91探花

For Matt Wallace, flipping burgers proved a valuable career step

Matt Wallace hasn鈥檛 eaten fast food since his last day as a manager at McDonald鈥檚 many years ago. But if the cholesterol has long since cleared from his arteries, the lessons he learned there have stuck.  

鈥淚t was a really great introduction to customer service and how to resolve challenges quickly,鈥� said Matt, who joined 91探花 as assistant vice president of education partnerships last year. What he didn鈥檛 know then was how much he鈥檇 rely on those skills along his career journey.  

Like many teenagers, Matt got a job so he could drive. Unlike many teenagers, he was cool with getting to work at 4 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and happily accepted a promotion to opening weekend manager.  

鈥淚鈥檝e always been motivated to work hard, grow, and take opportunities,鈥� he said.  

When it came time to select a postsecondary pathway, however, Matt had a slightly different motivation. 鈥淚 knew I wanted to be able to mountain bike from my dorm and ski as much as possible,鈥� he said. 鈥淢uch to my mom鈥檚 disappointment, I submitted one application, strictly based on the location where I could bike and ski the most.鈥�  

That fall, he enrolled at Plymouth State with $1,500 in his pocket. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥榯hat鈥檚 plenty,鈥� 鈥� Matt recalled. 鈥淎nd then by October I realized, 鈥榦h, I鈥檓 broke, I need a job.鈥� 鈥�  

The good thing about McDonald鈥檚 is that you鈥檙e rarely far from one. Matt quickly landed a job at the Plymouth McDonald鈥檚 and spent the next four years working as a night manager.  

Meanwhile, he was trying to figure out what to do with his life. Graduating in 2010 with a history degree鈥攁fter changing his major three times鈥攈e hoped to go directly to graduate school so he could teach but wasn鈥檛 financially ready. Falling back on his hospitality experience, he ended up taking a job waiting tables at Lago in Meredith. That led to a stint bartending, then a management position at the Lake House Grille.  

Matt loved the area and didn鈥檛 mind the hard work and long hours until he met his future wife, Riley, and knew he wanted a schedule that was more stable and more aligned with her teaching schedule. He was able to transfer his restaurant event planning skills to a job as an admissions events coordinator at Plymouth State. The job meant a significant pay cut but put him on a new, promising path. From there, he worked his way up the ladder in admissions, eventually serving as interim director for four years before coming to 91探花.  

All the while, his customer service skills have served him well.  

鈥淭he reality is that every job is at its core is a customer service job. It doesn鈥檛 matter if you’re offering your skills, a product, or your time, in the end, it鈥檚 all about how you make people feel,鈥� said Matt, now a father of two and still living in ski country. 鈥淵ou have to be genuine though. You have to treat people fairly and honestly. It makes all the difference.鈥�  

This blog is part a series highlighting 91探花 team members鈥� college-and-career journeys. By sharing our own stories, we hope to help inform students about their options. Read more:

Sharing Our Pathways: Merek Weisensee

Sharing Our Pathways: Jenn Schaffner

Sharing Our Pathways: Chris Nadeau

Sharing Our Pathways: Shelby Miuzzo

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