Rachel Spradling

I attribute my success to a couple of different things. Number one, in the hospitality industry, it's really important to have a growth mindset and just kind of be like a sponge to everything, because there's so many facets to it and so many opportunities to go in different ways. For me, it's really important to not see certain things as 'that's not my job' or 'that's not what I'm a part of.' It's all a part of the experience, it's all a part of the job. It's also important to cherish and treat the people that you work with well, because everything in the hospitality industry is connected. If you're nice to someone, if you take care of someone, no matter what it is, like, small or big, they're gonna remember how you treated them, and that's really, really important, especially with being a small business right now. I also had a mentor back in 2021 - the owner of the company really took me under his wing and took a chance on me in a lot of ways. People sometimes need someone to take a chance on them and risk things, because sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but in this case, he gave me the opportunity to grow, and I took it immediately. Sometimes you have to grow without asking, which is kind of what I was saying earlier. I take the initiative and take the next step, whether someone asks me to or not. I just kind of go for it, and that's how it works.

I'd say the hardest step is making a step, is taking a step. It doesn't matter which way you go, you just have to trust and go. If you're debating between two or three choices, it doesn't matter which way you go first, it just matters that you go any of the ways, because the longer you take to decide, the harder it's gonna be, or maybe you won't ever take a step. I've seen people be stuck in indecisiveness and then just never make a choice. So I'd say just take a chance on something, and then if it doesn't work out, you can try something else.

I would say authenticity, but also being genuine to yourself. Especially in my field, it's really easy to get caught up in trying to be 'server voice' or 'planner voice,' which is important, of course, when you talk to clients. But it's also important that you're maintaining yourself, because I've noticed a lot of times, if there's two sides, then you have to kind of pretend sometimes. But if you're just yourself both ways, then it doesn't matter what time you're getting a text about the party, because you're yourself regardless. I think being genuine to yourself is very important to me, because there's not really two sides - I mean, there's two sides of everyone, of course - but in business, it's the same for me. Whether someone's talking to me at a meeting or outside the meeting, I'm still gonna try to be the kindest person I can to them, or help them how I can, and kind of match the energy that goes. And then, of course, the basic ones, like kindness and honesty.