A girl from the Philadelphia suburbs got her first bite of the restaurant world as a teenager at Dunkin' Donuts. In the years that followed, she’d move through the restaurant space in every role from hostess to bartender to general manager. How did Jenna Hymes work her way through so many roles in the restaurant world before finding her place as the Business Development Senior Associate at [me], and does she count a blueberry Munchkin as part of our daily fruit intake?
Teenage Jenna was searching for her first job. Born in Northeast Philadelphia and raised in the suburbs, she stumbled upon a suburban classic: Dunkin’ Donuts. “It should’ve been a clue at that point that I was going to stay in restaurants,” Jenna recalled, “But it wasn’t. I had no idea.”
Sixteen-year-old Jenna would count safe drawers and handle food drops. After high school, she headed to the University of Pittsburgh. “I worked a couple of different hospitality jobs there. But I wanted to get into restaurants. I was like, ‘How do you make more money?’” Jenna was determined to become a server. “But I didn’t have any serving credentials,” she shared, “So I couldn’t get hired anywhere.”
She opted to start instead as a hostess at McCormick and Schmick’s. Within two years, she worked her way up from hostess to server to bartender before taking a role as lead server. “I was working 30 to 40 hours in just a few days, like a lot of restaurant people do. And I loved it.”
After finishing college, Jenna’s mom gave her an ultimatum: live with her for a year while she figured out her next steps, or go out on her own. Jenna took her up on the offer and moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey. “I’d always wanted to live on the beach. I transferred to the McCormick and Schmick’s in Atlantic City. I was a server, and my mom told me, again, ‘You have one year.’ And within two weeks, I got promoted.”
Jenna has plenty of fond memories of her time in hospitality, including “My regulars. They became my family. When you're in the industry, and you've served, bartended, or whatever it may be, there are different things that you pick up. I have no idea what your name is. I just know what you eat and what you drink, and I'll have it on the counter when you come in. If I see you walking in, it's going to be made. I even became friends with some of my regulars and still talk to them to this day.”
Jenna was eventually promoted to supervisor and even completed a six-month supervisor course in two months (talk about impressive!). She was being flown across the country for management training and working 50-hour weeks in every role from floor manager to assistant general manager to general manager. And for a while, it was a dream. But by the end of the COVID pandemic, Jenna was ready for a change.
“It was post-COVID. I had worked in the restaurant industry all through the pandemic. I was at a casual fine dining restaurant that did takeout, working 6 days a week. I was still getting promoted, but towards the end, it was just time for me to get out.” The feeling of burnout was real; Jenna could feel the industry changing, and she was in a new relationship that she seemed to have no time for. It was time for a change. That’s where [me] came in.
Many applications later, Jenna landed an interview at [me], and to no surprise, was offered the role. She came in as a Business Development Associate in 2023, later promoted to her current role as a Business Development Senior Associate.
One of her favorite things about working at MarginEdge is when clients and prospects click with what [me] can do for them. "When you're working with a group that has been using a manual process, I'll say, ‘No, you're actually insane for trying to figure out how much a tablespoon of mustard costs out of a five-gallon jar.’ I love being able to see the operators really get it, and realize they don’t have to do all this manual work anymore.”
Today, Jenna feels like she still gets a taste of her favorite parts of hospitality in her favorite thing about [me]: All Hands, our annual in-person event that brings together all the [me]ople across the country for a week of team building, celebrating and maybe a scavenger hunt or two. “I got to meet the whole team in person, so many people that I hadn't met. And it's fun because we all come from somewhat of a similar background, but all have different stories and do different things.”
When Jenna isn’t busy calling restaurants, running demos and ensuring onboarding processes are going smoothly, she loves spending time with her dog and boyfriend at their house in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. She also loves recalling crazy stories from her hospitality days, like the time she had to file a police report over chicken tenders. Through all the ups and downs, Jenna’s journey set the foundation for what she now does: helping folks in the same restaurant roles that she’s held, and we think that’s sweeter than a box of mixed Munchkins.