Seth Stewart
- Restaurant Manager
- Oakley Diner
School Information
School: Utah Valley University
College Major: Other
Years at College Works: 2007 to 2010
Career Information
Working For: Oakley Diner
Title: Restaurant Manager
Industry: Food and Beverages
Brief Description of Duties / Responsibilities:
Oversee daily shift management of The Oakley Diner for front of house operations.
College Works Career Impact
In one sentence, what has CW meant to you?
Taught me the ability to the treat my employees with a fairness while still upholding my professional obligations to myself and the corporation – additionally, all of my “failures” in College Works Painting that required me to react on my feet to keep the customer happy resulted in my current ability to deal with spur-of-the moment issues without breaking a sweat.
How did your CW experience impact your career? Immediately after graduation? Now?
I wouldn’t have the developed skills that I have today (and as a result my career) without the on-the-job training provided by College Works Painting.
What do you want to tell your clients about what it meant to work with them and how it has helped you get to where you are today?
To all of my clients : Thank you for your patience and understanding that I was a first time entrepreneur, and college kid with no free time and stretched super thin. I know at times I wasn’t the greatest at communication, and at other times you had to be stern and brutally honest with me to make a point. But I checked off every obligation that I promised to keep plus more to make sure you had the finished the product you wanted.
What was the greatest lesson you learned from your CW experience?
When you reach a point where it feels that the world is against and your only option is to throw your hands in the air and hope for a bolt of lightening to strike you down – just take 5 minutes to gather your thoughts and make a gameplan. Even some of the most ludicrous and out-of-the-box ideas can be the ones that help you move up the ladder at work and as a person.
How have the friendships and networks you built during CW affected you?
Honestly, I don’t keep in touch with any of the friends and colleagues from College Works Painting due to going our separate ways – however if I received a call or email from any of those I worked alongside, I would gladly pick up and see how I could help them out.
If you had to come up with a one line slogan for CW, what would it be?
Work Hard, Play Harder.
Advice
What advice do you have for potential CW participants? Current CW participants?
To both groups, all I have to say is: – Keep your head up, not necessarily be overly optimistic and unrealistic, but never give in to the demons of complacency, self-doubt, and failure.
Many college students struggle to choose between an internship specific to their target industry or doing CW. What advice would you give them on this subject if they wanted to enter your career field?
I was originally Pre-Med and eventually switched over to Psychology (focused on Child/Adolescent Psych.) Despite this having nothing to do with house painting or business management, the skills I acquired and sharpened are indispensable and some that I utilize regularly. Now 5 years later, I now have a job as a project manager at an industrial engineering firm that has a lot of the same responsibilities as I had with College Works Painting. After I graduate this spring I will likely stick with this industry, and with the combo of my psychology education and College Works Painting training I feel as if I have a well rounded approach to tackle any job thrown my way.
What’s your best advice for someone interested in entering your career field?
Organization and multitasking competency. It doesn’t matter how smart or how many degrees you have, if you don’t have the ability to multitask and still pay attention to the details then you will miss something that will lead to a major issue. “It’s the final 10% of effort that separates the great from the good”
What’s your favorite memory from CW?
There’s was a point during my second year as a DM that I started to doubt myself and continually wondered what I was doing with my life. I’d broken up with my high school sweetheart (then my fiance), my family had moved from CO to RI, and I was struggling to feel wanted and needed. I finally gave up and convinced myself I wasn’t going to finish out the year with College Works Painting while at the Park City DM training, and during the recognition event I was called on stage to receive a briefcase from my VP (Justin Shultz) in honor of my dedication and fortitude to stick with it and always give 100% to anything I committed to do. This simple item, a Swiss Army leather briefcase that wasn’t anything fancy or novel, is something I still carry around as my work bag to this day 5 years later as a reminder that when my back is against the wall and I feel like no one is noticing my time and effort, a good leader and friend will always be able to tell whether you are a man of high caliber – even if they don’t tell you all the time.
Last words of wisdom?
“It is not the size of the army, but the fury of the onslaught” – Sun Tzu