Mark Russell will take his drinks shaken and stirred. And mixed. And blended.
Director and instructor at the Baltimore Maryland Bartending Academy, Russell, 52, began his Glen Burnie business more than 26 years ago. He trained hundreds, if not thousands, of bartenders the school has graduated since the business? founding.
“The whole thing about a good bartender is that I don?t care if you had the worst day of your life, when you step behind that bar that all that has to change,” he said. “You have to be happy-go-lucky, attentive and make sure [the customers] are No. 1.”
Attending school in California at the University of Santa Barbara, Russell tended bar on the West Coast to help pay his way through school. Partway through, the 1972 Severna Park High School graduate decided that he wanted to move back to Maryland to start his own business.
Founded in 1980, the BMBA is the oldest school of bartending and mixology in Maryland. Besides that, the school also has been an upstanding member of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland and is the only school certified by Professional Bartending Schools of America in the Maryland. These distinctions and strong reputation are what help Russell draw people of all ages and walks of life into pubs.
“During the summer it is busier because youget a lot of college students who are on summer break,” said Sandy Dodson, a senior staff member at the academy. “A friend of mine retired two years ago and she came to our school and has been bartending every since.”
Branching out from the original concept of just training bartenders, BMBA now offers classes in alcohol awareness and a flair course inspired by Tom Cruise?s movie “Cocktail.”
Salary.com estimates the average yearly pay for a bartender is slightly less then $17,000. According to Russell, different establishments offer different pay, with an hourly wage being a direct reflection of the kind of tips that a bartender receives.
Depending on the location and the night of the week, it?s not uncommon for a good bartender to rake in good tips on top of their hourly salary.
“There is money in volume,” Russell said. “You have to take the good with the bad. One night you make $75 in tips, another night you might make $275 in tips.”
