Inspiring Conversations with Valentina Ramirez-raudsepp of Cocktail Gals

Today we’d like to introduce you to Valentina Ramirez-raudsepp

Hi Valentina, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Like many entrepreneurs, one day i just decided to take action upon my constant planning and dreaming.

I moved to Atlanta in spring of 2021, after looking for change and a new opportunity coming out of covid. Growing up in Connecticut always made me feel that I was meant to live and be a part of a bigger scene. Going constantly to New York I quickly made connections with those that were constantly connecting people with each other and I looked up to those networking titans.

When I made the move to Atlanta, my priority was to focus on my job which ultimately allowed me to move here. However, I had made myself a promise in the 15 hour car ride down – I needed to make the most out of my experience and get as involved as I could.
Atlanta, being such an up & coming and bright city that offers a lot and it can be overwhelming at times. As a Hispanic young professional I started attending organization happy hours such as HYPE, Atl Young Professionals, volunteering at community food banks and more.
With each event I attended, I left meeting new friends. All with the same goals in mind – to do well, get better at something, and ultimately make more friends because let’s be real – making friends as a young adult that leaves their hometown or college bubble is very difficult.

I quickly found myself always being the organizer to try out new restaurants, bars, or an activity. I personally have a background in this between past internships, jobs and event planning experiences I’ve been fortunate to have. Even today, my job requires me to network and put myself out of my comfort zone to do business. Bringing people together feels natural to me so it was only a matter of time that I launched something of my own.

In 2022, I gathered a group of girls that I met at different events and started “Tini Tuesdays”. A weekly get together at a different restaurant/bar where we could try out different martinis on the menu. Each week friends would invite a new girl to join from work, school, roommate, etc. and at the end of the night everyone left fulfilled from a fun night out. Not knowing what I had created at the time, life got in the way and it became difficult to keep up with the planning. Yet even a few months into this year I still get messages asking when the next event can be and why I don’t bring it back.
Thus, the birth of Cocktail Gals.

I took some time to reflect and plan out how I wanted this to look like and I have 2 main goals to focus on with this club. After all, this is still something I plan to do on the side while prioritizing my 9-5 in sales. But with growth in mind and the goal to keep this around for the foreseeable future, the focus of the club are: 1. to make all girls feel comfortable to join and make 1 new friend out of each event and 2. to support independently owned businesses.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No decision ever comes without it’s challenges – at least no successful ones in my opinion.

Truthfully, my struggles has arise with properly compartmentalizing the time & dedication to give this club while also performing well and staying a top of my priorities at my 9-5. I know many would agree that is we could all drop everything and pursue our goals we would. But in the meantime I want to continue to grow and improve professionally in my field while also relieving my creativity through this social club.

Aside from my own personal time management I believe there will always be struggles along the way. All that matters when facing those challenges is what mentality you have to overcome them. If you tell yourself that every no is a “sign” to no longer continue you won’t get anywhere. But if you take those no’s and use them as motivation or the doubts that will come your way – you’ll prove to you and others that you were meant to be in the space that you’re in.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Cocktail Gals?
Cocktail Gals is a social club with it’s mission to bring gals between 21-35+ together to enlist in new friendships after every event. From personal experience, i know how difficult it is to make girl friends after college and this club will allow girls to dress their best and enjoy a cocktail or two while making new friends.

Aside from our mission of making long lasting friendships, I want to focus the club’s support on independently owned restaurants/bars in the city. That allows the gals attending to know that their purchase of alcohol or non-alcoholic drinks and tips all go towards furthering the support of boosting local economy and empowering business owners to thrive.

What sets this club apart from others is our curated vibe for all of our events and the type of atmosphere we create. The theme of our socials represents chic, sexy, fun, and entertaining really channeling the “girls night out” aura.

Our proudest accomplishment so far (since we’re new!) is reaching over 1.2k followers on TikTok with over 30k views in our first 5 days of launch. While quickly growing our Instagram to 600 gals with a strong 35% engagement rate in our stories, polls, questions, and photos.

If you’re a gal looking to attend one of our events, follow along on our socials to see where and when the next event is. For now, events are free to attend and we just require that all participants purchase 1 alcohol or non-alcoholic beverage from the venue.
If you’re a business looking to partner with us, please reach out! I’m constantly researching for the perfect spot to host our event next and we have about 30-50 girls attending each time.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
It goes without saying that it truly takes a village of support and personal belief to start something from scratch. My mother, since I can remember has always allowed me to be myself and supported my spontaneous behavior. My brother for always giving me life and business advice.

David from The Shops for giving me my first job opportunity in marketing and allowing me to grow in event planning. My mentors who constantly check in on me.

A special shoutout to my close friends – Maresa, Alyssa, and Carolina for being my tried and true for all my ideas at all times. Lastly, my extremely supportive boyfriend, Patrick who’s constantly there for me and supported this idea.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @cocktailgals
• Other: tiktok: @cocktailgals

Image Credits
@_syenak, @valramm