Over the years, I have worked a variety of jobs. I have worked in a dry cleaner’s store, a family-owned grocery store (not my family), as a Receptionist and as an Office Manager for both small companies as well as large, global organizations.
I’m happy with where I am now in my career,
but I can honestly say that I have learned the most valuable life and career
lessons while working in clubs. I've held positions of waitress, shooter
girl, and bartender over the years in many different establishments.
The lessons learned come from all of them
however, and can be applied to your life no matter what career path you have
chosen or plan on choosing.
1. Be confident: In the
bar I would have to go up to groups of people, men and women, and introduce
myself and ensure the customers were having a good time. I would have to break the ice, and if I were
awkward the customers would be able to tell. They then wouldn't be having a
good time and would leave; which meant less money in my pocket at
the end of the night. I didn't like that
idea, so I would push my nerves aside and start the party! For someone who has always had terrible self-confidence
and has been incredibly shy around new people, this was not the easiest thing
to do! I was constantly worrying that
other people were judging me, and I still have this terrible trait to this day (albeit
it’s not as bad as before!). Exude
confidence. People
really aren't judging you as much as you think they are. If they are,
screw them – you’re awesome and you know it.
2. If you fail it’s not
the end of the world: Have you ever tried carrying a tray of
drinks, in heels, in a busy club where you have to maneuver your way through
the crowd? No? Well, let me tell you: it is not easy. In the early day, I dropped many trays of
drinks. It was embarrassing and I felt terrible. I wanted to run to the
washroom and cry, but I couldn't. I had
to help tidy up, replace my orders, and get the drinks out to the customers as
quickly as I could. Brush off the fail. Mistakes happen - learn from them. I, for
example, learned to not try and walk past the drunk girl flailing her arms
around in an attempt to dance sexy.
3. Stay cool under
pressure: Being the only bartender behind the bar on a
random Tuesday night that should have been slow and ended up being a
packed house can be overwhelming. You
have 30+ people demanding drinks all at once. Where do you go first? Who do you serve? Why are they waving money at you? BREATHE. In life, a lot will be thrown at you. It could
very well happen that it all gets thrown at you at once. Stay cool as a cucumber. If the situation is stressful and you show
signs of stress it will only get worse, not better. Put a smile on your face and conquer each
task. Soon enough that mob of 30+ people will dwindle down, and you’ll have
some peace…before the next rush.
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Photo Credit: dcclubbing.com |
5. Be a team player: Working
in a bar is a team environment. There
are the bartenders, the bottle service/waitresses, the bus boys, the security, management,
the DJ’s, and the promoters, etc. We’re
all working together to make the customers night memorable,
and to make as much money as possible. Even
though the barback’s job was to stock the fridge, I would grab a case of beer
and stock the fridge for him if he was in a bind cleaning a mess. If my fellow bottle service girls were swamped
serving a high spending table, I would clean their section for them. When you
work with a team mentality, you and your team will prosper. As they always say, there is no “I” in “TEAM”.
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