u/Dull_Armadillo_83

I worked 9 months at a brand new coffee shop. I was basically running the place and got so stressed and quit after my boss was yelling at me one day.

I knew how to do everything at that place because I basically ran it. I was the most experienced barista there and the oldest even though I was only 22.

About 3 years ago I worked at a different coffee shop. A drive through with coffee and food. It was my first time working as a barista and I enjoyed it but my coworkers were all… well kinda just basic girls who didn’t seem to like me much because I wasnt basic (edit because this phrase makes people upset: I am not extroverted and would mostly be cleaning while they would be talking. its hard to explain all what they were like and it would take a while to explain how they acted and treated me). I had to quit because my epilepsy started getting worse and I was unable to drive.

after I quit my most recent job I was struggling to find a job and reached out to the boss at the drive through shop. He hired me and I start working more this week. Im anxious about starting there again. About learning the system again and trying to be friendly with my coworkers.

theres no reason for me to be that worried about learning the system but for some reason Im so anxious…

I’ve been drawing for a while and I’ve taken a few college art classes so I know the basics and things… ive been wanting to practice drawing more and was looking specifically to practice illustrations for things like books but cant find many free classes or guides or things that arent specifically for beginners.

anyone have any ideas?

I’ve been struggling on how to make my experience more friendly towards jobs like an administrative assistant, receptionist, or other assistant roles like an underwriting assistant.

a lot of the jobs say they‘re looking for stuff like:

“Excellent written and verbal communication abilities, Willingness to learn and initiative, Customer service oriented with the ability to work collaboratively, Strong time management and organizational skills, Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite”

which are all skills I have but I’m afraid they‘ll look at my scattered college jobs that consist mostly of being a barista and think I'm not professional or capable of doing this sort of role. I‘m also bad at condensing what I did at my jobs 😅

I‘ll add my experience below:

Lead Barista

JUNE 2025 - FEBRUARY 2026

• Delivered high-quality customer service in a fast-paced café
• Trained and supported new baristas
• Maintained drink quality and workflow during high-volume shifts with attention to detail 
• Collaborated with owners to develop new drink recipes and menu items
• Managed opening, closing procedures including setting up, breaking down workstations as well as organizing inventory
• Generated content ideas to engage target audiences on social media
• Created some graphic design elements including menus and brochures

And then there’s more barista work that I dont want to keep repeating the same thing:

Barista

• APRIL 2024 – AUGUST 2025
• Operated the shop independently 
• Prepared drinks and food efficiently
• Handled POS, cash, and inventory
• Prioritized tasks during busy periods including cleaning duties

Barista and Cook

SEPTEMBER 2021 – MARCH 2023

• Prepared drinks and food in a high-volume drive-through
• Managed multiple orders with speed and consistency
• Communicated with customers and team via POS and headsets

Then some random stuff:

Housekeeper at a university

FEBRUARY 2024 - AUGUST 2025

• Cleaned and sanitized bathrooms to meet health and safety standards
• Maintained high attention to detail in restrooms and shared spaces
• Refilled supplies and monitored cleanliness throughout shifts
• Followed cleaning protocols and proper chemical use
• Worked independently and managed time efficiently
• Prioritized work tasks and remained flexible to workload changes

Photographer and Social Media Manager

MAY 2021 - AUGUST 2021

• Captured photos of camp activities, events, and participants to document experiences
• Edited images for quality, consistency, and storytelling
• Managed social media content, posting highlights and updates to engage families and followers
• Maintained organization of digital files and photo archives
• Collaborated with camp staff to align content with camp messaging and culture

 

I also have volunteer work and hobby/skill type things but I’m not sure if thats necessary?

• Yearbook Photographer and Designer (one school year)
• ESL Tutor with an organization (two years)
• Site Leader for a summer team leading high school students (one summer)
• International Volunteer of sorts for an organization over the summer at an English camp as well as other work (one summer)
• Film and digital photography
• Digital and traditional art including some graphic design knowledge

I‘m not the most familiar with Microsoft as I didnt pay much attention in that class but its fairly easy to learn and Im sure I will pick it up quickly.

idk I feel kinda scared to apply to positions like this after being in roles like I’ve been in but I feel like I should probably branch out and at least apply?

Even though they couldn’t handle having full time people needing to take days off for appointments…

I worked at a brand new cafe full time for 9 months (June to February). The boss knew nothing about being a barista and I had to train, teach, make recipes, and most of the barista stuff for them. Like she just had high schoolers working the first two weeks and putting random pumps of syrup in drinks until I came. She also knew nothing about owning a business and being a boss (unless you count her having 5 kids 14 to 5 years old).

The working hours were 6:30am to around 4pm. The people working as baristas were me (full time who also helped in the kitchen), a homeschooler (3 hours in the morning twice a week), and four high schoolers (including the bosses daughter) who could only work on Saturdays or days school was off. So I was basically the only one working lol

im a good worker… I like having everything clean and making drinks delicious and how I would like to have it, like making people happy... all that good stuff…But, I’m not perfect! Which made my boss upset.

soooo around August the boss and her husband wanted to talk to me about the possibility of becoming a manager or assistant manager and getting a raise. we met and basically the whole time my boss complained and blamed. She said I couldnt keep having to take off work for appointments (I have epilepsy, have been trying to get my teeth fixed, and got a birth control implan) or she’d have to cut my hours and hire another person. she told me that they put everything they had into this business and they could go bankrupt. she told me that her mother who worked there was almost 70 and kinda told me that I was taking advantage of her kindness and making her do extra work. She told me that I get to go home and do nothing but she has to go home and take care of her kids and think about the cafe. There were other things but I held my tongue as I’m a kind of argumentative person who doesn’t like being blamed for things… Her husband ended the conversation by telling me that they would talk about the promotion and let me know.

the stress of the things she said to me kept eating at me and on top of that she’d leave vague notes for me and be passive aggressive when I asked about them. that week i stepped outside to take a breath for a few minutes because it was slow and homeschooler was also working. my boss rushed to work asking if I was ok and if I had a seizure because she saw me leave in the security camera. I told her no but that the things she said to me were eating at me. she started to get defensive and argued with me telling me that she was saying those things because she’s my friend. I was crying and overwhelmed and told her I needed to clock out and leave. I grabbed my stuff (or so I thought) and tried to leave but she held the door closed and told me that if I left I was quitting. I was crying and managed to get out the door and run home but she followed me in her car. I sat on the steps and she rushed up to me acting all sweet asking me if I was ok and if I felt alone (??). I just went inside. the next day was a festival that the cafe signed up for so I just headed to work like normal and nothing was said.

in November my boss hired a new lady for three days a week. she seemed to have this weird friend crush on her and acted like she was so amazing. this lady was so annoying. she would boss me around and then not even do her job or clean up after herself. I would come into work the next day and she hadn’t wiped the tables or restocked cups. My boss would also give her fun tasks that I would do. in October I spent a lot of free time making them menus and brochures since they asked me to. I finished them and nothing happened. when new lady started. I noticed that she would come in on her days off and was making menus and stuff. they then used hers. in January I found a note my boss had forgotten to take that was a draft of them hiring a manager. at this point I was kinda fed up bc I knew she would probably have new lady be the manager.

But then new lady quit… she needed a full time job but they couldn’t give her one because they could only afford having me full time…

From like November to January, my sister was also working but she was in college so she could only work certain days and hours. My boss would get mad that she could only work certain times and angry, and then gossip about it to me… One of the highschoolers that worked, my boss like as a very much and stop scheduling her a bunch. This girl really wanted to work and would always ask for hours and my boss would wouldn’t give her any and then also gossip to me about it. That girl then started working at a different place, and then my boss was upset that she couldn’t work more hours even though my boss didn’t schedule her ever…. My sister also quit because it was a bad job for a college student.

Back to the main point…I got hit by a car before the new lady quit so I wasn’t able to work for like a week and a half since I couldn’t walk which probably made my Boss more upset at me. My boss was weirdly stressed and would come into angry a lot, and if her husband came by, they would fight and sometimes there were customers present. The day that I quit, my boss came in super late and was visibly angry. It was super slow that day, which probably made her more angry, and I was sitting and drawing since there was no one in the store. We had some online orders But only for food. At a certain point My boss came up to me and said that she doesn’t mind if I draw, but I need to be able to click the button to say that the order is ready. No one had told me that an order was ready so I didn’t know that the order was ready lol. I asked her if she could just tell me and she angrily said “can’t you just do your job?” marched back to the kitchen to continue washing dishes. I asked if it would be better if I left since she was stressed and there weren’t very many customers and she stormed Back towards me, ripping off her gloves and pointing to the door, telling me to just leave. I said ok And went to gather my things, but before I could, she grabbed my stuff. She started telling me how I haven’t been doing my job and other things I asked “if I haven’t my job why am I still here?” And she started arguing with me about other stuff and yelling at me and then started telling me that if I Levi quit and that if I stay, I do my job and I told her I have been doing my job and then she continued to repeat What she said before. She Continued going on about other stuff and how she’s not doing this again so I just said “ok I quit.“ As I was leaving, I told her that if she wants to have a successful business, she needs to learn how to treat her employees better and then I walked out the door. She ran after me, opening the door and yelled out at me “Good luck finding another job!” And I laughed walking down the street.

she texted me the next day telling me something like we both said things we shouldn’t have said and Told me that new lady had asked for my job, but she didn’t give it to her because of loyalty to me but maybe she should have and other stuff like that…

She and her husband went to the college that my sister is at and my sister just sent me a video of her taking down a poster of a “we’re hiring“ sign That said they’re hiring for baristas and Café managers. I started laughing because if they can’t handle having my sister working Then going to be able to hire any other college student. Also wanting a college student as a manager is kind of stupid for this café

Anyway, sorry for the long rant…. If you start a business, treat your employees well!

also, I may be being too dramatic about me crying. I wasn’t really crying that much lol