By Ria Rueda
Figuring out work-life balance when you have one job is hard enough, but how do you stay sane and productive when you’re juggling two jobs? Working multiple jobs isn’t all that uncommon whether you’re saving up money, starting your own business or gaining experience in an unfamiliar industry. But with early mornings, late nights and way too many responsibilities to keep track of, it’s pretty hard to find a balance between fulfilling your commitments to those jobs and maintaining your sanity. Meet two busy women who do an excellent job juggling — working their interesting day jobs and then working at Barcelona in Stamford in the evenings. Meet Maggie Beller and Daria Preston…
Q: It wasn’t too long ago that you both graduated from college, right? Where did you attend college?
MB: I went to Rensselear Polytechnic Institute (RPI) with a BS in Chemistry and graduated in 2011.
DP: I graduated from Seton Hall University in 2012 with a BS in Diplomacy & International Relations, with a double major in Modern Languages focused on Spanish & Russian and minor in Economics.
Q: You both have interesting day jobs. Tell us more about it.
MB: I work at a company called Immucor as a Production Chemist. I’m on the manufacturing team, so I do a lot of work with research and development, but I’m not in that department. My team makes medical devices in the form of test kits for transplant donor-recipient matching. These kits are used in hospitals when people are seeking transplants. As the team lead, most of my time is spent interfacing with other departments and removing any road blocks that we have, planning production so that we are able to release product on time.
DP: I work at AmeriCares, a humanitarian health non-profit as an Associate for our Corporate Relations department. I assist in the stewardship and cultivation of pharmaceutical and medical suply donors who provide gift in-kind donations to support our ongoing programs and Emergency Response initiatives. My team’s basic goal is to acquire products, anything from wheelchairs and crutches, to highly sophisticated cancer and hemophilia medications to support the programs of both domestic and international health initiatives. This can be anything from providing primary care to communities here in CT to funding and providing products for fistula repair programs in Tanzania.
Q: How long have you worked at the restaurant?
MB: I’ve worked at Barcelona for seven months.
DP: I’ve been with Barcelona for a little over one year. My first restaurant experience was at a small, local café in my college town of South Orange, NJ at the Blue Plate Special. I did everything from scrub the floors to help prep food for community fundraisers.
Q: What is it about your job that you enjoy at Barcelona?
DP: Not only have I gained experience in the service industry but there are a lot of skills that I’ve learned here that I can apply to my day job at AmeriCares. I absolutely love interacting with a variety of people day in and day out. My passion for working at AmeriCares stems from working with individuals, one on one, and having the opportunity to interact with different people every night is fun and definitely illuminating.
MB: My manager, Stephen, has been flexible with my schedule and that’s really helpful. Personally, I’ve always been drawn to science and as I said earlier, I work in a lab so there isn’t a lot of socializing at work. However, there is a lot of social fulfillment at Barcelona with not just the restaurant guests but with my co-workers too. My co-workers are my peers and it is so nice to work in an environment where my colleagues can relate to me.
DP: This job has taught me how to multi-task; learn how to switch gears and learn how to deal with conflicts with more confidence and ease. For example, if I accidentally spilled wine on someone, I’ve learned how to handle it with grace and apologize with ease and sincerity. These are tools that I could definitely apply at work. My communication, conflict management, and leadership skills have all improved from working at Barcelona, and are transferrable to my position at AmeriCares.
MB: In the corporate world, you can be thrown into certain situations and my experience here at Barcelona has taught me a lot about professionalism and I’ve also learned how to smile, be light-hearted, flexible and humble.
DP: I’ve learned how to provide solutions and not play the “blame game.” I’ve learned how to work as a team, trust my manager, and trust my peers.
Q: What are some of the challenges?
MB: Bartending late at night and waking up early in the morning and being back at work for another 20 hour day can be exhausting. Sometimes I have trouble balancing both schedules.
DP: Changing the opinion of an irate guest but it is so fulfilling when you are able to turn the situation around.
MB: I feel like I am able to solve many small problems during a bartending shift, such as food cooked incorrectly or a bad tasting cocktail and remedy the problem immediately. I’ve been able to use these problem solving skills in the corporate world
Q: What advice would you give to those who are interested in following the same path as you?
MB: Pace yourself and do not throw yourself all in at once. It can be emotionally draining.
DP: Know your limits and communicate challenges if they arise. Honesty and communication are key to succeeding in the restaurant industry, and being able to cultivate those skills with a team who trusts one another as been a great opportunity and experience.
