Wow! What can I say about these two hard working women. Carmen is the one to my right in the black hat, and Gudelia her sister is the one to my left. You know how every business has that one employee that you would give anything to have! Well Carmen was that employee. She was with me from the very start. She was very quite at first, and I really never paid that much attention to what she was doing for Bajio, but she was creating customers for life. She has great customer service skills, very friendly and outspoken. There is no way I could have done what I did at Bajio if it wasn't for Carmen. I know that we learned a lot from one another, and I think that I learned more from her than she ever learned from me. She had great experience and helped me with scheduling, translating (ya those 4 years in High School taking Spanish from Senior Thomas didn't do much for me). I wish I would have really focused on that. Well the past is in the past. Carmen is amazing. She along with my wife Mandy kept me very patient, and believe me I needed it. It seemed that I didn't realize that I was so high strung there, that when ever anything happened I would always get upset very easily, and Carmen was always there to help me understand the situation better and calm me down, which helped me run a smoother store where everyone was happy. I hope that she learned from me the power of leadership. I don't say that to pat my self on the back, but we would play off of each others strengths and weaknesses. I know that is why our store in Reno succeeded the way that it did.
Carmen is there running the Bajio all buy her self. Why? Because she can. And she is doing a damn good job at it to. I'm very grateful that I found Carmen when I did. If you are passing through Reno, please stop buy and say hi to Carmen and the amigos that work there. Tell them that Ryan sent you, and maybe you can get a discount:). Thanks again for all your hard work and effort Carmen, Gudelia, Anita, Araceli, Olivia and Laura. Yes, almost my whole staff was women. They are amazing guys, take care of them. I will deeply miss all of and will always have the highest respect for each and everyone of you.
Anita! Anita! Anita!She was like the energizer bunny. She would keep going and going. She was my morning Hot Prep. I think she could read me the most of of anyone. She was very scared of me at first. I wonder why? She would tell Carmen every day that just by looking at my eyes, she could tell if I was mad, happy, sad, frustrated you name it. And 99% of the time she was right. It seemed that she would always find a way to avoid me while still getting her food prepared on time. A special thank you goes out to this wonderful women. Lunch time was always busy and she kept that Hot table always full. Thank you Anita for all you did for Bajio I will miss you.
Carmen again doing everyones job without being asked. She is pealing the Tomatillos, which will become the Verde Enchilada sauce and Salad dressing.
Victor. We shared many stories, and had lots of laughs. Victor was a very hard worker and also made it possible for Bajio to run the way it did. Thank you Victor.
Araceli! She was my Cold Prep at night. She was so much fun to tease. I would always scare her when her back was to me as she was preparing food. She hated it, but it was fun. She was like a second mom to me. We could talk about anything. She cleaned houses in the morning and then would come and work most of the night preparing food for the next day. At night, many of my employees would tell you that I was much nicer and funner to be around. I guess I could relax at night, because we didn't have the push like we did at lunch. I really enjoyed my night crew and they worked very hard as well. Anita worked nights sometimes and she would actually smile at me, because she could see that my eyes where happy.
Thank you all for your dedication to Bajio and helping me run the restaurant the way that I intended it to run. All of you where always willing to help, and go beyond what you where asked to do. I will miss the 12 to 14 hour days spending time with all of you, and I will NEVER forget the memories all of you and what you all mean to me. Now it's time for me to spend time with my family. I can't wait to do that. I love you all and hope that you have great success in the restaurant business.
