Jonathon Montanez: Despite challenges, local husband and father of four focuses on the future.
Jonathon Montanez and his wife, Elyse, were like you, me, and everyone else during the pandemic: fearful and uncertain of the future. But despite those challenges, they opened a business with an eye toward building and embracing a healthier lifestyle going forward.
The Hidden Vine caught up to Jonathon and had a chance to hear his story.
Jonathon was upfront about where his priorities lie:
“First and foremost, I am a father, and I am a husband. I’ve got four incredibly amazing children that I’m very, very grateful for,” he said with genuine pride.
His eyes shifted over to his daughter who was sitting across the table.
Jonathon’s life had been a series of twists, turns, and pivots that reflects a mix of personal and professional growth, driven by love, passion, and authenticity.
“My wife and I have been married for five years”, he began.
His hands were clasped in front of him on the table, but with that statement, he unlocked his fingers and melted back in his seat.
“We started the venture of owning a business in October 2019, a mobile bartending service, Life of the Barty. But there were challenges.”
Two and a half years ago, Jonathon and Elyse became non-drinkers so they could more effectively focus on business and because it was simply a healthier lifestyle for them.
He gave a chuckle as he realized the irony of it all.
“We realized that the distractions of drinking while running a bartending business were hard to get focused.”
The couple started their business small using the resources they had before them, and their business has grown significantly over the past two and a half years.
But even still, Jonathon insisted on remaining humble and building their business with his own two hands, both figuratively and literally.
“We started with one wooden box bar that was given to us, but I now build all of our bars, custom-made, in my backyard.”
Humility and simplicity seemed to be Jonathon’s main focus for life, especially after a tumultuous journey prior to Life of the Barty.
He shared his passion for Respiratory Therapy and how that job came to a screeching halt after an unexpected life change. Forcing him to pivot, Jonathon found himself in the restoration business along with his brother as a means to an end. However, the supposed temporary stint to pay the bills turned into a 12-year career.
Though he was thriving, work seemed unnecessarily stressful. Thankfully, the opportunity to shift into a business development and marketing role presented itself.
One could say this was the catalyst for the impact he now creates.
Being a member of the Temecula Chamber of Commerce, Jonathon used his time there to access a whole new network of positive, forward-thinking people that he ended up building meaningful relationships with.
One of those folks was being Sebastian Sidi.
“He approached me and I didn’t know him from anybody,” Jonathon explained.
He rubbed his left shoulder and looked over to the left as if the vision of their first encounter was playing out in his mind.
“We started getting to know each other from the chamber functions, and we realized that we had this fun little banter, and I think that he enjoyed it so much. He had just started doing this networking mixer out of his house, Neighbor’s Monthly Mixer, and he knew that it was kind of outgrowing his home. He asked me if I wanted to come in as a partner.”
Jonathon was in his stride, but soon, he was presented with a work opportunity that would take him away from his newfound passions inside the Chamber and Neighbor’s.
“If I took the job,” he recounted, “I wouldn’t have had the Neighbor’s Mixer. I wouldn’t have had my Chamber. So Elyse asked me, ‘Don’t worry about money. Take money off the table. What do you want to do?’ And that was it. I didn’t want to give up this life that I had built.”
He shook his head with a soft smile as his eyes began to water.
His love for Elyse was front and center. She had gifted him with the opportunity to focus solely on his passions, freeing him from the burden of unfulfilling work.
With Elyse by his side, Jonathon’s life has been a series of ‘intentional life choices’, that have led to significant roles within his community, most notably as the lead organizer of TEDx Temecula.
“Life really happens how you want it to, by design, because unintentionally, it has kind of turned out that way.”
This was on full display with his deep involvement in the Valley Young Professionals, a networking group for young leaders under 40. Through his work there, he connected with Jim McLaughlin, the original TEDxTemecula organizer.
Jonathon’s not one to just ‘talk the talk’. In December 2023, after being invited by Jim to take over the event, he embraced the role with pride. “I knew it was a huge privilege, but I also knew it was a big responsibility.”
Jonathon is committed to expanding TEDx Temecula’s impact across the entire Temecula Valley and making it a destination event. And he’s particularly interested in getting young people involved; a task for which he is well qualified.
“If you can affect one person’s life and maybe change their thinking about something or have them take something home with them that they will put into practice and will improve their lives or the lives around them, that’s all I want.”
TEDx Temecula 2024 will take place on September 28th at the Temecula Theater.
So what’s next for Jonathon and Elyse? The Hidden Vine got the inside scoop.
“I haven’t told anybody, so this will be the first time saying it out loud,” Jonathon teased, “but we actually just invested it in a 1972 Volkswagen bus that we are going to convert into a tap van. You pull up to an event, a family fun festival or a fair, a carnival, and you just pour from it. We’re calling it the Barty Bus.”
Connect with Jonathon on Instagram @montanezjonathon
Learn more about Life of the Barty at lifeofthebarty.com
