We recently had the chance to connect with Carmen Cacia and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Carmen, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What is a normal day like for you right now?
Every day when I wake up, I find more and more passion for what I do for a living. It’s absolutely incredible to wake up looking forward to go to work with the intention of making the business owners dreams come true. Properly train and develop team members to give them passion and hope with what they do for a living while giving them the incentive to move up within the company or industry. Also giving the guests the same experience I would want my mom, wife or grandkids to have when they go out to dinner.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Carmen Cacia. I am a hospitality consultant from Rochester, New York, who has been residing in the Fort Lauderdale Beach area for the winters the past 20 years. I had a successful hotel career. Then I went on to opening my own hospitality consulting company Island City Entertaininment. For more on my company and achievements I have an Island City Entertainment Facebook business page. Most of my work has been done between Rochester, New York and the south Florida Tri-County area of Palm Beach, Broward and Dade County. I have successfully consulted for wine bars, restaurants, catering companies, and hotels. Everywhere I have been no matter what capacity it has been in, the company reached the pinnacle of their success on my watch. Due to my hotel background, I am currently consulting for a group of HOA inspired restaurants. I am also affiliated with another hotel group working on the training and development of their team members in addition to beverage training.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
Carlos Morales who was my former Food and Beverage Director at the Hyatt hotel in South Florida. I was the Banquet Set Up Manager. I was fresh out of Rochester, New York. My team was comprised of many cultures. I did not speak Spanish, I did not speak Creole. However, I managed to communicate with them and get them to buy into my system. We very rapidly became the number one banquet department in all of Hyatt. When Carlos saw what I was doing with the banquet team and how we were excelling, he approached me about a brand new restaurant concept called Ireland’s Steakhouse that we were building inside the hotel. He asked me if I wanted to be a part of opening it. That moment was large in part what spring boarded my hospitality consulting career. All because he had a vision about a banquet set up manager from Rochester, New York. He took the chance on me and it paid off for both of us..
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes, in the early days of my hospitality consulting career there were times I saw the dark side of the business that made me want to give up. In the beginning, there are a lot of challenges preventing you from getting your name out there. Some of the challenges include non-disclosure agreements, which make it difficult for the public to see your success. Or you can consult for someone or a certain group that isn’t serious about expanding their hospitality portfolio so when it under performs, your name is tied to it which can be devastating to a new and upcoming small consulting business trying to get their name out there.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
To me the biggest lies of this industry is the narrative that workers in this industry are lazy. That is definitely a false and uninformed opinion. I will use the catering outlet of the food and beverage industry as the example.
I often hear, managers or owners of a hospitality company say “people are lazy. They don’t want to work. They have bad attitudes”. Now let me tell you what’s really going on behind closed doors and you could judge for yourself if they have a bad attitude or not.
I will give you a brief breakdown on average what a catering server or bartender makes.
$20 an hour.
These positions typically don’t offer benefits.
The events can often be one or two counties away from where you live.
Most of the time they don’t have a minimum hours required to work. Which means they can show up for a two hour cocktail event and that’s pretty much their work day.
Say an employee is making $20 an hour for a six hour job and a job is an hour away from you back-and-forth. Between gas, taxes, and Sunpass what did that employee take home that day? Most of the time tip jars are discouraged now so they can’t even rely on tips. However, they are supposed to show up presentable, professional, and with a positive attitude and if they don’t, they are considered lazy.
In addition to all of the above, the state of Florida has a hurricane season that last six months officially. That is devastating to catering and live events and the workers who chose this as a profession. I have always tried to make an effort with the State of Florida to form some kind of union or coalition that deems catering and live events in the state of Florida seasonal so there can be some kind of check or income coming into all the laid off workers instead of mostly all of them having to apply for government assistance.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
My hope for what people tell about me when I’m gone is how I tried to revolutionized the industry. In every field, you get paid for higher education or more seniority with the company. Unfortunately, in hospitality that’s not always the case. I’ve seen plenty of liquor brand, ambassadors, wine sommeliers and people who have been with companies for years often not get the special rates that they deserve. I believe if you take time out to properly train and develop your team members and you pay them accordingly, the longevity and happiness will spill over to the guests making people want to come out more frequently and enjoy their experiences more.
Contact Info:
- Facebook: Island City Entertainment
- Other: Carmen Cacia personal Facebook page. Refer to my pinned post.
