Catching up with Speed Rack: A Conversation with Founders Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix
This February marked the 10th anniversary of Speed Rack, and even during these dark days of COVID, there’s still plenty to celebrate. Designed to highlight up-and-coming, self-identifying womxn in the cocktail industry and give back to those impacted by breast cancer, the all-female, high-speed bartending competition has raised $1,000,000 to date for charities supporting breast cancer research. Like most members of the hospitality industry, co-founders Lynnette Marrero and Ivy Mix had to make adjustments this past year in their work individually and as collaborators on Speed Rack, but they show no signs of slowing down on either front. We recently connected with them to reflect on the competition’s legacy, their personal journeys, and what’s next.
To say this year took a devastating toll on the hospitality industry would be an understatement. What are some of the ways you both pivoted professionally/personally, and how did Speed Rack change to keep up its good work?
Ivy Mix (IM): COVID isn’t good for bars, events, gathering, hugging, and screaming, so it’s been tough for our industry and for Speed Rack. Professionally, both with Speed Rack and with my own work personally, online cocktail classes have been huge. We did a whole series for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a special Speed Rack Academy Holiday Edition with Speed Rack alumni. It was a great way to get some money going to our charities, as well as some to the womxn who haven’t been able to earn their normal wages.
Lynnette Marrero (LM): Personally, I was extremely lucky that Masterclass launched in March. Although I run a couple of programs, most of my work is traveling for event work for brands. I was able to build a strong online class clientele. As a founding board member of the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation, I was able to help with a lot of relief and support for the hospitality community. Before the pandemic, we were all running at a pace that was insane. We had an event after the Speed Rack event. We took quite a few months off waiting to see if events were coming back, and we both had to take care of our venues during a very tough time in NYC. The pandemic, then the BLM movement, all heightened the emotional stakes. We knew we wanted something meaningful for our community and to help BIPOC bartenders in our network, but rushing to put something in place didn’t feel right. Our mentorship program took a while to get all sorted, but we feel that it’s launching with all the systems in place and in a more thoughtful manner.
Speaking of the mentorship program—the Speed Rack Advisory Squad—what will this entail, and how do you envision it going forward?
IM: We are pairing womxn with mentors across the spectrum of our industry, placing an emphasis on creating connections with the BIPOC womxn community. During COVID, many bartenders have had to slow way down, and a lot of us are questioning what our place is in this industry. The Advisory Squad aims to build up experiences and know-how to place these womxn in a better position to do what they want and earn money doing it going into the future after this self-reflection. The Advisory Squad is honestly my COVID highlight. I cannot wait for it to launch. Speed Rack wouldn’t have been possible without Lynnette’s mentorship of me. I literally told her my hair-brained idea, and she joined me with her hard-earned connections. We made it happen largely by my riding on her coattails and connections.
LM: I think everyone talks about mentorship, but it can be daunting to start a program that’s responsible. With the help of Lauren Paylor, co-founder FOHealth.org and Speed Rack social media coordinator, we have engaged The Elephant in the Room and Healthypour.org with Laura Louise Green to help us put in place systems for responsible mentorship. We will have a crafted set of core values, resources for the mentors on “how to mentor” and how we thoughtfully mentor the BIPOC community.
Since the founding of Speed Rack, can you reflect on how the industry has changed within the past decade for self-identifying womxn in the industry?
Season 9 event in Portland stage
IM: The industry has changed vastly. When Speed Rack first started, you’d be hard-pressed to see women behind the stick in many of the cocktail bars across the country. Then little by little within the past 10 years, we started seeing more and more. I would say our first four or five years were really about getting women seen. Then, the whole world really changed in 2016 with the election of Donald Trump. All of a sudden you had the #MeToo movement and a new wave of feminism. Speed Rack became much more of a support network in that time—much more of a sorority if you will. Also, in the last 10 years, gender has become much more fluid. It’s amazing to see our organization grow.
LM: I think Ivy covers this very well, but the biggest difference I can see is that women have claimed more seats at more tables. There is still a lot of work to do especially in ownership and more women-run businesses, but we are on the path. I also see the women’s movement becoming more intersectional and expanding the work to embrace other marginalized groups. I see the women of the industry really stepping up and stepping in.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you faced along your journeys and with the creation of Speed Rack?
IM: I was told after bartending for years in Guatemala that I wasn’t a cocktail bartender in NYC—I was a cocktail waitress. That really got under my nerves. I’ve never been one to be told no. Working with Lynnette to make Speed Rack what it is, not only created a huge platform for womxn in the industry, but it also made my own career. Speed Rack is about sisterhood and mentorship, and all of my memories surround an overwhelming love.
LM: I think this industry took a long time to recognize individuals who were following and forging different pathways rather than those who were homogenized. When I chose to start consulting and creating my own business, people weren’t used to it. The fact that I could be tied to several programs with different partners was difficult to grasp. I kept defiantly just going my own way. With Speed Rack, there was a lot of on-the-job training. Producing an entire event series across the country, then the globe, was a lot of work. We made lots of mistakes and it was hard, but we learned tips and tricks and had so many wonderful people helping along the way.
The surprise was how much Speed Rack was embraced by the global community—it wasn’t always easy. Making a competition that was just for women, and having it not be “cliché,” was tricky. I recently had a male bartender in the UK admit to me on a live taping that at first, he didn’t get it—why did we need this competition. He has now realized why. Yes, there were women making waves, winning competitions, but they held the entire weight of their gender on their shoulders. Speed Rack was a place where they were just bartenders, and they were f--king amazing bartenders. Speed Rack has changed and evolved, needs to, and will continue to do so. This is why the mentorship program is so important.
Who are some people that inspire your work today?
IM: Industry specifically? I would be remiss not to mention Julie Reiner, my mentor turned business partner at Leyenda. I also have looked at some of my peers and am super inspired by them. I think Natasha David is leading by example of how to be a woman, a mother, and a business owner. It’s not easy, but it’s possible. There are many, but honestly, I gather a lot of my inspiration and motivation from doing Speed Rack.
LM: I am most inspired by the women who I have met through Speed Rack and have watched them grow. There are so many but women like Mary Palac from Paper Plane in San Jose, Julia Momose from Chicago and Lauren Paylor of DC These women have done some really incredible things in different ways. I am inspired by how they have taken their platform and grown it in such organic and inclusive ways. I am so proud to see my head bartender Natasha Bermudez, current Tri-state NYC champ, and how much she has stepped up with her leadership during the pandemic for our Llama San team.