Experience

Copeland's Family of Restaurants

• United States
• Restaurants
• 100 - 200 Employee

• General Manager

  • Nov 2017 - Present

  I manage and oversee all restaurant activities, including sales growth, internal & external guest development, and fiscal responsibilities. Also, I collaborate with other managers and lead six direct and indirect subordinates. In addition, I provide final recommendations in all hiring decisions and conduct orientation and onboarding, to build a high-performing team in every restaurant workgroup.My key duties in this role are the following:• Set and track metrics and key performance indicators period to period, to forecast challenges that may affect business; during the lockdown, engaged in constant re-planning and re-forecasting to maintain the budget and prevent a restaurant shutdown; brought 80% of the workforce (80-100 people) back to work by June 2020• Reconcile cash & credit card transactions amounting to $100K monthly to ensure accuracy of all payments received • Prepare weekly financial reports by analyzing revenues and expenses for variances to maintain expenditure controls, determine net profitability, compare fiscal and operational budgets, and then submit reports to the operations team

• Assistant General Manager

  • May 2014 - Nov 2017

  I developed strategies and action plans to improve the restaurant’s financial performance as related to food & beverage costs, labor costs, and controllable expenses. Also, I achieved and maintained an optimal ratio between beverage sales and bar cost of sales.My achievements are as follows:• Built high-performing teams by managing all internal/external recruiting efforts, conducting interviews, training, and performance appraisals while focusing on servers and bartenders and striving to balance bar costs and revenue• Contributed to retaining top talent by maintaining an annualized hourly employee turnover close to the company’s benchmark of <95%, reducing the usually high turnover in the industry and thus investing in the restaurant’s future• Increased beverage sales by 1.5% over four consecutive years while keeping bar costs of sales growth under budget

• Assistant General Manager

  • Oct 2013 - May 2014

  For almost half a year, I worked in other restaurants of the chain before settling in Copeland's of New Orleans in Slidell, LA

• Assistant General Manager & Executive Kitchen Manager

  • Feb 2012 - Oct 2013

  • I introduced new policies and procedures needed to successfully run a high-volume kitchen operation, including daily routines, line checks, temperature checks, product usage tracking, and other ongoing daily checklists.• I acted as a part of the Cheesecake Bistro concept training team, hosting a three-month manager-in-training program for every manager hired; trained ~20 managers from entry to general manager level as the EKM• Also, I enforced the highest standards of cleanliness, hygiene, food safety, food handling, and sanitation to ensure compliance with all state and federal laws and regulations

• Executive Kitchen Manager (EKM)

  • Jul 2010 - Feb 2012

  • I managed all aspects of ordering and ensured all budget purchasing constraints for linen, dish supplies, sanitation, paper, and chemical goods were met. Also, I performed weekly inventories to track and report variances between actual and theoretical usages.• I succeeded in turning around a very low-volume restaurant’s kitchen while managing all operational decisions, building a revenue generation strategy from scratch, and setting the course back to making a profit • In addition, I excelled in revamping a working culture in the kitchen in just three months, implementing changes to all BOH hiring, training, and employee development practices