Everyday squadrons of new people enter the club biz. For many it’s a coatcheck, waiter or bartending gig to pay for tuition, books or to eat and sleep in the big apple. For others a loss of a real world job has them turning to hospitality for survival. Newbie promoters with visions of sugar plums and model girlfriends see what appear to be total morons making big bank in the biz and throw their towels and bad hair dos into the arena. For every Noah Tepperberg, Scott Sartiano or Paul Sevigny, there are thousands of ambitious players who fall real short. It isn’t as easy as it looks, but still there are many a fool who get to rule in clubdom. The lifestyle is so attractive to many that they jump in.

Getting out of the club world isn’t so easy, even for the bright ones. I often talk of exit strategy here. Hookers, strippers and club people almost always reach a point in their careers where work becomes less palatable and exciting . It is often way less lucrative as age becomes a real factor. The skills and experiences gained in this sort of work often have no value in the real world. People get used to odd hours and lots of cash and an entry level job or defined time at a desk is a non starter. In all these professions many just marry wealthy clients. Some work there way out. Some think of a plan and save their tip money and invest their way out.

My man Seamus Regan, one of the cities premier bartenders, is making moves as he starts getting a little long in the tooth. Seamus is a fast, honest, head bartender type who can work anywhere. Not as good looking as he thinks, he still attracts the babes, which is always a valuable asset. Still he remains a man’s man and is seen by owners as a manager behind the bar. He is so NYC that he has a tat that says MADE IN NYC. He has managed, promoted and even done the door when he wasn’t slinging gin. He is now opening up Salon13 and can envision a time when his only stint at a club will be when he, I and a couple of broads make the rounds to glad hand old friends and hear some music we don’t own at home. I caught up with Seamus and asked him a few questions

So are you out of the biz t and how did a tough guy like you get into the beauty biz? I’m still going to bartend for a while. As you know, I've been looking to do something of my own for a couple of years now. I've toyed with owning a bar or a club but no deal has felt right yet. The hair salon felt right. The right mix of people coming together at the right time. Reuniting with my old friend Patrick Demartino, who is an amazing stylist who worked at Vidal Sassoon, and helping my sister, Sinead, get a foothold in the New York Salon business. She wanted to expand her eyelash extension business. And I have a winter off from snowboarding thanks to knee surgery to get the place built, up and running. It’s a venue where I can make people feel good about themselves. It’s also a venue that I could back myself without investors. I wanted to create a place that wasn't pretentious. Somewhere you actually wanted to hang out in after your hair was finished. Its very likely that there is a bottle of whiskey behind the reception desk as well.

How did you get into the club biz? I have loved nightlife since I can’t remember when. I found myself gravitating toward the club scene as soon as my parents would look the other way on broken curfews. I started out bartending in my father's friends’ Irish bars in the early ‘90s. Eamon Doran's and Johnny Joyce’s, which are both now long gone. I've been around clubs in some capacity my whole life. My grandfather was a bartender, he worked the Binnacle Bar in the Commodore Hotel by Grand Central. My cousin's owned bars. Bartending always just felt right to me. I loved being able to be directly involved in making someone have a good time.

Where have you worked? In the late ‘90s I worked at LAVA on 20th street and moved on to manage Magnum in Soho, I also promoted at Chaos 2 at the old Bank. I would probably be a promoter or an owner right now if I hadn't decided to move over to finance and got a job with an options market making firm. I was miserable for three years. I returned to nightlife in 2003. I worked at Eden, the Sullivan Room, then Lobby, then Plaid, Crobar, NA, Select, Darklight. Then Jon B opened Home/Guesthouse and I moved there for its whole run. And now I currently hold court at Greenhouse.

How has the transition been for you? I’m there everyday right now and have been for the last four months. I gutted the place and called in every favor in the book to get it built. It’s an exciting new environment for me.