By the young age of 23, Michael was fortunate enough to work with and be trained in the essentials of classic cocktails, by the person responsible for bringing the “mixology” craze back to the United States – Sasha Petraske, of Milk & Honey fame. Michael expanded his knowledge of the hospitality business by taking on the challenge of working with different types of venues, ranging from high end lounges, to boutique hotels, to nightclubs, and to dive bars. With Michael’s knowledge and experience, he soon came to realize (like Many others), that New York City is the Mecca of Hospitality, before leaving New York Michael worked under the guidance of Ian Nicholson while managing the “Grand” bar at the Soho Grand hotel. It was during this time that Michael cemented a greater understanding of building “self-managing” teams and hospitality standards.Since 2006 Michael began Consulting all over the country helping operators in all types of markets, succeed.

 

Based upon Michael’s experience and expertise, Michael made appearances on Paramount Network’s “Bar Rescue” as a master mixologist and bar expert, and also traveled across the country with TV celebrity, John Taffer, and Chef Brian Duffy on the “Nightclub & Bar University Rescue Tour”. Michael has been a contributing writer, Speaker, and advisory Board member for the Bar & Restaurant Expo for many years . As Michael became involved in more complex projects, he came to realize that whether large or small, simple or complicated, the underlying issues with his suffering projects were generally very similar – especially as they related to concept creation, design, location, construction, management, operations, staff training, lighting and sound design, menu implementation, entertainment, and marketing and advertising. Fundamentally lacking in almost all instances, was perfecting the art of hospitality. As a result, Michael began developing communication techniques to not only make businesses function properly, but also, change the perspective of the ones who owned the business.

 

Michael consulted independently, and with teams he has built throughout the years. Michael’s focus shifted from the classic consulting models he had worked in for decades to wanting to build the ultimate resource that could provide guidance and support for every type of hospitality venue. Maverick Theory was formed in 2023 with co-founders David Foss and Arno Stemmer.