i once was ashamed of my hospitality experience
a lesson in humility and being honest with myself.
As the title suggests, I used to be ashamed of all the work I’ve done in hospitality. Allow me to explain…
Prior to a few years ago, I had always viewed working in hospitality as a temporary fix - something to get you by until you got a “real” job. You know, one with a Monday-Friday 9-5 schedule, a 401k, and health insurance blah blah blah.
I never viewed hospitality/food & beverage as the landing spot for my desired career. For some reason, I thought that I was destined to work in an office, pouring over spreadsheets, and sitting in important meetings. The longer I spent in hospitality, the more frustrated I’d become with being there. I viewed the work as beneath me. I mean, c’mon, I had a Master’s Degree.
I couldn’t have been more wrong about hospitality, the experiences that I’ve been afforded, and the career path that I’m molding.
I tried the startup thing back in 2021 when startups were booming. I worked for two of them and both experiences left me longing for the interactions with people that I had in wine retail and on the airplane as a flight attendant. Turns out the spreadsheets and endless meetings and corporate jargon really wore me down. Never again do I want someone to tell me to sync with them when I have the bandwidth so that we can unpack and circle back on moving the needle. 🤢 I felt like I was never working on or solving real problems.
I was laid off from my last startup role and I was at a crossroads - either continue to pursue Customer Success Manager roles and get paid really well for mind-numbing work OR go full-time into wine and see where it takes me.
I couldn’t be happier that I chose the latter. Some of the sharpest and most intuitive and innovative people I know work in hospitality. I am so proud to be a part of this industry.
I say all of this to say - don’t knock your experience. We learn something from every job we have. And you just might find that you’ve already landed where you needed to land.
oh yeah, d2
I think it went well. I think I did enough to pass. It was a quick 30 hr trip to DC, so didn’t really do much while we were there (except for have an outstanding meal and experience at Fiola Mare - this place is a must visit!). Now onto D5 (fortified wines) and D6 (independent research paper on regenerative viticulture)!
here’s to humility and accidentally discovering your passion,
- j
Let’s do 4 days in DC next time... hehe
Shout out to humility and self discovery! I’ve realized that as we evolve so do our values. You’re in such an amazing space to be in a position to 1. Know what you love and 2. Pursue that love. I envy you.