The hospitality industry rarely offers a straight path. For Michael Bullers, it’s been a journey forged through chaos, creativity, and relentless reinvention.
Now the founder of The Modernist Mixologist, a food and beverage consulting firm, and the driving force behind hospitality operations at Five Iron Golf, Bullers has emerged as a voice for a more intentional, guest-centered future.
In this conversation, he opens up about why profitability shouldn’t be the North Star, how QR codes are replacing textbooks, and why the dish pit may be the industry’s greatest classroom.
Let’s start from the very beginning. How did you first get into hospitality?
It started humbly — glazing pastries and burning a whole tray after mixing up Celsius and Fahrenheit. But I stuck with it and eventually became Assistant Director of F&B. That role changed everything: the F&B director didn’t drink, so I got to own the beverage program.
They challenged me to win a Wine Spectator Award, and when we did, it wasn’t just the recognition. It was seeing how it transformed our service and revenue. From there, I joined the Yale Club and really fell in love with creating experiences — wine dinners, pairing menus, hyper-intentional sourcing.
Then I moved on to Salt Hotels and worked with Dan Silverman on an all-wood-fired, hyper-local program, even sourcing trout from a farm we visited ourselves. That was my first F&B director role.
But when the hotel was sold just before Christmas, I had to reinvent again — and that’s where the Modernist Mixologist came in. I started blending culinary science with beverage trends, from clarified milk punches to Barbie movie cocktails.
And now you’re leading hospitality at Five Iron Golf — what pulled you back into a traditional role?
Honestly? My family. I needed more stability. But Five Iron was also this amazing opportunity to build something new. It started as “golf plus concessions,” and I saw a chance to turn it into true hospitality.
Now, we’ve scaled up dramatically — food sales up 49%, events doubled — and we’ve got a real team, a real vision. For me, it’s always been about more than food and drink. It’s about creating meaningful, lasting moments. That’s what hospitality is at its core.
What’s your take on the belief that profitability always comes first in hospitality?
Honestly, I think it’s bullshit. I’ll proudly say that if we prioritize our people and our guest experience first, the revenue will follow. We’ve seen across the retail space that mission-driven marketing works.
When you focus on delivering the best experience — not necessarily the most profitable one — you build long-term loyalty and value.
That’s why our top promotion is something I created, knowing full well it won’t be profitable: $5 bottomless wings. There’s no way we can sustain that forever. It’s not built to make money directly, but we’re able to do it because our margins on simulator rentals, memberships, and the golf space are strong. It’s that club model — we let those other revenue streams support higher COGS experiences.
My CEO reminds me all the time: COGS is a made-up number. What matters is the reviews, the scores, and the top-line revenue.
And all of those metrics have improved as we’ve invested more in people and in products.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out — maybe a 15-year-old Dishwasher?
Half-jokingly? Run… Run far away! But seriously, if you stick with it, your future self will thank you. You may not realize it at the moment, but showing up every day, doing dishes, barbacking, learning prep — that experience is gold.
The glamorous, 400-guest, sold-out services don’t teach you nearly as much as the pot sink does. Or the early mornings in the back of a bakery getting yelled at in German. That’s where you find out who you are.
Hospitality starts from within, and it begins with showing up with consistency and care.
Why do you think turnover is so high in this industry?
Because it’s hard. People walk into hospitality without realizing the energy they’ll be met with. One day, your Waiter doesn’t show, and Justin Bieber’s tour bus rolls up with 50 screaming fans. And now you’re dealing with that on top of everything else.
It’s about how you respond to chaos. And that’s tough. You get customers who are having a terrible day and take it out on you. It wears on people.
I’ve had plenty of moments where I’ve thought, “I’m done.” But sticking with it says more about who you are than about the energy coming at you.
Do you see generational differences in how people approach this career?
Yeah, but not in the way people think. Gen Z isn’t lazy. They just have access to tools and platforms we didn’t. A person who might’ve become a full-time bartender now might be a part-time host and part-time Instagram influencer. They’re taking pictures at the restaurant instead of seating tables because that’s part of a different economy now.
Still, the ones who do show up? They work. They hustle. And I don’t think this is a Gen Z thing — it’s an industry shift. As someone who’s now stepping into leadership roles that opened up post-COVID, I see it as my responsibility to meet them where they are.
How do you do that?
By adjusting how we train and communicate. I went to a conference recently where they presented on attention spans — how they’ve gone from hours to 30 seconds. I used to learn wine from a 300-page textbook. Now, we make QR codes with 30-second videos. Some systems won’t even let you clock in until you watch a quick training video and answer a question.
Behind the bar, we have clickable training for cocktails. It’s all about delivering the information on demand — because if I can teach someone how to make a cocktail in under a minute, and it tastes exactly how I want, that’s a win.
I don’t see this shift as bad. It’s just a new challenge. And honestly, that’s what I love about hospitality: no two days are the same, and I get to use that problem-solving part of my brain daily.
Why Purpose Will Always Outlast Profit in Hospitality
Bullers’ story is proof that hospitality isn’t just a job. It’s a craft shaped by chaos, creativity, and care. From wine pairings at the Yale Club to $5 wings at Five Iron Golf, he’s stayed grounded in the belief that people and purpose come first.
In an industry constantly evolving — and often misunderstood — Bullers reminds us that it’s not the margins or the menu that define success. It’s the moments we create, the teams we build, and the integrity we bring to every shift.
Because at the end of the day, hospitality starts with showing up and staying present long after all the plates are cleared.
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