Professional Projects
What I’ve Done
Seen and Unseen Disabilities
Marketing Proposal
This proposal was pitched to the Title IX board at Brigham Young University in Hawaii. It proposes a way to inform the student of disabilities both physically visible and unseen. It also presents a plan where the school can be involved through a campus activity and social media.
The Biga
Case Study:
What to do when a team member makes a mistake.
The Problem:
Working in fast paced environments such as restaurants and sales offices can be a bit stressful. While working in a restaurant as a pizza maker, we were in charge of making our own dough and sauce. At the end of the night one of the closers from another part of the kitchen was cleaning out the walk in fridge and forgot to roll the trays of dough back in. The next morning the yeast in the dough fermented and made the dough double in size overnight. It was not pizza making material and by time the openers realized, it was 30 minutes before opening the restaurant.
The Solution:
The head chef wanted to know who had made this careless mistake and was ready to shut down the pizza station for that day. The pizza section of the menu was the most popular and we knew customers would be extremely disappointed if we did not open the station that day. The head chef asked if anyone had any ideas as to what to do because if we made a new batch of dough, it would not be thoroughly cured until dinner or the next day. I suggested using the overly fermented dough as a starter. The head Chef trusted my judgement and allowed me to test out my theory. We discovered that I did not invent this process. The correct term is Biga. It would actually help kick start the curing of the dough.
The Outcome:
The dough not only was ready in time but helped us get ahead on our batches for the following three days. We distributed the biga and realized that the dough was extremely soft, easier to handle, and did not need nearly as must yeast after. Customers were even more satisfied with our pizza and said the dough tasted even more authentic. This process became a new method of making our dough. It also cooked better and faster in the stone fire oven causing the super busy pizza station to keep up with their orders. Instead of being angry with the employee who made the mistake, we were thankful that we learned throughout the process and were better able to perfect our craft.
From that moment on, whenever I am faced with what seems to be a bad/unfair situation. I find ways to make the best out of it and not panic or stress out. I know that if we think smarter, we can find the solutions and create a healthier work environment that encourages improvement rather than fear and perfection. Had my boss not trusted me, we would not have learned how to make biga or perfect our dough.