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What Type of Person Thrives in the Food and Beverage Industry, According to an Operations and Chief of Staff at Besa mi Vino

Jessica, an Operations and Chief of Staff at Besa mi Vino, learned that success in the food and beverage industry heavily relies on "very solid connections," especially for smaller brands trying to secure large accounts. Building a strong professional network before entering the field, through methods such as increased LinkedIn engagement, would have eased the initial challenges of establishing relationships from scratch.

Networking, Building Relationships, Industry Realities, Overcoming Challenges, Resilience

Advizer Information

Name

Job Title

Company

Undergrad

Grad Programs

Majors

Industries

Job Functions

Traits

Jessica Goodall

Operations and Chief of Staff

Besa mi Vino

UCLA

NA

Communications

Food, Beverages & Alcohol

Communication and Marketing

International Student, Scholarship Recipient, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Student Athlete

Video Highlights

1. Building a strong professional network is crucial for success, especially in industries like food and beverage where established relationships matter.

2. Breaking into the industry as a smaller brand can be challenging due to the prevalence of long-standing relationships between established brands and buyers.

3. Actively networking and building connections through platforms like LinkedIn can significantly ease the challenges of entering a competitive industry.

Transcript

What have you learned about this role that you wish someone had told you before you entered this industry?

I think something I learned really quickly in the food and beverage industry, and this applies to a lot of jobs, is that it's really about solid connections. Concessionaires who manage big accounts, especially in stadiums, have relationships they've been building for years. They will consistently pick the same brands.

Breaking in as a small brand is really tough. So, I think it applies to all parts of business, but definitely, before I started, knowing that I needed to build my network up even more would have helped. Posting more on LinkedIn and following more people in the food and beverage industry to see how they've led the way would have helped me feel less defeated. It was really tough the first two months building relationships in the alcohol industry from scratch.

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