SEVEN Brands. One team. One Vision.
Who We Are
High Spirits Hospitality is the parent company to Liquid Catering, Events at Judson Mill, Bravo1 Protection, High Spirits Events, and High Spirits Overnight. We're also the operation behind Topside Pool Club in downtown Greenville, SC. What started out as a small bartending company working out of our CEO's garage has grown into a sustainable business with 40+ full-time employees and over 100 part-time employees.
Each of our brands is unique and serves a different purpose, but we operate each of them with the vision of providing exceptional, hospitality-driven service for each and every guest and client we encounter.
Each of our brands is unique and serves a different purpose, but we operate each of them with the vision of providing exceptional, hospitality-driven service for each and every guest and client we encounter.
Our History
from Tammy Johnson, CEO
I grew up with an entrepreneurial bug. The oldest of four growing up in Texas, I started developing my leadership skills at a very early age. I played every sport imaginable, organized neighborhood plays, and was even a Teen Court Judge. When I was 12, my aunt opened a gift shop on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I begged my parents to let me go visit for 2 weeks that first summer so I could see what it was all about. Two weeks was all it took to get me hooked and fall in love with the idea of opening my own business. Every summer, I would fly out to the Outer Banks and work in her shop. Each summer, I was given more and more responsibility. I'm not sure why, but my aunt trusted me with ordering merchandise, hiring staff, and even minor bookkeeping.
By the time I was 17, I had moved out to the beach year-round and had become more and more involved with the shop. I eventually moved back to Texas, and my aunts sold the shop, but I never stopped pushing myself forward. I bounced all over the country, living in Charleston, Alaska and Hawaii, working various hospitality-related jobs. I finally found my way to Greenville in 2009 and started working for Sticky Fingers as their Marketing and Catering Sales Manager. By the end of 2010, I was loving my job, but tired of working 60-80 hours a week for a corporate giant with no say in how the business should be run.
One day, I had to call our CEO and ask him to sign an alcohol permit for an event we were doing. He called me back and said he wouldn't sign it because the company had decided we weren't making enough in bar catering sales to warrant the additional insurance premiums. I, of course, was angry–I had a client who had booked those services and their event was only 3 weeks away! When I asked him what I should tell the client, he said, "Find a local bartending company to refer them to." I searched and I searched, but I couldn't find any legitimate service that I felt comfortable referring my clients to. That got me thinking...
I knew I always wanted to own my own business, I just never knew exactly what that should be. The idea of a bar-only catering company seemed like a great one. I always loved bartending and logistics, and I had the network and the sales experience, so why not? For four months, I did my research, I typed up plans, and I crunched the numbers. On January 4, 2011, I officially filed the LLC for Liquid Catering to be formed. I thought things would build up slowly, so I kept my job and ran myself ragged working 90-100 hours a week. Word spread quickly about what I was doing, and the phone started ringing. Within a few months, we had bartended for Prisma Health System, Southwest Airlines, and the Greenville Chamber. I took a deep breath, quit my job, and never looked back.
The first year was tough, but amazing. I did everything for the business–answered every phone call, did all the shopping, and worked all the events myself. We worked out of my garage, storing all the product in my basement. I didn't have a company vehicle, so my Toyota Highlander carried A LOT of cases of beer. I didn't have an ice machine either, so I learned the route to Twice the Ice by heart. I'm still amazed at how many great employees I hired off Craigslist, and that they trusted this random young woman to pay them after events.
In spring of 2012, I took an even bigger leap of faith and signed a lease for an office and warehouse space on Broad Street in Downtown Greenville. I hired an Operations Manager and two interns so I wouldn't be lonely. We bought our first cargo van, a dishwasher, and even an ice machine!
By the end of 2012 things were going so great for Liquid Catering, I started to get the entrepreneurial itch again and started to look for another opportunity. Once again, I didn't know quite what I wanted to do, just that I loved events and wanted to expand my business. I ran across The Old Cigar Warehouse. The building's owners had been trying to get a venue started, but realized they didn't have the time to do it. I instantly saw the potential and turned in an offer. We started construction in February of 2013. We were fully open in August, and would eventually grow into one of the busiest event venues in the Upstate. With that expansion we have just kept adding more people and staying busier than ever!
With the venue came a need for experienced, hospitable security guards. Unfortunately, I had a really hard time finding a security company that I could trust to represent us and do a great job. We had consistent issues with guards not showing up, being rude to our guests, and generally not doing their jobs. After I fired the third security company, I decided that if no one else could do it right, I'd start a security company and do it myself. In 2014, I hired some of the best operational managers I could find, and Bravo1 Protection was born. Since then, Bravo1 has emerged as the best security company in the Upstate, specializing in events, concerts, and festivals. We have been privileged to provide security for Euphoria, Fall For Greenville, Heritage Park, and the Greenville Triumph, just to name a few.
In 2017, we officially launched High Spirits Events, through which our team produced an incredibly successful Tacos 'n Tequila Fiesta. We also oversaw the opening of Topside Pool Club, a private membership social club located seven stories above Falls Park. Towards the end of 2017, we realized we had outgrown our home on Broad Street, so we relocated to a much bigger office on McDaniel Avenue.
2021 was another pinnacle year as we closed the Old Cigar Warehouse and set our sights on expanding our venue operations at Events at Judson Mill. We are now under construction to operate 27,000 square feet with two beautiful new event spaces along with our office and warehouse. We are also operating four apartments as short-term rentals under High Spirits Overnight, really rounding out our hospitality game.
Now that we have seven brands, we continue to grow each and every day. I'm on the look-out for a couple new projects, and who knows where we could be at this time next year!
By the time I was 17, I had moved out to the beach year-round and had become more and more involved with the shop. I eventually moved back to Texas, and my aunts sold the shop, but I never stopped pushing myself forward. I bounced all over the country, living in Charleston, Alaska and Hawaii, working various hospitality-related jobs. I finally found my way to Greenville in 2009 and started working for Sticky Fingers as their Marketing and Catering Sales Manager. By the end of 2010, I was loving my job, but tired of working 60-80 hours a week for a corporate giant with no say in how the business should be run.
One day, I had to call our CEO and ask him to sign an alcohol permit for an event we were doing. He called me back and said he wouldn't sign it because the company had decided we weren't making enough in bar catering sales to warrant the additional insurance premiums. I, of course, was angry–I had a client who had booked those services and their event was only 3 weeks away! When I asked him what I should tell the client, he said, "Find a local bartending company to refer them to." I searched and I searched, but I couldn't find any legitimate service that I felt comfortable referring my clients to. That got me thinking...
I knew I always wanted to own my own business, I just never knew exactly what that should be. The idea of a bar-only catering company seemed like a great one. I always loved bartending and logistics, and I had the network and the sales experience, so why not? For four months, I did my research, I typed up plans, and I crunched the numbers. On January 4, 2011, I officially filed the LLC for Liquid Catering to be formed. I thought things would build up slowly, so I kept my job and ran myself ragged working 90-100 hours a week. Word spread quickly about what I was doing, and the phone started ringing. Within a few months, we had bartended for Prisma Health System, Southwest Airlines, and the Greenville Chamber. I took a deep breath, quit my job, and never looked back.
The first year was tough, but amazing. I did everything for the business–answered every phone call, did all the shopping, and worked all the events myself. We worked out of my garage, storing all the product in my basement. I didn't have a company vehicle, so my Toyota Highlander carried A LOT of cases of beer. I didn't have an ice machine either, so I learned the route to Twice the Ice by heart. I'm still amazed at how many great employees I hired off Craigslist, and that they trusted this random young woman to pay them after events.
In spring of 2012, I took an even bigger leap of faith and signed a lease for an office and warehouse space on Broad Street in Downtown Greenville. I hired an Operations Manager and two interns so I wouldn't be lonely. We bought our first cargo van, a dishwasher, and even an ice machine!
By the end of 2012 things were going so great for Liquid Catering, I started to get the entrepreneurial itch again and started to look for another opportunity. Once again, I didn't know quite what I wanted to do, just that I loved events and wanted to expand my business. I ran across The Old Cigar Warehouse. The building's owners had been trying to get a venue started, but realized they didn't have the time to do it. I instantly saw the potential and turned in an offer. We started construction in February of 2013. We were fully open in August, and would eventually grow into one of the busiest event venues in the Upstate. With that expansion we have just kept adding more people and staying busier than ever!
With the venue came a need for experienced, hospitable security guards. Unfortunately, I had a really hard time finding a security company that I could trust to represent us and do a great job. We had consistent issues with guards not showing up, being rude to our guests, and generally not doing their jobs. After I fired the third security company, I decided that if no one else could do it right, I'd start a security company and do it myself. In 2014, I hired some of the best operational managers I could find, and Bravo1 Protection was born. Since then, Bravo1 has emerged as the best security company in the Upstate, specializing in events, concerts, and festivals. We have been privileged to provide security for Euphoria, Fall For Greenville, Heritage Park, and the Greenville Triumph, just to name a few.
In 2017, we officially launched High Spirits Events, through which our team produced an incredibly successful Tacos 'n Tequila Fiesta. We also oversaw the opening of Topside Pool Club, a private membership social club located seven stories above Falls Park. Towards the end of 2017, we realized we had outgrown our home on Broad Street, so we relocated to a much bigger office on McDaniel Avenue.
2021 was another pinnacle year as we closed the Old Cigar Warehouse and set our sights on expanding our venue operations at Events at Judson Mill. We are now under construction to operate 27,000 square feet with two beautiful new event spaces along with our office and warehouse. We are also operating four apartments as short-term rentals under High Spirits Overnight, really rounding out our hospitality game.
Now that we have seven brands, we continue to grow each and every day. I'm on the look-out for a couple new projects, and who knows where we could be at this time next year!
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