Under the right influence

by Chris Losh

Forget salary, perks and location, I reckon one of the biggest factors in deciding whether your first job is a good ‘un or not, is whether you find someone there who takes you under their wing. A direct superior who has plenty of experience and actively makes an effort to share it can make a huge difference.

Not only can they be a reliable sounding board for your naïve musings, but with gentle prodding and poking on their part you should find yourself asking the kind of questions that can get right to the heart of what it means to do your job.

When I first entered the magazine world 20-odd years ago, I had an experience on one magazine with people who not only didn’t share knowledge, but actively withheld it, so that I didn’t ever know what was going on. It was so bad I was on the point of resigning.

A move to a different publication with a warmer, more open, more enthusiastic superior and within weeks I was loving it. Ian was 30 years older than me, funny and talented. He could probably have achieved a lot more than he had, but didn’t want to move from Scotland to London. He liked his house in the countryside, his garden and the gentler way of life.

But he understood magazines, he understood people and he was ridiculously good about giving responsibility to a scrawny 20-something who thought he knew everything, but really knew nowt.

Most of what he taught me has stayed with me today. So if you don’t like Imbibe it’s his fault. Though frankly his favourite motto of ‘why be crap when you can be good’ is one that translates into pretty much any industry!

Sadly, he died a few years ago, before he’d even retired, and I still feel upset about it. For someone who I only knew for four years, he exerted a big influence on the way my life panned out, and it saddens me that I won’t get a chance to thank him properly.

In the next issue of Imbibe, we’ll be running an interview I did with Laura Rhys MS. One of the brightest young sommeliers in the country, one of the striking things about Laura is how working in positive environments, first at the Hotel du Vin, and then under the renowned mentor Gerard Basset MS, has allowed her inherently positive nature to flourish.

Starting out in a ‘want to learn, want to do better’ kind of place can give you a massive boost, just like falling under the influence of a negative or sloppy regime can hold you back, and inculcate you with bad habits that take years to break.

Positive influences deserve recognition. Which is why, if you get a couple of minutes, I’d love you to make the effort to put forward your nominations for our People of The Year awards. It’s your chance to give people who are doing a great job in any field of hospitality a pat on the back. And God knows we could all do with one of those from time to time.