After having worked at over a year at boba shop, namely Gong Cha, here is what I learned.
Being a bobarista (barista making boba drinks) at its wage can be both an exciting, boring, and sometimes stressful job. You have to learn to multitask as you deal with in-person customers, phone orders, delivery orders, making drinks, and if you’re in charge of the kitchen, preparing teas and boba. From the moment I walked into the job, it was a bit overwhelming as I was stepping into a completely different field that I was accustomed to. Learning to make all the drinks without hesitation took me at least a couple of months to get comfortable with. Even after those couple of months of learning how to make drinks, I still made mistakes. It seemed like there was always something to learn within the first 6 months.
After about 2 to 3 months into the job, I was transitioned into more of a lead role where I had to take charge of the kitchen. This involved opening the store, preparing the teas and boba before opening the doors, as well as preparing any toppings, pre-made drinks for the week. It was a lot to handle, but I enjoyed every minute of it. It kept you active, on your feet, and forced you to have good time management skills when preparing everything.
When it comes to customers, you get to see a lot of regulars come in, whom I have enjoyed talking to and was often greeted with a warm smile and hello. I’d often try to remember some people’s drinks in order to impress them and make it easier for them when they order. It was a fun game to play. With great customers also comes the bad. Some customers couldn’t speak loud enough, some couldn’t speak English at all, and some were just plain rude when trying to place their order. It was a mix of both good and bad customers. I learned to serve both, which helped me develop my customer service skills.
Another aspect of working at Gong Cha is that you have to deal with taking phone and delivery orders. This can be a pain when it gets busy, and you have to create a balance of when to create orders and when to make drinks. For those in charge of the kitchen, you also have to manage that as well, although you get more leeway in spending more time in the kitchen, which requires more preparation and effort. Having to manage the kitchen, make drinks, and take drink orders on a busy day was oftentimes stressful. While I did not entirely enjoy this aspect of the job, it made me improve my multitasking and time managements skills. For that I am grateful.
Sometimes, the hours can drag, especially on weekdays when you might not see a customer come in for an hour or so. You learn to play the waiting game or just talk with your fellow coworkers about random shit. Some days I would work maybe only a few hours like 4 to 6, but most days I would work 8 to 10 hours. The 8-to-10 hour shifts were exhausting since I was on my feet most of the time. However, days can go by pretty quickly if it got very busy.
All in all, it was an enjoyable experience of having to work there. However, given the wage, it just wasn’t sustainable for me to live off of. As a business owner, I can see the joys of owning a boba shop and I hope to one day. I truly enjoyed serving those who really enjoyed drinking bubble tea and developing great relationships with regulars who were often happy to see and speak with us bobaristas. It’s definitely an amazing experience I will never forget.
P.S. I’m sorry if some parts ramble. I am not a writer by nature and only wrote what was on the top of my head. This was all unedited. Thank you!
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