My First Job in the Restaurant Industry.
As I neared the end of my college journey, the monotony of my remote marketing job at a hedge fund began to weigh heavily. Don't get me wrong, the work itself was engaging, and the opportunity to interact with seasoned professionals was invaluable. However, the constant cycle of Zoom meetings and virtual client interactions left me yearning for something more exhilarating – a chance to step out from behind the screen and immerse myself in the world.
While the convenience of remote work was undeniable, it lacked the richness and spontaneity of face-to-face interactions. I craved the energy that comes from being physically present, the subtle nuances of body language, and the connections that can only happen when people share the same space. With a growing restlessness, I found myself searching for an opportunity that would not only challenge me but also provide a refreshing change of pace. Little did I know that my quest for excitement would lead me down an unexpected path – one that would take me straight into the heart of the restaurant industry.
So I set out one day with a stack of resumes and ran around the city blocks to every restaurant and bar I could find to hand the manager my information. 3 neighborhoods, and 8 hours later I was out of resumes but I had one more spot to stop into. It was a new restaurant that had opened that summer and I had visited once with my friends the week prior. That bar was none other than Little Rebel on 2nd Ave between 13th and 14th St. During that meal I explicitly said how fun it looks to work at a restaurant like this. I walk in and ask the bartender if the managers or owners were in and if they were looking to hire. The owner comes in and immediately says “do you have a resume”. I had just ran out of them so I told him I would be back in 5 minutes with it. I bolted to the nearest UPS store printed my resume and was back in their doors huffing and puffing like a mad man. The next week I had an interview and I started my job at Little Rebel.
The owners of Little Rebel took a chance on me as I had no prior experience, so when I told them I want to bartend they said “haha ya no you’re a barback for now”. My goal was to be a bartender but as I soon learned, it was a lot harder than it looked. My job was to bus tables, refill ice wells, replace empty bottles behind the bar and carry a bunch of heavy shit up and down stairs all night. It was grueling work but the energy of working in a NYC restaurant was incomparable to anything I’ve ever felt. Over time I started learning the ins and outs of running a restaurant which the owners of Little Rebel did so gracefully. Their were hard moments and rough nights but they were pulling as much, if not more, weight as the whole crew. Watching them work next to us was an inspiration and gave me a new understanding of how hard it is to make it in the industry.
Seeing the work ethic in the owners of little rebel, I knew i wanted to work along side of people like that. And I also needed to make more money! I’ve always had my real estate license and have worked in real estate in the past so I decided to dive into the world of retail leasing with a focus on restaurants and bars. The owners and managers in the restaurant industry are some of the most hard working, detail oriented people and I wanted to be surrounded by that. So that’s how I got to where I am today.
