Marc Zimmerman started his hospitality industry journey as a yacht club maintenance man in Marblehead, Mass., at the age of 15. Foodservice entered the picture when he became a pizza delivery driver at Café Vesuvius and a cook at 5 Corners Deli — while still in high school.
After serving in operations at California Pizza Kitchen, Pei Wei Asian Diner and Cheesecake Factory, Nikki Roughley wanted a change of pace. “I started a family and wanted to get out of operations, so I moved over to the facilities side at Pei Wei Asian Diner,” she says.
After joining Noah's Bagels out of high school, Mariah McManaman felt she found a home in the foodservice industry. Nine years later the equipment side started calling her name and she wound up working for an independent manufacturers' rep firm. That eventually led her to Avanti Restaurant Solutions, where she's resided for the past 12 years.
Although Luke Gradishar has only worked 2 years as a full-time member of his family’s 67-year-old dealership business, Grady’s Foodservice Equipment and Supplies, he has been involved in the company for as long as he can remember.
Cliff Macbeth, Dealer Designer and Project Director, CMA Restaurant Supply and Design, Kirkland, Wash., says he got started in the foodservice industry by mistake in 1973, after graduating from Ohio State University with two architecture degrees. There was a glut of architects in the market at that time, so he took a job as a foodservice draftsman.
With a goal to move back to his wife’s hometown to raise his two young children, Paul Roeske interviewed and received job offers from two companies in Traverse City, Mich. — one was Stafford-Smith.
Majoring in industrial organizational psychology at California State University in Long Beach and simultaneously working as a trainer and bar manager for a restaurant company was instrumental in Gilles Brochard's career at TriMark R.W. Smith.
Andy Dalton knew he wanted a career in sales, but wasn’t clear on what he wanted to sell. After stints selling mobile homes and cell phones, a friend convinced him to give restaurant equipment sales a shot.
When U.S. interest rates began dropping, it was good news to most people. For Gina Vitagliano, a bank manager, this development prompted her to seek a new career. "One of my customers, the general manager at a small foodservice equipment and supplies dealership, offered me a job, and I decided to take it," says Vitagliano.
Eleven years ago when Luke Green began his career working part-time in Rapids Wholesale Equipment’s warehouse while attending college, he didn’t realize the potential before him.
After managing a pizza franchise for a number of years, Eric Harrison, Supplies on the Fly, knew he wanted to be in sales. He joined his first foodservice equipment dealership in 2003 and was determined to educate himself about every aspect of the industry along the way.
For some, the foodservice industry is more than a job — it's a lifestyle. This is true for Michael Wahl, who has worked in the restaurant industry since washing dishes in a military mess hall at age 13. Years later, he went on to serve as a district manager for a multi-unit quick-service chain.
Jack Burks, Session Fixture Co., seemed destined for the foodservice industry. After almost four decades serving in numerous capacities, he now considers it a fixture in his life.
Mike A. Miulli has always been in the restaurant business. His schooling in foodservice equipment and sales began when he worked in a Chicago wholesale pizza factory business.
With more than three decades of industry experience under his belt, Jim McMahon wears many hats handling contract sales and design at ADE Restaurant Services. His diverse background may have something to do with this: McMahon began his career at Illinois Range remodeling McDonald’s restaurants before joining Kochman Consultants to produce the KCL Cad Library for the foodservice industry.
For some, industry expertise can be parlayed into diverse careers. Rosana Greco has been involved in hospitality since moving to Miami from Venezuela in 2002. Greco first worked in a small firm, selling fabric and drapery to hotels, where she was initiated into the world of interior design. Five years later, she joined a company that supplied furniture for hotel rooms.
Foodservice Equipment & Supplies is the longest-running publication serving the decision-makers of the nearly $15 billion E&S industry.
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Foodservice Equipment & Supplies (FE&S) is the one media source that connects equipment and supplies manufacturers and service providers with the full distribution channel including news, trends and best practices for foodservice equipment dealers, specifiers, operators, and supply chain partners.
