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Blight cleanup group to take on former Wilkes-Barre station

Austin Cindric wins NASCAR Xfinity race at Kentucky Speedway

An invaluable trait in any career is knowing that you don&rsquo;t know everything about your job.
				Not everyone understands this and a majority take for granted the fact that there is someone who has been doing your job longer, and has probably seen what you see to be a new problem a hundred times over their careers. These mentors have been there, and done that, and the good ones are always willing to share their past experiences to make your new ones as smooth as they can.
				Hard-headed people should read carefully, and not take for granted the wisdom that these old dogs have accumulated over the years.
				Fortunately, I&rsquo;ve been blessed to work with a few dedicated and extremely knowledgeable people over my years of hospitality. Knowingly or not, these few people kept and still keep the drive alive in my career. I&rsquo;m also fortunate enough that when I was younger, I was smart enough to listen before I spoke, from there learning first then acting second.
				Strong leadership and mentorships are what got me to where I am today. It&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ll never forget, and something hopefully I can pass on to younger people that want to grow in hospitality.
				My career really jump started when I was in my early 20s.
				I took a job as a server at a fine dining restaurant for a man who I knew of, but didn&rsquo;t know. He branched off from a very successful hotel, conference and catering venue to try to make it on his own.
				An immigrant, this man created a life for himself in hospitality with hard work, passion and personality. Through spending eight years day in and out with this man, I learned about dedication and drive toward success. Sadly, this man passed away a few years ago, but I&rsquo;ll share my fondest memory of him with you.
				It&rsquo;s a day I&rsquo;ll never forget. I&rsquo;d never seen someone as happy as him and I didn&rsquo;t know why? We worked through the day, and after the shift he opened a bottle of champagne. He told me he paid off the loan on the business and from that point he&rsquo;d known he finally made it. I loved and respected that man dearly, and you will read countless stories about him, but this is something I still smile about.
				2010 was a pivotal year for me. My first mentor sold his restaurant and after a great eight years, I found myself at a crossroads.
				Luckily, I found a new home a couple blocks away and met a man who knows many people. He had heard about me through friends ,and we immediately connected. Some readers may know who I&rsquo;m referring to when I say if you have ever had anything to do in the general Kingston area over your life you&rsquo;ve probably come across a story or two about this person.
				Bar owner, restaurateur and all-around good guy, this man has stories to tell about everything and everyone. This is the person who taught me the lesson of compassion and friendship. A friend to all, I&rsquo;ve seen him sit with a table and tell stories through the night, host concerts, birthday parties and everything conceivable in between to be the best host he could be.
				I learned valuable insights from him through the next five years of my career, and ultimately what I took away most is: 1. You can never have too many friends, and 2. Building strong relationships is key to maintaining a strong business. He&rsquo;s a self-taught entrepreneur, and his mentorship was invaluable to carving me into the person I am today.
				When he retired in 2015, I was essentially handed the keys to the car. He sold the restaurant to an amazing family who wanted to be in the restaurant business. I enjoyed my time with them very much because he was a numbers guy who taught me a lot about the bookwork and growing a business through the numbers, and his wife was amazing because she was an idea person.
				We would sit down on occasion and discuss what we could do to set trends. We tried a lot of things through their tenure and the thing I appreciate most and ultimately what I took most from is that a very successful restaurant needs to be a trendsetter. Others that copy your ideas should be the best form of envy, and that I felt good about.
				Thereafter, they sold the business to a man with such business acumen. It was more than a pleasure to work for him because he gave me all of the freedom to run his day to day business. He is an extremely insightful and knowledgeable man. The thing I learned most about him was that you can trust someone to do the job better than you if you provide them the tools for success. All of these people are still very successful today.
				Recently, I accepted a position at one of the oldest, most prestigious clubs in the city of Wilkes-Barre. Growing myself to be a general manager of a successful restaurant was, at a point in my life, where I thought my ceiling was in hospitality and someday maybe thoughts of opening up my own restaurant would come into play.
				Things changed when I accepted this position. I happened upon a man who is at the top of the mountain in hospitality management. Accepting this position created an entirely new learning experience for me. Pretty much everything I&rsquo;d learned in the past had to be about-faced.
				The person I work for today has been awarded the highest accolades in club management, has the drive that I thought only I and a handful of others had and has a lifetime of knowledge about a business that I had no clue about.
				This learning experience has been nothing but a good ride so far, and continues to teach me new things every day.
				Dedication to craft is something that I acquired a long time ago, but recently, watching this person work has lit a fire under me to reach even further, try harder and ultimately strive for a legacy that he has carved for himself.
				Leadership is an attribute that cannot be taught. Watching and learning from a great leader is a great daily experience.
				I think I&rsquo;ve personally hit the lottery being able to learn from all of these men and women over the years. I&rsquo;m thankful for every bump in the road, and every learning experience I&rsquo;ve gone through because without them to hold me up and push me forward, I wouldn&rsquo;t be the person I am today.
				Mentors and managers don&rsquo;t typically get a thank you at the end of the day. They just do their job and help along the way.
				Thank you.

Being Hospitable: Experience is the key