My friends’ careers: the café owner

Sometimes I envy my friends’ careers, so I thought I’d talk to them about how they got to where they are now. Today I talk to Joseph Slater, who works in hospitality and owns his own businesses.

1.     What do you do?

I own and run Monterey, Six Barrel Soda co. and Kreuzberg Summer Café with my pal Mike.

2.     Is this what you thought you’d be doing in high school?
Definitely not, my leaving report says “intended occupation: lawyer”, I grew up in Tauranga and it seemed like the only options were so limited, trades, teaching, medicine or law.

3.     Tell me about what studies you did – are they relevant to what you
do now, or were you on a different path at the time?
After high school I came to Wellington and started a law/psychology double degree, I left law after three years when I realised I didn’t want to be a lawyer and wasn’t applying myself at uni. I finished my BA and moved overseas for a few years. I worked in and ran bars in Australia and Europe and came back to set up shop.

4.     What are some of the highs and lows of your job?
Seeing a restaurant you own full of people and good feedback from customers is pretty cool, it’s nice to know people appreciate the work you do. Stress and hours are probably lows but working for myself is worth it.

5.     What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
Bankruptcy’s not so bad.