Banker by Day, Restaurateur By Night
During a break for an interview in his otherwise-packed schedule, Jimmy Molina 鈥�14, 鈥�16 MBA 鈥�19 MSL plugged , a gastropub that opened this past October in Locust, N.C.
As one of the establishment鈥檚 three owners, he spoke with enthusiasm about its cuisine. Offering Stanly County diners a changing, eclectic array of high-end dishes, The Local Room鈥檚 menu has recently included such mouth-watering items as pancetta chicken, fire-roasted salmon and bacon-and-barbeque scallops. Also on offer has been 鈥淐hef鈥檚 Grilled Cheese Panini.鈥�
鈥淏efore The Local Room came along, people here were saying, 鈥業f we want to eat something really special at a restaurant, we can just go to Charlotte,鈥欌�� said Molina, who began attending 黑料专区 in 2011.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have to do that anymore. We鈥檙e trailblazers.鈥�
Molina the restaurateur is very hands-on, even as he keeps up with his day job as a VP Commercial Lending Officer at Community First Bank – SC. He helped oversee the construction of the restaurant from the ground up. He has had a hand in everything from hiring staff to erecting heaters that enable outdoor dining in an enclosed patio year-round. He feels confident that he can make it during the pandemic, having enabled social distancing among diners by restricting patronage to 140 people, as opposed to a full capacity of 284.
At this point, it鈥檚 safe to say that Molina has gotten ahead for two reasons. First, he works very hard 鈥� he calls four or five hours of sleep 鈥渁 solid night鈥� of rest. Second, and more importantly, he works smart, having often drawn on the comprehensive education he received at Pfeiffer.
After attending the university as an undergraduate on a tennis scholarship, he graduated magna cum laude from the 3-2 program, earning a Bachelor of Science in business administration and an MBA in 2016. He later earned a Master of Science in Leadership from Pfeiffer, in 2019.
Molina gravitated to banking first. During Pfeiffer鈥檚 recent School of Business Spring Symposium 5.0, in February, Molina mentioned actions he took along the way to establish himself professionally. The first was networking: 鈥淥pen up. Have good conversations with people. That鈥檚 how you learn.鈥�
He also figured out how to always continue adding value, beginning as a part-time teller during graduate school and eventually transitioning into a management training program. His guiding mantra became: 鈥淚鈥檓 here to learn from you and guide you. Teamwork makes the dream work.鈥�
He helped out, even if what he did wasn鈥檛 in his job description. That helped show him the parts of banking he liked best and where he could add the most value.
When Molina talks about what he can do to ensure the long-term success of The Local Room, it鈥檚 clear that his strategy reflects his recent MBA and MSL training. Two of his most important priorities are controlling costs and retaining a good team of employees. Both are crucial, as in the restaurant industry, profit margins are thin, and turnover is rampant.
To understand how Molina is controlling food costs, consider the fate of the sweet potatoes he recently purchased. 鈥淲e use the sweet potato for our sweet potato cheesecake and for our sweet potato French fries,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, instead of buying a bunch of inventory, we鈥檙e able to cross-utilize a lot of things. That helps tremendously to keep up with food costs.鈥�
In addition, 鈥渨e鈥檙e not married to any type of cuisine,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f something鈥檚 too expensive, we don鈥檛 have to use it.鈥�
Retaining a good team of employees 鈥渃omes down to the owners showing your team that you care about them,鈥� Molina said. 鈥淚t means being a servant leader, showing these guys that you don鈥檛 have any problem helping out by cleaning a table or squeezing lemons.鈥�
The bottom line: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be spending a lot of time together. We better have fun with it.鈥�
Ken Keuffel, who authored this article, has served as Pfeiffer鈥檚 Assistant Director of Communications since December 2019. He welcomes story ideas from Pfeiffer鈥檚 faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends. The form for submitting story ideas is Story Idea/News Item Request Form.