I’ve always wanted to write about my experiences in trying new places and attending numerous events, but never had I ever had the time to do so, since I PR the events I attend or take part of hosting/planning…etc, I simply didn’t want to write about it twice.

Also, it feels pretentious in some way (like those linkedIn posts everyone embellish)

And when it comes to places, I go to, or go with people to, I avoid writing about those since I don’t want to become a “wannabe influencer” and we just have more than enough of those. But I am the one my friend’s call to recommend a place, and in a true marketing fashion I inquire on what are they seeking in a place and usually recommend a pretty good one - if I may say so myself.

So, I thought it would be fun to write about one of my own little adventures with the Sales Team and what can be the best part being connected to the most dreadful teams in all corporate, Breakfast Saturdays!

I’ve worked in several Hotels & Resorts across Jordan, and it seems the sales team have the same traditions. and usually if not, certainly they know all the local breakfast places I would never think to go to (I am all about delivery apps, and croissants and McMuffins) Ice lattes are my kryptonite so judge for your own.

So here are the ever so delicious local breakfast places I’ve been to with my Sales Team:

·         I think! Dina (it’s a girl’s name and very famous place) located in Sultan Street in Amman and it serves local breakfast and if there’s a trend these spots have in common is the local fresh out of the oven Bread! Every place every Sales Team took us to served Bread straight from the oven, it’s usually Hummus and Falafel menu, Eggs and Galayeh (tomatoes in a skillet) is a must, and my personal favourite is Foul (fava beans). Note. These places have a variety of the same dish, like Humus with full Chickpeas mixed into it is Musabaha, Foul with tahini sauce is Qudsyeh and I am not the biggest Hummus fan out there, I usually like the varieties these dishes come in, but you won’t find craving Hummus out of nowhere.

This place was the first “local” look and feel I’ve ever been to, and it was the ever so favourite place for Holiday Inn Amman’s Team.

I never go there on my own and don’t think I will ever do, for that street is busy and usually there’s no place to walk, let alone park. And it’s usually decorated with nothing, a simple eat and go place and don’t forget the red tea it’s a tradition.

·         Al Ousra which mean family in Arabic, more a put together place in some location in Amman but has almost the same menu, it’s a family style setting and is also known for fresh bread the only difference is the general hygiene and looks like it had a paint job “white” not so long ago.

I think I’ve been to two different branches with the sales team, one smaller one the “eat and leave or go” approach and one like a family style and both and those were around last year, non the less a fresh experience and place visited many times.

·         Kadsheh, near Rabyeh close to where I used to work and through it has Hummus and Falafel it had Chicken Liver Wraps which I adore and I’ve yet to find another place that makes them as good as they do, their spice mixes with Chicken Liver is to die for and the place is a tiny little shop in the middle of a residential areas that later we found out it’s the hotspot of construction workers (these people know what to eat) this one is also from recent years,

Don’t go there on my own since I have my own favourite spots for Chicken Liver sandwiches that I use to take my design team to after breakfast with the team became a thing to me.

·         The Endless Snacks, wraps and sandwiches places we go pick up our order from and bring them to the office. Al Quds near 7^th circle in Amman was one of my colleague’s favourite places and he loved Sausage Sandwiches from there, it’s another hole in the wall and a big menu but they made pretty good sandwiches can’t deny that.

Took my brother there once, he hated it!

Other random spots I’ve been to are this Iraqi owned shop near Kilo Circle in Amman called “El Mousily” where it served Iraqi style open faced meat pastries or Sfeha as we call it, it’s good but will remain as one of my “Sales Team Traditions” than a place I would not go to out of nowhere. Those places are relatively cheap and of decent quality.

For Hummus I am personally a lover of Abu Jbara and Hamada and I love my Hummus in a wrap, and since we are the Hummus culture you can always find those options in any restaurant with a breakfast menu.

Before the hospitality industry we did have team outings and they were quite the event within the company but were not on regular basis, we also did order in and made a team breakfast (Hummus or Manaqish or pastries) and it’s part of team building in a corporate format. But never have I witnessed it as a regular thing only with Hospitality Sales Team and it’s usually on Saturdays (we work 6 days a week) and it’s that day where the Sales Team don’t have Sales Calls (we Marketeers always have work, even after work, before work) so being included was nice but always envied their half days and no actual workdays.

I have developed my own team lunch time (almost every day) I always order in through apps and when I ran my own team and need to mention I was blessed with good teams I always included them in, now I never took them out during work hours since we used to have an endless task list that needed another team to finish and my teams were always men and we all know “men don’t eat unless they are fed” and won’t lie I loved those boys they were the best I’ve worked with.

Part of my philosophy in leading a team is set and eat together at lunch time, and I understand why corporate pus it as team building since it is important to talk to your team about non-work-related manners, don’t recommend doing it like the Sales Team do, Marketing and the creative department are usually office bound. But It’s good to remember it’s not always about work; we are departments but there’s a human side of us that needs to be remembered.

And my team knows, I’m either bringing them coffee or taking them to coffee whenever Miss.Marketing is off to a meeting.

I would have to note that Agency Lifestyle is way different than a corporate one, I have had wonderful teams in agencies and that needs to be mentioned since we did have our own adventures but it far different than being part of entire corporation.