Mark Eppers '93

Director of Operations, ESP Productions &
Partner, Circle Two Productions

q: What do you do?

a: At ESP, we produce pre-game and half-time shows for major college football games including the Capital One Bowl, Orange Bowl and some Superbowls. My own company, Circle Two Productions, focuses on audio-visual, consulting and logistics management for the meetings and special event industry.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

a: Creating smiles on the faces of my clients, and knowing that my company played a big part in the success of their events.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: I travel constantly throughout the U.S. and internationally, planning multiple shows at the same time. I need to keep up with regional labor and union laws, hiring local vendors, shipping and renting equipment, venue insurance requirements and special requests. It's a challenge just packing clothes and being away for weeks at a time, while still maintaining a home and sense of being an Orlando resident.

q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums?

a: Scott Kaylor '93 to this day remains a great friend of mine.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

a: Walking around Lake Eola and Downtown Orlando, with the occasional stop at an Irish Pub.

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

a: Working with local children's charities and building homes for those in need. I try to give back as much as I can. What goes around comes around.

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

a: Classes geared toward the business and financial side of the hospitality industry proved to be helpful, as well as learning industry terminology. College in itself is a place to learn about life and how to deal with people, politics, finances and relationships.

q: Your favorite class?

a: The cooking class (Quantity Food Production). We constructed a menu and then prepared it for our fellow students.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: The program had basically just started and I feel lucky to be a part of it. I had some great professors like Bill Quain and Bob Ashley. It's important to bring in guest speakers from a variety of hospitality fields for the students to interact with. There are so many ways to make a living in this industry. It's eye-opening to talk to real-live working professionals.

q: A UCF memory?

a: The first moment I stepped on the UCF campus. Right then I knew it was the school I wanted to attend.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: I love to cook and I'm rarely at home, so my favorite meal comes out of my kitchen. Here it is: seared ahi tuna with a warm spinach salad and a glass of red wine, on my balcony overlooking Downtown Orlando.

q: On your iPod?

a: All over the board including AC/DC, Jimmy Buffett, Kings of Leon, Sister Hazel and Zac Brown. Music is a great way for me to relax; it clears my head of everything. About 50% of the music on my iPod is for work though.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: I used to be a pyrotech, building and shooting off fireworks. I also spent a summer traveling, promoting and producing concerts at state and county fairs around the country. I slept in the back of a semi-tractor trailer and my boss was literally a clown.

Amanda Maytrott '03

General Manager,
Capistrano Surfside Inn

q: What do you do?

a: Manage a 37-unit timeshare property across the street from the Pacific Ocean, centrally located between San Diego and Los Angeles. When you step into a smaller property you'd think it would be easy, but I'm a one-person show. I do the payroll, hiring, firing and even front desk shifts as needed. Thankfully Vacation Resorts International (VRI) is a very good management company.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

a: There's an ocean view from the front desk! The guests are always in a really good mood. They want to be here. I enjoy dealing with the customers who are on vacation. Many of the guests are charter owners from when the resort was built in 1985. About 90% of the "regulars" live within a two hour radius and stay here in June, July and August. During the rest of the year, I meet new people who are exchanging their timeshares from other locations.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: Employee relations. Dealing with guests is easy. The employees don't have to like each other, but need to be professional and show respect for one another.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

a: At the beach. After work, I watch the sunset. A new jogging trail was recently built along the ocean where I live in San Clemente. It's about six miles round trip; I like to run when the weather's warmer.

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

a: Getting out of Florida. I was born and raised in Merritt Island. Friends and family keep asking if I'm going to move back, and I always say "no" - I like it here in California.

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

a: It gave me a well-rounded education in hospitality. I started off at USF as a Studio Photography major and knew that wasn't what I wanted. At my UCF orientation, I heard a pitch for the new hospitality program. I had worked in restaurants and thought it was a great fit, and it was everything it promised.

q: Your favorite class?

a: Not Accounting! I had a lot of fun in Dr. Breiter's courses in convention and trade show management, even though I didn't end up in meeting planning as a career. Dr. Upchurch's timeshare course benefited me the most. When I first went to work at Vacation Resorts International, my boss handed me a timeshare resort operations book and said to read it. I told him that not only did I already read it as a textbook for class, but that it was written by my professor! 

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: It needs to include more detailed training on employee conflict resolution. Guest Services Management and many of the other courses and internships focus on customer service for the guest, but as managers we need to know how to deal with staff.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Football! I came back to Florida last month to see UCF play in the St. Pete Bowl.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: Bahama Breeze. I wish we had them in California.

q: On your iPod?

a: The Beatles, The Pixies, Led Zeppelin, Beck, Sublime, Cream, Bob Marley, Rolling Stones, Less than Jake, Outkast, Norah Jones, Nirvana, Atmosphere and The Kinks.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: I'm a vegetarian. I wasn't able to eat a lot of what we made in Quantity Food Prep class. I remember Bob Ashley talking on and on about veal, and me rolling my eyes at him.

Scott Kaylor '93

Proprietor,
Wackadoo's Grub & Brew

q: What do you do?

a: Come to work and have fun. I hang out and talk with people at our full-service restaurant located on the UCF campus. We've been open for 13 years and serve 800 people a day, often 400 in a single hour at lunch. I manage the day-to-day operations including catering and events. At one point I had nine locations and 1200 employees, but was stressed out with all the traveling. I chose to have one restaurant that's pretty much perfect. I'm very happy.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

a: The campus environment. I'm like a student that never grew up since I never had to leave UCF.  I enjoy mentoring the students. At any given time, we employ 75 UCF students, including several from Rosen College. No day is the same and it's like I'm the quarterback calling the plays so the students can deal with different situations. For instance, today we had a reservation for 15 but 40 people showed up, and the cook and a server were hours late. I help the students navigate what can seem like quicksand.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: Consistency. Many people eat here 3-5 times a week. We know what they're going to order before they even sit down. They want it to taste and look the same as last time they ordered it. Ensuring that the service and food quality is always the same can be difficult when dealing with a large number of student employees.

q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums?

a: Lots of them, especially Mark Eppers '93 and the ones who have worked at Wackadoo's. John Giordano '94 lives in San Diego but we still get together when he comes to Florida for Bike Week. I'm still in touch with professor Bob Ashley.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

a: On campus at all kinds of events. Wackadoo's also has season tickets for UCF Baseball and Football. In my quiet time, I'm home on the ranch relaxing or on my Four Wheeler, where no one can reach me by cell phone. I have cows, horses, cats, a dog and share a pot-bellied pig with a neighbor.

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

a: I've achieved the ability to give back. I serve on the board of the UCF Alumni Association. I exclusively hire UCF students and train them to be successful. I appreciate my degree and with all my professors did for me. They would expect me to give back to today's students and I'm glad to do it.

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

a: Courses like Hospitality Financial Accounting gave me the tools for problem-solving. I was especially inspired by professors Bob Ashley, Stephen LeBruto and Bill Quain. Classes covering liquor liability and business law were relevant, and eye-opening.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: At the time I attended, the material was very dated. It's critical to have people currently working in the industry speak in classes. For instance, the trend now is vegetarian food that tastes amazing. This is different than what was in style even last year. Someone like me could come speak in the Quantity Food Prep course and explain what's happening in real-life restaurants, because textbooks could never keep up.

q: A UCF memory?

a: I literally create new UCF memories every day, whether talking with people at Wackadoo's, traveling with UCF friends to the game in Austin last month, or watching UCF beat Houston. From my time as a student, I'll never forget a Hospitality Marketing class I had with Hank Melton. We literally spent three days straight cold calling on I-Drive businesses to sell hotel packages. His philosophy was: "Here's the fire, now get in it."

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: A ribeye cooked by me on the grill in my backyard. Sitting on my porch overlooking the pasture, with a steak, salad and baked potato....no restaurant can beat it.

q: On your iPod?

a: I consider music to be background noise since I listen to it all day and evening at Wackadoo's. I have satellite radio and listen to all genres from country to gospel. Guests at the restaurant want to feel welcomed and know the owner, so I make it a point to know all kinds of music and T.V. shows. I can have a conversation with anyone.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: There was a month during college that to pay the bills, I worked full-time at a motorcycle shop from 9-5 p.m. then straight to work at Sears from 5-9 p.m., then to UPS from 2-7 a.m. I don't relate to students who tell me they need to miss shifts because they have to study. Other jobs I've held include being the assistant coach of the UCF Women's Volleyball team for three years. I was a professional motocross racer. I was a rancher with 100 herd of cattle. I worked at Hooters. I traveled around the U.S. promoting fairs. I even worked as a Union teamster; I had special certification to go inside nuclear reactors around the country.

Chuck '03, Ivan '02 & Damon '07

Proprietors,
The Downtown PourHouse

Partners Damon Jerden '07, Chuck Zell '03 & Ivan Isolica '02

(Damon studied Entrepreneurship in the College of Business)

q: What do you do?

All: Run Orlando's newest bar located at 20 South Orange Ave (next to Jimmy John's and across from Pita Pit), scheduled to open in early December '09. Since signing the lease on September 21, we've personally done a lot of the work on the interior with finishings in stone and pecky cedar. It's comfortable, not too clubby or loungy, and we'll also be open for lunch.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

Chuck: Working with my friends, and our relationship with each other.
Ivan: Learning the system, and what goes into building a bar.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

Chuck: The permitting process; being at the City's mercy.
Ivan: Being away from my wife and kids.

q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums?

All: Many including Justin Hermey '02 and Eric Isolica '02, as well as professors Bob Ashley, Dr. Bill Fisher and Dr. Chris Muller.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

Chuck: Downtown.
Ivan: At home.
Damon: All of the above.

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

Chuck: Starting a vodka company. If Bacardi buys it, I'll retire.
Ivan: My wife and kids, who are ages 13, three and two years old.
Damon: Staying in touch with my high school and college friends.

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

Chuck: The hands on-experience including the Quantity Food Preparation class and Chris Muller's class where we created our own restaurant concept were a big help in this venture as well as my career at T.G.I. Friday's and Rhythm & Flo, my previous bar.
Damon: Meeting all kinds of people with different personalities, and experiencing different cultures, prepared me for this industry.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

Chuck and Ivan: It didn't include the entrepreneurship part of the puzzle, which is most of what we do every day. The curriculum should include: raising funds for your venture, different types of taxation, promissory notes and leases, permitting and inspections.

q: A UCF memory?

Chuck: Football games and tailgating.
Ivan: My cool professors, who I've found out since I graduated are even cooler than I thought.
Damon: Our fraternity, ΣΑΕ (all three are members).

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

Chuck: The black and blue sandwich at Brix.
Ivan: Sushi at Amura.
Damon: Sushi at Fuji Sushi.

q: On your iPod?

Chuck: Country and Classic Rock.
Ivan: Everything but Heavy Metal.
Damon: Everything but Hip Hop.

q: Little known fact about you?

Chuck: I'm a UCF legacy. My dad graduated from UCF in 1972.
Ivan: I have a twin brother, who also has a hospitality degree from UCF.
Damon: I'm passionate about learning.

Joe Walker '06

Account Executive,
PSAV Presentation Services,
Hawaii Event Services Division

q: What do you do?

a: I'm an Account Executive for the one of the largest world-wide audiovisual services providers. My primary duties are to solicit business to new clients, maintain strong relationships with past clients, and improve the overall business development for my region. I mainly handle larger association and corporate business. Aside from my normal duties I get assigned regional projects. For example, most recently I was on the opening team for the brand new St. Regis Princeville Resort on the island of Kauai and I got to live in the hotel for a month.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

a: Being on the show site and watching my hard work and planning finally come to life. It's always a good feeling to see the finished product and a happy client.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: Being on an island. The wheels of progress turn a lot slower in Hawaii than they do in Orlando. Planning must be done extra carefully as you have to prepare for many possible external forces slowing you down. It can take me up to three days to get a piece of equipment that would take me less than two hours to get in Orlando.

q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums

a: Not too many since moving away from Orlando. I do still keep in touch with Jennifer Grant '06 who is about to finish Florida Hospital's Radiology program.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

a: At the beach, hiking a trail, searching for elusive geocaches, or on an airplane because I'm always trying to feed my travel bug.

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

a: Picking up and moving almost 5,000 miles away from where I'm most comfortable. It's been great to be able to explore all the things that the Hawaiian Islands have to offer, especially the things that you would never see on vacation.

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

a: Aside from all the great teaching and hands-on experience that we got, I think the thing that best prepared me for what I do was the countless number of presentations that we had to do in every single class. I do lots of presentations for potential clients and now I see the relevance of doing them while at Rosen.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: A lot of the classes taught very similar if not exactly the same information. The faculty should get together and make sure that their teaching plans differentiate enough to be able to better stimulate the class.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Beverage Management with Professor Ashley. Hands down best class ever. Learned a lot and had a lot of fun doing it. Another great memory was when the UCF Football team broke their losing 17-game streak against Marshall and we all rushed the field at the Citrus Bowl.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: There are way too many great meals in Orlando but one that I miss the most frequently is blackened chicken flautas from Tijuana Flats, more specifically the one on Kirkman Road in Metro West.

q: On your iPod?

a: The Fratellis, The Kooks, The White Tie Affair, Owl City, The Living End and the list goes on for days.

q: Little known fact about you?

a:I love to bowl. I'm very bowling deprived on Maui. There's only one alley with eight lanes, and the owners only open it when they feel like it.

Jose Chavez '06

Front of House Manager,
The Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte

(left to right: brothers Andres Chavez UCF '08, Jorge Chaves UCF '07 and Jose Chavez UCF '06)

q: What do you do?

a: Manage the front desk, call center, guest relations, bellmen and doormen, and retail shops -- pretty much everything the guest experiences except housekeeping. As of next month, I will have worked at Ritz-Carlton five years, first working at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando and then moving up to Front of House Manager for The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. This new Ritz-Carlton, Charlotte with 146 rooms will open on October 1.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

a: Interacting with the ladies and gentlemen who stay here, and with the staff. I truly am a people person and enjoy providing Ritz-Carlton's legendary customer service. This company believes in developing its people. Your career here can be whatever you want it to be.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: Saying "no," because we like to say "yes" to everything a guest dreams or imagines. Very rarely though, what they want is a little too far out there, or I just can't make a request happen or give an employee the day off that he or she wants.

q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums?

a: Many, but especially my brother Jorge Chavez '07 who works at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes, and Devin Kammerer '06 who works at The Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

a: At sporting events, especially local baseball or basketball games. Also traveling for both work and pleasure. I've been in a different city every month this year, including Austin, Los Angeles, Palm Beach, Shanghai and Beijing.

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

a: Moving across the United States twice without knowing anyone. With all my family in Miami, this was a bold move.

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

a: There's no way I'd be where I am now without my four years at UCF. It taught me the basics of what the industry's like. There was always someone at Rosen who had worked in hospitality who could motivate and guide you, and sit down and talk to you about their experiences. For instance, Professor Robert Ashley told us such great stories in his classes; you could tell he has real passion for what he does.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: It gives students the wrong perception that they can graduate and get management jobs. You need to work hard to get the respect of front-line staff who may have worked in their jobs 10 years or more. I know my generation is often considered the "entitlement generation" but hospitality is an industry where you truly need to earn your keep.

q: A UCF memory

a: When the basketball team won 18 games in a row and made an impact on SportsCenter. We had Dexter Lyons then. I remember the old arena being filled to capacity and people lined up four hours early to get seats for the games, even though they were free. I loved UCF Basketball and it's so neglected compared to football.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: At Oceanaire. The service, selection and wine pairings are superb.

q: On your iPod?

a: Mostly hip hop including Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Jay-Z.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: I love french fries. I don't like anything on them though. People can't believe I won't even try them with ketchup or dipping sauces.

Sullyann Gonzalez '07

Event Manager, Office Manager & Sales Representative
Rapco Supply

q: What do you do?

a: I'm in charge of events, marketing, sales, accounting and human resources for an air conditioning and appliance parts company. We've been in business 23 years and specialize in distributing appliances and parts to hotels, resorts, apartments and condos throughout Florida.

q: What's your favorite part of the job?

a: Forming relationships with clients, planning employee incentives and traveling to events. We're active members of CFHLA, AAGO and CFVRMA and participate in their trade shows. I take joy in working really hard to plan an event, then feeling great about the job I did when I see it in person, and receiving compliments from family and co-workers.

q: What's the greatest challenge?

a: There are a lot of ups and downs with a family-owned business. I wear many hats and time management is crucial. If any of my clients, vendors or employees have a problem, I try to resolve it as quickly as possible. I'm constantly multi-tasking.

q: Do you stay in touch with any other UCF hospitality alums?

a: Zulkeira Rodriguez, Tanya Morse and Adam Marcy '04.

q: Outside work...you're most likely to be seen?

a: I'm always out...trying new restaurants, going Downtown with friends, enjoying a martini at Bar Louie, hanging out with my family or on vacation!

q: Your biggest accomplishment since graduating, outside your career?

a: Participating in the Breast Cancer 3-Day which benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund. I raised over $2500!

q: How did UCF prepare you for what you do?

a: The "forced" internship hours get your feet wet. At the time you don't realize how well you're getting prepared. I was previously a marketing major and am glad I transferred because at Rosen College I learned the terminology of the events industry which has been a tremendous help to my career.

q: How could the hospitality program have been better?

a: I felt that some professors at Rosen focused too much on attendance. I went to USF before UCF and there were large classes with auditorium seating that gave you a "university feel." I was captivated and challenged, and therefore self-motivated to attend. My favorite classes were the ones where the professors focused on truly giving us a "wow" experience, not on the administrivia of taking roll or signing a roster, or just relating their own personal experiences at one single company.

q: A UCF memory?

a: Classes: Dr. Kim Severt's where we planned and served breakfast for Rosen College faculty and staff, Quantity Food Production with Bob Ashley, and an event management course with Premila Whitney where we planned and worked at a career fair on campus. My very favorite was Hospitality Law in the auditorium, taught by the late Tony Marshall, who always wore a bow tie. Everyone loved his class.

q: Favorite meal in Orlando?

a: My friends call me "Sullshi" because I love sushi so much, and my favorite is the Mexican Bubble Roll at Nagoya Sushi in the Dr. Phillips Marketplace. I also recommend the margaritas and guacamole at Cantina Laredo.

q: On your iPod?

a: I'm a big 80's fan, and also love rock and hip hop so you'll find quite a mix: Third Eye Blind, Incubus, Michael Jackson, Jayz, Frank Sinatra, Black Eyed Peas/Fergie, Drake and so much more.

q: Little known fact about you?

a: I'm an aspiring professional photographer.