According to me, success lies in the difference you can make. My restaurant is located in a popular neighborhood and it stands out from the rest by providing good dishes with great care and hiring people with disabilities among its personnel. In this way I represent a personal social contribution, for me personally necessary. There is also a mutual benefit. I found out having two employees with Down Syndrome working in my restaurant created a ‘quality advertising’ that spread by the word of mouth. This boosted the reputation of my restaurant, by both attracting customers because of the social component of the restaurant and creating new synergies with foundations or other companies that were interested in this business model.

I already had a narrow and personal relation with the Down foundation, even before I opened the restaurant. As a matter of fact, it was my personal idea to open a restaurant with employees with a disability as one of the core components of the company. I discussed my idea with Lourdes, an employment specialist at the Down foundation, and she really supported me in shaping the concept of the restaurant. I was also in contact with other foundations, such as the one for the care of people with cerebral palsy, and exploring ways of collaboration.

Once the restaurant was set up, my recruitment started. Lourdes asked me about the profiles I was looking for. I highlighted a series of tasks, like for instance ‘set up the restaurant tables and informing my customers about the offered dishes. I also mentioned some necessary characteristics, like willingness and readiness to learn. Then, she selected the 4-5 profiles, and out of this list, I chose Maria, who started then with an internship training of one month. During this period, she could learn and develop her skills for the tasks. As Lourdes told me, this internship is an extremely enriching experience for Maria, both at work and in life. It gives her an advantage when applying for other jobs and it gives her the opportunity to find out whether she can do the work and whether she liked to do this work. For me, as the owner of the restaurant, it was also good. It provided me security because I do not have any cost for that trial period and I am not obliged to hire her, is she does not fit in after that first trial

This period of one month was good, to get acquainted to each other. For Maria, it was a bit difficult at first. The discipline of wearing a uniform every day, cleaning the dining rooms, washing the dishes, etc. was asking a lot of her. And also, she had to be trained in carrying out the distinguished tasks in a very methodical way. This is important when working in a restaurant. During her trial period, where she worked in shifts of four hours, she could practice this. And I could find out whether she was capable of doing the job.

Lourdes guided Maria in this period by Lourdes. I was grateful for this help. I also had a supervisory role, but at the same time, I needed to take care of the proper functioning of the entire restaurant. Lourdes supported María and made her tasks as easy as possible when she encountered some obstacles. For instance, time management in a restaurant which involves a lot of speed, setting up the tables, etc. Then, at the end of that first month, Lourdes told me she stopped her role as Maria’s supervisor. In fact, this was good news, she was not necessary anymore. As she mentioned it: ‘it is a success if you, as a service provider, can disappear’. I took over the role as a supervisor. As I learned from Lourdes, it is very important that ‘whoever supervises should be the one who hires.

For the optimal integration of María in the workforce, I tried to exploit the positive aspects of each of my workers. For instance, I connected my most ‘talkative’ worker with María so that she felt welcomed. And I connected my worker with more pedagogical skills with María to teach her the functions and dynamics of the restaurant. Of course, all of this was done under my watchful eyes. There is not so much a hierarchy in the restaurant, it is more a matter of organization.

I myself was really impressed by the evolutionary developments of Maria. I really admired the way Maria carried out her tasks in an extraordinary way. Apart from her initial tasks, Maria asked the customers for the bill, took the orders with the credit card terminal, etc. These tasks just came naturally to Maria once she became totally comfortable with her previous tasks. She received a lot of help as well as affection and welcome from all of her co-workers. Especially from the Head Chef, with whom she had a closer relationship. Her head chef helped her a lot, including some more critical comments that made her improve and do her job better. In Maria’s words, the role of her co-workers was ‘impressive’. I was flattered when María herself expressed the incredible treatment that she had received from my team and from me. As a result of sharing work and experiences, she had generated very strong emotional bonds.

I would like to emphasize the role of Lourdes’ work as a service provider in the Down Foundation. When starting our cooperation and setting up the vacancy, Lourdes made a detailed analysis of the job, the physical space, the noise, the number of people, etc. These were all parameters that influenced the choice of the profiles offered to me. And, she knows the strengths and weaknesses of her job seekers, which makes it easy for her to match them with the most appropriate jobs and companies. She worked closely together with me, as I am responsible for my staff. I experienced the combination of her knowledge of her job seekers, combined with her thorough analysis of the work tasks and my wishes about the needed competencies and characteristics for the different tasks as very positive and professional.

For me, this was the best investment since everyone wins. The question of ‘how can we highlight people with disabilities working in the restaurant’ was answered naturally and without advertising. The publicity was, in fact, word of mouth, which contributed to the idea that my restaurant was ‘a different restaurant’. In the end, it was the best advertising approach, putting value on people by creating work and, as a consequence, creating a community. The philosophy of hiring people with disabilities attracted many customers on a regular basis and meant a very strong form of customer loyalty. As a result of this, television channels and other media approached me to learn about my experience. Most important for me, though, is the creation of a good work environment where there is a lot of warmth and affection. In short, all of this ‘humanizes’ the company. It encourages me to launch new projects. And I advise my fellow restaurant owners to just try it too.