Remember when I told you in Part I of this series that the whole mindset of the restaurant industry is “service to others?” Well, that kind of went in one ear and out the other at the time. I’ve heard plenty of corporate mantras before that pay lip service to community, values, helping others, etc. — but at the end of the day many of those companies are still just scrambling to make a buck any way they can.

So you can imagine my surprise when I attended the People Report Best Practices Conference, and the first order of business (before the conference even officially kicked off) was to spend half a day volunteering our time to support the local community. We took buses over to the North Texas FoodBank and spent the morning packing bags full of food for chronically hungry kids in the North Texas region. The bags we packed were sent to schools all around the area and given away for free to the kids whose families don’t have enough money to pay for all the food they need. At my station, I learned that each bag I packed could represent 60% of that child’s nutrition for the weekend (bags are given out on Fridays). Our group spent a few hours there, and packed over 20,000 meals for hungry kids. It was a sobering reminder of the need that surrounds us in our communities every day.

As I worked that morning alongside my friend and teammate Vickie, who had helped me attend this conference, I reflected on what she had told me over the phone: “Nate, this is the service industry — we really care about people.” I realized that she had really been talking about Service with a capital “S” . . . actually living your life and running your business with the goal of meeting the needs of others, whether that need manifests itself in the form of a guest at your restaurant, or your neighbor who needs a helping hand. It was such a pleasant surprise to realize that I had been invited to participate in something meaningful with a large group of people who get their joy from using their time to serve others.

And I’ll tell you this much — my time was just about the least valuable of anybody there. I was surrounded by dozens of people who run the “household name” restaurants that you see every day. No one forced these guys and girls to wake up early and miss a half-day of work to be there. In fact, at some of the places I’ve worked, I can almost hear the Vice President of Whatever saying, “I don’t have time for that. Let me know when we get to the important stuff.”

But you know what? This is the important stuff. And we should all thank Joni for giving us the opportunity to be involved in a service project during the conference, and for reminding us to constantly live the values we claim.

Today I’d like to leave you with a quote from Roy Spence, who gave the closing keynote on our first day.

“Keep your mission first, your team second, and yourself a distant third . . . and remember to stay humble.”

Everything I experienced during the three days I was at this conference lived up to that statement. Vickie, Kat and Joni invited me down because they’ve been touching lives as a part of my team for a while now, and they said “we want our industry to be a part of what you’re doing.”

Well ladies, after visiting with the people from your industry and seeing the caring and generous spirits of all involved, I have this written in my notes: “I want to be a part of what you’re doing.”

I’m all-in. Let’s make it happen.

I’ll post Part III of this series on Monday, and we’ll talk about some of the incredible speakers and the messages they delivered. Thanks for your time today.

Similar Posts:

• Surprised By Joy: My Introduction To The Service Industry (Part I)
• The Birth of ItStartsWith.Us – In 5 Minutes
• Napa Valley Trip (Part III)
• Paying It Forward: Jan Carroll
• What Your Business Needs Right Now