Hospitality: no dilemma for Emma

A casual job at Reader’s Cafe and Larder, and a bit of mentoring, opened doors and now the once clueless teen is embracing a career in hospitality. 

She is also adamant that she wants to help other people as much as possible along the way.

Last week she was named Trainee of the Year in Hospitality at the Hunter Regional Apprenticeship & Traineeship Advisory Committee awards in Newcastle – a nod to her devotion to her studies. 

Her trainee supervisor Robyn Brewster nominated her for the award. 

Ms Radnidge completed a Certificate III in Hospitality through TAFE in 2016 and is now half way through a Diploma in Hospitality Management. 

She will vie for the state title at an awards ceremony in Sydney later this year. 

“It was so overwhelming to receive the award, I knew I was getting a finalist award for being nominated but I didn’t know I was going to win,” Ms Radnidge said.

“After school I was so confused, I didn’t know what I wanted to do … Hospitality is great, there are a lot of opportunities. The diploma will give me a qualification so that I can some day be a manager and work at casinos and big restaurants.”

Ms Radnidge, who grew up in East Maitland, thanked cafe owner and Maitland Citizen of the Year Amorelle Dempster for helping her find her path. 

“Amorelle played a very big part in helping me get to where I am now, one day I came into the cafe and handed my resume in and it went from there,” she said.

“Amorelle offered me a casual position and then the barista who was here at that time was planning to leave so I got offered the job. It was better to go through a traineeship so I could get the training that I needed.

“Since I’ve been doing my diploma Amorelle has been giving me other jobs like managing stock. Seeing how passionate she is about owning this business, and also seeing what she does for everyone, makes me want to do more.”