Working At The Paula Deen Family Businesses

What’s going on everyone? Can you remember a particular job where you enjoyed it or learned a lot? I have a couple of jobs that I learned a lot from. Working for Disney World was fun. I can’t believe that the experience was nearly 13 years ago. I learned a lot from that internship.  At a time where I was 50/50 about going back to school, working at Disney helped me get focused. It made me realize that I needed to stay in school and get my degree. I wasn’t ready to be working full-time just yet.

Another job that I learned a lot from was the Paula Deen family restaurant and retail store. I started working at The Lady & Son’s (restaurant) when I was a third-year college student. I worked there for a couple of years and then I started working at her retail store which is connected to the restaurant.  In total, I worked for over three years with the company. I loved working there.  During that time I learned a lot about business. Today, I want to share with you some of those things.

Hard Work Pays Off

As I stated in the previous paragraph, I worked for the Paula Deen family businesses for three years. I saw with my own eyes that hard work pays off. During my time there numerous people started off as bussers or hostesses and were able to move up to a server position in a few months. I was offered a server position, but I turned it down. I didn’t want to deal with the extra stress.  If you came to work and did your job every day, people would notice. During my time there, I was able to get a few raises, and I was also the employee of the month once. That was possible due to working hard and getting things done.

Be Personable

Every time that I had the chance to talk with Paula or her sons, they were always personable. That is something that I will never forget. As I continue to grow as a person and turn side hustles into legit businesses, I want to make sure that I stay personable as well. I always want to be down to earth. I want people to be able to feel like they can talk to me. I never want to get a big head or anything like that.

Ideas Can Sell

Paula Deen started out with a small catering service. Now, she has a multi-million dollar business. All of that began with an idea to start cooking. If you have an idea for a product or a business, don’t give up. Take the steps that you need to do and make it happen. Who would have thought that a small catering service could grow into multiple restaurants and retail stores? Paula did and now look at her. The Paula Deen family businesses are doing well because of the first idea that sparked others.

Find Your Target Market

Paula Deen found her target market and she has made millions because of it. If you are thinking about starting a business or a side hustle, you have to define your target market.  If you don’t, you will never have real success. You may have short spurts here and there, but you want to have continuing success. When I first started my website, I didn’t have a target market defined. I was just blogging and hoping that people would read it. Thankfully, I’ve stopped doing that. I figured out my target audience, and now I see great growth. It may take some time, but when you do, you will see the benefits.

Get Good People Working For You

Paula Deen has some great people working for her. From the managers to the retail workers, they enjoy their jobs. Working someplace that is busy for the majority of the year isn’t easy. Dealing with hungry agitated people isn’t easy either. The people that work at the Paula Deen family businesses take pride in making sure that they keep the businesses running smoothly.  If you have a business, you want to make sure that you have the same type of people working for you. You can’t be everywhere at one time. They will help your business grow and continue to generate profit.

If Something Doesn’t Work, Scrap It

During my time working at the Paula Deen Store, I saw many products take off and make money for the company. I also saw a few that didn’t do that good.  Instead of waiting months for them to sell, those products were scrapped. There is no reason to keep a product that isn’t selling on the shelves. Sometimes people (myself included) hold on to a particular product and try to sell it even when nobody else likes it. There is no reason to lose money. If something isn’t selling, don’t feel bad for scrapping it. Keep coming up with ideas and I’m sure one of them will be the moneymaker for you.

You Can Bounce Back

A few years ago Paula Deen had a scandal. I was long gone from the company by then, by I still paid attention to the story. She had her TV show canceled and lost several sponsors. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she was able to bounce back. She’s opened another Paula Deen family restaurant since then and released a couple more books. To me, this shows that if people like you, they will support you. I believe that anyone can bounce back.

As you can see, I learned a lot from working at Paula Deen’s businesses. I will apply some of these things to my companies as they continue to grow. Who knows, someone may eventually write a story about working for Jason Butler’s businesses or something.

If you want to learn more about Paula Deen, check out the books below.

Do you have a job where you learned a lot from?