Marc Tessier - From Hospitality to Humanity

Marc Tessier has worked in hospitality on and off for over 20 years. From studying architecture to mastering cocktail competitions, he’s always been driven by creativity, attention to detail, and service. But the reality of working nights in hospitality no longer fit the life he was building with his long-time partner and their dog.

“I’ve done 5 a.m. bar closes more times than I can count,” Marc shared. “I met my partner after returning to hospitality when lockdown eased, following my first attempt to leave the industry by studying UX. I wanted a change, something without endless late nights. Building a life with my partner made me want a more balanced and sustainable career. I wanted time for us and our dog.”

Passionate and hardworking, Marc finished a UX bootcamp just before COVID, but the pandemic disrupted his plans, and after working on a few projects Marc realized it wasn't quite thr right fit. A former coworker suggested Salesforce, so he tried Trailhead and self-paced platforms. They gave him a solid start but lacked the structure and accountability he needed.

“I needed structure, a teacher, and the best possible learning environment.”

Marc knew that to break into the Salesforce ecosystem, he needed more than YouTube videos, and online self taught courses. “Self-paced worked at the start, but when something is brand new, you need someone to walk you through it. I needed someone to help me break it down question by question.”

Marc shared that he knew his own personal learning style, and how he’d realised over time that he knew that the key to his success was to empower himself by joining a course where he could learn 1-2-1 and even better in a group setting where he could hear other people’s questions, ideas and learn in a group setting with people who shared a common goal. 

He kept hearing about Dave Massey’s Admin Academy and was drawn to the stories of others who had gone through it. “Dave had the best reputation by far. I followed him for a long time and knew his one to one course was exactly what I needed. But financially, I couldn’t make it work.”

That changed when Marc was awarded a Workforce Navigators scholarship, an opportunity he describes as life changing.

“It was a massive relief. The scholarship removed the financial stress and gave me the freedom to focus more fully on learning. For the first time, I could really dedicate time to building a new career with full structure and support. And the support goes even further, from exam vouchers that ease the financial burden, to the guaranteed 1-2-1 mentorship after we pass the admin exam, and even the opportunity to connect with you to tell my story, and have you write individual stories for us to help extend our reach. This kind of support I've never had before.”