Hospitality Expert Lesley Butler

I worked the counter at Sizzler’s taking people’s orders. I was 18 years old. It was around the corner from where I lived, so I knew I could get there by walking or getting dropped off. My sister had worked there, and it sounded like a fun job. They menu-tested you, and only then could you actually work the counter and take people’s orders. [Later I was a cashier and then] became a server who brought out food from the kitchen, and just really had fun with it. Around the time when I got the job, I also declared my major as hospitality at Cal Poly Pomona. So I was able to take the theoretical knowledge I was learning and apply it to my job in real-time.

Cal Poly Pomona came to my high school. My sister previously worked at Sizzler’s. I thought that looked like fun, and Cal Poly had that major? I’m going to pick it. I had no clue what was going on. I picked it, and then I got [my own job at Sizzler’s], and then I went to school, and it just complimented each other the entire way.

My parents. They started very young together and have been together since. The perseverance it took for two people with high school education to support their family in a way that allowed us to live in a safe space? They’re my heroes. They not only helped me to get to where I am today, but I have three other siblings that are also doing quite well and are productive citizens, and they have kids, and those kids are productive. [My parents] made all of this happen.

You have to manage cost; if you don’t, you will be out of business. cost won’t matter if you don’t take care of guests and don’t take care of your team members. If you give great customer service, you provide delicious food or whatever service you’re providing in hospitality, and you’re taking care of the people who are providing that experience for the guest? That’s a win-win. That’s going to generate repeat guests. That’s going to generate those guests telling your place or their experience to other people and that will draw more people in. The sales are going to come. When the sales come, the costs can be managed.

I exercise. That sounds really cliche, but it’s helped me tremendously. This morning, I got up at 4:30 in the morning, and I was at the gym by 5:10. I worked out for an hour and 15, even though I knew I had a long day today. I felt like I needed to do that to energize me and allow me the time to think about what the day would look like. I also watch a little TV when I can, and cook— I like to make desserts, southern desserts that I grew up seeing my grandmother and my mom make.

You’ll typically find me in a restaurant somewhere. I love going to eat, I love supporting our industry, I love trying new places. If they are a dud, then I’ll never go back. But when I find the restaurant that’s doing things the correct way, then you’re going to find me in the restaurant, just having a good Saturday.

Make sure it’s your passion. [Guests are] not your family, not your friends. They are strangers. You have to serve with such goodwill and openness. If it’s not in you to care about other people’s well-being, this aspect of hospitality is probably not for you. That’s not to say there aren’t other positions; there are many other positions in hospitality that aren’t just customer-facing or with a guest. So I might say you might consider marketing, technology, finance, or back-office operations.

I had a guest speaker in one of my classes yesterday. He’s a business owner in Redlands. One thing he mentioned was how he supports the community where he does business at. Not only supporting big-name organizations but organizations where you can see results immediately. He even pays his employees to spend time doing good for the community. That inspired me. I don’t know when or how, but I know I need to do more to give back to the community that I serve.