Hear Head Waiter João talk about his career journey and how he is pursuing his dream of becoming a Food & Beverage Manager in the future.
What makes you proud of working at Strawberry?
First of all, Strawberry is a very exciting and large hotel company. I feel very aligned with what the hotel does in terms of identity, service and product. I very much enjoy the fact that I have freedom to do my job, that my opinion counts when decisions are made and that I add a personal touch when dealing with guests. I enjoy the opportunity to learn and develop myself as well as work with different products and colleagues from all backgrounds.The company cares a lot about the employees and that is something that’s very important to me.
Are you proud of any particular achievements during the past year?
I had to come out of my comfort zone and learn how to work as a bartender on top of my usual work in the restaurant. This has definitely been a challenge but something that I very much enjoy. I learned a lot of things that will 100% help me in my objective of becoming a Food & Beverage Manager in the near future. Ultimately, it led to me being promoted from Waiter to Head Waiter a few months ago.
During Covid, our team and offerings changed a lot. Sometimes it was difficult to keep motivation and standards high but together as a team we managed to come out stronger on the other side and take a lot of learnings with us, which will make the operation more efficient and prepared for the future.