Aidan Zefren Scheuneman
Contact
The bar at Kasi in Brighton, Michigan, a backlit onyx bar top glowing under a suspended wood canopy

Available for consulting

Bar programs built from the ground up.

Bar / Marketing Consultant

I build beverage programs that hold their margins, then the menus, campaigns, and websites that sell them. A bartender's craft, a marketer's eye, and a spreadsheet that balances.

See the work Get in touch

Download résumé (PDF, 1 page)

Aidan Zefren Scheuneman

Bar / Marketing Consultant

Zefren is my middle name, and my address: zefren.com

About

I build the systems, the story, and the sites that make hospitality run.

I treat a bar like a craft and a brand in equal measure. From the first cocktail spec to the last line of a pour-cost spreadsheet, I build programs that staff can execute, owners can trust, and guests remember.

As beverage director for Kasi and Elite Golf in Brighton, Michigan, I opened two upscale concepts in the same month and drove $242,327 in bar net revenue in the first two months, returning $170,839 in gross profit at 16.3% COGS. That meant a $32,057 opening cellar, a 250-SKU portfolio, and $71,488 in procurement negotiated across nine vendors. Before that I revamped the bar at Zynda's, drove a 35% profit increase in eight months, and lifted guest check averages 10%.

The marketing half is not a side project. At Zynda's I led the advertising, produced a six-month broadcast campaign with WILX Studio 10, and designed the website. The reporting I built for Kasi and Elite Golf became Verseau, the bar operations product I now run. I bring the same discipline to a cost report that I do to a menu launch, and I'm available for consulting across bar programs, brand, and menu work.

  • Cocktail Development
  • Brand & Menu Design
  • Pour Cost & Pricing
  • Inventory Systems
  • Toast POS
  • Vendor Negotiation
  • Advertising Strategy
  • Web Design & Build
  • Broadcast Campaigns

242242,327 dollars

bar net revenue in the first two months

16.316.3 percent

beverage COGS held across both openings

35plus 35 percent

profit lift at Zynda’s in eight months

10plus 10 percent

guest check average through upselling

Programs built for

  • Kasi, Brighton, Michigan
  • Elite Golf, Brighton, Michigan
  • Zynda's Food & Drink, Williamston, Michigan
  • Eagle Scout
  • BPA State Finalist
  • TAMS Certified
  • MLCC Compliance
  • Michigan State University
  • Trilingual

Selected Work

Bar program portfolio

Programs I've designed, opened, and operated, from menu to margin.

Brighton, MI · Opened April 8, 2026

Kasi, Full Bar Program

Built the beverage program end to end for an upscale, globally inspired restaurant. Developed the cocktail menu, set pour costs and pricing, stood up inventory and ordering workflows, programmed the Toast POS, and trained the bar and front-of-house teams on service and upselling.

  • $242,327 bar net revenue in the first two months
  • $170,839 gross profit at 16.3% COGS
  • $32,057 opening cellar, 250-SKU portfolio
  • $71,488 procurement across 9 vendors and 56 invoices
  • Monthly owner performance deck and P&L reporting
Visit kasibrighton.com →
Elite Golf Brighton logo

Brighton, MI · Opened April 30, 2026

Elite Golf, Beverage Program

Opened a second concept just weeks after Kasi. Led bar setup and menu development while coordinating one product portfolio, one vendor book, and one set of margin targets across both rooms.

  • Concurrent open with Kasi
  • Bar setup & menu development
  • Shared 250-SKU portfolio across two concepts
  • Vendor negotiation & category margin targets
See the Elite Golf menu →
The back bar at Zynda's, lit shelves of whiskey and gin against exposed brick

2022 - Nov 2025 · Williamston, MI

Zynda's, Bar & Marketing

Three years behind the bar and in front of the marketing. I revamped the menu and drove a 35% profit increase in eight months, lifted check averages 10%, then ran the promotions, the ad buys, and the website.

  • +35% profit in 8 months
  • +10% guest check average
  • Six-month broadcast campaign on WILX
  • Website design & build
Visit zyndas.com →

The Room

Where the program lives

A bar program is only as good as the night it produces. This is Kasi, open and running.

Venue photography courtesy of Kasi Brighton. Service and cocktail photography my own.

Williamston, MI

Behind the bar at Zynda's

The room the 35% came out of. Every drink on this page is one I wrote, costed, and put on the list.

Photos by Sylvia Fitzpatrick

Brand & Advertising · Case Study

From a brand story to a cocktail menu.

My advertising training at Michigan State shows up in two places: the Kasi bar menu, where I turned a brand identity into the structure of the drink list, and the Zynda's campaign, where I took a brand to television.

Kasi (KAH-see) is built on a name with three cultural roots: light in Sanskrit, community in Zulu, and velocity in Swahili. Rather than treat that as backstory, I made it the architecture of the cocktail program. The menu doesn't just list drinks, it tells the brand's story in three movements.

Sanskrit

Light

Purity & Illumination

Botanical spirits and fresh-pressed ingredients. Bright, aromatic builds like The Kasi, Wisteria, and Un Bisou that open the menu on a clean, luminous note.

Swahili

Velocity

Energy & Vibrancy

Fire, smoke, and spice. Globally inspired drinks like the Silk Road Sour and Oaxaca Smoke that turn up the intensity and momentum.

Zulu

Community

Connection & Warmth

Format becomes message. Shareable carafes built for two to four guests, designed to be poured tableside and bring people together.

The brand carried through every detail

  • Visual identity. I pulled the restaurant's palette of forest green, cream, warm brown and tan, plus its botanical leaf motif, straight from the brand board onto the menu.
  • Voice & naming. Cocktail names and copy echo the brand's global, modern identity: Été Garden, Terra Incognita, Silk Road Sour, each with a short, evocative line.
  • Positioning. A dedicated mocktail section and an opening note from "The Kasi Team" reinforced the health-forward, community-driven promise.
  • Result. A menu that does double duty as advertising, guiding the guest, lifting check averages, and making the brand impossible to forget.
See every page →

Broadcast · WILX Studio 10

Zynda's on television, six months running

I led advertising for Zynda's and partnered with WILX Studio 10 on a six-month campaign. We shot the food and the room over a full production day, cut it into 30 and 15 second spots, and I set the flight schedule so the commercials ran around the Studio 10 segment the restaurant appeared in. Two of the preview cuts are here.

Produced with WILX Studio 10. Concept, scheduling, and media planning mine. Both spots start muted; use the speaker control to turn the sound on.

Watch the Studio 10 segment on YouTube →
30 second spot Starts muted
What happens in it

Two coworkers at their desks talk themselves into dinner. Their thought bubbles fill with Zynda's food, then the spot cuts to the plates: barbecue ribs with cornbread and fries, a stacked cheeseburger, a shared spread of appetizers and steak. It closes on the Zynda's wordmark burned into wood with the address and phone number.

15 second cutdown Starts muted
What happens in it

A food-only cut: a shared appetizer board, a frozen cocktail with a charred citrus wheel, barbecue ribs, and a steak with asparagus, then the Zynda's wordmark end card with the address and phone number.

Web

Sites I've designed and built

A restaurant, a software product, and a Scout troop. Three brands with three different voices, each one designed, built, and shipped by me. Select a tile to open the live site.

zyndas.com Zynda's Food & Drink A scratch kitchen and craft bar in Williamston. I built the site around the food photography, kept the menus current as they changed, and pointed the whole thing at the campaign running on WILX. Visit the site → verseau.bar Verseau My own product. It started as the reporting I built to run Kasi and Elite Golf, sales, vendor mix, category build and P&L in one place, and became a bar operations platform. I own the brand, the identity, and the site. Visit the site → troop63mi.com Williamston Troop 63 The troop where I earned Eagle, and over a hundred years of Scouting in mid-Michigan. I rebuilt the site so families could actually find the calendar, the forms, and how to join. Visit the site →

Experience

Career & education

Jan - Jun 2026

Beverage Director, Kasi & Elite Golf

Brighton, Michigan · concurrent roles

Designed and executed comprehensive beverage programs from the ground up for two upscale concepts: Kasi (opened April 8) and Elite Golf (opened April 30). Drove $242,327 in bar net revenue in the first two months, returning $170,839 in gross profit at 16.3% COGS. Built a $32,057 opening cellar and a 250-SKU portfolio, managed $71,488 in procurement across nine vendors and 56 invoices, owned Toast POS reporting, and trained bar and front-of-house teams on service and upselling. Delivered a monthly owner performance deck that became the standard for tracking program growth.

2022 - Nov 2025

Bar & Marketing Manager / Bartender, Zynda's Smokehouse

Williamston, Michigan

Drove a 35% profit increase in eight months by revamping the bar menu, developing high-margin craft cocktails, and curating exotic wine and beer selections. Raised guest check averages 10% through consistent upselling. Led advertising for the restaurant, produced a six-month broadcast campaign with WILX Studio 10, designed and built the website, ran promotional events, held bi-weekly meetings with distribution reps, and supported 120+ covers per night.

Dec 2023 - Apr 2024

Founder, Breaking The Fast

Williamston, Michigan

Founded and ran a food catering business, building strategies that grew the customer base and increased revenue while holding consistently high standards.

2023 - 2027

B.A. Advertising Management, Michigan State University

Expected 2027 · Advertising Internship (ADV 493), Digital Analytics (ADV 342)

Studying advertising and marketing with a focus on digital analytics and applied creative strategy. Eagle Scout with Troop 63, where I led 30+ volunteers over two months to fundraise and rebuild McCormick Park. TAMS certified. Fluent in English, Spanish, and French.

Contact

Let's build something worth pouring.

I take on bar program builds, brand and menu consulting, and marketing work across Michigan and beyond. Zefren is my middle name, so zefren.com follows me wherever I work next. Bookmark it and we'll stay connected.

aidan@zefren.com Download résumé (PDF)

(517) 992-1864 LinkedIn

Previously aidan.scheuneman@gmail.com, now forwarding here.

Available for consulting · Webberville, Michigan