Published by Leonardo Calcagno
Who are you :
Stephen Clifford Wall
Your current job :
Chef and co-owner of Supply and Demand Foods and Raw Bar
In which city are you located?
Ottawa, Ontario
A word to define what kind of worker you are :
extreme
What tools are essential to your life (app, software, etc..)
excel, twitter, instagram
What does your office space look like?
My wife (and business partner) bring our six month old son to work with us during the day so I mostly do my work in the dining room of our restaurant, sitting at the bar.
What kind of music do you listen when you are working ?
Mac Demarco, Heartless Bastards, T.V. on the Radio, we listen to a lot of music while we cook, it really depends on who’s iPod is in when we get going.
Do you have a way to organize your day to maximize your work ?
Lists, Lists and more lists. In any given day my tasks range from repairing barstools, meeting with clients, menu planning, sourcing products, ordering food, and finally a solid 8-10 hours of straight cooking. If I didn’t have a number of lists to reference throughout the day I would never get anything done.
What tips would you give to improve productivity ?
build a good team and treat them well. When you have a good, solid team you can achieve anything. Also, stay organized and clean.
You’re better than your colleagues to :
crushing long hours. I don’t know too many people that can crush as many hours as me and still come up with a smile on my face.
What is the best advice anyone has given you ?
I have a couple of key mentors that have given me so much advice throughout my career and continue to do so. I really could not single out one piece. Simply having mentors has to be the best advice.
What is your best tip for saving time ?
Don’t waste it.
What is your routine start and end of the day ?
I start my day walking my six year old daughter to school for 7:45am, then I come home and have a coffee with my wife, talk business and what needs to get done before I start my cooking shift with my team. I end my day with a walk home from work at 11:30 or 12:00 am. When I get home I usually sit in front of the computer for an hour or two menu planning and making more lists.
Aside from your computer and your phone, what gadget can you not you go without?
simple, calculator. I use a calculator all day. also could not function without our large static cling calendar plastered on the side of our walk in fridge. That calendar holds all my upcoming meetings scrawled in black sharpie.
photo credit: jeremiahsoucie.com and facebook.com/JeremiahSouciePhotography