20A

1.) Laura Hillburn is the General Manager at Chuy's and has held positions such as waitress, dishwasher, bartender, line cook, etc.

2.)Market expert

3.) Laura is the head manager where I work but I've never really talked to her so i asked her to have lunch with me to discuss how she conducts customer research.

4.) Laura said she was more than happy to have lunch with me and discuss these things because she wants me to succeed. She told about the importance of paying attention to to when you get busy/slow and paying attention patterns. For example, they usually get busy on Sundays after church and Friday/Saturday nights. Laura also provided me with the number of their food supplier and told me they may be willing to provide me with a discount if I order from them 6 days a week.

5.)Laura supports me and would be willing to advertise for me in her store since we are not direct competitors which will be extremely beneficial. She has also already helped tremendously by giving the information about customers and the food suppliers. Laura is a valuable contact because she has a huge network herself and is willing to help me when I need it.


1.) Octavius Vance (Tay) is currently a line cook at Chili's, but used to be a cook in a fast food restaurant.

2.) Domain Expert

3.) I met Tay by chance at Starbucks. I was studying when he came in and he looked like he had just gotten off work from Chili's. I asked him if he would be willing to sit down and talk with me for a little bit.

4.) Tay and I discussed everything I would need to successfully run the kitchen in the business, the fryer, the grill, the cooler, etc. He told ma about some tips and tricks to saving money, training employees, and not getting stuck when things get rough. He said he admired my persistence and would be willing to teach me how to use the equipment whenever I get it.

5.) Tay knows many experienced workers in the restaurant business and I believe he could find me skilled employees when the time comes. I also think he would be willing to help me if I ever go through a tough spot.

1.)Steve is the manager at Forida Foods Service and has worked in sales and administration.

2.) supplier

3.) I spoke with Steven over the phone and his number was given to me by my General Manager, Laura.

4.) Steve and I discussed the kinds of foods he could supply to me and how prices between brands. We discussed that I needed to figure out how much of which foods I think I would use in a day in order to figure pricing accurately. Steve helped me with narrowing down the kinds of foods I can produce with what he can provide and told me to call him if I ever had any other questions.

5.) Steve is a major contact to my business because he would supply the fresh foods I would need to successfully run my business. By being a manager, I could assume that he has many contacts and may be able to assist me with potential difficulties in the future.

This experience made me feel more confident in networking and talking to people I don't know. I think that  is a very important part of managing any business so it's something I need to be more comfortable with. I know Laura often puts on community events and having her in my contacts will give me the opportunity to partake in the community. This kind of networking is different from the past because I felt like the people I was talking to held an important position in their jobs which was a little bit intimidating.