Crafting community
How Phoenix bartending ‘rock star’ Kristina Jonas is paying it forward
When Kristina Jonas lived in New Orleans, the city’s deep roots in the history and artistry of cocktails drew her into the world of bartending. ● At 19, she got her first job tending a bar in the city’s famous French Quarter. ● But as a young and inexperienced bartender, she found herself working in New Orleans nightclubs where skimpy uniforms, full makeup and flaunting her looks for the benefit of the business were required. When she moved to Arizona at 26, she began working at bars and nightclubs in Old Town Scottsdale.
As she got older, Jonas says she realized the pressures of working in nightclubs conflicted with her morals.
“Having that experience made me go, okay, I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want this to be the only thing that I’m known for,” Jonas says. “I want to be more than that.”
So she transitioned into the world of craft cocktails.
At bars including The Ostrich in downtown Chandler and Century Grand in Phoenix, Jonas says she felt respected for her skills and talent for making great drinks, rather than her appearance.
Now, about 18 years after she started bartending, Jonas is the bar manager at UnderTow, an award-winning tiki bar known for its unique and complex cocktails. As manager, Jonas works to pay forward what she’s learned and help younger women bartenders feel empowered.
“We all need mentors,” Jonas says. “With women in our industry, we are trying to better ourselves so sometimes we forget to lend that hand or take the time to teach. But that for me has been the most rewarding thing.”
‘I was just there for the fluff’
When working in nightclubs in New Orleans and Scottsdale, Jonas’ routine for getting ready was very different than it is now, she says.
Having a tan and wearing hair extensions and full makeup was part of the job requirements, along with being thin and wearing often tight and revealing uniforms. If she or her female coworkers showed up to work not meeting any of those expectations, they would be sent home and lose a night’s work, Jonas says.
“I was on a diet for 10 years of my life because I was so afraid that I would be replaced,” she says.
Over the years, it became obvious men working at these bars were held to a different standard, Jonas says.
“They were never sent home because they didn’t wear enough makeup,” she says.
But despite shouldering less pressure, it was the men who were promoted to management, she says.
“There’s the old adage that a man wants to sit across from a woman, he wants to look at a pretty girl,” she says. “But I always felt in my experience that while he wanted to look at me, he wanted his drink made by the man because the man was the smart one, the one that knew what he was doing, and I was just there for the fluff.”
Over the years working both in nightclubs and cocktail bars, Jonas says she has started to see a shift in treatment from both customers and her bosses. Nightclubs will always exist, she says, and if women feel empowered working at them, it’s a great way to make money.
But as of about the last five years, Jonas says she’s seen an “explosion” of women in high-end bartending. Sometimes due to the added pressure and women feeling like they have to prove themselves, they actually become the better bartenders, Jonas says.
“I noticed a lot of women starting to
outshine the men in that department because we are studying, we are buckling down, we’re gonna learn this,” she says.
‘This is where I’m meant to be’
After working for years in the nightclub industry, Jonas says transitioning into the world of craft cocktails helped her feel empowered.
Working at bars that focused more on the quality of the drinks also allowed her to reconnect with her passion for classic cocktails.
When Jonas got her very first bartending job in New Orleans, she was going to school for nursing. Helping and serving people, she says, has always been a motivating force.
“By nature, I just want to take care of people,” she says. “I like to make drinks that make people happy. My goal is to make their face light up.”
Whether making her favorite New Orleans classic the Vieux Carré or a blended cocktail, it’s all about sharing her “love language” through making someone a drink, Jonas says.
But as Jonas’ career progressed and she became a manager, her day-to-day tasks pulled her away from serving customers. The shift was something she wrangled with for a long time. At Century Grand, she turned down the opportunity to become a manager because she wanted to continue crafting cocktails for others to enjoy.
But Jonas eventually realized that through management she could mentor and promote other women.
“That brings me pride when I see some of the girls that I mentor do really amazing things. To me, that’s like a reflection of my work as well,” Jonas says.
In fact, she got her job at Century Grand because she encouraged one of her female colleagues at The Ostrich to apply. After the employee explained how much Jonas had mentored her,
Century Grand co-owner Jason Asher asked why Jonas hadn’t applied for the job herself. That conversation led to an interview, which then led to a job.
“After that interview, both my business partner Rich and myself said, ‘Wow.’ Sure, she’s applying for a bartending position, but she’s management material through and through,” Asher says.
From bartender, she became the bar lead at Century Grand and then the bar manager at UnderTow.
“We hired Kristina on her skill set and her merit alone, but she’s a rock star, man,” Asher says. “She wears her heart on her sleeve and she loves her team, she would do anything for them.”
The company, Barter & Shake, is working to open a new location of UnderTow in Gilbert and Jonas is set to be regional manager of both. She’s finally
allowing herself to embrace her role as a leader, she says.
“As much as I tried to fight against it for many years, this is where I’m meant to be,” she says.
As she continues to grow her career with Barter & Shake, one of the most rewarding aspects of her job is lifting up the women bartenders entering the industry behind her, she says. Through her experiences, she hopes to encourage them not to put up with sexism in the industry.
“The more we can push these young women to realize there’s more out there and they don’t have to settle, I think that’s an amazing thing,” she says.
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