Shucking and Jiving

For years I have been sharing the concept of “dancing through the day.” It is a work philosophy that allows for a bad moment to stay a bad moment and not turn into a bad day. It requires being aware of the rhythm in your work, going with the flow and creating it as a dance. It makes the time fly and creates a wonderful experience for the service provider as well as the customer.

I felt privileged to be a customer sitting at the counter of Brophy Brothers, a legendary Santa Barbara seafood house, when I witnessed this powerful idea in Technicolor full-tilt boogie action. Thank heavens there was a twenty-minute wait for a table because we grabbed the first counter seat that became available. If we hadn’t, we would have missed the show.

And what a fabulous show it was. Michael Gallop, the hospitality artist and star of the show, was nothing short of amazing. The last time I saw something quite that remarkable was watching a sushi master chef in Japan. Michael is not only the bartender, server, oyster shucker and dance master at Brophy Brothers, he also has his own business called the Flair Project, which brings his bartending and entertainment skills to local events. If you live in the Santa Barbara area, I would add their flair to an event in a hot minute.

As a hospitality trainer, I know in my heart that what Michael is doing comes from within and can’t really be taught. I asked him where he got his work ethic and he said my parents. Just as Jim Nordstrom always believed, the best training program in the world is good parenting.

Michael, if you are reading this, please receive my four favorite words because they are from a heartfelt place of wow. Thank you very much for the show!

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