Dr. James Reese, Faculty Member, Practicum Coordinator & Community Relations, Sports Management & Esports,
Dr. Brittany Jacobs, Department Chair, Sports Management & Esports and
Donte Hewlett, General Manager, Lucky Strike
In this episode, APU’s Jim Reese and Brittany Jacobs sit down with Donte Hewlett, General Manager at Lucky Strike in Durham, North Carolina. Donte shares his unfiltered and deeply human story of rising through the ranks in the sports and food & beverage industries – from grinding in sales for MLB teams to running large-scale food and beverage operations across the country.
With refreshing honesty, he discusses professional setbacks, navigating corporate politics, building meaningful relationships, and the importance of knowing your worth. Donte’s story is a powerful reminder that success rarely follows a straight line – and that resilience, integrity, and connection often matter more than titles.
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Read the Transcript:
Jim Reese: Hello and welcome to our latest edition of our Voices in the Field podcast series, brought to you by the APUS Sports Management Program. My name is Jim Reese and I’ll be your host for today’s podcast, along with my fabulous co-host Dr. Brittany Jacobs. Hello, Britt.
Dr. Brittany Jacobs: Hey, everybody.
Jim Reese: And now we will be joined by our special guest, Mr. Donte Hewlett. Donte is the general manager for Lucky Strike in the Durham, North Carolina area. Donte, welcome and thank you for taking time to be with us today.
Donte Hewlett: Good morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me.
Jim Reese: You have one of the most interesting career paths I think that I’ve known because [you] started in professional sports and ended up in food and beverage, which Britt and I feel that that’s a real underappreciated area because it’s such an important part of sports and sporting events.
And so, I think our students are going to love this because they don’t realize there are so many different places that you can go as far and still work in sports. But if you can just a little bit about your career path and how you ended up with the Pirates and with Levy and where you’re at now, that would be fantastic.
Donte Hewlett: Yeah, for sure. Definitely a long one. I’ve been at it for about 13, 14 years now. Started in Pittsburgh, did inside sales. Wasn’t bad, a lot of smiling dials and you’re sitting down at nine o’clock, you’re getting up for your lunch at 12:00, 12:30, you’re right back, sitting down at 1:00, 1:30 and you’re smiling and dialing until 5:00.
The more you get up, the less you’re making a phone call, the less you’re making money for yourself and making money for the organization. So, I met a lot of amazing people there, but I started to feel that it wasn’t what I wanted to do.
I got into the industry, like you said earlier, I got in to be an agent or try to be a general manager of a team. And just taking that sales path, I learned that there wasn’t going to be a way to get into the ops side of things and to get into the player personnel side of things.
Because again, if I got up to try to make those relationships outside in other departments, I’m not sitting down and making those phone calls. So, I completed the nine-month program, I believe I finished fourth still, even though I wasn’t fully driven, I still kept at it.
Finished fourth in sales and at the time my father had gotten sick with lupus and prostate cancer. So, I wanted to move home and at the time, thankfully, the now New York Boulders were just building their stadium at home and I’m from Rockland County, New York. So, being able to go home and being close to the family at that point was decision that I was truly making.
So, where all my other colleagues were headed to Charlotte to be with the Bobcats at the time or headed to the New York Mets to then become a VP at the time and things like that, I ended up going home and doing sales for that organization.
Going back to New York …So I did that for about two years, but while I was in sales for them, I met, and to this day, this guy is one of my best friends, Matt Green. And he was the general manager for a company called Ovations, who is now OVG in the food and beverage world, and they’re taking it by storm.
He always said to me that, “You’re a really good dude and I can get you that general manager title, if it’s something that you want to do.” And I said, “Dude, I’ve got two degrees. They’re both in sports management. I don’t know the first thing about food and beverage. That’s not going to work.”
And he said, “Yeah, but the main thing is you have two degrees. We can get you everything else you need, because you have the main components.” And he goes, “At the end of the day, all we do is sell hot dogs and beer.” Like all right, well, you put it in that perspective, no problem.
I joined Ovations and had to move back up to the upstate New York area. So, I ended up moving to Liverpool, New York, right near Syracuse, outskirts of it, and worked as my first concessions manager job for Ovations at NBT Stadium, and they were for the Washington Nationals at the time was their AAA ball club.
Did one season there, learned the ropes. It was a lot, but I was really interesting. I was really intrigued by it, and I was just like, “Well, let’s just keep running with it.” I was asked to move to Maine to open Cross Insurance Center.
I wasn’t 100% sold on it and I vaguely remember it, but all I know is I kept my apartment in Liverpool. I hadn’t fully moved. I just packed up all my clothing and whatnot, packed up the two cats that I had at the time and went out there, stayed in a hotel and moved. It wasn’t a good fit.
Long story short. So, the plan was for me to go back to Syracuse, I’m going to go back to MBT Stadium for season number two. I packed up the little Scion at the time, drove all the way back to Syracuse, was ready to start the season, and the GM that was there at the time that I thought I worked well with. He just said, “I have to figure out how I’m going to get out of Syracuse. So, I need to have someone that’s more versed in the industry.”
Pretty much, it was just like, “I can’t teach anymore. I need someone that can come do this so I can get out.”
So, at that point I was looking for salary roles with Aramark, and I actually didn’t know Aramark had a food and beverage division. So, I ended up interviewing for Citi Field and they hired within.
Interviewed for the Cleveland Zoo, which I was like, it’s not sports, but it’s a salary job, let’s go for it. They hired within as well. The recruiter called me and said, “Hey, Las Vegas, 51s just opened up at Cashman Field, your resume would be the first one that they see. How about that?” I’m like, “Gosh, that’s far.” But I said, “No problem.”
Ended up interviewing, getting flown out to Vegas, which was the first time I was ever flown out for a company gig. I liked everything. Ended up getting the job. My lease was up in Syracuse, moved home for two weeks. And then I packed up the little Scion again and drove four days across country all the way to Aramark.
Got out there, was enjoying it, and then general manager got fired – taking money out of the safe. I’m like, “Well, it’s Vegas, it kind of makes sense.” But I’m freaking out because I don’t know the HR processes in corporate America.
I’m still fresh and new to that. So, I’m like, “Oh my God, I just moved out here. I’m going to get fired and they’re going to leave me out here. This is going to be bad. What am I going to do? Yada, yada.” I pulled the HR guy aside like, Javier, I was like, “Dude, what’s going on? Am I okay? I just need to know if I’m okay, just tell me if I’m okay.”
And he’s like, “Yeah, man, you’re fine. Relax, you have an event to get ready for and figure out.” So, full circle moment, I ended up getting Matt hired.
So, Matt gets me into the industry, and I said, “Well, I owe you one, buddy. Come and be my general manager in Las Vegas.” So, we go out there, we kill the game for two years, and then I started to really understand how things were working, really understanding the industry because of him having his leadership.
And at that point I said, okay, he had moved on from the company and they brought in another general manager and things were going okay, but I was like, “You know what? I’m homesick. I want to go home.”
I ended up interviewing again for a concessions manager job at Citi Field. I was coming home to New York, I believe for a funeral if I remember, and I interviewed, and they liked me so much.
I think even the VP of Sales was actually a graduate from Cortland. Don’t remember who he was. So I thought I was made, I was set because that Cortland relationships, man, you say that university, you’re good. And they said, “Come back tomorrow. We want to interview you one more time tomorrow. I want you to meet somebody else.”
And I remember I went shopping to get a suit so I could be better fitted for the next day, because I didn’t have it. I show up to Citi Field, the same guy who I interviewed with the day before. He just opens the door, and he goes, “Good to see you.”
And he turns his back, and he just starts texting on his phone, and I said, “Something’s up. Something happened.” Well, they got in touch with Vegas and Vegas blocked me from transferring to Citi Field. And that’s when I learned more about corporate America and how things work.
And I remember flying back to Vegas, I remember getting to the office the next day, and I was pretty cool with the general manager, Rob, and I opened the door and the first thing he said was, “It wasn’t me.” Didn’t even say hi. It was just like, “It wasn’t me.”
And I knew who I was blocked by and it stunk because I had the conversation with HR before about wanting to transfer and she said, “Well, did you have your conversation with your regional manager?”
And I said, “No, because I have a bad feeling if I tell him he’s going to block this, and I don’t want my blessings to be blocked. I want to go and interview.” And not telling him, he ended up blocking it anyway, which he was going to do regardless. So, that’s when I knew I need to move on, this isn’t going to work.
So, at that time, Levy Restaurants started really taking over the industry. They were growing to where you would compare them to the New York Yankees of sports entertainment food and beverage. And I would say now venture to say they still are the New York Yankees, even though the Yankees have their own food and beverage company, but I would still call them the New York Yankees of food and beverage.
So, I interviewed through again, Cortland connections. So, my buddy who’s still a good friend of mine, Mike Montgomery, we call him Bones, he was the Vice President of Ticket Sales for the Dallas Stars. I saw the role, I reached out to him, I gave him my resume. Long story short, because of the process of everything, I was probably on my way to Dallas about a month and a half later.
Did nine months with Levy in Dallas and they just said, “Listen man, you’re doing so well. How about moving to Utah and becoming the general manager.” So, I was like, “I finally got that general manager position. Yes, I made it.” Sit down and realize, well, I’m not the man in charge. I still oversee some people, but not. I didn’t feel like a general manager.
And that’s when I learned more about the industry because Aramark called their general managers. They were the head honchos. They ran the operation. Levy, you had to be either a Director of Operations or a Vice President of Hospitalities.
So, now I was here and then I dropped down. So, I was like, “Well, now I got to build back up to the top.” I went out there, different experience, wouldn’t change it. Not as bad as people say Utah can be.
And I got blessed with the weather that year. So, it wasn’t too much snow, but again, a little bit of homesickness, a little bit of still wanting to grow. A position opened up at FedEx Field where at the time the Redskins, now the Commanders, now the Washington Football Team where they all play.
I started asking around within the industry, because I had, being there for two years within with Levy, I’ve met a lot of people and they just said, “Don’t go there. It’s career suicide. It’s our worst property. That’s not where you need to go. Leave it alone. Don’t leave. No.”
And then I said, “No, I’m going to take the challenge. I have a ton of family in Maryland. This feels like it’s the right move.” Get ready to move on over the Maryland. I hire a moving company. Figured it out, so I thought. I moved to Maryland, come to find out all my belongings are stolen.
The moving company took everything head to toe. Only thing I had were my two new cats and my clothes that I packed to get down there. But anyway, move out there, I get to FedEx Field.
My first event there like three weeks later, not even, I think it was like a week later, was Taylor Swift. Doubleheader, two days in a row, sold out.
And there’s not much for me to do, just learning the demographic and learning where I am and just sitting and watching everything. I just said, “I made a big mistake. I shouldn’t have come here. This isn’t for me.” But I’m not a quitter. And there’s a wrestler, John Cena, I’m still a wrestling geek at 41 years old and he says, “Never give up.” I still actually live by that. I powered through that. I really latched on with our HR at the time.
Her name is Real Thornton, and to me now she’s auntie, and we, along with a few other key components, we really changed that property around. The contract was terrible. The company wasn’t making the dollar. And I remember being told, “Donte, if you can make a dollar for us, I’ll allow you to take that dollar out of the safe and hang it up in your office.”
Needless to say, I was able to make that dollar, but because of COVID, there was no more cash. The industry went cashless. But before I left and got promoted to Louisville, the company was making more than a dollar. The hardest four years in my career because dealing with ownership and the ownership back then was still Dan Snyder.
So, dealing with them and how they operated was tough. Dealing with the demographic was tough.
But ended up getting promoted to move to Louisville, and I mean, I was Director of Operations, so I finally was able to run my own property, and I said, “Yep, I’m going.” Moved out there. I was there for a year, and I think the biggest mistake in my career was this next move.
A company came out to me, and I won’t mention them because that’s just my dislike for them, that heavy. They offered me a Vice President of Offsite Catering position and flew me out first class, it was just red-carpet treatment, and it was phenomenal.
But one of the key things I did, and Dr. J, you know me enough, I am honest, and I will tell you what I know, what I don’t know. If I think it’s a fit, if I think it’ll work. And I told this company,
“You want someone in concessions who, the term for us is we walk on pavement, catering walks on carpet.” And I said, “So you want this person that walks on pavement to now be a vice president for offsite catering when I just only ran 18 suites in one club, so I’m not where I need to be to even take a role like this.”
“Don’t worry about it, Donte. It’s just about you and the personality. If you have to get in the middle and do these things, then that means our staff isn’t doing it and our staff is great, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”
Took the role, because it was deep into six figures. So, I took it, and I learned like the saying says, money ain’t always greener on the other side. The grass ain’t always greener.
And it wasn’t. I was there for four months, and I was absolutely miserable. Ended up losing that job. They had a person that reported up to me, he wanted that job so bad, and the staff warned me, “Watch out for him, watch out for him. You can’t trust him. You need to watch out for him. He’s always wanted the role. Be careful.”
“Nah, we’re good. He just told me about this in his life and blah, blah, blah, blah.” I should have listened because any movement I did. Everything I did, he went back and told leadership.
And the one that got me in trouble was, it was, you know me, I’m a diehard Giants fan. It was Giants-Eagles playoffs.
I had my phone on in the kitchen watching the game and I don’t mean I was sitting down watching the game and not participating, it was a 500-plated wedding. So, I just had it propped up, listening, watching, plating. Here we go, here we go, here we go. So, it’s not like my focus was on there, but this gentleman went back and told leadership that I had it and I was watching the game and so on and so forth.
And it was just like, “But you’re the vice president and this is the tone that you set.” Which again, concessions world – in the kitchen, we got music playing. So, it just didn’t resonate with me. But regardless of the fact. They let me go, told me I can get unemployment, they blocked the unemployment. So, then it was just like, all right, back to the drawing board.
And there’s one thing about me, you’re not going to keep me down long and my resume stands for itself on that. Got a job probably not even a month later because when I took the role in Atlanta, I was already talking to Delaware North about moving back up to New York to Buffalo to run the KeyBank Center. And by the time I got into my eighth interview, it was now just choosing who’s going to give me a paycheck quicker.
So that’s why I had chosen Atlanta over waiting to see what happens with the Buffalo role. So, fast-forward, I reached back out to the recruiter, and we had such a great relationship. His name is Jason. He said, “No, we got something for you. Director of Ops in Nashville. How about Nashville?” Sure, no problem. Had a Cortland buddy that lives in Nashville still, Jeff.
So, I said, “Yeah, I’ll go. I’ll head out there.” Went out there for almost a year. Still wasn’t a good fit. For me, if my leadership isn’t strong and my leadership isn’t where I personally need it to be, we’re not going to work.
And those are decisions that I’m now starting to make when I’m taking these roles. So, I ended up leaving that company Delaware North and took a role here where I’m at now in North Carolina.
And it was at that time, it was either Lucky Strike to move back to Maryland or it was Aramark to go run food and beverage at the University of North Carolina. University of North Carolina, it sounded great, and the salary was better, went out there, came out here, absolutely loved it, was doing it for eight months. There was change in US leadership, which led for decisions to be made, and I ended up losing that job.
I was home not even three weeks before I started deep interviewing with Lucky Strike. And funny enough, I was actually interviewing to go back up again to Maryland and while talking to the recruiter, I was like, “Listen, I’m looking for a general manager role. I’m looking for this salary range.” Which is still not where I should be, because I know my worth, but we got to start again.
The recruiter was so nice, she ended up reaching out to the recruiter down here and said, “You should probably want to talk to him. He’s literally in your backyard. He’s 20 minutes away and your position’s in Durham, so it’s perfect for you to talk to him.”
Interviewed with that recruiter, went well, interviewed with the district manager. She’s from New York, she’s from Oswego, so we hit it off without a problem. Needless say that’s where I’m at now.
So, I’m still in the middle of my training general manager in training. I actually board a plane in five hours to head to Phoenix for my last set of core trainings with them. Have to pass a test, have to score over an 80. And once we do that, I can drop that IT title, in training, off of my title and continue to roll.
So, it’s been a heck of a ride. Probably wouldn’t change it for anything. I think it’s a fantastic story. I love telling the story. I actually cut the story back a little bit, but I love it, and I think everyone needs to hear it, because I think the biggest thing is just to never give up and know your worth.
Jim Reese: Please stay with us. We’ll be right back with our special guest, Mr. Donte Hewlett.
Thanks for staying with us. We’re back with today’s guest, Mr. Donte Hewlett. Let’s get back to the discussion. Absolutely. I’m going to let Britt jump in here in a second, but the value of what, I mean, just think of all the things that were included in there.
You’re talking about politics, you’re talking about going where the opportunities are. These are things we tell students, you have to go where they are. There’s so much value in there, I hope people will really… Challenges, getting knocked down and getting back up. So, it is a great story, but I’m sure Britt’s got a couple questions after that. So go ahead, Britt.
Dr. Brittany Jacobs: Absolutely. One of the things I wanted to ask you about Donte is exactly what Dr. Reese was talking about, this willingness to go where the opportunity lies. How hard was that and moving your life, time and time again, how does that play into all of your decision-making?
Donte Hewlett: Back then, it was easy. Back then I was single, so I can just pack up and go.
Now, it’s not just a decision for me. It’s, I mean, I guess I can say decision for the family, but there’s four pets that run around in this house and then there’s my girlfriend, so I have to make these decisions with open communication, and I have to. There ain’t another move coming because she ain’t having it or there’s another move it has to be Florida or bust.
Jim Reese: Unless you want to be single again.
Donte Hewlett: Correct. So, it was easy for me. And then the financial standpoint, I started to realize that I can probably make more money being in food and beverage. If I would’ve kept on the track that I was on and never had left. Levy, I could openly tell you that my salary right about now would probably be about $160 to $180,000.
Jim Reese: The other thing that people probably don’t realize at this point is that you work in one of the most volatile industries that there are. So, when you talk about all these different moves, it’s not that you weren’t doing a good job, it’s just that there are a lot of factors that go into this.
It’s a great opportunity that people don’t necessarily realize is there. But there are a lot of challenges in your, and I know I grew up in the restaurant business. My dad was in the restaurant business, so I understand that.
So, you have to have thick skin to do what you’ve accomplished. And so as far as what you’re doing now, are you happy? Is that what you want to be doing and is there upward mobility where you’re at, those kinds of things?
Donte Hewlett: So, there’s definitely a ton of upward mobility. Just had a conversation with my boss about it the other day and I told her I could probably give her about three years. That next move needs to be either somewhere where it’s more salary or a promotion where I’m myself a district manager. My property has the potential, an easy potential to be able to bonus every quarter.
So that could also change my mind, because if I get it to where it needs to be and I’m getting that consistent 15% check every four months, it’ll change my mind rather quickly if I want to get up and leave because then at that point, if it’s happening consistently, then I can focus on the future and I won’t want to rush it just yet.
I want to make sure that I can put myself in a good position. One of the things that’s like on my list to do is to buy a house. All my friends have houses and this and that, and I’m like, “I’m tired of renting. I want to buy a house. I want to go through that process and see what it’s like. I want cheaper rent, which would be a mortgage.”
So, if I can start figuring that piece out, then I may not want to leave. And I’ve always wanted to live in North Carolina, so I absolutely love being here and it’s fantastic. So, we’ll see where it goes.
Jim Reese: But you have a job like a coach, though, you know what I mean? It’s like you’re in a coaching business because you know how volatile that can be. And so, it’s really tough unless you can get to a certain level to go ahead and make a commitment like that.
Donte Hewlett: Correct, but being at Durham and being at my center, it sounds like there’s been a lot of leadership change in the last two years and I feel that I think they realize that they’ve got someone good as in me being there, so they don’t want me to make any decisions in jump ship. So, I’ve kind of heard that a lot the last week. “We’re doing this, we can’t lose him.” I’m like, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Dr. Brittany Jacobs: I wanted to jump in and ask you one thing that you mentioned kind of all along this career path was the connection that you had with all of these different people from your degree programs or from other places that you had worked, and things were coming full circle, left and right. Talk to me about those relationships. How did you keep those up and how did that really play out in your career journey?
Donte Hewlett: I mean, it played huge, and the biggest thing is I learned it when I was in Cortland, which networking is key. And I don’t do it because networking is key, it’s just who I am. If you’re in my phone and you’re in my top 20, top 25, 30, I’m always checking up on you, man.
It’s just who I am. Hey, you always get a happy birthday, you always get a happy Father’s Day, so you’re on that list.
So, just being able to keep in touch with someone I think is important because it’s a lot easier for them to say yes and help you out than it is for them to say no. When I’ve made connections, it’s fantastic to be able to, just recently, and it’s funny, I haven’t met this gentleman, but we worked at the same company together.
We’ve had several, several conversations together and he runs Amalie Arena and my dad lives down in Florida now and he was going to go see Mary J. Blige and he already had his tickets and whatnot and I said, “All right, well, let me make a phone call.”
And I made not even a phone call, I sent a Facebook Messenger out and I said, “Hey, Felandis, I got my dad coming down, would you mind? Is there anything that you can do, take care of him? So on and so forth.”
And he gave my dad, I think three $50 food and beverage credit cards, and my dad didn’t have to spend money being in the arena. So, for me to be able to just make these connections and make phone calls and get tickets when I want them and get upgrades and get the food and beverage when I want them, I can’t ask for anything else there. So, connections are key.
Jim Reese: Britt and I talk about this all the time and everything in life is based on long-term relationships if you’re going to be successful, not just career. It’s all about networking. I don’t think that we can emphasize that enough in our classes, but this is a different generation now because of social media and phones.
There are some skills that aren’t there with some of these folks that we’ve got to, and I think it’s just because of being disconnected and doing things with technology instead of doing them face-to-face. And so that’s a little bit of a challenge. Are you seeing that as well?
Donte Hewlett: A little bit. But it’s funny because you would think it would be easier now with having so many outlets to go to. I mean, I have Cortland students that I’ve never met that I don’t know that follow me on Instagram and that follow me on LinkedIn, and all you got to do is send me a message and I’m going to respond.
So, it’s the fact that if you’re struggling to network and you have all of these different avenues to do so, I don’t know, to me it should be easier than harder. And I guess you got to want to do it.
You got to want to interrupt someone and send the message. Who cares if you’re catching them at the wrong time or in an awkward spot or whatever, but you have to shoot your shot. 100% of your shots are missed if you don’t take them.
Jim Reese: As far as recommendations for current students selecting a career, what would you say from the standpoint of considering something in food and beverage?
Donte Hewlett: Well, I think overall, before I dive into the food and beverage portion, I think overall you got to know what you want to do. Because again, I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn’t know how to get there.
So, you have to know what you want to do and then the key part is the internship. That’s your first role outside of being at school, and those are your first connections that you get to make and that network and that you get to begin and start.
And when I did mine, it was in entertainment, and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being 10 minutes from the house and going to where the Hudson Valley Renegades play every day and be part of the fun team. And having that mentor there, Rick Zolzer, who I still talk to to this day and still reach out to, but that wasn’t what I wanted to do.
It didn’t lead me to help me to get a role in player development or operations of any sort. It led me to then have to take another internship to try and that was MLB video productions. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with that, but I did it to try to just make the connections and see and hope and pray that a door would open in that industry and that wasn’t the case.
So, the first and foremost thing is definitely know what you want to do and understand your internship because that’s your first foundation to what you want to do. And getting in the food and beverage side of things, I think the industry needs to do better. I think they need to tap into schools more. And I try my hardest to be able to do so because it’s like, to me and definitely now more in this economy, money’s more important and that’s the decision.
And I’ve kind of tailored out of sports just a tad bit. Yeah, it’s still bowling, which is awesome. So, I can still say that there’s a sports mentality there, but my paycheck and bank account became more important than my dream, because that debt keeps piling up and if the dream doesn’t happen, that debt’s still going to be there.
So, I think we in the food and beverage industry have to do better and we have to think outside the box. It doesn’t have to be someone that’s coming from a culinary institute. I was able to get someone hired from Cortland in finance with Levy, and she did it for two years and now she’s still in finance and whatnot. So, there’s a way, there is different departments within food and beverage that you can use if you even have a sports manager degree.
So, I’m all money driven now, and so that’s where I want to help out. That’s the advice for students today. To me it’s, try to figure out how you can fill your pockets. And if it’s not a huge thing for you to where you feel that you can survive and go through the sales process and go kill it in sales, go right ahead.
I mean, look at our buddy doughboy, Kenny Koperda. He just has that killer sales mentality to where now he’s a realtor and he’s a vice president for LIV Golf. So, if you have it, you have it. And I know I have it and I know I can do it, because I’ve done it, but my heart just wasn’t there, and the hours weren’t there.
Now I’m being told, “Hey listen, man, you only got to work 48 hours, maybe 60 hours a week. You have to have two days off.” You don’t get that in sports, it’s not guaranteed. So again, grown man life decision starts to happen at some point.
Jim Reese: I’ve told this story before and when I was getting ready to leave the Broncos, Rick Nichols sat me down and he said, “I think you’ve got a great future in the NFL if you want to stay.” And I said, “Rick, you’re a senior vice president and we’re working the same number of hours, 70 hours a week.” He goes, “Yeah, that’s true.”
And so, I said, “This professor thing is very family-friendly and it’s a different way to try to make an impact.” It was something that was really attractive, but at some point you have to look at that when you get to a certain point and say, “What doors are opening and which way do I need to go that makes sense for me?” Speaking of Kenny, we’re sending a couple students to work the June event in D.C. for LIV Golf, which is nice.
And I know, leave up some time for Britt here, but the politics part of what you explained is really, it’s really difficult. You can’t get away from politics no matter where you go, but you have to learn where the sharks are, who we can talk to.
I know Rick in Denver, he used to send us down to do the worst jobs, paint the stadium, clean the toilets, all that kind of stuff. And he had a spy down there and whoever complained he knew that that person wasn’t the right fit.
He wanted people that were going to come back and say, “Finished the job. What else you got for me?” You just have to learn the landscape with politics. Sometimes keeping your mouth shut is a good thing until you learn the environment.
And so how difficult was that? I mean, it sounds like you’re still, like I said, that’s a rough industry and you’re still learning that process.
Donte Hewlett: I’m absolutely still learning the politics of things. I don’t even like politics in our normal-day life. I’m not a fan of it. I see myself paying attention to it more, kind of. And now that mom’s retired, that’s all she does is watch the darn thing.
So now I’m stuck having to hear it when I call. But it’s tough. It’s really hard. And knowing that those presidential politics affect the politics in a food and beverage industry to this day just blows my mind.
You can’t keep your head down. You have to be a part of it. I remember, I know there’s people that say, “I don’t want to be in the drama.” Or whatnot, and I go, “No, no, no, no. I’m not saying be in the drama, but know the drama.” As long as the drama’s not mine, I’m good. So, knowing and hearing everything that’s around you, it’s key.
You can’t be blindsided. You don’t know who knows who. So you got to be careful of things you say.
And it has come back to bite me tenfold. I’m dealing now with in my operation with an HR issue that has nothing to do with me, but she’s just like, “Oh my God, you’re so good. You’re so well versed. You know how to know these things.” And I go, “Well, I had an auntie that taught me HR for four and a half years and I have a lot of family that’s in law enforcement.”
So now I look on the legal side of things and having to deal with the EEOC and not deal with the EEOC. And it’s just like, yeah, I’m that good because I’ve had to deal with it on a personal side as well. So, it’s coming in all different aspects, and I made it clear to HR, “I want no smoke with the EEOC. You guys can handle that.”
Dr. Brittany Jacobs: Donte, I got just one more question for you. You mentioned your auntie who was training you in HR and all of these people in leadership roles who have really supported you along the way. Talk to me about the culture of an organization and how important that is for making your career decisions.
And for those folks that are going out into the industry, a lot of times they just want to take whatever that job is, wherever it is. And they don’t necessarily think about the fact that they’re also interviewing the people that they’re going to work with and that these things are important for their happiness and their mental stability and all of these pieces once they get into that role.
Talk to me a little bit about how you’ve experienced that and what you would say to our students or any other students.
Donte Hewlett: It’s hard because depending on who you talk to, so I’ve had a conversation with the CEO of Levy and I was trying to figure out why I kept getting promoted. I didn’t understand it. Took it obviously, but it was just like I don’t feel like I’m learning and know enough to be lucky enough to have these roles and to have these increases and whatnot.
And it was, “Donte, I hear nothing but good things about you. You’re a nice guy.” And he said one of his interview questions, no matter what position it is, dishwasher or CFO is, “Are you nice? I can teach you the financials, I can teach you how to temp a hot dog, I can teach you how to pour a beer, but I can’t teach you how to be nice.
“And the key thing is we need someone that’s in leadership that’s going to be nice to our people, that’s going to be nice to our guest, and be nice to our client. Those are our three main components.”
And he said that, and I just said to myself, “But you don’t realize how many people underneath you that aren’t nice and they can feed you the BS.” Like you said, you’re selling yourself and you have to sell them. So, you may be giving them some nonsense, but they may give you nonsense right back in their responses. So sometimes you won’t know until you’re sitting in it, and you have to know how to navigate around it.
Culture’s key, and I’m building a culture now at my center and I’ve made it clear to them, open honesty is important for me, cleanliness and friendliness is important for me in my location.
And if I can get to know my staff, to me, that’ll allow them to run through a wall for me. And that’ll be a family-oriented location to where you feel comfortable, where you feel you’re at home and you feel at ease.
And I think that’s how everyone should feel when they’re at work. They shouldn’t feel that they’re on pins and needles, and it’s tough. We’re getting asked from the company so many things that they want to have done, and when it comes from the top, it’s tough because it comes from the top, and they don’t sit where we sit.
Yeah, you sat in it, but you sat in it 15, 20 years ago, times have changed. And if you sat in it in let’s say Colorado, you didn’t sit in it in D.C., or you didn’t sit in it in Durham. So, it’s a different demographic.
It’s a different seat. So, you can say all these things, but I’ll take the advice, and I will tailor it to the way that I see fit at my location to make my atmosphere and my culture where it needs to be. Because without the people underneath me, there’s no me, there’s no us, there’s no location. And yeah, again, you can go ahead and find someone else and that’s how they treat you if you leave next man up. But it doesn’t mean the next man’s the right man.
Jim Reese: Funny, Britt and I were discussing culture the other day, and it’s so important to, it’s like a sports team from the standpoint of having the pieces fit together and good communication people. Sports is, it’s amazing how it applies to real life.
Donte Hewlett: Correct. If you lose the locker room, you lose the team. And if I lose my locker room, I lose my team, then I don’t make the finances and this, that, and a third, and then I’m looking for a new team to coach.
Jim Reese: Exactly right. Well, listen, we’re winding down here. Britt, any last questions for Donte before we wrap things up?
Dr. Brittany Jacobs: No, this has been wonderful. Thanks so much for joining us, Donte.
Donte Hewlett: Oh, you’re welcome.
Jim Reese: Hopefully students will learn something from this, and this is a great area, even though it can be challenging at times for people to consider. And like I said, I grew up in the industry and I know there’s a lot of great things about it, so I’m glad you were willing to come on and share your story with us.
We really do appreciate it. Any last words for students getting out to building their resumes? Anything before we-
Donte Hewlett: I mean, again, never give up and know your worth. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to reach out to anyone to get where you need to be because somebody knows somebody and that’s huge. And if it wasn’t for me not knowing certain people, I wouldn’t be here today even working for this company.
I’ve known someone that we worked together in Ovations, which was my first food and beverage company, and now he’s a district manager for a Lucky Strike, and I reached out to him and here I am. So you got to know people.
Jim Reese: Well, wishing you continued luck and success, thanks again for joining us.
Donte Hewlett: Much appreciated. Thank you.
Jim Reese: To everyone, thank you for your continued support of our Voices in the Field podcast series. We have some great guests coming up, including Mike Tannenbaum, former GM of the New York Jets, and now with ESPN as well as many others. Until then, on behalf of myself and my colleagues from the APUS Sports Management Program, this is Jim Reese saying so long.
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