Tally’s story: ‘Hospitality is more than a passion; it’s a way of life.’

I was born in Kosovo and although I moved to the United States at an early age, my upbringing was rich in Albanian culture. Hospitality is the heart of our culture and for me it’s more than a passion – food and hospitality are a way of life.

My whole family thrived on the hospitality buzz, and we were growing up in a bustling neighborhood in New York City. My dad ran a tiny cafe in the Bronx and the whole family pitched in to help run it. I loved the customer interaction and would always go the extra mile to give a great service; it came quite naturally to me.

As I got older, I worked as a bus boy in my uncle’s Italian restaurant in the heart of little Italy. The vibrancy of the New York restaurant scene was captivating. and I was totally absorbed in it. But in the US, hospitality is often seen as a steppingstone to another career. So, I opted to study criminal justice, but I never stopped working in restaurants. I couldn’t let that passion go.

There was an opening for a bar manager at Inside Park so I came back to Sodexo and I fell in love with the scene. The time just flew by and I loved hearing people’s stories over their drinks. I soon learned that Sodexo was a worldwide company with lots of opportunity to grow and I moved from an hourly paid job into a salaried operations manager role. 

I gave weekly seminars to share my philosophy and vision.

They were fantastic people to work with but after several years as general manager I felt the time was right for a new challenge. My manager backed me, and I’ve now crossed over into the corporate contract side of the business, currently working as an area general manager leading teams at multi office locations in New York and New Jersey.

We are innovators with the power to create amazing food. No idea is too wild or crazy for me. We can say to our clients ‘this is the latest thing wowing customers on the restaurant scene, let’s make it happen here.’ Seeing the impact we’ve made as a team is incredibly motivating; we spread joy with our food and we love that.