Lynnette Marrero’s Next Chapter: On Education and Mentorship in the Bar Industry

Editor’s note: We last spoke with Lynnette Marrero in a story about Speed Rack in 2021. Today we focus on her involvement in Bar Convent Brooklyn. Read our preview of Bar Convent Brooklyn 2023 which takes place June 13-14.

Lynnette Marrero

Since founding Speed Rack over a decade ago, Lynnette Marrero has continued to lend her time and expertise to projects that have a deep, personal meaning, including a series of mixology lessons for online learning platform MasterClass, a partnership with fellow Nuyorican Jennifer Lopez to launch Delola, a line of low-ABV, ready-to-drink spritzes, and serving as industry conference Bar Convent Brooklyn’s Head of Education.

Ahead of this year’s Bar Convent Brooklyn (BCB) we caught up with Marrero to talk about the importance of education and mentorship, and how she has continually striven to contribute to projects that honor those themes.

How did becoming an advocate for education and mentorship in the bar industry grow out of your own career as a bartender?

Access to education and to mentors has always been so important to me. I always attribute my success and luck in this industry to starting in New York, and having access to people like Dale DeGroff, Audrey Saunders, Dave Wondrich, and Julie Reiner. And then through things like Speed Rack, I’ve seen how the sharing of information and the passing along of education and opportunity to each other is still so important.

BCB education session

Why is BCB such an important resource for the bartending community?

A lot of bartenders and a lot of people in the industry have ideas, and maybe don’t necessarily have platforms to share and discuss them. What I love about the program at BCB is that it simplifies the process of sharing. I loved seeing that last year’s BCB really drew a lot of bartenders from all over the U.S., because we haven’t really had a trade show like this. For those two days it’s really like this giant marketplace for people in hospitality to walk around and see the breadth of what’s available to them. And then in addition to the marketplace, not only is there the BCB educational programming, but there’s content that’s brought in by brands, who bring in some of their top guns to do awesome education.

It also helps bartenders feel more professional about their industry. From the guests’ perspective, there are a lot of people who think that bartending is about making drinks, when bartending is about so many other things all at once, like teamwork and organization and knowledge and hospitality and running a business, to a certain degree. Whenever people say that they spent any time in hospitality, you just see that they have an incredible skill set; the thought process is different. How you deal with people, how you problem solve is different. No matter what industry you’re going into, working in hospitality is kind of a training that everyone should have to go through.

Lynnette Marreo on panel at BCB

As the head of BCB’s Education Committee how do you ensure diverse perspectives?

Having diverse perspectives is important, so it’s not just a New York group, and people are able to attend sessions that can speak to the mindset of their various communities. I work with a wonderful team of folks on the education committee who are from all over the country, and we wanted to make sure that we had diversity on many different levels, and well-rounded programming for what matters to a lot of us, not just the people in New York.

It’s also great to read different proposals where sometimes we see two people propose something that’s two sides of the same coin, and we’ll do a little matchmaking. Then you can really see perspective and can show the breadth of the actual issue.

What trends have you seen in the session proposals?

There’s a huge interest in alternative spirits categories. For instance, we had a great seminar last year that was about the whole other world of agave spirits from Latin America besides mezcal and tequila that we’re not even talking about. (Editor’s note: read about sotol). There’s always a big push on sustainability and what that means, and the different prongs of approach: sustainability in the manufacturing of spirits, to how we’re doing sustainability in bars, and then also looking at how do we sustain the people working in the industry in terms of health and wellness and balance. I love seeing how those conversations are evolving, and I like when people are starting to think of more actionable ways of addressing these issues. (Editor’s note: Read how spirits are becoming more sustainable.)

BCB seminar

What educational topics do we need to see more of at BCB and beyond?

We’re in a place where there’s a need to go back and rewind the clock a little bit to some of the foundational conversations. We have a whole new generation of people in the industry, and I love to be able to pull them into the scene, but there’s a little bit of a refresh that can happen. As Speed Rack keeps expanding, I’m seeing how people are coming in from a very different place in terms of learning. So there are some of the foundational classes and panels that people presented when I was learning that would be amazing for this group. Even things about service and hospitality, and talking about what those mean, and bringing those conversations back as we develop the new culture and what we want it to be. We’re all coming into a new environment and landscape, and I think there’s so much good intention, and people really want to try to be very progressive, but there often aren’t enough tools to help people.

Advanced pricing is available for registration to Bar Convent Brooklyn 2023 through June 10 at BCB’s website.