FROM BUS BOY TO COO, Part 4

Country Club Beginnings

It was sometime around mid-summer of 1984 when I called The Dallas Athletic Club to see if they were taking applications. I had hoped that my experience with El Chico would be an advantage, and maybe a leg-up to a supervisory level position. I was directed to the catering manager who said that management and supervisory positions were locked down and the dining room had no openings but she would love to have me in her department, so I reluctantly took a banquet position, my starting pay, $6.00 an hour. The club itself was not at all what I expected. Secluded behind those walls we drove past for years, the club had a majestic alure so I was a bit taken back at the less than pristine condition of the clubhouse. What I didn’t know back then is that the initiation fees and dues were not on the high-end, and these define the make up and culture of a club, as well as the quality of its presentation. The DAC is a club with a rich history going back to 1919, and the home of Jack Nicklaus’ first PGA championship win. Dallas notoriety such as the Stemmons and Thornton’s had roamed her sacred halls. I stumbled in at a time when the club was languishing. That was about to change.

Like many employees of clubs back then, I wore a tuxedo to work, a vest for set-up and lunch, and a full coat at dinner. I found the work physically difficult due to logistics but otherwise fun and interesting. I learned later that private clubs were the last to embrace technology and mobility advances. This was painfully true at this club. I began to really enjoy the people and characters I worked with. A dining room spot eventually came open, and I signed on for server. I was the youngest person on the floor by at least 20 years, and I was the only white person employed as a server. My fellows were all black gentlemen who had been there for many years. I found out rather quickly how hard it was to “make server” in this environment, and it had nothing to do with my peers. Members don’t like change, and boy was I a change! I was treated pretty rough at first, one member even telling me not to come back to his table.  Getting the members to accept me was the hardest part of my experience at the DAC. The old gentlemen were terrible servers, but they were well loved, and their mistakes overlooked. They drank while they worked, even taking the time to initial their cups. They colluded with the head bartender who would toss the evidence as soon as the front desk gave the cue that the GM was in the building. The GM was not very visible or particularly involved below decks. He would sashay through the promenade on rare occasion on his way out. Everyone knew that the coast was clear after 4:30. It took me almost a year, but I won over the members, and gained the trust of my fellows. I worked the breakfast shift, the dinner shift, continued to help in banquets, and became well known for table setting and holiday event decorating, winning two separate Artex Linen Best Dressed Table Awards for the club.

In 1987 things changed in a big way. The GM was out, and his replacement was a man by the name of Robert “Bob” Jones. If you are in Club Management, you know who Bob is. Bob came in like a train and quickly replaced the Catering Manager, and the Chef, brought in a Membership Director, and an Assistant Manager named Patrick Ferkany, another name you may be familiar with. Bob set about upgrading the clubhouse, and the dining room was completely remodeled. The club previously had no POS system. We literally hung a ticket on a wheel and rang a bell! This was 1987 folks! Bob brought in the Squirrel System, which was the Jonas of its day. Some of the changes proved to be too much for my fellows, several of which couldn’t master the POS, and simply left. I was quite used to systems and procedures, so I flourished in the environment. The new management was what the club needed, and our standards improved, as well as the morale and culture. Bob would go on to completely rebrand DAC and Nicklaus would return to redesign both golf courses. At last the club was worthy of its esteemed name.

Over the next few years, I continued to grow as a server, and endear myself to the membership which was beginning to change.  I was also fortunate to learn several, now extinct, tableside preparation skills. The last remaining of the gentlemen who were there when I started was a man named Lawrence Jackson, we just called him “Jackson”. He was one of the funniest people I have ever met, and one of the most unassuming characters of old-school talent. Jackson taught me how to carve, French, and prepare a wide range of tableside entrees. Someone with a lot of forethought had saved the priceless brass and copper rechauds, and carving carts from the old City Club, and in late 1989 we opened the Library, which was a 30 seat table-side only fine dining venue. My handmade Caesar was voted the best by our members. Although these days of “starting fires” in the dining room are all but gone, I was still “lighting the Cognac” as late as my last club. It makes an indelible impression for the GM to put on an apron and flame Crepe Suzette, taking members back to another time when dining was show business. Lawrence Jackson remained at the DAC until he had a stroke while on duty. I was the one who found him in the break room. The world did not lose him that day, but I never saw him again. Count another great impact on my life, and an indelible impression on my management of people later in my career.

One afternoon the GM called me to his office. There Bob and Patrick sat, and I thought I had big trouble. I answered a simple question; “why do you work here”? with a quick “because I love it”, and with that, in one totally unexpected moment I was the new Director of Service. I would go on some time later to take on the responsibility of beverage management, including purchasing and inventory, issuing, and COGS analysis. This would be my first salary, and I believe it was $18,500. The equivalent of $41,000 today. I had grown from the floor at what was then $6.75 an hour to my first management title, and my first salary. A position that remains on my resume today.

Next Time: Movin’ on Up

Take Away’s

·      When you’re young, take a chance or two. Changing jobs is formative as you learn where you fit and strive. Your very first jobs are seldom your permanent career-field home but don’t count them as unimportant.

·      Keep in mind that as you work you are building a lifelong resume. Each position may be important to the next. Accelerate, progress, and don’t burn bridges.

·      Seek to work in organizations that value employees. Too many outfits treat employees like liabilities. If you sense this, take off running!

·      Learn from everyone around you. Be patient with change, and don’t let initial resistance to your “being hired” stop you from being the best at what you do.

·      Like I did, you may take a step down to get on a taller ladder.

·      If you are a GM, Manager, Supervisor, or otherwise authorized to manage personnel for your company, always remember that there are smart, intuitive people working for you, and by the way, there should be. Even a dishwasher knows poor management when they see it. Mind the way you present yourself and seek to impress your staff the same way you impress your constituents. Staff are imminently more important to your success.