Concord, NC, is home to a second-generation lodge that opened in 2009. In 2022, a series of events occurred, resulting in seven key positions vacant, including the F&B Director, Executive Chef, Purchaser, Restaurant Manager, Outlet Manager, and two Supervisors. The interim F&B Director was simultaneously the Director of Housekeeping with no background in F&B (she was amazing, though!). I don’t know of any human who could run two departments simultaneously, especially when both were in a state of crisis.

I was asked to support the restaurant operations, but the requirements changed when I arrived. The F&B leadership team was exhausted, and employee morale was brutally low throughout the department, resulting in the company's lowest NPS scores in F&B.

I spent nine weeks on-site running the department during the summer of 2022. My time was spent reestablishing brand standards and applying best practices, from HR to health code to service to business management, and doing my best to support and uplift a weathered team. We stopped the exodus of staff, skilled up existing team members, brought on some new staff, and ultimately significantly improved NPS scores and revenue.