Working it: Michael Vasta builds on restaurant background

* Name: Michael Vasta

* Company: Director of operations for Bluff View Art District

* First job: Worked at an athletic store in Brunswick, Ga., Athletic Attic, starting at 16

* Worst job: "I've never had a bad job. Executive search consultant was probably the toughest job I had, because every day I had to make 12 cold calls an hour."

* Favorite part of current job: "Customer service, getting to know our regular customers. They become part of your family. Being out there, getting to know people."

* Worst part of current job: "I hate the word worst because there is no worst part. When you love your job, there's no worst, there's only difficult. I think the toughest part of the job is probably staff training and inspiring people who come to work for you to do the job the customers have come to expect."

* Special rewards: "Having people (be excited) about Bluff View and what it is. Hearing about what a customer really loves."

* Best advice: "You have to be flexible. The restaurant business is a very demanding business. You have to be committed. If your heart is in it, that's what matters. If you don't love it, it won't work."

* Making a career of it: "Get your foot in the door and start at the bottom. Get a job as a counter person at a coffee shop or a server at a restaurant. Be open to learning new things and experiencing the way a restaurant operates. Never stop doing the things you did at the beginning."