Sarah Brosnan F&B Teacher
Queenstown is New Zealand’s tourism capital and attracts a wide range of highly experienced and qualified professionals and at QRC we tap into that resource in terms of teaching staff to ensure our students are learning current international best practice.
At the beginning of this term, we were excited to welcome Sarah Brosnan to the team to teach students about various aspects of food and beverage management.
In addition to teaching at QRC Sarah is also the Assistant Manager at the award winning Vudu Café the nestled on the waterfront in the heart of Queenstown.
Read on to learn more about Sarah, one of our newest team members.
On the Couch with Sarah Brosnan
Tell us a bit about you.
I started Hospitality at the age of 16, fell in love with the industry and continued to get my bachelor’s degree in Business and Hospitality Management at Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland.
I started working in hotels as a supervisor and worked my up to management roles quite quickly. I left Ireland to travel with my then partner, now husband in 2010. When we arrived in New Zealand in 2012 I started working at The Rees Hotel, Luxury Apartments & Lakeside Residences as Restaurant Supervisor and worked my way up to F&B Operations by 2015. In 2016 I moved to Vudu cafe as Cafe Manager and have been there since. I took a step back in 2018 when we started having our kids and I am currently there as Cafe Assistant Manager.
What/which paper(s) are you teaching?
Currently I teach 3 papers: Hospitality Regulations, Bar and Beverage and Contemporary Food and Beverage.
Which is your favourite paper and why?
I really enjoy all my classes but if I had to choose a favourite it would have to be Bar and Beverage.
I love the practical aspect of this paper. Providing students with hard skills and watching them as they become more proficient and confident is a fantastic feeling.
What do you like to do in your free time?
On weekends I like to take advantage of everything Queenstown has to offer and spend a lot of time in the outdoors doing things like camping, hiking and generally spending quality time with my family.
What’s it like living in Queenstown?
It is amazing. We came here in 2012 for 1 year and 10 years later, here we are! It is an amazing place to bring up our kids and always so many career opportunities.
If you had a superpower, what would it be and why?
To be able to clean the house instantly after the kids with the click of my fingers 😅
Any “words of wisdom” for students
I went on the same journey as you did. Make sure you enjoy and embrace every learning opportunity afforded to you. When you do go out into the industry, don’t be discouraged if you don’t initially start in a management role. Having a qualification from QRC will help you reach those higher levels at an accelerated pace, but remember, the door of opportunity is marked push!
