#217 - Hospitality Meets Rizwan Khan - Crisis, Comedy & Career Pivots

Hospitality Meets... with Phil Street

This weeks episode of Hospitality Meets is a rollercoaster of inspiration, resilience, and comedy, featuring the incredible journey of Rizwan Khan, General Manager at Junsei. From his accidental dive into hospitality to becoming one of the youngest GMs in Mayfair, Rizwan shares stories of perseverance, leadership, and the unexpected lessons learned along the way.

Key Takeaways:

Life is a Marathon, Not a Sprint – Rizwan views hospitality as a never-ending relay race where each generation passes the torch to the next. His mission? To keep running and inspire others to do the same.

Diamonds Are Made Under Pressure – Whether it was stepping up in high-stakes competitions or managing a restaurant at 21, Rizwan thrives when challenged.

Valentine’s Day Disaster – A first date gone wrong as a lady arrives late.

A Career Defining Moment – When a guest had a medical emergency, Rizwan broke the rules (and possibly speed limits) to get her to a hospital with lessons and payoff galore!

COVID: Life’s Reset Button – After losing his job during the pandemic, Rizwan considered switching to IT but realised his true passion was in hospitality. His takeaway? "If I can inspire others to push forward, then I’ll be the torch to light the way."

Memorable One-Liners:

• "Life isn’t something that can be explained—by the time you try, you’re out of time."
• "The hospitality industry is one big marathon; we just keep passing the torch."
• "I’ve slept enough for the last eight months—time to get moving!"
• "Everything you want is on the other side of fear."
• "Hospitality pays you to learn food and beverage knowledge—what other industry does that?"

Rizwan is an excellent guest and another insight into the career potential of this amazing sector.

Enjoy!

The Guest

Rizwan Khan is the General Manager of Junsei, a traditional Yakitori restaurant in London.

Website - https://junsei.co.uk/ldn/

Instagram (Rizwan) - https://www.instagram.com/rizwan_k_98/

Instagram (Restaurant) - https://www.instagram.com/junsei_uk/

LinkedIn (Rizwan) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rizwan-khan-mih-5742a9140/

Show Partners

A big shout out to Today’s show partner, RotaCloud, the people management platform for shift-based teams.

RotaCloud lets managers create and share rotas, record attendance, and manage annual leave in minutes — all from a single, web-based app.

It makes work simple for your team, too, allowing them to check their rotas, request holiday, and even pick up extra shifts straight from their phones.

Try RotaCloud’s time-saving tools today by heading to https://rotacloud.com/phil

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