[music playing] MELADIE BAILEY: I am Meladie Bailey, and I am the Day Shift Manager at Luigi's Ristorante in Dubois, Pennsylvania.

I have from day one always been in a restaurant.

So my very first job starting out was as a server, and I was absolutely terrible.

And they kept me on for two years.

I think I was just so young and had zero life experience at that point.

I have my bachelor's degree in hospitality management from Penn State, and I started at the Dubois campus because I was still not completely sure at that point what I wanted to do, and I had sat down with a really cool advisor and he said, well, what do you like to do?

What do you enjoy?

Because that is what you need to consider.

I thought about it, and I said-- I just answered so quickly, I said, I love restaurants.

And he said, maybe that's what you should do.

Did you know that there's a hospitality management program at Penn State?

And I said, no way!

I had no clue that there was something geared towards restaurants and hotels, and that was an option for me.

But you absolutely do not have to have a degree to hold the position that I hold.

However, it helped a whole lot.

I think had I not had it, I probably would have been hired at a lower level.

But I also think that it gives me the opportunity that if and when I ever leave this area, I have experience, but I can say I have the schooling too, that I can get on the floor and I can push my sleeves up, but I can sit down and let's talk about a profit and loss report too.

They're parallel to one another.

I think you need to be able to do both.

I think even a calm day in a restaurant can be crazy because you never know who's going to walk through the door or the requests you're going to get.

We typically are pushing catering out the door early in the morning, so the amount of detail that I have to have in all areas is demanding.

During lunch, you'll find me on the floor bussing tables, I'll be delivering your food, I'll be asking if everything's OK, I'll be handling any complaints that might arise.

I think staffing is probably the biggest headache that I see daily, because I put out a schedule, and we allow our employees to swap and trade as they need based on their availability, which we follow.

Sometimes, you almost feel that you're at the mercy of your staff's availability, and you're always looking for a gem and a keeper.

A management position, yes, it means that I'm delegating certain things, but you have to earn respect, and you only get that by getting down and dirty with the rest of them and showing them that you have humility and you're humble.

I'm willing to clean out that smelly grease trap with you, and when it overflows, I'll put my boots on and I will mop with the rest of you, because I'm no better than anybody.

But I've earned, through my experience and schooling, the position that's right for me, that's suitable for me.

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