#173: Mitchell Vargo (Forward Hospitality Group) — The Business of Hospitality & Entertainment in Cleveland

Lay of The Land

Mitchell Vargo, Partner at Forward Hospitality Group.

Since its founding in 2015, the Cleveland-based Hospitality Group has built out unique entertainment, bar, and restaurant experiences locally and all across the country — from here in Cleveland to Chicago, Miami, and beyond!

The breadth of concepts spans FWD — the large-scale day and nightclub built on a shipyard in the East Flats with a quintessential Cleveland industrial backdrop, coined the Ibiza of the midwest and pulling some of the largest names from EDM and beyond, like Rick Ross, DeadMau5, Steve Aoki, Afrojack and more … also my personal favorite. Across the spectrum, Forward has built out Goodnight John Boy, the 70’s-themed disco bar, Welcome to the Farm, a Nashville-inspired country music bar, Shake It, a casual burger joint, and lots more.

This conversation was a lot of fun — Mitch and I unpack the intersection of hospitality and entrepreneurship, the perception, branding and evolution of Cleveland as a city, the business of nightlife, Mitch’s path to this line of work and how he manages himself and others through it, and a whole lot more!

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LINKS:

Forward Hospitality Group: https://www.forwardhg.com/
FWD Day + Nightclub: https://www.forwardhg.com/fwd-day-nightclub
Goodnight John Boy: https://goodnightjb.com/

Follow on Instagram:

• https://www.instagram.com/mitchvargo/
• https://www.instagram.com/forwardhospitality
• https://www.instagram.com/fwdnightclub/

Connect with Mitch on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchell-vargo/

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Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.

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