When I was growing up I loved nothing more than the stage, as a young fella and right into my teens. During my weekdays I trained for soccer, did Toastmasters and went to drama classes. On the weekends it was playing soccer in the winter and performing my heart out in productions and shows.
I had grand dreams of being in the bright lights and being on stage or on TV. So my parents enrolled me into an agency (one that taught you how to act, and placed you in auditions). Aside from making lots of friends, it didn’t do as much for me as as it did others.
At high school, I was still in love with the stage. I loved the heat of the lights, the feeling of everybody’s eyes tracking my every move, the sheer exhilaration of it. I couldn’t get enough. I figured that another place I could still be involved with the stage was to work around it. So I joined the Lighting and Sound crew in high school. We ran the AV for all of the schools meetings & productions—it was pretty fun (and like all young kids I relished being able to skip class to go work in the hall). I’d moved away from the stage, but I was still deeply involved in the production. This time I had buttons to press and could play loud music on a huge sound system (the doof doof kind mum told me to always turn down) and I thought that was beyond cool.
In my time side and back of stage, watching the performance from all angles, I came to realise something important. My love for the stage wasn’t rooted in attention-seeking, or recognition, or anything superficial at all. It was for the eyes in the crowd, the eager anticipation of every move, the feeling of bringing someone, from closest friend to total stranger, along on a story.
When I made my way to the workforce I was always better in roles where I could talk to people one to one. If there was something that they needed, that I could explain to them or help them with, I nailed it. I was a natural salesman. Retail was my game—it was just like the stage only everyone was ad libbing and it was my job to get them from Point A to Point B. I did this, did it well, and got paid.
I did this throughout my twenties for major retailers and global brands,then moved into the corporate world and eventually startups. Well, until I threw in the corporate towel, switched to hospo and started a pizza shop on a shoestring.
The thing I found I was missing when I wasn’t in service roles was the feeling of empathetic gratification I gained from them. Like a carpenter who could see what they’d created for the day, I loved the sensation of serving and creating little moments with people that impacted their lives 1:1.
Today at the Cue, I bring a pretty unique skillset as someone working both in the coffee and events industries. I’ve come from Arts (that part is pretty common in coffee) into service, into retail, the corporate world, startups, hospitality and now into events and hospitality. The Cue is where I’ve been my happiest, my most fulfilled. It’s—pardon the coffee pun here—the perfect blend of my life experiences.
I still get to talk to people 1:1 and share my passion for coffee and hospitality. I help people put on events that they enjoy, and we’re on stage each time we stand behind a coffee machine ready to bring it.
Ask me if you thought I’d be loving running a coffee cart company like this when I was a kid on stage and I would have told you that you were mad.
I didn’t fall into this, events chose me.