Hello!
My name is Carrie-Anne but I generally get called Carrie. Actually I actually either get called Cug, nickname from my stepson Bayley, he is three, or Caz, which has been my nickname since forever. I am currently 25 years old. I live in Western Australia. My boyfriend Steven is a mature age apprentice chef, he qualifies in October.
I have been working in hospitality since 2003, the year after I graduated high school. That brings me up to eight years. I spent three years at my first job, a fine dining restaurant, working my way up from tiny trainee to kick arse supervisor. I got the best start to my hospitality career there. Excellent training under some great managers, dealt with some insane chefs and met amazing people, two of which who have become and always will remain my very best friends. Nicole and Jarryd are off gallivanting around the world, something that hospitality allows you to do easily.
I moved on to another fine dining restaurant and met my favourite chefs I have ever and I think will ever work with. I learnt a lot about food and my respect for chefs grew so much. It is funny how some sub/below par chefs can act like they are the centre of the universe whilst wonderfully talented chefs can be so down to Earth and cool. After two years I wanted a change of pace and left.
I started working in a brewery. Complete change. It was ok for a little while. Three managers later and seeing no glimpse of anything improving I finally left. Quite dramatically actually and to be honest it wasn’t the most professional thing I had ever done but I don’t think professionalism was all that high on their values list. At the brewery I learnt a valuable lesson in how not to run a business. I met two of the worst chefs I have ever worked with and grew a heap stronger as a manager. I don’t regret staying there for two years. The lessons were worth it and I also made another best friend in Taryn and of course without the brewery I would never have met my Scottish buddy Steven McG who you will notice in the comments and he also helps me sub my posts when I have stayed up way past my bedtime I can’t read clearly. Thanks Steve!
I am currently working in a funky café and for the first time in my working life I do not have to work nights. Which is pretty amazing. I work with a great group of people. My bosses are rad. I can act like myself and Steven works in the kitchen there too. It can be painful sometimes working with your boyfriend but we generally deal with it pretty well.
I only work three days a week at the moment because I am also at university studying accounting and marketing. I do not want to be an accountant or a marketer but over the years I have learnt that to succeed in hospitality, it is a good idea to know how to look after your money and how to market your business.
I started this blog first and foremost to let out my frustrations over crazy customers and workmates and chefs but it is evolving. You may be able to tell by my earlier posts being a little angry and swear happy, but I don’t want to just come on here and complain because in actuality I love my job. I have such passion for the hospitality industry. I want the purpose of this now to be to share my stories and the knowledge I have accumulated over the last eight years and to hear your stories too. I want to share my angst but I also want to share my love.
So come and share this adventure with me
Love Carrie xoxo xxxx
