Customer service is not a forever job, but I admittedly can get very passionate about it. I can directly affect a person’s day just by treating them well. It makes me feel somewhat powerful to know that I can get people to respond positively to me just by my body language and my tone of voice. It’s instant karma…when I give off positive energy, I get positive energy back. 

It is by no means as glamorous or high-profile as the work I used to do. My face will never be splashed on the cover of a magazine for this, and nobody will ask for my autograph. Most people who walk through the store will never know my name or remember my face. However, they will remember that I treated them nicely.

Ironically, I find that customer service and show biz are quite similar. Whatever it is that made me succeed as a TV host is the same thing that makes me seem to do well as a server, and that’s my ability to make quick interactions feel personal. As a veejay on a music channel who had to interview all sorts of people on camera every week, I often had only ten minutes to get complete strangers to warm up on camera… not exactly the most relaxing environment. But I loved the challenge of finding that button to push that would make people loosen up and be their best selves, and have them walk away feeling like they just made a worthwhile connection with a human being. 

As a customer server, I have about 3 minutes to take a customer’s order, take their money, and give them their change. It’s a business transaction, cold, formal, and systematic, and I can leave it at that. Or I can turn those 3 minutes it into a not-so-ordinary interaction that people may or may not remember. Whatever, it feels good when they walk away smiling. I think sometimes, people just want some warmth.

It can get exhausting, and monotonous, and there are days when it’s a bit harder to be positive. But every now and then, I’m on the receiving end of the most sincere acts of kindness from the people I serve, and that’s kind of what keeps me going. I Iove how a day at work is always peppered with interesting little interactions with people that add spice to life. 

showtime

Being a customer server, and being a TV host are two roles that are amazingly alike. Having been both, I can vouch for it.

Once you’re on-camera, it’s show time. It doesn’t matter if you’re having the shittiest day of your life. You must be your best self. You can’t let any cracks show through. You learn to turn on a switch inside yourself that channels positive energy, and if you’re feeling insincere, you fake it until it starts to feel real.

When you’re interviewing someone on-camera, you have about 5 seconds to establish some sort of rapport with him/ her once the camera starts rolling. Your job as TV host is to make your guest shine on camera. Bring out their best self. Make them feel at ease. They may be nervous or uptight about being filmed and your job as a host is to push the right buttons to bring out their most like-able self.

Everyone’s buttons are configured differently. You learn the difference between talking to men and talking to women. They like to be spoken to differently. Women naturally tend to size each other up, so it’s important to appear non-threatening. Men loosen up with some very, very subtle non-direct flirting. They like to see it in your body language that you are interested in them and what they have to say.

When I put on my apron at work, it’s show time. I flick on the switch. I go to face the hordes of customers who walk into the store for their coffee everyday. I have 5 seconds to connect with them and make some sort of impact on their day. I see some of them visibly respond, and brighten up when I smile at them. (One thing I’ve learned in life is that the impact of a smile is immeasurable… if you’ve got a good one, use it.). Others prefer the least amount of communication possible and that’s fine, too.

Everyone is different. But you learn to read people and you learn about which buttons to push.

Minus all the dishes that I have to wash and the floors I have to mop, customer service and presenting on TV are very much the same.