktails with an s at the end. We’re like at cheeky cocktails everywhere. I personally am cheeky April on Instagram. I think my TikTok is like cheeky April five. It’s like some really weird thing, but you can, you can find me relatively easily. Um, and then, yeah, I’m on LinkedIn, um, April Tel and, um, yeah, it’s not, it’s not that hard to find us.
[00:38:49] You can, yeah, we come
[00:38:50] Alysse Bryson: And then if, if for people not ordering online, are there, are there main stores that they can find your brands? Not.
[00:38:57] April Wachtel: it’s a little weird at this point to be
[00:38:59] we’re, [00:39:00] it’s Still is best.
[00:39:01] All mine’s best we’re on Amazon, if that’s like, easier for people
[00:39:04] as well. Yeah.
[00:39:06] Libby Sundgren: We live in the world of Amazon here. This is where Amazon
[00:39:09] Alysse Bryson: it’s like shopping local for us. That’s what I say when
[00:39:11] April Wachtel: totally.
[00:39:12] Alysse Bryson: time that the Amazon go shows up at my house, I’m like, yep, I’m just supporting my local community.
[00:39:17] April Wachtel: Well, you’re though, again, there’s a ton of
[00:39:18] little sellers like ourselves on there, so It’s totally true.
[00:39:22] Alysse Bryson: Well, thank you so much, April. You’ve shown us that making great drinks Simple isn’t just about cocktails, it’s about how event pros can strip away complexity and still deliver unforgettable experiences, and that ties in so well with our. Mission here at BEATS WORKING because we celebrate the people who are making the magic happen. And you have certainly been making magic happen in our community for many years in the past, and I’m sure many years to come. So
[00:39:56] cheers to a new year you guys. [00:40:00] 2026.
[00:40:00] April Wachtel: Cheers. Happy New Year.
[00:40:02] Alysse Bryson: Happy New Year. And that is a wrap for this episode of BEATS WORKING.
[00:40:06] If you have an idea or you wanna reach out, please slide into our dms or email us at info at BEATS WORKING show. And remember, every detail matters, every moment counts, and no matter what, the show must go on.
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