Day 16
Today’s Takeaway: Restaurants taught me everything I know about life.
I’ve worked in sports, recruiting, entertainment, non-profit, and now tech. With all that experience, the one industry I credit with teaching me the most is the hospitality industry. Specifically restaurants. Serving tables was the only job I ever had before I got a “real job.” I don’t even know why they still say that…”getting a real job.”
Serving and bartending is as real as real gets! You exercise every professional and personal skill any person would ever need over the course of ONE shift.
Multi-tasking: Get “in the weeds” on a Saturday night rush and watch me morph into an octopus.
Time Management: Pacing your guests meals or burning and turning your tables depending on how much money you need to make that night.
Negotiation: See the master litigator you become when you need to get a shift covered.
Handling stress: No worse feeling then when the kitchen crashes and you got to tell all your tables why they haven’t gotten a salad in 45mins.
Swallowing Pride: Do you know how many times I’ve had to stand there while some dickwad reamed me about the incorrect temperature of his steak…and I could say NOTHING!
Reading a room: From the second a server approaches your table they already got a read on you. I would even bet 💰 with your first few words we can guess what kind of tip you’re gonna leave us. Of course some people will always surprise you.
Memory: I worked at the Cheesecake Factory for 6 yrs. Their menu is 40pgs…40! 🎤🫳
People skills: Most of us can talk to anyone, about anything for HOURS. This is most true with bartenders.
Math skills: I am a freaking mathematician now, especially with percentages.
Money mgmt.: Ehhh this could go either way. 😂 Giving large sums of cash to someone as their income is dangerous. Especially if you’re newly 21 & all your friends work with you. Honestly, if Champs wasn’t in the same mall as the Cheesecake Factory, I’d be a freaking millionaire right now.
Kindness: Yes, I do consider kindness a skill. In my opinion, the ability to be truly kind & empathetic to everyone you meet requires exposure to all walks of life. Restaurant staff are some of the most diverse teams of any industry. On top of that you are constantly dealing with the public. You really do hear and see it all and it humbles you.
Truth is, I was better at EVERY single “real job” I had after being server, because I was a server. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t use one, or all of the skills on that list. I cherish every second that I served tables. Not only because it enriched me as a person but because it gave me some of the best friends I could ever ask for. ❤️ Nothing is better than battle-tested friendships. #4eva!
So, the next time your kids, family, or friends come to a crossroads about what they want to do next, no matter what age they are, tell them to wait tables. Trust me. 😉
