Meghan Lee Mare

• Assisted in designing and ideation of signature events to boost attendance and revenue within the various restaurant outlets
• Using my design talent to help decorate and create bespoke decorations for various events (Christmas, Valentines etc)
• Assisted with menu design and editing
• Email campaigns to promote seasonal offers (TaxiBoat65)
• Staff management and guest relations, building long and meaningful relationships, resulting in return guests
• HR, recruitment and onboarding of international staff including visa and work permits etc (to comply with the countries law)
• Managing accounts and recording data to ensure accurate invoicing at month end
• Working with a diverse team of non-english speaking colleagues, learning the language and cultures to shape myself as a well rounded international employee, with great communication and interpersonal skills
• Cooking and creating traditional meals to be served at the self service buffet (traditional Balkan recipes)
• Stock take and ordering of stock needed for high volume catering
• Warehouse management and organising stock already on hand for use, ensuring very little wastage

I am currently still a Director in the business and am involved in all important decisions. Although I am not involved in the day to day operations.

I received a number of promotions whilst with the business. Below is a representation of my career progression form start to finish.

Part-time recruitment consultant

Account Manager & Recruitment Consultant

Head of Permanent Recruitment

Associate Director (Aug 2020)

VP of Customer Experience & Associate Director

Whilst with the business I covered the below

• Actively conducting executive headhunting and interviewing of C-level executives on an international basis with clients from around the globe. Matching candidates with their requirements
• Managing relationships with clients and candidates, ensuring constant communication, genuine care and constant transparent feedback to ensure only the best outcome for all parties involved
• Upholding the ethics and values of our business on all occasions
• Reference checks and background checks, both local and and international
• Successfully placing candidates in over 32 countries world wide

Our practice areas include:

· Lending
· Payments
· DeFi & Digital Currency
· Neo Banks / Challenger Banks
· Embedded Finance
· Open Banking

Specific Roles That We Cover:

· Executive (CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, CTO, CMO, CISO, CCO)
· Commercial - Business Development Managers & New Business Development Directors
· Group Managers, Group Directors, Managing Directors, VPs
· Business Services, HR Managers, Finance Managers, Operations Managers, Marketing Exec’s
· Technology – AI, Machine learning, Robotics, Developers, (Senior Managers)
· Fraud / Regulatory and Risk Experts

We offer specialist leadership search services across emerging markets. We help business leaders hire senior and middle management leaders across the FinTech & Payments sector.

• Mentored junior staff members, providing guidance on professional development opportunities and career progression paths within the company
• Mapping and researching new markets, creating documents for the data base that could be used for expansion purposes and were compliant with the law of the specific country
• Attending conferences and industry events
• Professional CV and LinkedIn reviews for professionals looking to land their next big gig
• Becoming an expert at online recorded video interviews tailored to represent our candidates and clients in the best light possible. ( At the time revolutionary in recruitment.)
• Proficiency in Talent Capture Software such as ZOHO and Bullhorn
• Becoming an expert in client and candidates relationships that are professional but transcend beyond the 'work ' place to genuine real life long connections
• Ensuring the ultimate customer satisfaction on all sides and all levels and trouble shooting where necessary
• Conducting quarterly reviews of junior staff

• Liaising with clients on a daily basis
• Management of over 80 allocated accounts
• Conducted comprehensive candidate screenings to assess skills, experience, and fit for specific roles
• Built strong relationships with clients through regular communication and understanding their unique needs
• Conducting in-depth interviews with potential candidates
• Provided detailed feedback to both clients and candidates after interviews, facilitating continuous improvement in the recruitment process
• Coordinated interviews between clients and candidates to ensure seamless scheduling and communication throughout the process
• Working towards set targets of R 200 000 pm per consultant
• Negotiated competitive compensation packages on behalf of clients and candidates to ensure successful placements
• Increased candidate placements by developing and implementing targeted recruitment strategies
• Assisted with writing job postings and job descriptions for boards
• Pre-screened resumes prior to sending to corporate hiring managers for consideration

• Organising all aspects of events taking place at the Raddison Hotel Blu
• Mastering and utilising the Property Management System (PMS) of the hotel
• Arranging the required conference equipment needed
• Liaising with third party suppliers on a daily basis
• Arranging the requested catering and menus in collaboration with the Executive Chef and Culinary Team
• Menu and wine list design and suggestion in collaboration with the Executive Chef
• Making note of, and arranging any special dietary requirements
• Liaising with high-end clients directly
• Maintaining a consistent, timely and professional response to all emails received
• Putting together quotation based on client enquiries
• Invoicing prior and post events
• Chasing payments in a professional manner, when necessary
• Making strategic decisions with regards to the best possible revenue outcome for the hotel
• Multitasking between telephone calls and emails simultaneously
• Conducting sight inspections
• Working hand-in-hand with the F&B Director to ensure the seamless execution of all events under my responsibility
• Ensuring client expectations is consistently exceeded.
• Fostering a culture of excellence and client satisfaction, ensuring return business

F&B coordinator

• Responsible for all aspects of coordinating the operations for the F&B department
• Menu design in collaboration with the culinary team
• Designing and making labels, ensuring dietary notes and clearly stated and legible
• Minute taking all important meetings
• PA duties to the F&B Director
• Ordering stock using hotel internal systems
• Overseeing the successful execution of functions when required
• Making restaurant bookings
• Table layout and seating design
• Liaising with guests
• Familiarizing myself with specialised events and religious holidays, hosted at the hotel (eg. Passover)

Events & Conference Coordinator (Promotion)

• Organising all aspects of events hosted at the hotel
• Arranging specific dietary requirements
• Liaising with third part suppliers on daily basis
• Liaising with high-end clients directly, ensuing the ultimate client experience
• Answering emails and managing a busy phone line
• Sending out quotations in response in enquiries
• Entered data, generated reports, and produced tracking documents
• Improved team productivity with regular communication and progress updates, fostering a collaborative work environment
• Managed project timelines for successful completion, ensuring milestones were met and deadlines were adhered to
• Prioritised and managed multiple projects simultaneously, ensuring all met their deadlines and objectives without compromising quality
• Resolved issues through active listening and open-ended questioning, escalating major problems to manager

• Menu and wine list design
• Obtaining an extensive knowledge of wine and food pairing. Making recommendations to guests when required
• Poster and flyer design for promotion of projects and events
• Liaising with sponsors (Cape Epic, Design Indaba, Mining Indaba)
• Marketing
• Conducting research on current food and industry trends
• Completed extensive HACCP training and implementation
• Training and management of the restaurant staff
• Working on the 'pass' and on the 'floor', ensuring the waiters are on tier toes and guests are calm and happy
• Stock control and stock take, ordering when necessary
• Roster creation
• Conducting payroll
• Maintaining a 5 star set up in the restaurant for all occasions
• Managed daily operations to ensure a high level of efficiency, consistency, and quality in both food and service
• Correctly calculated inventory and ordered appropriate supplies
• Met, greeted, and encouraged feedback from customers and used feedback to implement positive changes within restaurant

• Customer satisfaction and guest liaison
• Organising events for which Simon's was chosen as the preferred venue
• Stock control
• Conducting payroll
• Underwent HACCP training
• Projects, promotions and marketing
• Cash-up budgets and invoicing
• Gaining extensive knowledge of wine
• Taking bookings and seating arrangement on a daily basis
• Allocating sections to the various waiters on duty
• Staff management, ensuing the highest level of service

• Interact with concierges and tour operators to organise booking and events in a typically very busy restaurant
• Double checking and confirming all reservations
• Juggling the proposed seating plan to accommodate as many 'walk in guests' as possible
• Handling stressful situations with professionalism and poise to ensure customer satisfaction
• Dealing with a large amount of international clientele
• Maintaining a fresh and professional appearance to ensure great first impressions

• Involved in Design Indaba, stand design for Woolworths
• Paper Dresses created for Sappi Fine Paper new range launch
• Set painting for FHPS
• Make up done for the front cover of the Big Issue Sunflower Fund
• Commissioned painting for various house decoration