We offer SEASONED, award-winning baRTENDER INSTRuctors

 Instructor- Ashley has been in the hospitality and culinary industry since 2008 and has had the privilege of working for high-end restauranteurs, including Wolfgang Puck, and has served celebrities at the Academy and Sony Music Awards. She has her bachelors in film from CSUF, a culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu, is a trained sommelier and a voting member of the United States Bartenders Guild. Currently, she also bartends at the Walt Disney Resorts and works on various film productions and events. 

Recently, she has competed in and won numerous bartending competitions in Orange County and Las Vegas. She has also won all-expense paid trips to Jamaica, Oaxaca, Ireland and Tennessee paid for by liquor companies Jameson, Don Julio, Uncle Nearest Whiskey and the Appleton Estate.

  Instructor- Terry began bartending at the Myrtle Beach House of Blues in South Carolina at the age of

18. His experience is vast and spans all types of bars and restaurants from high-end steakhouses to neighborhood dive bars all across the nation. Since moving to California over 15 years ago, he has worked predominantly in the historic gay bar/ nightclub community in Long Beach, managed one of the oldest gay bars in the city and is now General Manager and a partner with The Men’s Room Bar. When he isn’t working, he enjoys cooking and entertaining for his friends and family, he loves to travel, and values the time spent hanging with his pets and staying active.

Instructor & Office Manager- Kristen has been in the hospitality industry her entire working career. With 20+ years as a bartender, she has a wealth of knowledge to contribute to students getting started on their bartending journey. As a corporate trainer for Yardhouse, she opened 12 locations across the country, teaching new employees about the large variety of beer, cocktails, and how to bartend with speed and accuracy. Before she did that, Kristen has worked in hotels, nightclubs, and dive bars, lending her the ability to navigate all types of personalities and experiences that one might run into in the industry. As the Bar Director at Portuguese Bend, Long Beach’s only grain to glass distillery, Kristen was able to do true mixology and created wonderful seasonal menus using a wide array of spirits with fresh and novel ingredients. 

 Instructor- Riahna is a bartender at two infamous bars in Long Beach, CA: Sweetwater Saloon and Alex’s Bar. She started her bartending career in 2008 while attending college full-time and doing private events all over Southern California and Las Vegas. In addition to bartending at a craft-cocktail bar part-time, she got her Master's Degree and started teaching Communication Studies courses at Cal State Long Beach in 2014.

Currently, she is a college professor at Chaffey Community College, she trains dogs, and has her own pet sitting business. Her favorite part of bartending at Sweetwater Saloon is the local clientele and upholding the bars reputation as one of the best dive bars in Long Beach.

  Owner/Head Instructor- Laura (right)  has worked in the industry for 20 years . Her bartending experience spans across venues in Southern California and Las Vegas. After opening the Southern CA Bartending School in 2011, she transitioned from bartending to become the Bar Manager for famed bar Rock and Reilly’s at LAX in 2017. Soon after being hired as a manager for LAX,  she was hired to work as a Business Advisor for Bars and Restaurants with the Los Angeles Regional Small Business Development Center. She currently works as a business advisor and teaches the online courses for the program.

Every other school in the area advertises hiring their students to teach. 

Let's keep this short and simple with an example:

Would you hire someone who just completed their certification to become an electrician, open a school to teach other electricians before ever gaining any ACUTAL real-world experience working as an electrician?