Well, not really a new life. There are just changes coming in 2015. Last night, December 31, 2014 I worked my final shift at Chili's Grill and Bar. This was a very bittersweet night for me. I had managed to build some really great relationships, make some life long friends and had entrenched myself firmly in one store and was succeeding. But then, as it usually does, fate takes hold and the wheels of change begin to turn. Setting in motion events that would change my life forever. I should say at the beginning of this, that I will not mention any names at all because I will not in anyway, shape or form badmouth or even call anyone out at Chili's (even though there are a few people that deserve to be called out). Chili's has been very good to me over these almost three years and I will not say anything bad about it, or it's employees. Now, with that being said, it wasn't always easy for me at Chili's and there were times that I thought I wasn't going to make it with the company. There were times where, because of work issues, that I would go through bouts of depression, where I wanted nothing more than for it all to be over with. But I would somehow always pull myself out of the hole that I had dug and come out a better person because if it. There were times that one specific server would treat me like shit and tell MASSIVE lies about me (I'm SO glad I don't have to deal with that bitch ever again! Okay, so no more badmouthing people after this. HA!), but I do not regret any of my time at Chili's. In fact, I am very thankful and extremely blessed to have worked for Chili's.
At the end of October, I was transferred to another store. I was devastated. I had been told many months before that I would be transferred, but it just never happened. I had hoped that I had done enough to warrant staying in the store I loved. Again, fate always works it's way into the fold. Whether we want it to or not. No matter where I ended up, no matter what store I was going to work at, I decided to work really hard at making the best out of the situation.
A week into my tenure at my new store, I was talked to very poorly by the GM. I let him know in a not so nice reply that I was not his dog, his wife or his child and that he would treat me with respect. I was done. Completely done. Here was a man that I had known for about seven days talking to me like I was a piece of shit. The next morning I started putting feelers out online. I began submitting my resume to any place that was looking for an experienced manager. By the afternoon I received a phone call from the District Manager at Arby's. I was shocked at how quickly I had received a response. I really thought I would be stuck in a not so great situation for a very long time. Fate.
A few days later, I interviewed with Arby's and I absolutely crushed it! I knocked that interview so far out of the park that there was no doubt in my mind that I had the job. After about a week, the District Manager that I had interviewed with had told me that she was going to pass me on to another DM whose stores are a lot closer to where I live. Three days later, I interviewed with her and I got the job. An offer was made and I was on my way out the door. I thought. A snag in my background check and drug screen at the end of November kept me at Chili's through the end of the year.
In the two months that I was at the new Chili's, I had built some incredible relationships with some amazing people. In the almost three years that I was a manager at Chili's, I had always thought that I was just an okay manager at best. At one point I had thought that I had chosen the wrong path to take in my career. I had been led to believe by some that I was a very below average manager. Maybe even a bad manager. Just a few days ago, something happened that changed my perception of myself as a manager. I was told by one of my favorite people at the new store that she liked talking to me about mistakes that she makes while at work because I don't yell at her. That instead of yelling and screaming and treating her like crap (like a few other managers there did), that I would coach her on her mistakes and teach her better and easier ways to do things and how to avoid those mistakes in the future. She told me that she would always walk away from talking with me feeling better about herself. Validated. I was a good manager. The career path that I had chosen for myself was the right one. I was making a positive difference in people's lives. People believed in me and the things I was doing.
By the time my last four days at Chili's had arrived, I had people asking me on a daily basis why I had to leave. My response was always the same; You know why I have to leave.
So all of this leads up to today. January 1st, 2015. I have an entirely new future with a new company lined up ahead of me. I will be a General Manager at Arby's by August or September and I will be making some pretty darn good money in doing so. I am starting with a blank slate and confidence in myself as a manger that I had never had before. I know now that I am a really good manager with the potential to be a great manager. To those who have helped me along the way, who have cared for me and have encouraged me to look toward bigger and better things, thank you so much. You know who you are. I love my Chili's family and I look very forward to seeing them outside of the four walls of Chili's Grill and Bar.
Arby's, I hope you're ready for me because I am ready for you.
