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Alex Jump

How a Veteran Bartender Sought the Need to Put Her Mental Health First and Help Others Along the Way

Article by Cassidy Ritter

Photography by Poppy & Coby Kelsey Huffer

Originally published in Boulder Lifestyle

For Alex Jump each day starts around 8:30 a.m. and ends at 1 a.m. the following day. Although these hours sound long to many, for Alex it’s a way of life she’s become accustomed to.

Alex, who was recently included in Forbes 30 Under 30, has worked in the restaurant industry most of her life. She started as a hostess in high school and quickly emersed herself in the restaurant industry. At 21, she worked as a bartender crafting an array of delicious drinks, then quickly moved up the ladder and became a bar manager. At the age of 25, she found herself in Denver with a major goal in mind—to help open Death & Co. in the Mile High City.

Sure enough, Alex did just that in 2018 and still works at the restaurant as the bar manager. But, at the time, opening a new business and managing her personal life took a toll on her mental health. “I realized that for a long time, I had basically created this person of ‘Alex the bartender,’” she says. “I looked at a holistic view of me and I really [found I had] lost myself and my passion for my career.” Some days life behind the bar was exciting and challenging, while other days left her feeling isolated and depressed.

And she wasn’t alone. “I started talking on social media about my experiences, whether that was personal or professional, and really sharing anything I was struggling with—talking about my mental health, talking about going to therapy, also sharing my daily experience but not as much in a social media way but rather as real of a way I felt I could do,” Alex says. “I found that there was a community of people who understood what I was going through.”

As Alex continued to form a support group and community on social media, she also participated in what she says was a transformational competition for her.

In addition to making amazing drinks, the Most Imaginative Bartender competition considers the person behind the bar. When the judges asked Alex what she liked to do outside of work she paused, only able to reflect on herself as “Alex the bartender.” Throughout the competition, Alex found her answer to the judges' question and another passion. From then on, she set out to find ways to promote better lives for people that work in hospitality.

To combat mental health in the hospitality industry, Alex and Lauren Paylor co-founded Focus on Health in March of 2020, just before the pandemic. Little did Alex and Lauren know that their business was coming at a time of need for many in the hospitality world.

Focus on Health advocates for people working in the hospitality industry, with a primary focus on the food and beverage sector. The company has five areas of focus: physical wellness, mental wellness, environmental wellness, social wellness and financial wellness. It reaches more than 3,000 people across the nation through podcasts, trainings, newsletters, social media and more.

“There needs to be conversations about like the lack of wellbeing in an industry that's, in our surrounding, taking care of other people. Why are all of these people that are so beloved in our industry killing themselves or dying of an overdose or whatever it may be? It’s because they don't have the resources available to them to take care of themselves when they need it most. And that’s really where Focus on Health came from,” Alex says.

It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day and understand why Alex’s nearly 17-hour day is jam-packed. But between managing the bar at Death & Co., supporting and growing Focus on Health, and taking care of her own wellbeing, both physically and mentally, Alex is finding balance.

“For myself personally, my life goal's to live a calmer life, work less and live more comfortably,” Alex says, a goal she’s working on each and every day.

FoHealth.org

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