Many people who are dyslexics have gone on to have successful careers within Hospitality. In fact many ‘fall into’ Hospitality in general, and become a chef in particular, as other careers more demanding of paper qualifications are effectively closed to them. In this article we focus on the experiences of Marco Pierre White and Stephen Mannock, who started as a chef before moving into Hospitality management.
Marco Pierre White has remembered his own learning issues in an interview with the Community Channel:
“The teachers knew that I struggled and I could hear the other children laughing so it broke my confidence down. When I left school I was 16 years old. Did I struggle with how to read? Yes I did. Did I struggle with how to spell? Yes I did,”
“I was very fortunate that I entered a world where I didn’t have to read or write. I entered a world of cooking where I expressed with my fingers and so that built my confidence. Over the years I’ve taught myself how to read. I’ve taught myself how to spell.”
Marco didn’t realise that he was dyslexic until his son was diagnosed with it at school:
“They went into great detail about dyslexia and that’s when I was able to label myself as being dyslexic. They could have been talking about the same boy, but many years previous when I was a boy they never spoke of dyslexia.”
“It’s not a stigma to be labelled with dyslexia. Individuals with dyslexia have great talents and great qualities.”
A video of the interview can be found at: http://communitychannel.mediatrust.org/london360/news-details/278/
Other notable people in the Industry who suffer from dyslexia include Peter Lederer, Chairman of Gleneagles and Chair of the One and All Foundation, William Baxter of Baxter Storey and Charles Prew of Barcelo Hotels.
Stephen Mannock, General Manager of Wivenhoe House Hotel, the home of the Edge Hotel School, reminisces in an article for EP Magazine:
“I am dyslexic, but when I was at school many years ago they didn’t recognise it so at junior school it was Mannock you cannot do sport you have to go to remedial English classes, in secondary school you were just put in the bottom set and left to get on with it. Might just explain why I only left with 3 O levels (yes I am that old !) in metal work, technical drawing and physics the latter one was because it was a trial for the 16 plus and you got marks for wire ring a plug and setting up parallel and series circuits so all pretty practical!
When I went to see the careers teacher and said I was thinking about working in hotels having just spent the summer working in one, I admit I originally took the job because the owner’s daughter was hot! But soon I found that I enjoyed working in the restaurant and kitchen. I was told well forget going to the polytechnic you are not clever enough to be a manager you will have to go to the Tec and become a chef!”
Stephen goes on to say about his later career:
I truly believe that some of my success is because I am Dyslexic, my thought pattern is very logical, put me in a crisis and I can see were I am, where I need to get to, to get it sorted and a calm logical route from A to B, ask me to speak to a group of people then great, but don’t ask me to read off a script, don’t ask me the name of some one I met 5 minutes ago but ask me what my regular guest likes and dislike were/are form 20 years ago and I can still tell you, in fact some great skills to have if you are running restaurants or a hotelier!
Although we have focused on success stories within the Hospitality Industry, there are many famous dyslexics including Richard Branson and Henry Ford from the business world, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Michael Faraday in science and Tom Cruise, Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly from the entertainment business.
Leaving the final word to Stephen Mannock:
“Does it really matter that we don’t do things the same way or have the usual basic skill set as the majority? Well no it doesn’t but we have the technology to make you all believe we are the same as you, it may just take us a little longer and have to have more discipline in doing what we don’t find natural. But then dyslexics probably invented the technology, build it and made millions selling it to you!”
Further Reading:
Marco Pierre While owes his success to his struggle with reading
http://communitychannel.mediatrust.org/london360/news-details/278/
Stephen Mannock: The challenges of life in the modern world- with dyslexia
http://www.epmagazine.co.uk/social-media-a-fun-quick-accessible-way-of-communicating-or-not/
Nick Sheppardson
It should be noted that the views expressed are a personal opinion
