Career Spotlight: Chip Su (Owner, Brooklyn Monarch)
For the last two years, Chip and his team have been working to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic bringing exciting live music back to New York City. Chip hopes his love of entertainment is felt by all as people enjoy their time at the Brooklyn Monarch, Kingsland, Brooklyn Meadows, and Sovereign Smokehouse.
Tell us a little about yourself and your experience.
I'm actually not much for talking about myself. I am a simple man and my experience is varied in music and hospitality. There is no position I haven't done in the field and no position I am above doing when my team needs a helping hand.
Coming from a hard working family in Queens New York, I am no stranger to the grind!
My daily life is chaotic and busy but I find my peace every day in the arms of my lovely wife and the eyes of my newborn daughter Chelsea.
What drove you to choose your career path?
My desire to make people happy mixed with my love for live music. I made many friends along the way and seeing the unnecessary struggles they went through with a lot of the bigger booking companies made me question, "how can I make this better? How can I help my buddy make more money?" And then I fell down the rabbit hole.
How did you go about getting your job? What kind of education and experience did you need?
I started out in the hospitality industry working in restaurants and the such, learning many things about people and how to provide excellent service.
What do you actually spend the majority of your time doing?
Too many things to give a straight answer here to be honest. Being able to handle many tasks at once and to clearly delegate those you can't to someone who can is a make or break thing in this business.
What misconceptions do people often have about your job?
The number one misconception is that anyone in this profession is making a ton of money.
The general public just care about having a good time more often then not so they don't think about the cost of doing business vs a packed bar.
The inventory cost, staffing costs, licensing, damage to the venue that needs to be repaired, etc. It can be A LOT.
What are your average work hours?
Well, there are 168 hours in a week so about 400 hours a day lol.
I'm never off. I always work to build a safe and inviting environment for our patrons.
What personal tips and shortcuts have made your job easier?
I've been lucky over the years to cultivate a close knit team of very capable, loyal people who care about this business just as much as I do, so personal tip? Get the right people by your side and you'll go far.
Also, find a lot of money.
What do you do differently from your coworkers or peers in the same profession?
I try to pay more attention to the party goer experiences and adjust accordingly.
Better lighting, better food, better sound, etc.
I haven't forgotten what it's like to be on that side of the fence too.
Do you have any advice for people who need to enlist your services?
Just hit up any of our social media accounts for contact information and booking and one of us will answer you pretty quickly and help you with the step by step process of booking.
What's the worst part of the job and how do you deal with it?
Hands down it's the paperwork. I can't stand the paperwork. A close second is the time. My team and I rarely get time to ourselves so while everyone else is off and coming to us to party and relax, our work week is just beginning. Your Friday night is our Monday morning.
What's the most enjoyable part of the job?
Seeing a packed room with everyone having a good, safe time brings a joy to my heart I cannot describe.
What kind of money can one expect to make at your job?
If there is one lesson covid reinforced in my mind its that everything is always changing and this profession is definitely one where that answer is ever changing.
Yes there are big wins but there are also big loses and you have to balance all of that out in the end.
How do you move up in your field?
MONEY lol.
No really, money. The ability to make it, control it, manage it and grow it.
And for all of that, you need to surround yourself with the right people.
What advice would you give to those aspiring to join your profession?
Really know what you're looking to do.
Don't just say "I want to own a venue".
Take your time and figure out what that actually means so you can come into it the right way, prepared and capable to answer questions and address issues you never would have thought you had.
How he kept the independent venue afloat during the pandemic, bringing live music back to fans and how he continues to grow the business?
It was a combination of the support of our local music scene through a go fund me we posted and the hard work of me and my team as we all took a variety of side jobs to keep the lights on. I started doing 3 other jobs lol.
Now that we are getting back into the swing of things with live music, we continue to build our venue and clientele by closely observing each events successes and failures and creating more exciting and engaging experiences.