Anna Carlson: A Hands-On Approach to Hospitality, Leadership
After mere months, WSU North Puget Sound at Everett’s first hospitality business management graduate is already making a splash with restaurant industry leader Red Robin.
Anna Carlson began her career with a dream: “I’ve wanted to own my own restaurant since I came up with a concept in seventh grade,” she says.
Carlson, 23, began working at Red Robin near Bellevue right after completing her associate’s degree at Bellevue College, before becoming the very first transfer student to complete a degree in hospitality business management at WSU North Puget Sound at Everett. She worked her way through college, starting as a host.
“I wanted to learn every single position and aspect of the restaurant industry because this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Carlson says. “I want to be the leader in the industry.”
After three weeks as host, she was promoted to host trainer. After three months, she was promoted to server. After a few more weeks, she was training the servers. Not long after that, she was promoted to lead certified learning coach for her Red Robin location and named the 2014 Team Member of the Year. The first summer she worked double shifts five days a week. In eight months, she worked more than 1,010 hours.
“Sleep? I didn’t even know what it was,” she says.
During that time, she handled additional duties well above her pay grade. Her manager taught her about liquor inventory while her general manager taught her about profit and loss statements and other important financial aspects of the business.
Those managers, knowing that she was studying hospitality business management at WSU, put her on a path toward management. “They really took an interest in my ongoing development,” she says.
Engaging in Diverse Educational Experiences
Carlson took advantage of an array of opportunities afforded to her through her WSU education.
In summer 2015, she traveled to the Apicius International School of Hospitality in Florence, Italy as part of a study abroad program led by Jamie Callison, executive chef in the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management.
Based on her performance observed by the Apicius chefs, Carlson was asked to join an international team preparing meals for an event at the James Beard House through TuttoToscana, a three-week program in Florence that transfers to New York City for a week of real life events at prestigious locations.
“That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Carlson says.
“Traveling to New York City for the first time and enduring long hours in the kitchen while keeping up with assignments pushed Anna to new levels of resilience and achievement,” says Mark Beattie, clinical assistant professor at WSU North Puget Sound at Everett. “She will draw strength from the experience throughout her career.”
The WSU North Puget Sound at Everett Advantage
“Every WSU professor I had cared about my development and learning. Mark Beattie and Nancy Swanger, in particular, are rock stars,” Carlson says. “That’s something that sets WSU apart from other universities.”
There is more that sets WSU apart, according to Carlson. “There is no other university that allows these real experiences with real businesses and the study abroad programs,” she says. “Without WSU, I wouldn’t have been able to negotiate as well as I did and move up to management as fast as I did. The things I was able to learn and do at WSU set me apart from other candidates.”
After graduation, she was offered a path to management through an eight-week training program at the Northgate Seattle Red Robin location. She completed the program and is an assistant manager at the Red Robin in Factoria, a neighborhood of Bellevue near her home.
