Part 2: Working at MML
Moving home to Austin for my dream job at the city's best restaurant group
Sitting on a bus in Quito, Ecuador in July 2016 for my friend Prashanth’s wedding, I was surrounded by a lot of different people from all over the world, but the ones I gravitated toward happened to live in Austin.
Before the wedding, I had been interviewing to work in-house at different restaurant groups. I felt I had accomplished what I needed to at my current PR firm and wanted to be a larger part of a restaurant team to learn from a different point-of-view instead of juggling 10 to 12 clients at once. I interviewed with Daniel Boulud, Dana Cowin at The Chef’s Club, and I met with all my other favorite groups, but no one had an opening as it’s usually only one person’s job. I linked up with some past clients that were starting Sunday in Brooklyn and talked heavily about starting their company together, but nothing quite felt right. Looking out the window of the bus in Ecuador, I teased myself with the idea of moving back to Texas and enjoying the greenery and outdoors I loved so much.
My ego hit me, and I wondered how I could give up all my contacts and the career I’ve built in NYC and just move back to Texas? I had gotten clients in The Wall Street Journal, Cosmo Magazine, The New York Times, BuzzFeed Tasty, and Taxi TV, plus I had Chekmark Eats! I couldn’t let everyone down, could I?
When I landed and walked back into our apartment, I saw a note on the floor that said we had to move out by October because they were renovating our building. Excuse me? Leave our incredible apartment on Mulberry Street? Man, I guess I could just move back to Texas. It would be so easy. I could find a job at home and live with my parents cooking and cleaning for me after living in a shoebox and who wouldn’t want to hire me with my NYC restaurant experience? My oldest brother, Jonathan, (smartly) told me not to move without a job, and my middle brother, Andrew, told me to just get a new apartment and that it was less of an ordeal to move across the street than across the country. I briefly mentioned the idea to my roommate of seven years and best friend, Tracy, when she got home, and she thought I was joking. We couldn’t imagine a life without living together as we’d each built an incredible life side by side, but also separately, with different friends and passions that complimented each other so well. Wherever I went, people asked about Tracy and wherever she went, people asked about me. It was — and still is — very sweet.
Well, once I get an idea in my head, I start making moves immediately. I started researching restaurant groups in both Austin and Houston, as well as PR firms just in case that was my only option. I cold emailed Larry McGuire of MML Hospitality as I heard he had the best restaurants in Austin, and I had actually been to Elizabeth Street Café already. He told me he wasn’t looking for an in-house PR role, but that he’d meet me next time he was in town as he was visiting the city pretty regularly. Before I knew it, a couple weeks went by and on Sept. 13, (ha, I just looked), we met at Cafe Select.
In the meantime, I had written up a job description of my role in partnering with my Sunday in Brooklyn pals to start their company with them. I wrote a long list of all the things I was good at, had accomplished, and what I could offer. I had been pitching myself for the last five or six months, so when I sat down and Larry said, “So I’m looking for an in-house PR person,” my performance skills were ready to go! I had been practicing for this moment for months without knowing it. I was caught off guard because I thought he wasn’t looking for anyone, so I had to shake off my surprise and go for it. I loved talking about Austin and New York, and I knew after our coffee that I was going to get this job he was creating for me. I waited for what felt like 100 years to hear back, and two weeks later, I received my offer to be MML’s Communications Director. I was actually at Roberta’s in Bushwick with my cookbook author clients in town for a media tour when I got the news. I went to the bathroom to read the offer with tears in my eyes. Am I moving, or am I staying? The tears were about leaving New York City and the most incredible fun and wild times of my life that I knew I was about to release to try something new. I took the job and he moved me to Austin within three weeks to start the role.
I called my dad after the first few weeks and told him I was going to work at MML for the rest of my life. I felt so equipped to do this job and had so many ideas. Everyone was nice, and the perk of eating for free at restaurants like June’s All Day, Jeffrey’s, and Clark’s was HIGH! I felt like I brought a new vision and outlook to the team and still had connections in NYC that helped. People even wanted to write about Austin! Larry made me feel comfortable and checked in on me, and I loved my friendship with Ryan Scott Smith, who always had my back and gave me tips.
When we launched the “Elizabeth Street Café Cookbook,” our team flew to NYC for a media launch party, and I invited Christina Tosi, who gladly accepted. I felt like I was on top of the world as I introduced her to my MML team! My NYC friends also booked a table for the lunch, and it just all felt so good.
What I learned most at MML was how important design and partnerships are. I learned everything about food in New York, but this was an angle about branding I had never been a part of. My UT friends introduced me as the McGuire Moorman gal back in Austin, and I met all of the restaurant groupies who welcomed me back to town. We opened Pool Burger together, and we were getting ready for Clark’s Aspen. Then, the worst thing possible happened. Steven Allen Ridge, our Director of Operations, died in a freak accident. My eyes water as I write this because he was everyone’s favorite and the backbone of the company. I flew home early from a trip to LA for his funeral, and to be honest, I still can’t believe he’s gone. I have the best memories of our karaoke nights, chatting up a storm, and watching him drive around the whole city from restaurant to restaurant in his pick-up truck.
By April, I learned that the job that paid for my relocation to Austin and that I felt I had created was stripped out from under me. With Steven being gone, the restaurants needed to hire six more people to handle all the management and operations that Steven had so gracefully done on his own from the very beginning. He knew more than anyone about how all the restaurants operated, and they had to fill his shoes using part of my salary, so PR was no longer a concern. I had three months’ notice and had to go into that office everyday knowing this news, while no one else knew. I remember being so angry for so many different reasons, but mostly embarrassed. My whole identity was wrapped up in this restaurant group, which is still obviously the best and most successful in town.
However, just like I did to get the job, I put my head down and started meeting with every single person I knew in town. I asked for meetings with other PR people, restaurateurs, C3, Bunkhouse, anyone I knew. I started a spreadsheet and wrote down notes from each meeting to keep track of who I talked to and who everyone recommended I meet.
I got in a car accident on my way to an informational interview at New Waterloo — the woman drove out on South 1st into oncoming traffic and tried to dodge a motorcycle, but hit me. I closed my eyes, covered my face, and screamed as I couldn’t prevent it. I just kept thinking, “BUT I HAVE AN INTERVIEW!” I was fine, and I made it to the interview like a crazy person with my car door barely being able to shut. Guess what, though? Il Brutto, Otoko, La Condesa, Le Politique, and Chef Amanda Rockman ended up being my clients a few months later, so I guess it was worth it. Ha, but really, I took that moment as a lesson to slow down, be careful, and know that I will be OK. Sorry for the scare, y’all.
My identity felt like it was being stripped from me, and I had only been at MML for two years vs. more than seven years in New York. I went on a Europe trip for three weeks, and when I came home with no job, I decided to start my own PR company thanks to a lot of encouragement and with Richard’s Rainwater as my first client. The one major thing I have learned is that no job can own your identity. The work I had done, whether it be through PR for the restaurants I was no longer attached to or the Instagram posts people knew me for in New York, all had one thing in common and that was ME – Alexandra Reichek. Not Shadow PR. Not McGuire Moorman. Just me, Alex. The way you make people feel is the thing they remember. The trust and kindness you share is the memory they take with them, not your job title. I highly recommend stripping away the ego and believing that you can continue pursuing your purpose because if you light yourself up, you’ll light others up. They will see your work as a part of you, not all of you. Now, how did I actually start my own company and gain clients? To be continued…
Love learning more of your story after already knowing and loving your kind heart ♥️
So beautiful Alex! It's so hard to not equate our job with our identity, but I love this: "I highly recommend stripping away the ego and believing that you can continue pursuing your purpose because if you light yourself up, you’ll light others up. They will see your work as a part of you, not all of you."