This is something that I learned in the hospitality industry and  I will carry for life. SERVICE + SIGNIFICANCE = SUCCESS. We are all connected and constantly changing each other’s life. When we offer our best to people, we all get back ten thousand times more. Through my experience, I learned that WE SHOULD ALWAYS DO THE RIGHT THING. BE EXCELLENT! People notice. Think of how you notice. You go to the corner Deli, someone gives you extra napkins and some sauce… you notice. You want to go back to that person because even in that corner Deli, excellence shows itself. Be excellent! Let excellence become your brand. Hold your standards high when working in the bar. Serve people how you would like to be served and success will follow you.

I have always seen lots of my peers being lazy behind the bar. They don’t follow the cocktails recipes if they are busy, don’t care about the drink presentation, turn the bar into a mess with bottles all over the place, don’t engage with people the way they should, and at the end, they complain about the tips they receive and the types of customers they attract. The bar is a stage. Everyone watches you. It should always be organized. Once you take a bottle out of its place, you should put back right after using it. The organization of the bar makes a bartender even faster, more efficient. People want to stay longer. They spend more money, and at the end you make more tips.

Every single internship opportunity (I am a business student) I had came from the bar. And that mostly happened because people would see in me work/personal ethics they admired, a constant search for excellence, providing them a great experience, just like I would have liked to experience.