Bar Margaret co-owner Sarah Cochran made and served her very first cocktail the night the bar, then operating as Bar Mars, held its soft opening.
She had joined the management team to open the new bar in the Village of West Greenville without any prior bartending or restaurant experience, but she decided to give it a shot.
“I thought it would be fun to be a bartender,” she says. She picked up the necessary skills quickly.
“I can follow a recipe,” she says.
But the most important skill, she says, has nothing to do with making drinks or food, and can’t always be taught if the underlying aptitude doesn’t already exist.
“If you can’t do the people part, nobody cares how good you can make the drinks,” she says. “That’s hospitality. Anybody can serve drinks. Aspects can be taught but some can’t. You either have it or you don’t. “
A former communications specialist at Michelin, Cochran’s previous solitary work environment was almost the exact opposite of her current one. The change was a good thing.
“I realized that’s what I’d been missing,” she says. “I was missing the social aspect of a desk job.”
While many who attempt a hospitality career don’t last long because of the fast pace, often-demanding guests, long hours, and physical stress, Cochran wasn’t deterred.
“I love the crazy nights,” she says.
So much so, that when she and her team share an end-of-shift drink after a particularly long day, she looks forward to doing it all over again the next day.
“You gotta love the chaos,” she says.
Now, after 18 months as one of Bar Margaret’s co-owners, Cochran is realizing her goal of having a full staff that can operate whether she’s in the restaurant or not.
“It’s not successful if I have to babysit everyone,” she says.
Did you know?
- Cochran’s 7-year-old Great Dane, Margaret, is the bar’s namesake
- Her favorite after-work snack is Bar Margaret Fries with their signature Thousand Island dipping sauce
- Her current favorite cocktail to order or make: Jungle Bird (dark rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice, demerara syrup)
- Drink she’s having at home : Apple cider vermouth over ice
- She’s a Greenville native and founding member of the Upstate LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce
- She holds a degree in graphic design and photography
