From uncertainty to success: Guest post from Chris Norkus of Cocktails From Home
From uncertainty to success: Guest post from Chris Norkus of Cocktails From Home
BoomPop Team · 9/8/2022
This guest post was written by Chris Norkus, Founder of BoomPop event partner Cocktails From Home.
Starting Cocktails From Home has been one of the greatest achievements of my life so far, and it was founded during the most tumultuous times I’d ever seen. Not only did a global pandemic leave me unemployed and uncertain, but I had only just gotten back on my feet after finishing cancer treatment.
The saying goes that “calm seas never made a good sailor.” During that year of turbulence, I never could have predicted what was up ahead of me on the horizon.
I’ve spent half my life in the bar and restaurant industry. Everything from General Manager to Bus Boy, but I’ve always felt most at home behind the bar. Bartending was like an extension of my personality. Fast paced, hard work, and barrels of fun. I have a passion for learning about new drinks, like any good bartender should, but what I’ve always found to be the best part of the job is the people you meet along the way.
I was working behind the bar the night I first noticed that something was wrong with my voice. There was loud music playing and people who were ordering drinks couldn’t hear what I was saying. I was straining to speak over all the noise. Later, I started noticing that my voice was hoarse all day, every day. It wasn’t going away. I would bump into friends, and they would ask me if I had been out screaming at a concert the night before.
It took me a while, honestly too long, to go see a doctor, but when I finally did, he confirmed what I feared. That I had stage 1 throat cancer. I was lucky that they caught it early and were able to treat it with a seven-week dose of radiation. After six months off work to treat and recover I, thankfully, have a clean bill of health.
It was a painful road. Taking all that time off from work as a bartender is not easy. The bills began to pile up, and I really had no strength to get back to work right away. By the time I was finally healthy enough to go back, it was just before Christmas in 2019. How clueless I was to think that everything was starting to finally go back to normal.
About three months into the COVID-19 pandemic, I got what seemed like a simple text from a former manager asking if I’d be interested in doing a favor and hosting an online bartending event for his friend at Dell. I was apprehensive at first, since this was something I’d never done before, but I couldn’t turn down work while I was unemployed during a pandemic. I also truly believed that we could make it fun. That one hour ended up changing my life. As soon as I was finished and logged off, I felt inspired. I knew in my heart that I was onto something big.
Over the next two years I turned that one-off event into a full-time business.
Cocktails From Home has now become a way for me to do what I love from my kitchen. I’ve accomplished a dream and opened my own bar, but entirely “in the cloud.” I’ve designed a seasonally rotating menu of approachable and delicious craft cocktails that can be shipped right to your door.
The best part comes when we gather virtually and make the drinks together from the comfort of our own homes. I’ve met so many incredible people in the last two years thanks to Cocktails From Home, and I can’t wait to meet you, too.
Cheers!
Featured resources
8 Steps for Planning Your Company Retreat
A resource for new organizers on creating fun, productive, and successful corporate events.
