Adrian Medina

In June of 1999, I began to work for Wildfire in Lincolnshire, IL. I thanked Ross Buter and Howard Katz for giving me the opportunity to work for them, knowing I had no restaurant experience at all. I began as a busser and got promoted to a runner, host, carryout, and weekend office manager very quickly. That’s when I started learning how to anticipate everyone’s needs before they could even ask.

Howard always pushed me to become a manager but I always politely declined his offer because I knew I was not ready. Ross also motivated me and pushed me to be more. In October of 2001, Wildfire opened a new restaurant in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. I was very honored that I was chosen to help our trainers with the new location. In 2003, Wildfire opened another location in Schaumburg, Illinois and again I was chosen to help out. It was a wonderful feeling that they thought of me, so I chose to transfer to the Schaumburg location. It was hard to tell my mentor Ross that I was transferring, but we kept in touch. By the time Wildfire opened the Glenview, Illinois location, I knew that everyone liked how I worked and that I had a talent to teach people and manage them. I helped again with the opening in Atlanta, Georgia. I really loved my job and I put my heart and soul in it. In 2007, Wildfire opened at Tyson’s Galleria in McLean, Virginia and I helped with training. It was then I knew I was more comfortable with being in a manager position. I transferred to Wildfire-Tysons and I became a manager.

The best part of my job is seeing my staff and guests smiling during the shift. Here's my advice to someone starting out in this business.

• Always act professionally in everything you do.
• Hard work will always pay off in this field.
• Never be afraid to roll up your sleeves and work with your staff in order to gain confidence and respect.
• Always have fun while you are at work. If the staff sees you having fun and the guests see your smile, it’s obviously a great work environment.