Ryan Hopkins | May 6, 2024
I am a 30 year old gay man who is driven and a hard working individual who loves challenges. I am very passionate about my job and know how to get it done. I would describe myself as a lover of life and all things lively. I am a positive person and love being surrounded by positive people. I love God and try to go to church as much as I can even though it’s very challenging considering I only work afternoon shifts and knock off very late. I consider myself an ambivert! As much as I love going out and socializing which is part of my job, I also enjoy my alone time. Reading a book, listening to worship songs to start my day and watching all my favorite romance movies, because I am a sucker for romance. My job requires a lot of entertaining of guests and I love nothing more than entertaining, but that can be draining hence I’m always indoors on my off days.
What inspired you to go into the hospitality industry?
I have always loved the hospitality industry, and the funny part is I got into it with aspirations of being a chef. I love cooking and I wanted to make it a profession, little did I know I would end up as the front of house. I applied for a position as a chef and three days into training the sous- chef pulled me aside and said “since you love talking so much why don’t you go and assist at the bar” and that was it. I never looked back at the kitchen.
What course did you study and what are some of the challenges you came across leading up to the completion of your course?
I did a short course which was a guest service profession and the most recent one in the hospitality services. I had so many challenges with this course because I had a lot of work with no time, being employed full time and only getting a week for school with a pile of school work was a lot to juggle.
What is the biggest misconception about F & B attendants?
The biggest misconception in about F&B Attendants is that we are uneducated.
What do you love about being in the hospitality industry? What have your highlights been thus far?
What I love most about being in the hospitality industry is getting to meet different people from all over the world. My highlights are meeting big stars from overseas, oh! I also got to sit and talk with our first lady Dr Tshepo Motsepe such a lovely soul.
What would you add, change or make different within the industry?
I would change the treatment and culture of how hospitality employees are treated. The hospitality industry is considered an “entry level career” in at least the western culture. This means you get a lot of high demanding people saying atrocious and unacceptable things to employees and of course getting away with it because it’s just an “entry level job”
What is your biggest responsibility as an F&B attendant?
As an F&B Attendant my biggest responsibility is ensuring customer satisfaction. Making sure you leave a memorable experience.
Any aspiration of opening your own company in the future and what would you specialize in?
I really want to open my own events management company in a few years, because there’s nothing more beautiful than a smile on a clients face after seeing their event come to life.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in the hospitality industry?
That it is so much fun, hard work but you get to have fun while doing it.
A few tips as well would be:
1. Never take things personal, Ever!
2. Listen to the old ones they know best
3. Make the most of it.
