Blog
I’ve been talking about trauma and loss, so I want to talk about complaining.
We are experiencing a loss of freedom, connection and fear of economic fall during this pandemic. We are not used to this kind of prevalent, lengthy and collective grief in the air.
What hurts us even more is our mental tail chasing: the guilt and the shame of falling off the wagon, or not being productive enough. We are conditioned to use time for something we can show for it, the result we can see, count and measure.
The hospitality industry is historically in reaction mode. It is the slowest to adapt a new technology and mindset necessary to stay relevant and profitable in any economy. Mostly, the hospitality industry fights change and adamantly tries to keep the status quo. During this crisis I see the same mindset over and over again: blame, apathy and defensiveness.
Be productive, write that book, start that business, reinvent your business, do what you previously didn’t have time for, work out, take on a hobby, use this time wisely, change the world — they say.
While this can be a sage advice, it is a bit reckless and inapplicable for many of us.
Your business hasn't failed as a result of the crisis -- your business, while physically remaining open, had failed prior to the crisis.
She has been with me through times of my life when I’ve felt most volatile. She’s helped my walk through many uncertainties and helped me make some life-altering decisions. We rocked and plowed through a lot of shit together! Then I fired her. I had to.
The terms service and hospitality are often used interchangeably. Though interrelated, they are not one and the same. Service and hospitality are two separate aspects of business and if regarded and used this way, can fundamentally change the results you create.
Sprint finally realized: people don't stay on the phone for a damn survey! And, they decided, tricking people into it would be a worthy and profitable idea.
If you don’t trust yourself to show up fully in a certain situation or environment, you won’t feel confident in it. Lack of confidence is conditioned into you by years of mindless practice of not being your full and true self. By self protecting, plying small, hiding, pretending, performing, perfecting and comparing.
If you don’t trust yourself to show up fully in a certain situation or environment, you won’t feel confident in it. Lack of confidence is conditioned into you by years of mindless practice of not being your full and true self. By self protecting, plying small, hiding, pretending, performing, perfecting and comparing.
For many, restaurants are a transitional path for people on the way to “real” jobs or careers. Yet, this truth is a poor excuse for the industry’s notoriously high turnover. In reality, lack of employer support and diminished growth opportunities -- not the prospects of a “real job” -- are some of the biggest contributing factors to why most people leave the restaurant industry.
“They did not see the real beauty, yet again.”
The fan-created meme was shared by Miss Georgia Lara Yan on her Instagram story shortly after Miss Philippines Catriona Gray was crowned as Miss Universe 2018.
In an interview weeks before the Miss Universe competition, Lara Yan also voiced: “After having seen photos of other contestants, I will tell you honestly, out of 88 contestants I only liked ten, the rest of them I could not even rank”.
The truth is, many restaurants don't have pre-shift meetings, and some that do still don't have a solid system or strategy around how they do it. Many restaurant managers think of pre-shift meetings as a necessary evil. They make it boring and glum by merely talking about new specials, 86’d items, and pointing out the negatives, like wrong uniform or schedule issues.
Traditionally, experience or seniority would dictate who was “next in line” for a promotion. Those lines no longer exist today, at least not in the most progressive, innovative organizations or successful restaurants. In today's world, experience alone is no longer enough, and seniority is a word used only by the most entitled of employees.
Unlike ever before, everything that happens in a restaurant, good and bad, is magnified through social media and online reviews. If a restaurant ever drops the ball, the establishment will be denounced very publicly. We live in an era where one tweet can potentially lead to a losing month of business.
Restaurants are unique because they combine every element of business under one roof: product creation, distribution, service, team development, strategy, marketing, operations, finance, tactical execution and more. Managing a business with all of these elements in one place is an opportunity you shouldn't miss.
The economy and competition have little to nothing to do with the success or failure of a business. Strategic and operational errors are only symptoms of a deeper issue. The key difference-maker in businesses is the psychology of the business owner.
Many restaurant employees I’ve worked with wanted to become managers. They all had similar reasons for it: a bigger paycheck; a desire for authority and recognition; a more stable schedule. But most of them also didn’t understand what it means to be a restaurant manager.
I was once an overworked, irritated, greasy-food eating, no-life having, moody and perpetually sleep-deprived restaurant manager. I was definitely burning my candle at both ends. I’d spend 11 to 12 hours at work, plus two hours driving both ways. My off days would evaporate into catching up on sleep, self-care and errands.
If you work in a restaurant in hopes of someday becoming a business owner yourself (whether of a restaurant or not), here are 8 ways you can take full advantage of your opportunities as a restaurant employee and cash in on your dreams sooner.
Between wearing many hats, the pressure to wear them all well, and juggling what can seem like a thousand daily tasks, restaurant management is survival of the fittest. It’s a job where shifts notoriously last 10-14 hours (sometimes longer), which can be taxing on the body and overwhelming on the mind.
Everyone's a coach now! My Instagram feed doesn’t lie. Coaches for this, and coaches for that. They are everywhere! Health coaches, life coaches, business coaches, fitness coaches, relationship coaches, wealth coaches. And I love this one: lifestyle coaches, e.i. undercover network marketers.
3 - Created a capsule closet. I sold and donated my oversized closet full of designer brands - even the red bottoms. I only keep 20-30 items at all times. This saves me precious time, a ton of money and ridiculous amounts of effort to put an outfit together. Slaying has never been easier!
With anything I do, say or write, I am not looking for people to agree with me. If anything, I'm looking for people who challenge my ideas. It kicks me into a higher gear of thinking; ideas are born. I get excited that I got them thinking and I get more to write about. This article is born from that.
Zaza Pachulia career stats may not blow your mind. He’s averaged 7.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game during his 13 year NBA career. A casual NBA fan might not even know his name. This fan may also say Zaza is not NBA All-Star Game material.
Khaled’s social media celebrity has outpaced his music fame. Besides his aphorisms, Khaled’s I don’t know to laugh-at or laugh-with renewable content and rescuing the key emoji from a complete ambiguity, Khaled ‘s influence on American society is palpable. The key question is, what kind of influence?
When the hostess finally looked at us, she asked the worst question any service professional can ask. "Can I help you?” She followed it up with a raised eyebrow. My cynical side wanted to come out say, “Well, I don’t know, can you?”
Have you ever had a conversation with someone who just wouldn’t stop talking? He hardly took any interest in you, just kept going on and on about themselves, and whatever interested him? Maybe you managed to break away, but you left completely drained.
I thought my business depended on how elaborate and prestigious my business cards looked and felt. I even considered ordering metal cards, for $8 a pop! I spent a whole month looking for the right printer and the right design for brass finish engraved cards that could have blinded someone from 100 feet away. I don’t know what stopped me.
Telling people to stop their biases often has the opposite result. Helping people notice their biases and blind spots helps them reflect and make a deliberate choice about their thoughts and behaviours towards others.