Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - September/October 2022 - 30

WHEN TO WALK AWAY
tasks were passed on to me. Because
of this, I became the defacto manager,
and because my ego was slowly
building itself back from the brink of
destruction I accepted the role.
For a couple months, I was fooled into
thinking that I had everything under
control. This was until we neared our
opening. Everything was amplified by
about a thousand and the momentum
just carried me along. Before realizing
what was happening, I was working
100 hour weeks. I had no idea of how
sick I was until our final night of
the soft open, heading directly into
our grand opening. Because I hadn't
developed a true manager's voice
by this point, I just went along with
anything the owner wanted. I wanted
a one-day break between our soft open
and grand opening and he thought
otherwise. By the time we closed on
the eve of our grand opening, we
had exhausted all of our prep. This
forced me to work through the night,
along with a couple of cooks, to get as
much prep done as possible, prior to
our 7 a.m. opening. I managed about
30 minutes of rest in my car, and by
the time we opened, I was already up
for 24 hours, and then worked until
midnight that evening.
Our grand opening, barring a couple
hiccups, was a great success; however, I
was mentally and physically destroyed,
sleeping for two days straight
following this marathon opening
extravaganza. I became so sick it was
difficult to lift my arm to drink some
water. This was the first time I had to
walk away from my career, and walk
away I did.
WALKING AWAY FOR THE
FIRST TIME
Now, I had left the culinary world once
before, but this was entirely different.
The first time around I left for the
wrong reason: money. This time I
had thoroughly burned myself out in
grand fashion. I chased a title and an
idea, without any thought to personal
readiness. I was 100 percent sure that
I'd never step foot in a commercial
kitchen again and did exactly what I
did the last time I left-ran back into
the arms of the automotive dealership
world. This time, I managed a full year
and a half before my broken spirit
healed itself enough to seek out the
culinary world again.
Something was different this time
around and I had a much clearer
vision of what I wanted out of this
life. I had a laser focus on staying in
30 NUTRITION & F OOD SER VICE EDGE | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022
and furthering my career in health
care. So, once again, I journeyed
back into health care-this time as a
sous chef, with the mindset of being
promoted to executive chef within
the year. I plotted out every step of
that ascension and 10 months later
was promoted to executive chef, seven
months after that I was promoted to
a director of dining position, and so
it went for another six years. Finally,
I had found success. My most recent
position as a director of dining was
my most fulfilling career experience
and one that I will cherish forever.
I'd like to say that I lived happily ever
after, but that is not the case. Enter
COVID-19.
In 2019 I had landed an excellent job,
as a director of food and nutrition at
a long-term care community. It was
a wonderful fit and I was truly happy
at this place. Less than four months
later, COVID-19 reared its ugly head.
Like all long-term care communities
at the time, we shut down most of
our facility and worked with a bare
minimum of services. There were
many challenges to deal with, such as
financial adjustments, labor issues,
engagement for the residents and
staff, and supply chain concerns.
While these challenges were difficult,
Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - September/October 2022

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