And just like that, it’s the last day of school at the Camara de Comercio! I know it’s a cliche, that it LITERALLY just feels like yesterday that it was the first day of school– when I had no idea what to expect, didn’t know who would be in the class, and had no idea where the year would take me.
This year has flown incredibly fast, thanks to being busy with Bruja’s Bakery and also thanks to the fact that our classes were taught by a different professor every few days, which kept the course incredibly interesting. The classes were Monday-Thursday, 5-8 pm.
I know I didn’t really talk about school much on here, but I was in a restaurant and hospitality course that went from the beginning of October and will officially end at the end of June. Today was our last official class, but next week we are going to visit the airport and see the behind-the-scenes of how food is produced on large scale to be able to provide for the thousands of people that pass through the airport every day.
Over the last 8 months, we learned a LOT and had some really wonderful and interesting classes. My favorite classes were the more ‘psychology’-based classes, and the personal development classes. These classes focused on how to lead a team, how to speak positively, how to be confident in your role as a manager. I also very much enjoyed classes that were about marketing, restaurant design, and creating menus.
It honestly shocks me when I think about how quickly this year went and how much things have changed in the last 8 months. When I started, I was making bagels, but not full time (and now I do it full time). I thought that maybe but probably not that I would one day open a brick and mortar establishment, but now I feel like yes, this is what I want to do. I thought that if the day came to open a place, I could definitely learn a lot by reading online, but this is NOT the case- there is so much to know and this course was incredible for taking us through the ins and outs of the restaurant business. This course has given me the knowledge to open my own restaurant, as well as the confidence to do so. I know how to design a menu to influence people to spend a little more, how to put the prices in a certain order, how to crunch numbers to make sure that what we are spending is optimal for growth, how to design a location, how to navigate some of the legalities, who to talk to about licenses, and how to ask for a loan from the bank. I met some incredible people who will one day be my colleagues in the restaurant world, and some that already have their own places and are a resource for when we need a hand.
In a couple weeks, I will present my final project, which will be the culmination of an entire 8 months worth of work. I will present a 100+ page business plan document, and give a PowerPoint presentation that will sum up the business plan. I’ll also be bringing bagels for the judges to try so that they can stop asking if they’re donuts 😉 I am looking forward to a strong end to all of this and I’ll report back with how things went!
