1992 - I found my niche in HR

My Niche in HR was born:
It was now 1992. I had been out of college for all of 2 years. I had this career that I really did love. We worked like crazy, but we loved it. We really did. My friend and I enjoyed our jobs. We were a great team, as it turned out. She loved the culinary side of this job, and I seemed to burn myself every time I got around those hot hot ovens. I found my niche in the people side of the business. I could not stand the chaos of not having enough staff and of employees not knowing what to do. I hated stress. I wanted peace and tranquility, and I somehow thought that if I could get a handle on the people, I could create peace and tranquility for my employer. Okay, I was a little optimistic, but that is how my love of people management started. We had no process for hiring and training, and our method of scheduling staff was not very calculated or consistent. Yes, I was actually starting to understand my boss, dear "Lurch" and his desire to see charts and graphs. I learned that the employees would take on my demeaner. When I was stressed, they would be stressed, but if I could be calm, they felt and acted much more in control. The solution to this, I saw to be creating a process for everything relating to people in our establishment. This was called Human Resources Management, but we didn't really have that function, formally, in our company. I developed a real passion for everything people. It was a new love of mine.

La Madeleine French Bakery and Cafe, the story:
This company was run by this fabulous charismatic entrepeneur, Patrick Esquire who just sort of happened upon this success. He told the story that he was living in Dallas, hanging out with his good friend Stanley Marcus (of Nieman Marcus), and he couldn't find anything he liked to eat in Dallas. The kind of bread we eat in America is so different from authentic French bread. He decided to open a little bakery near SMU in Dallas (off Mockingbird Lane). He gradually added menu items from his favorite recipes of his mom. Caesar salad (which really isn't even French food, technically) and Tomato Basil soup became trademark items. Soon, there were lines around the corner of this small cafe, and the establishment had a winning concept. Eventually, other locations in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and New Orleans were opened. Houston only had one location when I started, and I was hired to open a third location. The plan was to grow the Houston market as the Dallas market had grown. This unique Frenchman was very much involved in the operations. He wanted everything to remain authentic. He resisted appearing "Corporate", though his company grew to a size that he did have to have a corporate structure. He hired a heavy hitter from a large hotel chain to be CEO and to help with the growth. Eventually, a Director of HR joined the company. Though he had great experience, it would be a while before he got to the level of detail that would help our day to day operations. We needed training programs, hiring guidelines, and manager training in the people area. I was 25 years old, but I somehow thought I was going to save the day! I had a goal and a passion and that was all that mattered.