Staff Blog | Why Hospitality?
As I was working at the game against Scunthorpe on Tuesday, a regular supporter approached me and said “Vicki I have seen you literally grow up from a shy young waitress into the confident Manager you are today, what made you want a career in hospitality?”
My reply, I have been brought up in a family that has always worked hard, my Dad was a Head Chef when I was a child and I remember the long hours he used to put in to provide for our family. I am not work shy and never have been because of the way I was brought up. When I reached high school I knew straight away that I wanted to work in the Hospitality Industry and this was the first job that I applied for.
Over the last couple of days this has made me think about my chosen career, Did I follow the right path? Do I enjoy my job? Has it all been worth it? Yes, yes and yes are the answers to those questions.
I started my job here as a Silver Service Waitress in the summer of 1996 being my first season and now as I am coming up to completing my 20th Seasonn I am now the Conference and Events Operations Maager. I definitely took the right path when choosing hospitality as a career, I enjoy the buzz of a busy day with long hours, I am glad that the first job that I ever applied for took me on the following day, because this is where I have grown and learnt my trade.
Although I have worked under different managers in the C&E department and learnt a lot from them, I feel that I have taken qualities from all of them to develop Into the Manager that I wanted to be and I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today without the constant support from the Chairman and Karen Bonser.
As you can imagine after working here so long I have seen the highs and the lows, promotions and relegations, football managers and players alike come and go from one season to the next. I have enjoyed every moment and hope to continue to enjoy it here for a very long time yet!
What is my favourite part of the job? Seeing people enjoy themselves at events here that we have put together, Matchdays the way it brings people together, Conferences meeting people from all over the country holding important away days here because of what we do and the way we do it, Cabarets and Party Nights the enjoyment people get from a good night out,
Sporting Dinners people get to meet their idols and listen to stories of their careers, Christmas the busiest time for hospitality the time that completely tires you out but the buzz of serving over 6000 people at party nights and dinners alone in one month is just brilliant! Wedding season being trusted to organise and help people on their most important day as a couple being there on their wedding day to see their whole family celebrate is job satisfaction.
One of my most fond memories is and always will be, that I was part of the team that helped towards making 13th June 2015 a very memorable date for the club when Sir Elton John took to the stage here at Walsall FC who would have thought it?
As the manager of the team behind the team, I feel that I too have to pick my best players to ensure a successful day at the Banks’s, we are proud to provide on the job training for our hospitality staff, we work very hard to keep up our award winning standards the management team and I feel a sense of worth when we can pass on our knowledge, skills and expertise.
So that is why I chose Hospitality, the hours are long, the work is hard, but the job satisfaction is top of the league!
