About
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We all need a wayfinder
/ˈwāˌfīndər/
“a sign, landmark, or other indicator used to assist people in navigating to a particular location.”
I think of a wayfinder as a person who is courageous enough to be that “signpost” for other people—willing to risk it all to step outside of the norm because they know in their hearts that the way we are living is not working. They are creative thinkers who are willing to experiment, and aren’t afraid to take risks in order to learn.
“Being a wayfinder requires a certain kind of thinking, it’s a skillset you can develop and I think of it as the training for change makers who are willing to lead through times of change.”
Laura Dawn
About Leslee
I fell in love with food service at the age of six, pretending to be a waitress and serving my pretend customers. They loved me. At age 11, in 1986, I got to help with a pancake feed fundraiser at The Bus Stop Cafe on court street. I had the honor of pouring real coffee from real coffee decanters in a real cafe for real customers! The customers said nice things to me. The workers said I did a good job. I felt seen. I felt heard. I felt appreciated. That settled it. That’s what I wanted be. I wanted to make people smile, hear nice things about myself, feel encouraged, proud of myself. To feel a part of something.
I got my first job as a busser at the age of 13. I loved it and if I worked hard, the waitresses would give me extra money, so you bet I worked as hard as I could. I wanted to be a waitress! At age 16, I finally started waitressing (as they called it then) at Bray’s Family Restaurant in Keizer, Oregon, At age 18, I was hired at The Original Pancake House in Salem and continued serving until age 35. The last five years of serving, I was also the Front of house manager. I loved my work. It crested growth all around me and in me.
In 2011, from as the result of my leadership, I was asked to be the Front of House manager for both Salem, Oregon locations. At that time, I stopped serving. For the next 13 years I Managed. The success I had with the FOH staff resulted in my being welcome to try some things with the Back of House and teach the BOH managers what I was doing. It helped. Sales started to climb. Employees were becoming reliable and performing work with integrity and efficiently. The customers were commenting. Staff were saying really nice things about working for us. They all became really nice people who were willing to do pretty much any job, as long as it was helpful. It was never perfect, however close. The owner of the Franchise called my Boss, wanting to know what the heck he was doing? Sales were up 75%! He attributed it to my leadership style and how I implement systems that work. They work primarily on taking care of employees by being responsible employers and managers.
I’m an excellent server. I’m a skilled team player and role model. I handle conflict very well and intuitive skills offer outside of box solutions that consistently work. I have experience training, working with different point of sale systems. I’ve been responsible for server banking, end of day reconciliation and weekly deposits. I have extensive experience with compliance and discipline processes. I would like to teach owners and managers how to implement my approaches. I currently Consult with Owners, Coach managers and Mentor employees. I know we can improve our community by improving their work experience. In the meantime, I am happy to return to service.