What if the best wine class you ever took wasn’t about wine at all? What if it was really about friendship, redemption, and whether you can really come back from rock bottom?

This week’s guest is my old friend Brian, someone I studied wine with, worked late nights alongside, and haven’t seen in over a decade. In this episode, we reconnect to trace the wild paths we’ve both taken since Santa Fe: from sommelier certifications and fine dining highs to addiction, collapse, and the quiet work of rebuilding a life.

We talk about what it’s like to fall out of love with the industry, find your way back, and what hospitality really means when you’re not drinking the product anymore.

This one’s raw, funny, honest—and filled with moments I didn’t see coming.

🧠 Expect to Learn:

• How a wine class in Santa Fe kickstarted two careers (and saved one life)

• What addiction in the service industry really looks like—and why it's more common than you think

• Why some of the best bartenders burn out, and how some make it back

• The real cost of being the “most sought-after” person in town

• How catering gigs and spirituality can help rebuild a life

• Why mentorship matters—and what separates a good bartender from a great one

• How to tell if the party’s still fun… or if the party’s running you

• Why Santa Fe might be one of the best (and most dangerous) places to learn this craft

• Whether you can still love the industry when you're not drinking

Links:

-Carlos Castaneda

Service starts now.

I talk to people in and around the service industry space, and people that I wish I could have heard from when I was coming up in restaurants. Altogether I am trying to make sense of this wild, beautiful mess of a life, and help others that are feeling similarly confused and/or lost. You can find more of my work at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠my blog⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and all my social links are at the bottom of that page.

Classic Episodes You May Like:

-#3:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠My 1st and Most Powerful Conversation with Shane Alexander⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

-#10:Nat Harry, cocktail expert!

As always, I’m just here taking notes, trying to figure out what it all means.

Cheers