A Game of 21 Questions: Interview with Meriel Robbins, Summer 2024 Cohort Graduate
A Game of 21 Questions: Interview with Meriel Robbins, Summer 2024 Cohort Graduate
Hello Beach Rose Cafe Fam,
I recently participated in an interview with Meriel Robbins, who recently graduated from our Summer 2024 Cohort as one of our baking and pastry arts Johnson & Wales interns! She is an incredible human with an extraordinary eye for detail and passion for food. I thought I'd share with you her questions and my responses, as it sheds light onto how the cafe came to be, and some of how we think through questions of entrepreneurship in the food business. Enjoy!
A Game of 21 Questions:
Interview with Meriel Robbins, Summer 2024 Cohort Graduate
1. When did you realize that you had a passion for owning a business in the food and beverage industry? What drew you specifically to open a cafe?
In the wake of covid, I meditated a lot on what mattered to me most, to my heart. I had exited law school and was feeling like corporate lawyer life might not be my life's path. What I learned was that I deeply wanted to be accessible to family in a day-to-day way and to start one of my own and settle down. Following that feeling, I moved back to Rhode Island, bought a house in Richmond, RI, got married to Chef Dan and had beautiful baby Peter. Talking with my mum often, she had the idea for a little seasonal shrimp shack in Matunuck, which morphed into the Beach Rose Cafe once we all collaborated. Primarily because, I'm a big coffee girl and believe that's what will bring people in. Chef Dan had the flair for food and the daily things people would want, like breakfast and lunch sandwiches. We all believe food is the best way to bring together family and community and we all wanted to humbly devote ourselves to feeding our neighbors and visitors that come to enjoy the area.
3. At what point did you decide you had enough experience and were ready to open your own business? There was no deciding point necessarily, and I don't think one is ever truly "ready" because we never know what we don't know. As you navigate opening your own business, through the administrative, legal, technical, buildout, menu development through to finally opening your doors and responding to customers and adapting to your business environment, there is always more to learn. However, I did have a profound understanding of myself: my innate personality to work for myself, to lead a team, manage standards, my competence with paperwork, communication and endurance work ethic. These qualities I believe will one day make me a great business owner and it takes practice to get there ... so why not start now? Opportunities don't always stick around, so when the momentum to pursue this came, I chased it.
4. What makes you an effective food service manager? I think my above answer to #3 touched on this but I believe it's my sincere dedication to our internal motto, Kind, Clean & Delicious. One must treat others, food and our environment with respect, kindness and due diligence. If you have an eye for detail from the back of house to the front of house then all things will be tended to like a garden - from the seeds, the plant, the weeds that crop up, the weather. It all plays a role and one must care deeply about these factors.
5. What's your secret that helped you get where you are today? Work hard and don't give up. Learn to ask yourself and answer honestly simple but tough questions - What do I want in this life? What do I want my life experience to be? What life flow do I want? It was tough to acknowledge that I didn't actually want to be a 90 hr/week IP lawyer traveling around making lots of money. I wanted a family and to control my destiny and offer something tangibly real to my community. That said, I knew I would always be willing to work hard. Working hard always means somewhere there is sacrifice. For me, I am most dedicated to family and my business. There are other pursuits and avenues that will have to wait, and perhaps until another life. I am honest with myself in my desires, and so feel peace with my decisions. Know thyself is the secret.
6. Do you take any continuing education courses or attend any seminars that are industry related? How often? Continuing one's education is important, and this can be done in many ways. With food, simply going to other food establishments with an open eye and attention to detail can give you so much insight. That said, I did finish the Goldman Sachs 10KSB program which helped me manage and measure my business in a more serious way. I will continue to keep an eye out for opportunities to learn more, perhaps staging somewhere for a few weeks, attending conferences or taking management, business or legal courses.
7. Is there a bakeshop or management skill that you learned in your career that you would advise a young student to practice? I think the most important part of this question is the practice part. Whatever opportunities you get, make sure you get the opportunity to practice those skills, and not just one-time exposures. Practice is an art and endurance sport in which consistency is the biggest factor. One must show up day after day, month after month and then through time reap the rewards of what that dedication earns. But no one skill particularly must be practiced. Every skill will be wind beneath your wings at some point as long as you've put in the time.
8. What is something you have recently learned that might have surprised you? I've heard it many many times, but have not felt or practiced it as well as I could have. One must work smarter, not necessarily harder. Empower your teams, and prioritize flow. As Bruce Lee has said, be like water my friend.
9. Where do you seek your motivation or where does it come from? As stated in questions above, my motivation comes from understanding my highest internal values. My values are family and doing work I believe is tangibly real and offers something sincere to the community. Feeding people is ancient and to participate in work like this is deeply satisfying. My ability to be close with my family also is highly motivating and inspires me to work hard, and grow to be better.
10. How do you motivate your employees and keep your employees satisfied? Proper pay, respect and trying to offer the work opportunities internally that employees are passionate about. Some semesters it is easier than others to align tasks with interests. Sometimes employees don't want more money, but more time. Understanding your employees values is very important to keeping satisfaction. We sometimes hit this nail on the head, and sometimes miss the mark. It's an art and communication is key.
11. How do you remain a strong, effective leader while staying fair and keeping the respect of all of your employees? One must have clear rules and values. When your values include respect, it is easy to be strong because respect requires maintaining boundaries. Everyone feels more free to be themselves when they know what is expected of them, their teammates, and when knowing that we will be treated properly by our leaders and our co-workers.
12. What do you look for when hiring an employee, education, experience, and attitude? Mostly attitude, and since we pool primarily from Johnson & Wales we mostly know there will be a good foundational knowledge of food, baking and generally a desire to be there. Attitudes are hard to change, since that involves a person's foundational personality. Experience - I can offer that through training and practice. I generally do not care at all about one's formal education, though it provides good insight.
13. How do you think training days help new employees? Setting standards on all fronts from the handbook, prep, sanitation, menu standards, opening and closing - these days are critical to get everyone on the same page and fast.
15. How do you manage high stress situations? Trust your training. If your training is good and your systems are strong, you must rely on that and do things in order and according to the values established. If you've been practicing and showing up day after day, when the rush or stress hits, your instinct and training will guide you through the challenge. Deep breaths and stay present.
16. How do you handle confrontation most effectively? Straightforwardly and with no delay. This can be abrupt at times, but anything left to simmer creates energetic problems throughout a team. Bring issues to the light with professionalism. This is a challenging aspect to managing teams and customers and is an art. Through practice and exposure, we are getting better and continue to dial it in. Patience and a level head is key.
17. What is the most important skill one has to have to succeed in this profession? Endurance. This industry is a marathon and not a sprint.
18. What is the hardest thing about owning a cafe? Keeping all of the plates spinning well. Everything from the admin, front of house to back of house requires constant attention to detail that must be maintained and can never let up. Once one stops to care about the details, quality crashes and that can lead to business ruin. One must continue to care, and be honest and authentic in that care.
19. What is your greatest joy in being in this profession? As stated above, being near family and serving the community food tickles an ancient and old tradition that is deeply satisfying.
20. Do you incorporate sustainable practices into your business? Saving food waste and giving to chickens, trying to source recyclable containers primarily. Managing food orders and minimizing waste is key for any food business.
21. How does change in seasons play into your business strategy? This is huge. In summer, the menu is more limited and it's all about efficiency. How many bagels per day can we sell? How many lunch sandwiches? Keeping up with demand and how many tickets per hour and how to increase the value of the average ticket? In off seasons, it's about delivering more value to the local customers. We offer beautiful seasonal and harvest specials, limit our days that we are open to create hype and intrigue and work to diversify our bakery cases so people want to grab a bit of everything. We're still working on this, but every year it improves. One must know thy customer.
Paula DiLullo
Co-Owner, The Beach Rose Cafe