People Coordinator/Recruiter at Boka Restaurant Group, Owner/Baker of Santooch! Home Bakery

Before I entered the hospitality industry, I was a professional dancer for many years. The first choreographer I ever worked with (I was 5 years old at the time) would always say we had to know every count and all the choreography before we could goof around. I, being the social butterfly that I am, programmed myself to learn the steps as quickly as possible just so I could play with my friends. That advice has stuck with me my entire life — it helped me pick up choreo quickly as a dancer; memorize menus, ingredients, allergies, etc. as a server; and be reliable and proficient as a People Coordinator and Recruiter. My work is a reflection of me, and I can't enjoy myself unless I know the work I'm putting out is of high quality. Plus, I just wanna play.

To maintain work-life balance, I have a ritual of closing my computer and organizing my desk in a specific way at the end of every workday to signal that it's over and to turn off that part of my brain (sometimes easier said than done!). I make sure I spend a lot of time with family and friends. I travel a lot and go on vacation. And I drink Costco wine and try all the free samples while shopping for the wine.

The skills that are most important to possess are the ones you cannot teach. We can train anyone to use a POS system, take an order, plate a dish, or make a drink. But warmth? Genuine hospitality? Empathy? Those are innate.

I grew up in a large Italian family where, every Sunday, we went to Nana's house for spaghetti and gravy (red sauce). Now, on Sundays, I make some sort of pasta dish for my partner and me as a way to de-stress by way of tradition. It really grounds me.

In this industry, I find inspiration in so many places: my colleagues directly around me, the back of house staff that works harmoniously to put a beautiful dish on a plate, the front of house staff that works harmoniously to deliver that plate to a table, the look of inquisitive students that are seeing our spaces for the first time on their field trip, the excited email I receive from someone who came to me looking for a job and now has one at BRG, an announcement that the group is expanding — Boka Restaurant Group and the Chicago food scene in general have inspiration pulsing through their veins; it's truly electrifying.

I read New York Times Cooking, obviously. I love a new recipe and reading the reviews... especially the bad ones.