"Today, 15 years later since I started out with Bivouac, Sam and the MGI Parkinson team are still by my side"

Subiaco is beautiful — it’s history is as long as anywhere in WA — so why shouldn’t it be flourishing?

That’s one of the reasons why my business partner from Bivouac Canteen & Bar, Jeremy Diaz, and I were drawn to start our next venture in Subi. So we’ve given an old Subiaco favourite, Juanita’s, a bit of a reboot as Juanita’s Wine Bar.

My family’s been in the food industry, so I’ve grown up around hospitality. But looking back at what’s helped me get to where I am today — running a second business — Sam Pigliardo from MGI Parkinson has played a massive role.

 

 

I didn’t have any business management training when I first started with Bivouac in 2003, which was my first business independent of my family. Sam taught me more than any credentialed training program could have anyway. He taught me about many different aspects of business accounting — corporate structures, KPIs, profit and loss, quarterly reporting and analysis, forecasting and projecting, and even buying and selling businesses.

From the get-go, I liked working with Sam because of his hands-on, whiteboard approach. He made strategic concepts easy to understand. And that helped us make more informed decisions.

Aside from being an invaluable partner — part of our team, really — Sam has also been a huge help with networking. Any time we’ve needed a third-party professional for a service, Sam’s been able to point us in the right direction, and we’ve been able to move forward trusting his recommendations, which saves valuable time and has contributed to the growth and success of our endeavours as a business.

Today, 15 years later since I started out with Bivouac, Sam and the MGI Parkinson team are still by my side. Sam continues to be a sounding board for key decisions, helping with analysing data and coming up with strategies that align with my goals personally and professionally.

Without Sam, Juanita’s Wine Bar wouldn’t be a reality. We’re so excited to be part of the Subi community, so I suppose they have Sam and MGI to thank too!