“Summer House” star Carl Radke is reflecting on what he’s learned about business after one year of managing his bar and café, Soft Bar. The non-alcoholic bar opened up a year ago, and Radke showcased everything leading up to that moment during the last season of the hit Bravo reality show.
While speaking with Us Weekly, Radke said he was “proud” of the brand he’s built over the last year. One reason is that he and his team were able to trademark the name Soft Bar.
“Something I was really excited about with building Soft Bar is I wanted to go brand first and community first, and being able to wrap our arms around the ‘soft’ terminology in Soft Bar, soft drink, soft cocktail — these are all terms that were in our vocabulary, but no one really had wrapped their arms around it. My goal was to really elevate the non-alcoholic industry, and the way I believe in doing that was to build a brand that [has] a mission and a strong foundation,” he said.
Carl Radke Is Grateful He’s Been Able To See His Business Come To Life
Since opening his Brooklyn bar a year ago, Radke said things have been going well for him and his business. And while business is booming, Radke admitted he couldn’t do it alone, leading him to praise his incredible staff and thank everyone involved for helping him build an amazing community.
“It’s been really cool to see my vision come to life. But it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. We’ve made mistakes. We’ve learned. We’ve had to adjust. We’ve had to evolve. But any new business is going to do that. But we are really listening to our customers. We’re trying to understand what they like, take all the feedback and become a better operation as a result. So I’m really happy and proud, but there’s still some work to do for sure,” he stated.
Carl Radke Said It’s Important To Build ‘Thick Skin’ In Business
When asked what advice Radke, who’s been on “Summer House” since 2017, would have for those wanting to start a business, the reality star said people should be highly adaptable and resilient.
“You’ve got to be willing to have a thick skin and be really patient. I would start small, and what I mean by that is if you want to open up, in theory, a lemonade drink café, I would say, start a little lemonade stand in your front yard first. Get your product or service in people’s hands before you make that bigger commitment,” he said.
He added, “Start organically small, locally, get it in front of your close friends and family, and get it in front of other people that don’t know you would be my advice. I think some people get big ideas and you can overwhelm yourself. Be balanced and try to find slow and steady.”
Radke Struggled With Addiction
Before opening Soft Bar, Radke struggled with drug and alcohol addiction following the death of his brother, Curtis. In a previous interview with Nick Viall, the reality star said the loss led him to develop a habit of overindulging.
“As I would joke, it was like my f—boy pad, and I went right back into doing drugs and drinking all the time, but I was doing it alone. I would drink all day by myself and do cocaine by myself in my apartment, and, like, call people, text people, say crazy sh-t. It just was on this downward spiral,” he said.
What Led Radke To Seek Help?
On “Summer House,” Radke appeared to be handling his brother’s death well, but behind closed doors, he admitted to living a double life. Everything changed for him, though, when a Bravo executive spoke with him about his substance abuse in 2019.
“For the first time, I actually had someone call me out and say, ‘I know it’s not just alcohol. It’s coke. All the other sh-t as a result,” he said. “I would take Xanax to kinda come down. I would take Ambien to help sleep, all the things. But it still wasn’t right away, like, I’m gonna go to get my help. I did it in my own.”
