Balancing multiple plates is nothing new to Mount Vernon’s Sabrina Cooklin. She was an entrepreneur and small business owner starting back in middle school, with her loom craft business. She also excelled as a public online school student, graduating from high school and with an associates of arts degree at the age of 16, all while working as a social media manager and freelance writer.
Now, at the age of 18, she’s helping to manage Lion Bridge Brewing’s taproom as taproom manage.
“I started as a server in July of 2023,” Cooklin said. “Three weeks later, a day after my 18th birthday, I was promoted to shift lead. Two weeks after that, I was promoted to taproom manager. I initially just wanted some extra cash in the summer and decided to try out serving due to having some friends in the industry who raved about it, but within five weeks, I was promoted to taproom manager despite never having worked in a restaurant before.”
Cooklin said as manager, she is in charge of all day to day duties at the restaurant, including hiring and firing staff, helping to train shift leads, cooks and servers, managing social media accounts, booking musicians and other performers, developing community outreach events, ordering food ingredients and kegs, helping to develop food and drink menus and creating a happy, healthy work culture that people are excited about. She also helps arrange private events at the center.
“I love this job,” Cooklin said. “We have a lot of regulars, and learning about peoples’ lives has helped me build a deeper connection within the local community. I recently started doing Tuesday Night Trivia by writing all the questions myself and emceeing, and it has been amazing to interact with locals on a more personal level. Pouring beer is fun, too.”
Cooklin said her own experience as a small business owner herself has transferred well into being a taproom manager.
“I am very personable, relatable, and great at upselling or making recommendations to customers,” Cooklin said. “My history as a freelance writer and social media marketer has given me a step up when it comes to managing Lion Bridge’s social media accounts, local PR, and website.”
Cooklin said she has had a lot to learn in the executive management position within a service industry, despite never working in food/drink industry before. She has had to balance that learning on top of her continued work as a full-time university student.
“My skills as a leader, communicator, and event coordinator have flourished and are only continuing to grow,” Cooklin said. “I am very grateful for the mentorship that the owners of the business have provided me, and I am excited for what is to come in my professional life.”
Cooklin said that the main challenge is finding time to pursue many of her hobbies, between working full time and being a full-time university senior at Maharishi International University.
“I am very excited to receive my bachelor’s degree in the spring so that I have more personal time,” Cooklin said.
She said that the owners, coworkers and customers have all been helpful, kind and understanding.
“My advice to other ambitious young people would be to say yes to opportunities and figure it out as you go – there are always people there to help you, and if you are hardworking, you will flourish,” Cooklin said.