Basketball Career Didn’t Pan Out; Now He Runs an Irish Pub With His Mom

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jareb Dougherty, 29, the co-owner of Donovan’s Irish Pub in St. Augustine, Florida. When his professional basketball career didn’t work out, he went on to manage a restaurant with his mother.

It has been edited for length and clarity.

When I say I was “this close” to going pro, I actually was.

I started playing ball in 6th grade; I was the tallest one in the school. Now, I’m six foot four, and basketball has been the love of my life.

I went to a junior college in Kansas for a year, and then in South Florida, but I’ve never been a star student. I struggle with multiple learning disabilities and test-taking was always a challenge. After a few years, I stepped away from college.

I moved to St. Augustine and played for a small semi-pro team for two years. When I got invited to a training camp with a minor professional basketball team in Sarasota, the Gulf Coast Lions, it felt like a dream come true.

It would have been my first full-time team, where I could quit other side jobs like bartending and focus on basketball.

Every week during the monthlong training camp, they made a cut. I made it to the last week and was planning on not coming home. During the three-day break, I got a text that I was cut.

I drove home with my basketball career behind me and no idea what was ahead.

The family business back home

While I was busy chasing my basketball dreams, my mother, Kristin Dougherty, landed a bartending job at Donovan’s Irish Pub in St. Augustine after responding to a Craigslist ad.

In 2016, when I was still in college, my mom arrived at work and found an eviction notice on the door. She later heard that the owners were behind on rent and taxes. As a single mom — my dad died when I was a toddler — she’d always worked in the food industry to support us. She took this as her moment to level up.

She figured out a way to buy the restaurant. She was following my grandfather’s footsteps, who was always putting a bug in her ear to buy the business wherever she worked. Her brother helped her take over the business.

When my basketball career suddenly ended, I came back to the restaurant to bartend and save money until I figured out my life. More curveballs were on the way.

Stepping up to my future career

Despite having never pictured a career in the restaurant business, when my mother and her brother had a falling out, I knew she needed help.

In 2023, at 26, I decided to buy my uncle’s shares in the restaurant. I had saved up a good amount from part-time jobs and took a loan from another family member. I had never run a business, but I knew my mom needed help, and I jumped in.

Despite being mostly equal partners, I’ve told her that she always has the final say.

Co-owning a pub with my mother

While some might say don’t mix business and family, I can’t see it any other way. My mom is my best friend, and we even lived together until recently. I’m 29 and decided to invest in a place for myself.

Living and working together was easy for us. Learning to run a business was not. For six months, neither of us took a paycheck. We had to replace equipment while money was tight. When we finally got our first check, we could breathe for a moment — I realized this could actually work.

I had to get used to managing people, including their emotions, time, and schedules. With 28 employees, there are lots of personalities to handle. During busy hours, cooks can get grumpy and servers yell for orders. But that’s restaurant life.

An essential change from when my mom and her brother ran the business was who was responsible for which parts of the restaurant. With them, he ran the back of the house, and she ran the front of the house. This didn’t work because they both had to be there all the time.

Now, my mom and I both run everything, so we can give each other breaks. She’s a workaholic with a crazy work ethic, so I have to make sure she takes days off.

Building toward a bigger future

Life is enjoyable these day.

My basketball career is behind me, except for occasionally shooting hoops with friends. Sometimes that devastating text — and what could have been — still plays in my mind. I think that’s true for most retired athletes. But what’s in front of me is exciting, and I’m always on call, ready for the next phone call from someone who needs me at the restaurant.

My grandma is a prep cook there and makes homemade desserts. I actually enjoy running a business with my family. We discuss every decision together and consider the restaurant our home away from home. We recently launched a traditional Irish brunch featuring rashers, a type of Irish bacon, and blood sausage, although fish and chips remains our most popular dish.

I live a life I never envisioned for myself, but it’s also one I wouldn’t change.