Cruise Ship Singer Finds Success as Brass Tap Franchisee

Ivan Flowers was looking for a sign to change careers while headlining a cruise ship show in Bangkok, and it couldn’t be something “like almost getting hit by a moped, because that was a daily occurrence,” he said. When King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand died in October 2016 while he was there, Flowers took it as a sign that his time as a singer/entertainer should meet its end, too.

“He was the longest-reigning king in the world, seven decades, so of course the entertainment world shuts down to mourn his death for like 30 days,” Flowers said, and he called his production company and told them he was finished. “I flew back to Boston, called my girl and said I’m on my way” and drove to girlfriend Donnette Uhl’s house in Rocklin, California.

The plan was to eventually move to Florida and open his own restaurant and nightclub with some friends. In the interim, Flowers began bartending at the local Brass Tap, where the owners soon asked if he’d take over as general manager. He initially declined because he didn’t plan to stick around for long, but once the franchisees found out about his dreams to own a restaurant, they asked if he wanted to buy the Brass Tap.

Flowers didn’t want to burn his friends, of course, especially because he’s an “East Coast guy, not a West Coast guy.” In fact, his Boston friends told him if he ever changed his phone number to a California area code, they would never call him again. Much to his surprise, they encouraged him to buy the Brass Tap. “They were like, hey dude, this is a great opportunity, we can still do this but later,” Flowers recalled.

Flowers and Uhl took over the Rocklin Brass Tap in November 2019, but Flowers chose not to announce the news right away because he wanted to get to know the employees as peers first. “I think there’s a difference in employees when they work with you, but when they found out you are the owner, they’re a different way,” Flowers said, adding when you work with someone “you’re more real, more genuine.”

Flowers uses the personable skills he learned while performing in his role as owner, especially when interacting with customers. He makes a point to serve, bus tables and wash dishes alongside other employees, and he still bartends. Customers love to see that, he noted.

Flowers managed to grow sales 12 percent from 2019 to 2020, despite being forced to close for a month and a half during the pandemic. In that time, he implemented third-party delivery and, as of early December 2021, he was up 71 percent from 2020 sales. Among many factors, he attributes his success to the relationships he built with regulars and simply being a bar that was open while others in the Sacramento area stayed closed.

“People were jonesing for a place to go, and our name was put out there, so people came,” Flowers said as he recalled one guy who “drove 30 miles just to be able to sit down and watch sports and have a couple of beers, and I’m looking around like, man, we took this for granted in life.”

After layoffs during the brief shutdown, Flowers brought back every employee when the bar reopened—and he needed them. For the first time, people were lined up outside trying to get in, which is a great problem to have, Flowers said. He rewarded his employees with pay bumps before California raised the minimum wage.

“I was in a sink or swim situation, and decided, I’m going to swim,” Flowers said. “That was my mindset in 2020, because it was one of those things where we had just signed, and now we don’t know if we’re going to survive the first six months. Again, my regulars and my locals made it all happen for us.”

Danny Jackson, a Brass Tap franchisee located about an hour away, was a great mentor for Flowers and taught him the importance of being the face of his restaurant. “He can’t pour a drink to save his life, that’s where we’re different,” Flowers quipped, “but he knows every person who pops in there and their kids’ names and what they like to drink, and he’s not too proud to get his hands dirty.”