There is a saying that timing is everything in business and in life.

Ralph was simply looking to better his career options when by chance he met Vivica Brooks, lead trainer and founder of TBG Trains, at Career Technical Institute (CTI). Ralph at the time was working the front desk at a fitness center. He says he knew it was a dead-end job and CTI came at an opportune time.

“CTI came along right as I was trying to figure out, ‘OK, where do we go from here?’ I had been trying to get back into the food industry. I was basically in the hospitality industry. It was just in a different domain. I felt that this hospitality course would help add on to the little bit of customer service I already had.”

Ralph, who in the past cut meat and fish, was a student in the hospitality program at CTI, a course of study utilizing TBG Trains curriculum.

He says the class gave students all-around knowledge about the industry that you can take with you. In addition to insight about hospitality, Ralph says he learned core soft skills including how to work on his professionalism.

“She taught me effective communication. She taught me how to market my good points. She taught me how to keep my nose to the grind.”

Ralph just celebrated his one-year anniversary at The Baron Hotel where he works as a night auditor.

Ralph credits Ms. Brooks with being very instrumental in his getting hired and his growth professionally. “I owe it to her. If I went to another school or another hospitality program, who knows what type of instructor I would have had. She made it worth coming everyday.”