Why C.A.L.M. Bar Safety

People have asked me beyond seeing a void in the bar, restaurant, and nightclub community, was there any outside inspiration to creating this? I say well that's just it, there was an unbelievable void. For me and often still is, a baptism by fire culture in many venues when you join the team. For me it was problem after problem with only my best judgement on how to handle each situation, that's where it began. When I sat down and put pen to paper, I realized there were countless contributing factors to maintaining a safe environment while attempting to entertain people. For years I wanted to create a comprehensive and authentic training program, a view from the trenches if you will. I started out as a doorman, then became a barback, a bartender, a sales manager, a general manager, and then an owner and a partner -- let's just say I never "need" to go out anymore.

 My final inspiration came after a phone call I received on New Year's Eve in 2007 (around 4pm I'll never forget). I was stocking the bar at Morgan St. Brewery, in St. Louis, getting ready for the biggest bar night of the year when my phone rang. The call was from my cousin, "Hey man, I've got really bad news about Tommy," or something of that nature. Tom was my cousin. "He was killed this morning in some sort of bar fight."  

I remember that call like it was yesterday. I became obsessed with what happened because by this point in my career, I had already been through countless verbal and physical altercations. So, for me, this really hit home. At this time, I was moonlighting as a bartender on the weekends while I was concurrently helping build and operate an upscale hospitality group. So, I had this unique perspective of the business being able to live on both sides of the fence at the same time. I was teaching, coaching, planning, managing, and helping grow a professional bar and nightclub group during the week. But, come Friday night, I went back to living life as a bartender and security -- constantly reminded of what we're up against.

I spent the next decade writing and testing out ideas on myself and my teams. I then turned these thoughts into nearly a thousand page e-course. In 2016, I was recruited by The Expert Institute out of New York City to join their roster so that I may start examining bar, restaurant, and nightclub lawsuits. I got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to speak with attorneys who represented the plaintiff, to read depositions, and go through the early motions as an expert. Lightbulbs began to go off and I was now convinced that what I was creating was going to be incredibly useful. 

In December 2019, I recruited additional experts because I wanted to offer classes like active shooter training, medical emergencies, and more. The pandemic hit and I had to hit the pause button for nearly two years. When I resurfaced in 2022, I redesigned the e-course and began something called The Coaching Program where I combined my e-course with virtual coaching, and worked with teams via Zoom. I decided to take what I had learned and make this program even better, and The Coaching Program evolved in April 2024 to become MANTRA52.

(from left to right) Buddy Coy, Steve Guidry, DJ Big D, & Pete Ferretti