Feeding the Soul: A Sommelier's Journey from Kitchen to Kids and Beyond
Last week we flew to London. The last time I was here was in 2005, after receiving my degree in Hospitality Tourism Management at SDSU, I packed everything I owned into two suitcases and moved to the UK for culinary school. I had waited tables for nearly 7 years by then and had spent some time working in kitchens. I love the kitchen. Chefs are a unique breed of human. They are not put together, or stuffy or elegant. They are a mess, despite pretending they have it together, and I absolutely adored them.
Culinary school ended up being a gateway for travel. I bartended at night and saved the little money I made. I would look up the cheapest bus tickets or plane flights in Europe to determine where I would go next. I stayed in hostels, ate baguettes and jars of olives for meals, and really got to see the world. I was free in a way I never had been. I ended up backpacking alone through Europe for about 6 months with no cell phone, nothing but a Lonely Planet guidebook, a one-disc CD player with one mixed CD that the boyfriend I left behind had made for me. It was an incredible time. It is where my wanderlust began.
All of my travel experiences were ripe with connection. At that age, I had one goal: to open a restaurant. I fell in love with restaurants when I was 15. Even as I worked hard to become a Sommelier, Restaurateur remained the goal. As a Sommelier, I was working 80+ hours a week. I had tunnel vision. I sacrificed relationships for the cause. I missed birthdays and holidays, anniversaries, and weekends away. Nothing mattered but the goal. I stayed hyper-focused until my logical mind took over when I realized that it was not the life I wanted for myself long term. You see, once I had kids, I had to remove some of my identity as “Sommelier” to make room for “Mother.” Mother is the most important title I have ever had. It remains my North Star today.
On the plane on the way here, I read the book “Chop Wood, Carry Water” by Joshua Medcaf, which is all about being obsessed with the process rather than being hyper-focused on the goal. One of my favorite quotes is: “With one eye on the goal you only have one eye on the journey.“ When we are so goal-focused, we forget to see the entirety of what we are creating. Goals are important, but surrendering the results while staying focused on the journey is imperative. That is because what we are creating as we strive for our goals is our LIFE. When we attach our happiness to the outcome of our goals, we will often be met with disappointment. When we say "When this happens, then I will be truly satisfied' we take ourselves out of our present reality and we miss the journey entirely.
Acquire is personal to me because it is the first time I have built something with my LIFE in mind. I often ask myself: “What do I need to do so that I can do the things that are important to me?” (travel, raise my own children, work out daily, etc.) What we have built has given me my life back. We also work to create space for our clients by offering efficient and effective ways to connect, and by taking the work off of their plates to make time for other things. Travel, as always, is such a great reminder to me that TIME is the ultimate gift.