Getting Ahead: Pour Me Another

YOU COULD UNDERSTAND if Brett Hollingsworth poured out his life story to a bartender. Instead, he became one.

At age 12, he began working for his father's graphic design company in Ohio. He became a partner at 19, married at 20, launched his own company at 21, attended college but didn't finish, went into debt but climbed out, got divorced, sold his company and moved east.

"It was a lot of changes at once," Hollingsworth says. So, "when I hit my early 30s, I went to Margaritaville, like everyone wants to."

First he went to Rockville — his brother lives near White Flint Mall — and considered his options.

"Around 33, I realized I didn't want to do that the rest of my life," he says, referring to the business he'd been in for two decades. "If you don't count sleep, your job is what you do most — and you want that to be something you like."

What did Hollingsworth like? He'd always enjoyed being a home bartender, giving parties. A friend's suggestion led to an Internet search, which turned up the Professional Bartending School near Arlington's Court House Metro station.

In its 40 years, the Professional Bartending School (2440 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 703-841-9700; Bartending-school.com) has trained tens of thousands of people, says manager Dave Oremland. Its 40-hour course is flexible: Though most students finish in two weeks, some pack in two classes a day for a week — or five Saturdays — or evenings from 6 to 10.

Professional's $595 fee is higher than most, but Oremland cites value: It includes materials, 100 to 200 drink recipes, alcohol-management certification, tax and unlimited job-placement assistance. "A lot of our graduates are owners and managers now, and many contact us about openings," he says. "Plus, you can come back anytime for practice, a free refresher or even take the whole course over again."

Bartending is a popular path — jobs can be full time, part time, transitional or supplementary. The market has grown for decades, Oremland says, and "beer never suffers in recessions." Pay is good, too: Though it's hard to pin down tip income, he says, "a slow night might be $10 to $50 on top of your salary; a good one can be $200, $700, $900-plus — but that's rare."

As varied as the pay is the work environment — from upper-crust lounges to wild clubs, from restaurants to hotels. Plus, Oremland says, Washington is one of the country's top catering markets — everything from reunions and weddings to galas to FedEx Field luxury boxes. One Professional grad stationed there was excited recently to meet his idols Sonny Jurgensen, Sam Huff and John Madden.

Hollingsworth sums it up: "It takes two weeks to acquire a skill you can use forever. If you're outgoing, friendly and have a genuine smile, conversational skills and openness to a variety of people, take a look at bar school."

He finished last April and started immediately at a struggling new bar in a dicey neighborhood. After a month, he jumped to ESPN Zone — big volume but not big tips.

"On a very busy Friday night, I took home $130," he says. "It should have been $300 or more a shift." Through Professional, he soon had two more interviews and won both part-time jobs — at the Holiday Inn Gaithersburg's banquet division and at Bethesda Country Club.

The former entrepreneur now wears a white tuxedo shirt and black bow tie at the first job and a suit or gray dress shirt, black vest and striped tie at the second. Whereas designing banners, online ads and marketing packages, even for major public events, is "a one-on-one, one-on-two field," in bartending, "you can have 40 to 50 customers all wanting to get happy at once. And everyone likes to hang out and talk to the bartender."

The country club job has become full time with a promotion to bar manager; Hollingsworth now hires and trains for the private club's two bars. The biggest reason to take the promotion was to set his own hours, he says. Employees can play for free on Mondays on the club's golf course, a former LPGA site that's "very challenging. I've looked at it lustily but didn't want to play yet without practice."

Meanwhile, he's enjoyed introducing members to drinks more exotic than the traditional Tom Collins or gin and tonic; one day, his dramatic presentation brought a toast and a $30 tip.

Other eyebrow-raisers have included come-ons from members ("don't pursue; don't respond"), the inability to have friends drop in ("no one I know can see me put on a show") and having to learn skills not taught at Professional, such as wine service ("I had to ask a customer ... and pick up a few tips from TV chef shows").

Just as in his youth, Holling-sworth is still living at warp speed. In school, when required to fix 12 drinks in seven minutes and make only three mistakes, he did it in 5:59 with no mistakes. These days, he works two jobs and freelances on the side. "I have the bags under my eyes to prove it," he jokes, "but that's what sunglasses are for."

Written by Ellen Ryan for Express
Photos by Lawrence Luk for Express