FROM CASUAL WAITRESS TO RESTAURANT MANAGER AND NO LIMITS TO FUTURE CAREER PROSPECTS – THE STORY OF FAUSY MUWAWU
(Posted 04th December 2015)
(Fausy, on the right, seen here with a colleague at the award winning Pearl of Africa Restaurant)
In 2004/5, when Serena Hotels signed a deal with the Ugandan government for a long term concession to reconstruct and then manage the former Nile Hotel – now of course known as the Kampala Serena Hotel – were opinions among Ugandan hotel owners divided. One in particular, of course no hotelier by profession but merely an owner courtesy of his money, known for his early management style of counting eggs in the store or weighing sugar, loudly declared to this correspondent at the time that the Nile Hotel staff was untrainable and that Serena would be better off to sack them all and recruit afresh. Being Chairman of Uganda’s national hotel and tourism training institute at the time, and knowing intimately well what good training could accomplish, did no amount of words, nor the explanation how Serena’s own inhouse training was working miracles in the region, sway the hotel owner’s opinion and we parted company, agreeing to completely disagree on the abilities of Ugandans in general and the Nile Hotel staff in particular.
Serena, as it turned out, took on over 95 percent of the former Nile Hotel staff and when the hotel closed for the rebuilding, those were deployed across the Serena properties in Kenya and Tanzania to be trained. When the hotel re-opened in 2007 as the Kampala Serena Hotel, did they form the backbone of staff in addition to which of course dozens more had been recruited and been put through a rigorous in house training regime.
One of those ‘untrainables’ was a young casual waitress who stood out through her attitude, keen sense of situational awareness and her insatiable appetite to learn. Meet Fausy Muwawu and read her story of success until now with no doubt more career moves in store for her, as Serena in particular are known to offer no just jobs but career prospects like few other hospitality businesses in Eastern Africa.
How many of us have heard someone wistfully declare that they want to be a waitresses/waiters when they grow up? Yes, very few or none at all because waiting tables definitely does not sound like the most glamorous career trajectory but rather a temporary job that will enable one earn some extra money as a student or as an “embarrassing” last resort because one couldn’t afford a decent education and a temp job requires no serious qualification.
Fausy’s passion for the service industry transcended all the negative stereotypes that come with waiting. She is a living testament that with the right attitude and hard work, this career choice can indeed be very rewarding.
When Fausy joined the Industry over 10 years ago as a casual waitress with the former Nile Hotel International, you never would have convinced her that she would one day become Restaurant Manager of the Best Fine Dining Restaurant in Uganda.
While with the Nile Hotel in 2004, Fausy was no supervisor neither did she have a spot in anything but one of the regular guests at the hotel took keen interest in her lively and sincere disposition and constantly engaged her in conversation mainly about the hotel and the general staff welfare. Little did she know at the time that this guest’s company would later take over the Nile Hotel, transform it into a world class establishment where she would be employed.
A year after the Serena Hotels officially took over the former NHIL, Fausy packed her bags and headed to Kenya on a two year exposure training for the position of a Hostess. That was a major milestone that propelled her career to where it is today.
Fausy recalls that the process of finding her bearing in the new environment forced her to grow up and learn to adopt to every condition. Working in a lodge setting for example focused on efficiencies and teamwork more than anything; ‘There were days we woke up, cleaned floors, transformed into a waitress and if there was need for a porter, you did just that to get the job done!’
She also mentioned that while training in Kenya, she needed to learn Kiswahili to be able to communicate with the Masai communities where the lodges hosted the Bush dinners and breakfasts for their guests.
Today happily married with two children, Fausy believes that there are plenty of reasons why waiting tables is a job she is very proud of: ‘All those years shaped me into who I am today both as a leader and as an individual. The tough and good experiences have helped me build resilience to thrive under pressure, I have leant that teamwork is key, learnt to manage my budgets but most importantly learnt to appreciate the value of please and thank you’
Although Fine Dining is still a little challenging in Uganda, Fausy is very hopeful that its clientele base will steadily grow as people continue to explore and appreciate culinary diversity. The Pearl of Africa Restaurant, the Kampala Serena’s fine dining option, only recently won the first formal contest when clients and patrons voted the restaurant as Kampala’s best.
The subject of trainability of Ugandans never was raised again in subsequent chance meetings with said hotel owner who now no doubt looks on with envy what Serena has accomplished where he, clearly not believing in training and trainability, has let himself and his properties down. Quod Erat Demonstrandum comes to mind when looking back over those last eleven years. Culinary contests like the recent Silverchef Competition by GorillaHighlands.Com in Kisoro too are ample proof that Ugandans can easily match the service levels tourists experience elsewhere in East Africa, all attributed of course to good training and exposure to new ideas and concepts. Congratulations to Fausy for whom, as far as the hotel industry is concerned, only the sky is the limit.
