A Day in Event Management with Darrin Mayweather

It’s All About the Human Connection

“This is the only job I’ve ever had,” says chef Darrin Mayweather. “I don't know how to do anything else. I can't drywall. I'm not an electrician. I can't change your brakes. I can't do any of that. So I am meant to be in this role to have that human connection, however that looks.”

The “human connection” he’s referring to is the bond you form with people when you cook for them. Darrin realized the power of food to build relationships in his very first cook job, in a Grand Rapids nursing home. Not only did he learn his way around a kitchen there, but he also made it a habit to sit and interact with residents – something he found so rewarding that he later left a prestigious position as food and beverage manager at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel to serve as executive chef at a psychiatric hospital.

“That was probably the most fulfilling role I ever had because it was with a population that is often frowned upon,” he recalls.

You Never Know Where the First Step Will Lead

Darrin may have related to them because he’s also felt frowned upon. He grew up in a single-parent household in the inner city and got his first hospitality job as an alternative to juvenile boot camp. “I used to fight a lot as a teenager and got put on probation,” he explains. “I had to get a job or go into the system. So I ended up washing dishes in a nursing home.”

That led to him becoming a cook at the facility – and eventually, to earning certification as a personal/private chef from Grand Rapids Community College, and then a Bachelor of Applied Science in Hospitality/Administration Management from Ferris State University.

It was a tumultuous time for Darrin, during which he became both a parent and a live-in caretaker for his great-grandmother. “Hospitality became an outlet for me,” he says. “Going to the kitchen, going back to school kind of kept my brain clear and not focused on the stuff at home. And it helped me become a better father because I had to become accountable.”

He moved into an unfamiliar world as his career advanced. “It was kind of a rude awakening when I started stepping out of the inner city. I worked in Grandville. I worked downtown at the Amway. It was predominantly white. I seldom saw people who looked like me.”

That made Darrin something of a trailblazer. He credits his mother for providing the inspiration to keep going and “become what I didn’t see.”

“My mom had me at 14. She went on to graduate with her associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s. I let that resonate in my mind as I navigated my way through (my situation).”

Moving Forward and Giving Back

He’s navigated his way to considerable success. Today, Darrin is the Director of Hospitality at The 1530 Events, a full-service events venue on Grand Rapids’ southeast side. He’s also Co-Owner and Executive Chef at Social Arts, a catering and private chef business. He’s an adjunct instructor in the culinary program at Grand Rapids Community College. And he volunteers his time and talents for charities like God’s Kitchen and Hot Dogs for Humanity.

All of these roles feed his desire for human connection. “That's what I go hard for, whether it's the students, whether it's someone in a psychiatric hospital, whether it's a bride, whether it's a groom.

“I think my passion comes from really being able to pour into people. Whether it's in the classroom, whether it's a menu tasting, seeing people be excited about me pouring into them is probably the most passionate part. Kitchens are long days. It is heavy weekends. It's heavy holidays. But seeing people be excited, thrilled, have tears of joy, that's what keeps me going.”

Just as every hospitality career path is different, every day on the job is different for Darrin. One day, it’s a wedding for 450 people, the next it’s a gala fundraiser, the next it’s teaching students how to prepare a dish. Many days, it’s some variation of all three.

Through it all, Darrin practices what he calls “servant leadership.”

“Leadership for me looks like doing the things that I expect of my team members. If I'm expecting them to be on time and not on their phone and being present, that goes for me as well. In the classroom, if I give them a deadline to have an assignment due, I'm holding myself to that same standard on making sure that I actually grade the assignment and give it back to them. 

Oftentimes, people in this field looked at me as competition. And I really just needed a mentor sometimes. So I want to make sure I am that.”

Seize Your Opportunities

As a mentor, Darrin has some advice for aspiring hospitality professionals. “Work in as many different positions as you can in the hospitality field. And in that journey, make sure you are rubbing shoulders with the right people, sitting in the right rooms, and just treating everybody with respect and dignity. That'll get you far. I would rather have someone who has a great work ethic and little experience than someone very talented and untrainable. You know what I mean? Those are the type of things that get you far in the industry.”

While the culinary industry was never a dream of his growing up, Darrin is very grateful he got that first job washing dishes – and equally happy that he got it in Grand Rapids. “

The Grand Rapids hospitality sector is a spot where, if you want it bad enough, you can thrive in your own lane, whether it's an executive chef, a hotel manager, or being a banquet server,” he says. “The opportunities are here. I mean, it's like off the scene, right?”

Darrin Mayweather’s career proves that hospitality and tourism offer viable, long-term career pathways to growth, leadership, entrepreneurship and the ability to give back to your community – even if you don’t see yourself reflected in the faces around you.