He Quit Banking on His Birthday Because His Rich Bosses Seemed Miserable

Jeff Zalaznick was still in his banker's suit when he walked around the back of the Mandarin Oriental in search of the service entrance. It was his lunch break from J.P. Morgan, a few blocks away, and he had no appointment. Through the glass of a low office cubicle, he could see the human resources director sitting just feet away, and he asked the staff to pass on a message: he was an investment banker, and he would take any job in the hotel.

Zalaznick, now the co-founder of the restaurant company Major Food Group, had taken the highest paying job he could find after college as a banking analyst. When he looked up at the most successful, highest paid men in his group, he concluded they were miserable. He decided he did not want to become like them, and that he wanted a life built around food and people.

He quit on his birthday in August of his second year, just before his two year analyst program ended. He said he needed work involving hospitality, food and drink, even though going into restaurants still seemed like a crazy idea, so he started with a hotel.

The Mandarin Oriental, the new hotel at Columbus Circle, had been described in Travel and Leisure as the most expensive hotel ever to open. The front desk told him they did not give out jobs there and sent him to the back. He said he had come from J.P. Morgan, and they said he would need to make an appointment and return later. He asked them to ask the director just once, and then he left.

Afterward he called someone to say he did not think it had gone well, adding that they would see what happened. The next day his phone rang. The head of human resources said the head of guest relations had just quit, and asked if Zalaznick wanted the job. Zalaznick said yes, and said he could start in two weeks.

Guest relations turned out to mean VIP services. It put him in charge of the hotel's most important guests across rooms, restaurants, check-in, and every other part of the stay. It was a fast, hands-on education in how to run a luxury hotel and its food and drink. His parents thought he was crazy, but that hotel job became his first foothold in hospitality.