I desire a career built on people & the why behind the who

My why is about approaching challenges with an empathic eye, understanding what drives decisions and how to elevate ideas that influence and impact.

I have always said I had a Master’s Degree in People. Working in the hospitality industry for most of my professional life has allowed me to observe human behaviour at ground level. And boy, are people interesting. I would play a game with my colleagues to see who could accurately guess what a customer would order, where they would sit and even how long they would stay.

I got very good at the game.

You see, it was all about having a deep understanding of what the restaurant had to offer, observing the actions of the hundreds of people that came to experience the offerings and working hard to improve on the things we kept hearing they didn’t enjoy.

I understood that while I was working feverishly to make sure we had enough napkins, the salt shakers were filled and the tables were properly set up, all of these little details, added up, were creating a seamless, unique and memorable experience for the people that chose to walk in the doors and dine with us.

The game I was playing at work was preparing me for a career in Strategy. It was a way for me to find a way into the minds of our consumers, understand their experiences and create ways for that experience to be enhanced.

And now, as I complete my studies as a Creative Strategy student at Miami Ad School, I see how important it is to truly understand consumers and the value of putting myself in their shoes. I have learned more strategic and effective ways to research, understand and speak to different groups of people. I have tested, tried and challenged my own ideas in order to arrive at the best possible outcome for the person I am trying to communicate with.

I am ready to take the game I played as a way to pass time at my restaurant gig into a career built around creating memorable experiences with a broader audience. I look forward to collaborating with diverse, open-minded and forward-thinking team members to enhance these consumer experiences and interactions, now, and far into the future.