Charlie Upham

I had the good fortunate to work in one of the first salad bars in California as a bus boy. Why was I lucky? The restaurant was based on a cafeteria model so without traditional servers, the bus boy position was more difficult and garnered less than industry average tips. This job would not only teach me the value of money; it would show me the value of a diverse skill set and how this related to project management. Before the summer ended, I had washed dishes, prepped vegetables, made soups, and worked the counter; in short my restaurant career had started. By the time I garnered my first management position in food service I had worked most of the stations in a restaurant. This experience laid the foundation for a life of synthetic thinking, and began a journey where I sought to learn the key value propositions of the projects I was involved in so I could participate in their management....