Jean just loves the hospitality industry
We continue to focus on women who go that extra mile...
Jean Rawlinson is one of those kindly aunts that everyone should have. Since 2012 she has been the friendly, caring face at Wimpy and always appears to have the time to chat all and sundry.
But the young Jean did not have it that easy. Born in Durban, she was adopted by a family in Pietermaritzburg and only met her half-sister when she was 18 and her brother five years ago.
But like most things, that has not fazed Jean in the slightest and talks easily about her childhood that was full of love.
“I qualified as a hairdresser and worked in Pietermaritzburg and Howick where I met my husband, Ed, who is a motor mechanic by trade but turned to lecturing.” The couple moved to Glencoe in 1999 where Ed took up a teaching post at Sarel Cilliers High.
“Living in a small town is so wonderful. Unlike city life, everyone virtually knows one another. At Wimpy many of our loyal customers are now like family,” Jean said. “I love coming to work because every day is different because one never knows who will be the next customer.”
Jean is proud to have served several celebrities – ex Bafana coach, Clive Barker and actors from Generations not to mention the many tourists from around the world, here to visit the battlefields, who pop round for a meal.
Working with people daily calls for diplomacy and ‘quick thinking’, Jean says.
“You must never lose your cool no matter how difficult a customer may be. Fortunately, most diners are nice and we have our comment book to prove how happy they were to have been served here.”
Jean is a mother of two – daughter, Charlotte, who is in Cape Town and son, Simon, an electrician in Dundee. At home, she loves making pasta and pizza and is a keen baker. She is also an animal lover (there are currently five cats at a home) and never hesitates to rescue an abandoned animal.
“Hours are long in the hospitality industry but because we constantly dealing with people we also have entertainment. It is a job I love.”
See Wednesday’s Courier to read more about our local women doing the extraordinary
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