Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Natalie Migliarini, Founder of Beautiful Booze, located in New York, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

An award-winning resource for cocktail enthusiasts, professional bartenders, brands, and travelers alike. I am a former home bartender turned cocktail influencer. I turned my passion for cocktails, entertaining and global adventures into one of the top booze and travel accounts in the U.S.

Beautiful Booze showcases unique libations, brands, and experiences in every corner of the world through its growing social network of 160,000+ engaged fans, website, and content production capabilities that highlight brands and destinations in ways that go beyond cocktails. Beyond that, I published my first cocktail book in 2020, titled “Beautiful Booze: Stylish Cocktails to Make at Home.”

Beautiful Booze is a trusted partner for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Patron Tequila, Visit Aruba, Hilton Hotels, Camus Cognac, Airbnb, and Pernod Ricard.

Some of our services include:
• Brand partnerships
• Destination partnerships
• Event collaborations
• Social media education and training
• Guest shifts, bar takeovers, and pop-ups
• Sponsored placement on website/social
• Recipe development
• Content creation
• Social media consulting
• Professional photography
• Video production
• Cocktail consulting and creation
• Event coverage

Some fun facts to note about Beautiful Booze:
• Beautiful Booze is a women-owned and operated company.
• We are authors and released our first book, Beautiful Booze: Stylish Cocktails to Make at Home.
• We are passionate about the hospitality industry and love working on creative projects to showcase our favorite brands around the world.
• We lived out of our suitcase for 5 years so we could showcase cocktails, bartenders, brands, and distilleries around the world to our audience. We visited over 95 distilleries across 29 countries.

Tell us about yourself

I first started my business Beautiful Booze in 2013 as a hobby to teach myself how to make cocktails as well as photography. I wanted to showcase how beautiful cocktails could be while teaching myself new skills after being laid off from my public health job. I started posting 5 cocktail recipes per week on my blog and Instagram account consistently, and it really took off from there. As my Instagram grew, I taught myself PR, marketing, and everything I could absorb about social media. I was NEVER someone who thought I would ever run my business.

From there, I started getting approached by different brands to create content as well as sponsored posts, so I started earning some income. In addition to that, I started writing about cocktails and doing social media seminars to teach other people how to increase their skills around content, social media, and networking online. After almost running my business for 10 years, my motivation is finding creativity and making meaningful connections from this business. Every day I am able to use my creativity to create as well as connect with my audience through something that brings me joy. I have been able to cultivate an engaged audience that supports my creativity and supports my endeavors.

Beyond that, travel has played a huge part in this business as I traveled for 5 years without a home to connect with friends, bartenders, brands, distilleries, and wineries around the world. I love being able to showcase the bartending industry and showcase what they are doing around the world. I currently have a bar crawl series that showcases bars/bartenders around the world in cities including Mexico City, Singapore, Taipei, and Japan. What sets me apart online is that I have combined travel and cocktails to be able to showcase how to make fun cocktails at home and also showcase incredible bars/experiences around the world. Long story short, I am so grateful to be able to make a living using my creativity and to use social media to connect with so many people around the world. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be able to do this and make it to ten years in business.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment as a business owner is making it 10 years. It has taken some much work to get here today with many sacrifices as I have worked so much to keep this business thriving as there is always a constant evolution of social media. To keep up, you will see me working an insane amount of hours which I believe has helped me stay relevant. My job and personal life are so intertwined that it’s hard to set boundaries.

One of my first huge milestones was publishing my book, Beautiful Booze: Stylish Cocktails To Make At Home. Another accomplishment is being a cast member on Netflix’s Drink Masters show as the only home bartender. This was a huge risk and challenge for me as I am so hard on myself, but saying yes to opportunities outside my comfort zone is the one way I have grown in every aspect of my work as well as on a personal level.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

The hardest thing about being a business owner for me is having a work-life balance and being freelance. I feel like I need to be looking for a job every day, as freelance is so inconsistent. I also feel like anytime I have free time, I could be doing something for work, which has created points of burnout for me.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Just start building. Don’t wait until everything is perfect to start, or you will never get started or be so delayed.
  2. Always say yes to opportunities that scare you, as there is always something to learn even if you fail.
  3. Believe in yourself because, at the end of the day, no one else is as passionate as you are about your business, so believe that YOU can do it.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://beautifulbooze.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautifulbooze
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautifulbooze/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/beautifulbooze
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beautifulbooze/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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