Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Ellsworth.
Hi Ben, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I moved to Charleston in 1998 to go to Johnson & Wales. I’d like to tell you that I was passionate about food and cuisine at that time, but that’s not true. I was a college dropout that was cooking at comedy house theater in Augusta GA. I was slinging fries, chicken wings, and mozzarella sticks at a comedy joint. I got in some trouble with the Richmond County police department for running a floral and pharmaceutical shop out of my apartment. I was asked by the chief of police to leave town. I had no path, prospects, or plan forward, the only thing that I was good at doing was cooking. My mom told me that I could make a career out of being a chef and there was a culinary school in Charleston I could go to. At that time cooking meant a non-stop party. I loved the energy of it and the camaraderie in the kitchen. I didn’t fall in love with cooking until I came to Charleston. One of my first jobs was at 39 Rue de Jean working under Fred Nueville. He was the first person to teach me about the importance of the guest experience, the quality of product, and that what we were doing was creating memorable experiences for people. I rose through the ranks quickly over the next 3 years, moving up to line cook, sous chef, and eventually executive chef, ending up as Head Executive Chef of Mercato in 2009. I worked hard, I played harder. Eventually, I got to the point that I was a raging alcoholic, and almost drank myself to death. I decided to get sober and ended up being a prep cook for a year to work on myself and my recovery. A year later in 2018, I took a consultant role at the Royal American. This is where I noticed the labor shortage and started realizing the way the F&B industry works needs to change. One random Friday evening at Royal American I was in the weeds and understaffed, my dishwasher had called out, and a few moments later, my phone buzzed with a notification that someone had rented out my Airbnb. My immediate response was, “I wish this guy would come wash these dishes!”. Soon after that, I decided to make that thought a reality and GIGPRO was born. If I wasn’t sober and clear-headed, I wouldn’t have been able to put the two together, to create a concept for staffing relief that’s not only changing my life, and the lives of others in the F&B community, but also influencing change in the way people work and the way people hire.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Hospitality is a tough industry to work in due to long hours, low pay, and lack of work-life balance. People are forced into working two jobs to make ends meet. It’s an unsustainable model for the worker, and there’s so much burnout in our industry. The idea behind Gigpro is to make it sustainable. Not only can a chef attend his daughter’s birthday party because he can instantly get the staff he needs instead of personally covering the shift, but the worker can create their own schedule based on their needs, essentially providing the flexibility to work when they need to work and rest when they need to rest. We advocate for higher pay and more flexible hours. Hopefully, this will attract people back to the industry because we’re changing the way people work.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m the Founder of Gigpro. Gigpro is an app that provides ready-to-work hospitality professionals to restaurants, bars, hotels, resorts, caterers, and event companies. We are an app for the service industry, started by people in the industry. For businesses, we provide instant access to professionals to fill shifts with no HR lift. Gigpro handles the taxes, paperwork, and liability insurance for all workers. In turn, we provide workers using the platform flexible schedules, higher pay rates, and insurance benefits. I’m most proud of the mission behind the work that we do. We’re not just filling shifts; we’re finding solutions for staffing in our industry. We’re passionate about giving businesses a newfound avenue to find the help they need, and in turn, provide workers and businesses with a more sustainable balance to the grind.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like most: One of my favorite things to do is walking around Riverfront Park with my dog every morning at sunrise. For some reason that’s where most of my good ideas happen.
What I like least: When are we going to slow down the growth? At some point, we’ll need to turn the faucet off so Charleston doesn’t overflow.
Contact Info:
- Email: ben@gigpro.com
- Website: https://gigpro.com/
- Instagram: @gigproworks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gigproworks
