Kyle Ponder - The Black Hill Hotel #042 Ballarat Talks

Kyle Ponder - The Black Hill Hotel #042

Kyle Ponder originally grew up in Skipton, 45 minutes southwest of Ballarat, where his family owned the local Roadhouse. After finishing primary school in Skipton, Kyle attended secondary school at Ballarat and Clarendon College, and, though the academic life was not really his forte, he completed year twelve with the support and encouragement of his family.   After finishing high school Kyle worked for a brief period in his family’s shop before taking on a role as a logger. Kyle enjoyed his work, despite the long days and commuting to work in the wee hours of the morning, but after seven years Kyle opted to make the huge leap from his job in logging into the hospitality industry to fulfill a goal he had had even as a child, to own his own bar.   In 2019 Kyle officially went into business for himself, taking on the lease at the Black Hill Hotel. Having been scouring the market for a pub and researching various venues around the Ballarat area, his local, the Black Hill Hotel, was put on the market and Kyle snapped up the opportunity to take on the business. For the past three years Kyle has shaped the hotel and put his stamp on the business, creating a successful bar and bistro for the people of Ballarat North with live music and a warm, inviting atmosphere.   Along the way Kyle has experienced some troubling times, finding himself, as he says, ‘on the wrong side of the bar’ and enjoying the social aspect of life a little bit too much. Through it all though his family and partner, Chelsea, have supported him and helped pull him out of a negative cycle that threatened to ruin his career and his dream. Having found the drive to refocus and pursue his passion, Kyle is now working to build his business and hopefully, one day soon, expand even further.