FEATURE: WOMEN IN LIQUOR

Breaking barriers

Hinchcliff House’s Alissa Gabriel on challenging unconscious bias and backing yourself.

WORDS Brydie Allen

ALISSA GABRIEL HAS achieved incredible milestones throughout her career thus far. The Bars Manager at Hinchcliff House in Sydney got her start in the industry in Far North Queensland when she was still in high school and looking to apply to the military. But instead of enlisting, Gabriel “fell in love with hospitality, the art of creating a drink and curating an experience”.

Everybody is capable of doing the same job and being paid the same.

There wasn’t much of a thriving cocktail environment during her first gig, so Gabriel moved to Brisbane and went on to develop her skills at some of the city’s best bars over the next two years. It was during this time Gabriel won her first cocktail competition and was named the 2015 national winner of Bacardi Legacy. It was also the year the international final was held in Sydney, which saw Gabriel experience the bar scene of the city.

Gabriel would go on to move to Sydney and join Speakeasy Group, where she spent five years working across venues including Mjølner and Eau De Vie, where she was head bartender. Today, the bar whiz works for House Made Hospitality, the group behind Hinchcliff House which encompasses four levels of dining, drinking and events in the CBD. “I’ve jumped over to this amazing new company and have had the privilege to open four bars within the building,” says Gabriel.

As Bars Manager of Hinchcliff House, Gabriel curates the drinks and cocktail lists for each concept within the venue, with more to come in the months ahead. “I like being able to create the guest experience from the second they walk in the door and then see them [leave] and talk about your venue to other people,” she says. “Word of mouth really inspires me and keeps me going.”

Although there have been ups and downs during Gabriel’s career in the bar world, the joy of crafting a concept’s offering has provided a positive challenge. “With a new venue, you have so much opportunity to create something out of nothing,” she says. “I’ve helped open about seven venues now, and it’s definitely been a highlight [of my career]. Those first couple of weeks where you’re racing to get everything done and then you finally stand back and get to see what you’ve created is a really happy moment.”

At just 27 years old, Gabriel admits she has excelled “pretty fast” through the ranks due to her strong work ethic, but it doesn’t mean there haven’t been bumps along the way. In her roles, she has recognised the common challenges women face in the industry, with the most significant revolving around being underestimated. “It is a male-dominated industry, and you always have that guest who wants to talk to the male bartender next to me about whisky, not knowing I taught him everything he knows,” says Gabriel. “Situations like that [occur] where we’re constantly being underestimated when we actually might be the most qualified person in the room.”

The bars manager says the viewpoint isn’t coming from within the industry, but from the customer side of the equation. In such situations, Gabriel believes the best response is to wait for an opportunity to step in and prove yourself to the person without reacting, hence challenging them to recognise their unconscious bias.

Another challenge Gabriel has identified for women in the industry is imposter syndrome; the experience of doubting your own abilities and being afraid of people discovering you are a fraud or don’t belong in a certain role. It’s an obstacle Gabriel believes is mostly experienced by women in the bar industry. “I think there’s a gap with imposter syndrome where we don’t know what our worth is,” she says. “A male might ask for more money because they have the confidence to just ask, whereas we constantly underestimate ourselves.

“There’s a gut feeling of, ‘Maybe I’m not worth that; maybe I’m not good enough’. Just work hard to prove yourself and know your worth. Everybody is capable of doing the same job and being paid the same … I think it starts with having the confidence in yourself and knowing you can do it.”

In the grand scheme of things, Gabriel is positive about the role of women in the industry and believes the sector is moving in the right direction as a collective, for the most part. “The right conversations are happening,” she says. “I think we’re doing everything we can and it will be a fight to the end. It’s about putting women at the forefront and … part of the general conversation, which is constantly evolving. It will develop over time and people’s ignorance will get better.”

This story has been edited and was originally published as part of The Shout’s profile series on women working in the liquor industry