Alexandra Seal

Over the last ten years I have been co-founder and owner of Mana, a speciality coffee shop based in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Starting as a small espresso bar we grew our business into a 50 seat restaurant, coffee roasters and outside catering business. Within this priding ourselves in being a bilingual space to attract locals and visitors alike. Over this time my role included, among other things:

- Designing, creating and translating menus, whilst achieving standards of recipes and hygiene, in both French and English, as well as researching local suppliers and maintaining margins without compromising standards.

- Building strong client relationships to expand our brand.

- Managing daily operations and coordinating up to 18 French and English speaking staff to ensure that our standards were achieved, as well as a positive working environment for all members of staff.

- Ensuring a high level of engagement on social media platforms and responding to questions from both French and English speaking customers.

- Reacting quickly and efficiently to any problems which may occur.

- Maintaining a positive rapport with suppliers and customers.