Today we’d like to introduce you to Pete Boland.
Hi Pete, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born raised in the Shore Acres area of St. Pete, where he grew up working at my Mom and Dad’s neighborhood store. Alongside my brothers, I helped work the register and stock the shelves to assist his parents while they were also serving on the board, volunteering their time for many years at Northeast Little League. Working with my parents at both the family-owned business and in their community service helped instill a strong work ethic and sense of civic pride into me. I essentially started in customer service at age nine, so at age 37, I’m coming up on 30 years of serving people. You gotta love people to do that!
I graduated St. Petersburg High School in 2002, where I also proudly lettered on the school wrestling team. When my parents separated in 2000, and with father subsequently afflicted with a serious illness, I had to fight through adversity to make ends meet—working two jobs and also living on my own at the age of 17 while still managing to finish high school.
After graduating in 2002, I moved to Marion County to be with his ailing father, pursuing a degree in Mass Communications at the College of Central Florida, all while still working in Customer Service. While attending college, I became enamored and fell in love with the Hospitality Industry after beginning to bartend at 19, before beginning a long career in management as an Assistant General Manager at 21 at Ocala Hotspot, Rondo’s Good Time Bar & Grill. I returned to St Pete in 2008 and Further focused on my career and attended culinary school at the Art Institute of Tampa and served as a long time general manager Courigan’s Irish Pub on Beach Drive and at some of the most popular bars and restaurants in Tampa Bay, honing the craft.
After years of toiling away and absorbing every bit of operational knowledge I could from anyone I could, I co-founded and opened “The Galley”, A St. Pete Tavern in 2016. Many doubted such an endeavor on what had been considered a “cursed” block in Downtown St. Pete, but we had the vision and determination to transform the block, and “The Galley” was an immediate success- creating dozens of jobs while also becoming a favorite community gathering place.
The Galley’s success spawned an expansion with “The Ship’s Hold” cocktail bar in 2019, and a sister restaurant named after my grandma, “Mary Margaret’s Olde Irish Tavern” in 2020, in the space where her beauty salon was in the 1970s. We battled through a lot of challenging events like being woefully under-capitalized to start with, then Hurricane Irma and then COVID-19 pandemic. Through it all, “The Galley” and “Mary Margaret’s” have become popular staples in the downtown business community and our efforts helped to lead the way in the fight against the virus, all while continuing to feed thousands in the community, providing free meals to members of the hospitality industry whose jobs were affected by local regulations. Neither “The Galley” or “Mary Margaret’s” laid off a single employee during the COVID shutdowns.
I’m a passionate advocate for the city, I love this city. I’m proud to call St. Pete my forever home and resides again in Shore Acres with my love, Jessica, and her three children— just one block away from where I grew up stocking shelves at my parents’ store. I’ve lived a very blessed and charmed life, and am humbled by all the nice things people have done for me over the years.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In 2005, my father passed away and I was officially the only member of my entire extended family living in Florida. Then in 2006, I hit my lowest point: I was arrested for DUI & Possession of Drugs and fired from my job. Lost my girlfriend, too. It was a low point, and it took me years to recover. I didn’t get back into Hospitality management for years again until 2009. I had many doubters, but I toiled and toiled and worked hard. Hard work gets you noticed, and eventually, I got noticed by the right people and I was granted more opportunities.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My job is as a managing partner directing all aspects of the food, beverage and marketing of the business. We are a business that serves all the occasions and authentically good food, beer, wine, cocktails and fun. I’ve made my hay in my career by innovating and marketing with a passion for experiences. Anyone can make an old-fashioned or pour a local IPA, but what matters the experience and feeling people have. They want local authenticity and passion for people, and we deliver that. I’m proud that we are good at throwing all kinds of parties.
And from the Covid pandemic times, improbably most proud of the fact that we fed the whole community and didn’t lay off a single person. We kept our entire organization together and gave people hope.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
You have to have an open mind, thick skin and humility. Having a sense of humor helps, too. Also, it’s crucially important to care about people and think about the why. I think the ability to adapt and look within is important, too. When something goes wrong, we dissect why and what we could have done differently or better.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.theGalleyStPete.com
- Instagram: @www.instagram.com/thegalleydtsp/
