I feel like before I became a mom, I was working on my personal and professional resume. Gaining skills sets, working on building strengths and having life experiences to make me a more well-rounded individual. One professional avenue I can attribute these experiences to is the service industry. Unbeknownst to me, I would start working in the restaurant industry at the age of 17, and would continue in the service industry for the next 20 years in different capacities.
At the time, I thought I was getting a summer only job hosting before college started for me. Needless to say, I gained a great deal of skills during this time period. With the skills I learned and experiences I had, I can confidently say they have helped me be a better mom. How’s that you ask?
Let me first say, I will always encourage EVERYONE to work at least once when you’re young for a while in the service industry.
It gives you a massive amount of not only knowledge of the industry but also gratitude for the people in it every day. Most people, especially if you’ve never been in the industry, haven’t even considered how many people it takes to pull off a day or night of service. I’ve worked in several restaurants where the opening hour is 5 p.m. Do you think that means that’s when the staff shows up? No way, a massive amount of preparation from a lot of different people is expected.
This leads me to a point – preparation is key. Now, as a mom, a lot of what we do is moment by moment. We are reacting to something that is happening. We are raising a human being, not a robot, right? Therefore, that comes with a great deal of daily surprises. However, I have learned (which I’ll be honest has always been one of my hardest lessons) that if you can be proactive, it makes your day go much more smoothly (at least at times). Do you always have time to do it? No. But if you do, does it pay off? Yes, yes, it does! Simple things like making sure you have clothes laid out the night before, diapers in your diaper bag (if you’re still in that phase), do you need to order anything on Amazon, your grocery store, etc. Does that mean everything will run smoothly the next day? No, but it’ll help if you can.
Not only preparation for your kiddos but for yourself, which brings me to my next (similar) point – filling up your own cup so you have more to pour into others. You HAVE to find things that will fill up your tank so you are able to give to others or you will run out of gas… which happens often by the end of each day. We, as Moms and women, are capable of so much. Capable of loving so deeply and multitasking in order to take care of everybody else; I tell you we are superhero status level. I have never felt more like Wonder Woman herself than after giving birth! And never had I had more admiration for women!
We are tasked with a LOT and it’s a lot to balance our cups every day. Women with and without children, women working in or out of the home, we are simply amazing creatures. Just like preparing each night for restaurant service or new hotel guests physically and mentally, we can recover and prepare for our children in any way that helps. This could include getting enough rest, nourishing our bodies, connecting with our partners, doing something fun, relaxing in whatever way helps or, hopefully, all of the above!
In the service industry, you learn to work at the speed of lightning.
You learn what’s important, how fast you need to do it and you get so much done if you are managing your time. Translate that to being a mom: you are used to the speed at times, you are just learning a new job day by day. My level of time management, multitasking ability and making quick decisions when needed I learned in that business and serves me very well today.
As moms, all of our education and experience is poured into our role every day. Being in an industry where the focus is hospitality and customer service has definitely helped when my toddler is having a meltdown in the middle of the grocery store (again). I couldn’t be happier with my decision to have been in it for as long as I was or the gift of my son every day.
