Be Curious. No One Limits Your Career But You.

With summer jobs on the horizon, professionals recall the first jobs that launched their careers. Read more, then write your own #CareerLaunch post.

To me, an internship is where you learn the tricks of the trade and basics of any job or industry with a mentor leading the way. The first time that I can remember learning about real work was on my uncle’s fishing boat. It was barely an internship, but I learned the most valuable lessons that have guided me throughout my professional career – on time means arriving early, move quickly, pay attention, and be curious.

Often times on my uncle's boat, the motor might stop working or the net would break, and we’d have to think on our toes. What I didn’t know then was that this was actually going to be my first training in learning technical knife skills that I would later take into high-end kitchens. After working with my uncle on his boat, we would take the fish back, and I would cook with my grandmother. She was really the person who taught me how to be fearless in the kitchen. 

When I learned how to cook with my grandmother, I had to learn to jump in and not be intimidated by the splashes of oil. Cooking with her taught me how to really get my hands dirty. I was fortunate in that my family was always doing things to learn during our "spare time." You couldn’t be bored in my family, and I was influenced by this work ethic at an early age. Other kids were learning how to take mopeds and engines apart or working on model airplanes and in my family, you learned how to taste, smell, and cook.

In the restaurants I've worked in, I've seen younger chefs who have the same work ethic that I learned at a young age and they are the ones that really thrive on the line. Paul Charmichael, who now runs the show at David Chang's Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney, Australia, worked in my kitchen at Aquavit. He was the happiest guy and it made it so easy to work with him, but his skills also really surpassed my expectations. He came in every day, worked hard, listened, and was always prepared to try something different. Since the Aquavit days, it has been great to see his career flourish and watch him grow in the industry.

We live in a time when certain experiences don’t define the limits of your career and so people are always looking to reinvent themselves or start something new. Interns come in and out of my kitchens and office constantly and from all different walks of life. Our interns have been as young as 18 and just out of culinary school, but also in their 30s and switching careers; all of them eager to learn and offer fresh perspective.

As a business and restaurant owner, this is the most important contribution — offering internships are a great way to add inspiration and innovation into your workplace. Interns can bring a sense of youthfulness and check you on what’s current, especially in Harlem. We are always looking to reignite the foot traffic and dining scene so giving young people an opportunity to embrace this community or teach me more about our neighborhood is crucial.

In addition to my businesses in Harlem, I also specifically support the work of C-CAP because they are giving young people a direct experience in kitchens.
How can one decide what career they want to pick if they've never tried doing it? C-CAP offers the opportunity to train, work hard, and learn real skills that will prepare them for their future in the kitchen. The value in that training and mentorship is immeasurable. 

More posts on this topic:

• “Here’s the Scoop: Why My First Job Mattered” — President Barack Obama
• “How Winning This Contest Changed My Life” — Oprah Winfrey
• “My First Job Lasted One Summer — But It Changed the Way I See the World” — Katie Couric, Yahoo Global News Anchor  
• “Dream Big But Be Humble: Lessons That Led Me from the Factory Floor to the Executive Floor” — Ralph de la Vega, Vice Chairman of AT&T, Inc.
• “Before I Became a Stylist, I Sold Shoes at the Mall. Here's What I Learned.” — Rachel Zoe, CEO, Rachel Zoe, Inc.; Editor-in-Chief, The Zoe Report
• “What Designing a Shampoo Bottle Taught Me About Business” — Meg Whitman, CEO at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• “Just Starting Out: The Life-Shaping Potential of Our First Jobs” — Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief at The Huffington Post Media Group
• “What I Lacked in Qualifications I Learned to Make Up with Courage” — Suze Orman, television host and motivational speaker
• “Practice Makes a Career” — Bernard Tyson, Chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente
• “What I Gained from Choosing the Rocky Road” — Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
• “Summer Jobs Are Your First Shot at the ‘Grown-Up World.’ Soak Up as Much as You Can.” — Adena Friedman, President and COO at Nasdaq

• “I Used to Hate Doing Stand-up. Then I Discovered the Power of Showing Up.” — Chelsea Handler, Executive Producer and Star, Chelsea Does at Netflix

• “Delivering Papers and Working as a Security Guard Taught Me How to Hustle” — Maynard Webb, Chairman, Yahoo!; Former COO, eBay

• “My First Career Lesson: Know When to Ask a Stupid Question” — Jon Fortt, Co-host of CNBC’s Squawk Alley

• “Setting the Stage: How a Hollywood Internship Jump-Started My Career” — Sam Shank, CEO and Co-Founder at HotelTonight

• “Everyone Should Have Access to That First Job” — Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama
• “Remember Your First Job?” — Tom Perez, Secretary of Labor at U.S. Department of Labor
• “Employers: Young Workers Are Your Diamonds in the Rough” — Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator at US Small Business Administration