Written by: Natalia Lefter

Covid hit Canada 2 weeks after my 30th birthday. One moment I was sitting in a packed restaurant with friends on a Saturday night, a wait list out the door, and the next - the world was standing still, holding its breath.

Within a week, everything had changed. I was working in a busy downtown Toronto restaurant at the time, and we went from being a warm, welcoming place to printed menus, gloves, social distancing, and the harsh scent of disinfectant constantly reminding us of what they kept saying on the news. There’s a global pandemic. People are getting sick. It’s not safe.

The last day before lockdowns we had 3 customers the entire day. We got the news from the head office after lunch. We were closing down, no date on how long. Everyone was told to go home and wait for news.

To add insult to injury, the stock market, which I’ve always considered to be my financial safety blanket, flash crashed into oblivion in one week flat. My first market crash and my first pandemic, testing exactly how much anxiety one person could tolerate.

I had been in the hospitality industry for 7 years by the time Covid hit. I landed in the industry shortly after graduating from college, and somehow, never left.

I loved restaurants because I grew up seeing the back end of the industry. My parents used to manage a variety of businesses before we moved to Canada. Since babysitters weren’t really a thing back in Moldova, I got to wander through the casinos as a six year old and play blackjack while my dad talked to the bartenders about business. I got to hang out with the waitresses while my mom was doing accounting. I got to snoop through the kitchens and see what the chefs were cooking that day. I’ve always loved seeing the flow of a perfectly manufactured ecosystem, working flawlessly, the way it does in a place that is run well.

After 9 months of asking myself what’s next, I came across an interesting job opportunity. I remembered ChickAdvisor from my college days. I used to be an advocate for their product testing programs, and their bright cheerful packages were the highlight of my day whenever I would find one in my mailbox.

Even though most of my experience was in hospitality and customer service, I took a shot and applied for the position. I vividly remember my Zoom interview with Ali and Claire because I had the stock market news channel in the background and as we were talking, the market continued to sink lower and lower on the screen. Along with all my investments.

After a few months of training, I settled into a comfortable flow. A new routine. Later, as things started to reopen, I wondered if I would want to go back. But I wasn’t even tempted.

I realised later that it wasn’t that I was so in love with the industry, but that I liked a challenge. I liked to see how well I can do something. If I can find that flow. The flow is not exclusive to restaurants. It’s in every business. When you create the environment in which things flow, you get a perfectly functioning ecosystem. And ChickAdvisor had that flow.

I’ve been at the company now for nearly 2 years and I love my job. I started in an admin role and was quickly promoted into a Campaign Manager role and was able to buy my first house! Something I had not thought possible during my hospitality days.

ChickAdvisor has evolved into Butterly, and I have found a new challenge for myself in a company that values creativity, ideas and growth. I’ve been able to use skills I hadn’t needed in a long time but that used to be a big part of who I am. Photography, creative thinking, writing - have all suddenly become necessary again after being dormant for years. I learn new things all the time. We create new things all the time. Who knew the pandemic would end up being good for my career? I’m no longer afraid to ask myself what’s next. I know exactly where I’m going.