Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill Cockson.
Hi Jill, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have spent nearly my entire adult life in hospitality. I started bartending in college and, upon graduation, realized there was more opportunity for me in hospitality than with my liberal arts degree. When I was fifteen, a car accident left me with two, permanently paralyzed feet. So, bartending has always been a strategy game of efficiency for me. My love for hospitality and my acuity for efficiency have given me the ability to design focused hospitality concepts that derive profitability from maximum service potential on minimum staff and space.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I was lucky to have been raised in a small business household, and I had some valuable mentors along the way. Nevertheless, the majority of my hospitality education came from working under people who showed me how NOT to do things. I’ve also learned expensive lessons about everything from vetting contractors and negotiating leases to creating personal protections in operating agreements. I have no regrets. My mistakes have an ROI in the form of education for future endeavors.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a bartender/bar owner. I have opened five concepts with ownership capacity, Presently, I am the majority owner of two of those concepts, and an operating partner on a third.
What’s next?
I am currently working on a career evolution that combines everything I have learned as a hospitality professional, and as an owner in the small business community. I’m looking forward to playing a role in what I believe the future of hospitality will look like with a quickly changing landscape. Technology is changing everything about how people live, work, and socially interact. That is creating demand for different hospitality environments. I believe we are going to see an emergence of very different business models, and a different way of thinking about operations
