The food and drinks off erings at The Union Trading Company.

To address this issue, Yao put his staff through intensive training sessions which comprise bartending skills as well as confidence-building activities. He also makes it a point to rotate his bartenders between mixing drinks and service, ensuring that everyone will be comfortable with customer interaction.

To foster individualistic creativity, Yao challenges his staff every few months, usually before the change in season, to come up with new concoctions. The most outstanding creations are then included in the new seasonal menus, alongside the bartender’s name.

Yao’s training methodology has seemingly worked wonders for talent retention. Only one of his bartenders has quit since Union’s inception. One of them, Lucky Huang, has even gone on to emerge among the top three contestants in the Bacardi Legacy Shanghai competition this year.

Another major issue that Yao highlighted lies in the cultural stigma that age equates capability. For instance, he has received snubs from potential business partners because they deemed him too young — Yao turns 29 this year.

"Many people think that you have not earned your stripes in society if you’re young, and hence cannot be taken seriously," he said.

"I’ve even gotten remarks suggesting that if you’re successful at a young age, you’re either a one-hit wonder or you’re backed by rich parents. Look, my dad is a journalist by day and a painter by night. He’s no millionaire."

alywin@chinadaily.com.cn