Director of Operations at Frankies Spuntino Group

When hiring for Office & Admin roles, you have candidates with different industry backgrounds. I always ask: “Is this person used to a dynamic environment?” Even the most process-driven candidates (who I love) need to understand the flexibility that comes with a business that creates its products every day. What I look for the most are candidates who understand that “we’re in this together," even for office positions, we’re working to support the performance of those on the frontline.

Opening a 300-seat fine-dining restaurant in Midtown New York and making it a success was one of my biggest accomplishments in life. Leading a team of talented chefs and managers, and designing all the systems and processes along with a team of extremely dedicated office professionals was an experience that I could never accomplish alone.

I’ve learned not to use to-do lists, but to manage my time by creating daily activity tables in Excel of the subjects that I need to tackle. For example, from 9-10am I’ll work on P&L review, from 10-10:30 I’ll respond to emails, from 10:30-12 (noon) I’ll work on marketing initiatives, and so on. That way I’m not just passively solving problems, but I’m putting energy and effort into proactively avoiding future issues. To-do lists are endless and can often result in a feeling of never accomplishing anything. I like to dedicate a significant amount of time to the subjects that I’m responsible for so I can connect with the team and give my mind a creative space to think outside-of-the box for solutions.