Rowan Blackwood
Starbucks Coffee Company
Pottstown,PA
2
Certifications
6
years of professional experience
A culture and results-driven Store Manager with extensive experience in high volume café and fine dining establishments. Consistent success in balancing labor budgets, maintaining and simplifying inventory practices, proactive hiring, developing internal candidates, and prioritizing rigorous cleanliness and food safety standards. Monitored cash handling, product availability and waste, bar menu design, food and beverage craft execution, and in-house special events while helping drive exceptional customer-service interactions and generating repeat customers.
Work History
Coffeehouse Leader
4 Years 2 Months- Managed a high-volume store of 20+ partners, proactively hiring, onboarding, training, and delivering accountability to maintain a healthy roster with low turnover and an 80% internal development rate for supervisory roles.
- Consistently met and exceeded ambitious sales goals with significant stretch, maintaining position as the number one store in sales and controllable contribution in FY25 and FY26.
- Developed tools to monitor labor expenses and support schedule craft, leading store to deliver 100% within established labor budgets weekly in Q3 and Q4 FY26 and supporting district to become the highest % of labor insider stores in the region.
- Standardized, self-audited, and led from the front in delivering a clean and safe store environment, helping the store rise from inadequate EcoSure safety audit upon hire to achieving the highest district score in late FY26, exceeding the company stretch goal.
- Led team on and off the floor to prioritize hospitality-level service experience with a heavy focus on beverage quality, speed of service, and customer recovery, growing from an 84% average customer satisfaction score in FY24 to 97% in FY26, significantly lowering customer complaint rates and recovery costs year over year.
Bartender
1 Year 9 Months- Worked with sense of urgency and consistent accuracy behind the bar to craft visually impressive and delicious cocktails for nightly service while maintaining prompt customer satisfaction.
- Designed a seasonally rotating and innovative craft cocktail menu alongside peers to generate repeat customer interest and appeal to a variety of customer tastes within budget.
- Crafted in-house infused spirits and syrups to established pars and communicated needs for par adjustments to ensure consistent availability for all beverages throughout peak periods.
- Prepped, maintained, bussed, and cleaned on a regular cadence behind the bar area throughout service, maintaining a safe and appealing atmosphere for guests.
Front End Manager & Lead Bartender
10 Months- Oversaw a 15+ person team of servers and bartenders, working shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor to assure customer satisfaction and train staff to deliver the unique Roman family-style service of the restaurant.
- Designed and implemented an updated inventory system that established more accurate pars, significantly reducing waste, excess paper goods, and unnecessary liquor expenses for underutilized spirits and wines.
- Worked with the bar team and culinary staff to design paired cocktail and dinner specials, driving interest for events and traditionally lower-volume days and generating record sales for Philadelphia Restaurant Week 2022.
- Coordinated with connected Pizzeria Vetri and Terrain Café locations to host special events such as weddings, reception dinners, and more, working with our clients to design prix fixe menus and personalized cocktails to create unforgettable and seamless experiences.
- Developed relationships with wine, beer, and spirit vendors to source exciting new specialty-imported products to maintain a rotating, exclusive selection for our patrons and assisted in the creation of special, partnered events with local breweries and distilleries.
Chef Garde Manger
3 Months- Cut, prepared, and seasoned a wide variety of meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, desserts, sauces, and dressings in a quick and sanitary manner to ensure the kitchen was sufficiently prepared for nightly dinner service.
- Worked with front of house team to share knowledge of prepared specials and newly sourced ingredients.
- Mixed chocolates, crafted chocolate-covered fruits, and prepared and plated various "dippers" for delectable and visually impressive dessert course to create unforgettable guest experiences.
- Hand-crafted salads and prepared entree platters behind the line during peak periods with accuracy and efficiency.
- Created a back of house cleaning rotation cadence alongside the Executive Chef, allowing for the maintenance of a clean and sanitary environment for food service.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Food Industry Management
Bachelor of Arts - Clinical Psychology & Theatre
- Completed coursework towards B.A. - August 2016 - December 2019
- Recipient of Presidential Merit Scholarship & Theatrical Talent Scholarship.
High School Diploma
Skills
Inventory & ordering
Food safety & handling
Cash handling & variance analysis
Vendor management
Menu engineering
Microsoft 365 & Adobe Creative Cloud
Liquor
beer
& wine knowledge
Coffee & tea knowledge
Interpersonal communication
Cross-team integration
Guest service recovery
Workforce planning
Labor scheduling
Sales forecasting
P&L management
Internal training & development
Certification
RAMP Server/Seller Certificate
Timeline
Bartender
Stateside Vodka
01.2023 - 10.2024Read More
Coffeehouse Leader
Starbucks Coffee Company
08.2022 - CurrentRead More
Front End Manager & Lead Bartender
URBN - Amis Trattoria
10.2021 - 08.2022Read More
Chef Garde Manger
Melting Pot
10.2020 - 01.2021Read More
Mira Costa High School
High School Diploma
Read More
Muhlenberg College
Bachelor of Arts from Clinical Psychology & Theatre
Read More
W.P. Carey School of Business - Arizona State University
Bachelor of Arts from Food Industry Management
Read More