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Hospitality guilds transform education, help students land jobs
Work hard. Make connections. Take hold of opportunities.
That’s the mindset that guided hospitality alumna Alexandra Poit ’22 MS ’24 to launch a successful career even before graduating from FIU.
It began when she joined the Bartender’s Guild, a student organization open to all majors.
As the vice president of the guild, Poit worked event after event, gaining experience and networking with industry executives. At one of these events, she met the senior director of human resources and the vice president of hospitality for the Kaseya Center, the home of the Miami Heat and a premier sports and entertainment venue.
“We started a conversation, and I said how I was really interested in resource and human development. They said, ‘We just opened a role in that area. It might be a good fit for you.’”
She applied and landed the position as a human resources supervisor, just in time for her graduation ceremony. Today, Poit is a premium restaurant manager at the Kaseya Center.
She says part of her success comes from her FIU network — and from experiential learning opportunities like the ones she embraced through the guilds.
“It’s part of what makes FIU’s hospitality program super unique,” says Poit. “The classes are so important. They are the foundation."
"Then what we learn outside the class is a gamechanger. Other students from other schools hear me talk about the guilds, and they say, ‘You have a bartender’s guild?’ I can’t think of any other school that does. FIU is ahead of the curve, and it’s helping students.”
Alumna Yasmine Tesone '24 has a similar story. Thanks to her involvement in the Coffee Guild, Tesone got the opportunity to present a coffee cocktail she created at the U.S. Open in New York City twice and to visit coffee farms in Latin America as well as the North American headquarters of Italian coffee brand Lavazza. She later landed a job with Lavazza and became part of the company's corporate training program and the world's largest coffee training school network.
Gateway to industry
Poit and Tesone are two of hundreds of Panthers who have gained valuable connections and experiences through FIU’s Bartender’s Guild, Coffee Guild and Wine Guild. All three guilds are student organizations housed with the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. The organizations cater to students who are interested in learning the ins and outs of the beverage industry, event management and managerial skills. Faculty members play a crucial role in helping establish academic learning and opportunities for the guilds.
Students attend presentations and workshops with industry leaders; gain experiences that transform them into food and beverage professionals; attend nationally recognized industry conferences; and build their networks by working at a variety of events. Students also regularly go behind the scenes of the beverage industry, meeting with CEOs, owners and managers of companies and taking tours of such facilities.
“We are teaching pivotal skills that students will need to be well-rounded and efficient managers,” says Mitchell Meredith, beverage program manager of FIU’s Bacardi Center of Excellence and the faculty advisor of the Coffee Guild and Bartender’s Guild.
He adds, “The guilds prepare students for the food and beverage industry. They are gaining real-world knowledge. What do you do when the cooler that you were promised at an event isn’t there? That’s what management is. Pivoting and making the best decision to move the organization forward. That’s what our students are learning.”
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Becoming leaders
Graduate hospitality student Ian Gonzalez ’24 is involved in all three guilds and even served as the president of the Bartender’s Guild during his undergraduate years. He says the guilds are a transformative set of experiences that are preparing him for his future goal: to become a beverage director and restaurant owner.
“The guilds provide us with the best return on our investment,” Gonzalez says. “We’re bridging academia and industry. The hands-on learning we get, the events we do, that’s the beauty of it. It’s about experiential learning with the goal of getting jobs and becoming managers and leaders in the industry.”
Inspired by his involvement in the guilds, he decided to learn yet another aspect of the industry by becoming a marketing intern for FIU’s Bacardi Center of Excellence.
“As a manager of a restaurant, you need to understand different aspects of the industry, not just the beverage or food side. The internship at the Bacardi Center is helping me understand the marketing and financial aspects. I’m also working at a restaurant in Miami, and, thanks to the internship, now I’m thinking of questions like ‘What’s our audience? What kind of drink does our audience want? Now just by walking into a restaurant I understand what the message behind the décor and look is.”
Alumnus Anthony Peñas '24 is the lead sommelier at Klaw Miami, an upscale eatery. While at FIU, Peñas served as the president of the Wine Guild. The experience was deeply formative.
"FIU's Wine Guild was instrumental in shaping both my leadership style and approach to wine education at Klaw," he says. Peñas adds that his FIU mentors are not only outstanding educators but recognized wine experts who helped him develop the foundation of his own expertise. "At Klaw, that foundation is reflected in the wine and spirits education program I've helped implement," Peñas says.
For example, he helped jumpstart a wine education experience — the "beverage of the day" spotlight — at team meetings. This allows his team to spend an entire week learning about a single grape varietal, wine region and vintage or high-end spirit.
"The influence of FIU's program — and the mentorship I received there — continues to shape how I teach and lead every day."
Part of the strength of all three guilds lies in thier ties to the Chaplin School’s academic areas, which provide resources, faculty mentors and industry partners that collaborate in programming for the guilds. The Bartender’s and Coffee guilds are housed in the Chaplin School’s Bacardi Center of Excellence and the Wine Guild is housed in the Vidal-Duart Wine Studies Program.