An occasional series where we meet the team and unearth a few fun facts about our Bottleneck family. Up next: Danyele Wilson.
Danyele Wilson
Where are you from?
Chicago, IL – North ‘burbs to be exact.
What is your role at Bottleneck?
All those fancy emails from our restaurants that grace your inbox twice a month…? Yeah, I make those. But if you’re looking for my official “title,” I’m the Marketing Coordinator/resident Email Marketing Guru.
What do you enjoy about your job?
I love that I get to be “the voice” of our restaurants, directly communicating with our guests through email. In many ways, email marketing can be very personal, as the email inbox has become a very sacred place to enter. People need to like you and your content or they will be quick to hit that dreaded “unsubscribe” button. My words create personalities for each of our brands, and every email sent has the ability to trigger an emotional connection with our guests that will hopefully bring them into one of our restaurants. I take a lot of pride in that responsibility.
What do you do when you’re not at work?
If I’m not at work, there’s a 99.999% chance you’ll find me in the gym. Yep, I’m totally THAT girl at work constantly talking about working out. Can’t help it – I love it! I am a HIIT trainer at a gym in Wicker Park called Training Revolution and I teach group classes 4x a week. Shameless plug: my class is dope and yes, you should totally come!
I’m also a HUGE Chicago Bears fan, so come gameday I’m either at Soldier Field with my dad or sitting way too close to my TV, screaming at the top of my lungs.
How did you discover Bottleneck Management?
Funny story actually… one of my friends had applied to Bottleneck for a marketing position during her job search and while BM wasn’t hiring at the time, Angela Zoiss saved her resume to come back to later. Well, that later time came and Angela ended up reaching out to my friend about her resume.
Here’s where things get kind of freaky. That very same day I just happened to meet up with said friend for dinner. She had already accepted another position by this time, but she ended up telling me about “this awesome company called Bottleneck Management that finally got back to her” and well, the rest is history. Was that not funny? Hmm, guess you had to be there.
What do you enjoy about working with the team/company?
Well, there’s beer cart Fridays, awesome company outings, a ping pong table, and some of the smartest and most genuine people I’ve ever had the privilege of working with. The people are my favorite part of this company. I always feel understood, supported and empowered at work and it makes me really enjoy doing my job.
Current Favorite Drink?
Beer: Bud Light. Yes, I realize that’s lame but I don’t care. It’s good, easy to drink, and reminds me of my favorite period of my life – college.
Cocktail: If there’s a mule on the menu, I’m ordering it.
What is something that people probably don’t know about you?
I was almost a reality TV star. I was two rounds away from being cast on MTV’s Real World New Orleans. Safe to say my mother and grandmother were ecstatic I didn’t make the cut.
Favorite TV/Movie Quote?
Every line in Mean Girls is a classic in my book, but if I had to pick one:
“But you’re, like, really pretty… So you agree? You think you’re really pretty?”
Biggest Party Foul?
A lame playlist. Nothing kills the vibe quicker than a lackluster DJ. No worries though, I always have a party playlist queued up (insert fire flame emoji here).
Favorite Food?
My go-to cheat meal is forever Portillo’s cheese fries. Literally. Nothing. Better.
Share a Moment of personal triumph?
In 5th grade, I was cast as the Wicked Witch of the West in my school’s Wizard of Oz play. I went home and cried my eyes out because I really, really wanted to be Dorothy. When I finally stopped crying I told my mom, who had been trying to console me for over an hour, that it was fine because I was going show them they made a terrible mistake! I believe my exact words were, “I’m going to make them wish they made me Dorothy. I’m going to be the best damn wicked witch they’ve ever seen.”
So the night of the show comes along and everything was going great. I was nailing all my lines and finally it was time for my moment – my big melting scene. I took a deep breath and gave a super dramatic, over-the-top, Oscar-worthy melting performance. I must’ve been melting for about a minute straight, dying and then coming back to life for another breath and then dying again. Needless to say, my melting garnered a standing ovation from the crowd in the middle of the scene and little ‘ol Dorothy could barely get her next lines out over the thunderous applause. “Crushed it,” I said to myself as I laid there under a pile of black cloth and a thick cloud of dry ice smoke. It was then I realized that things aren’t always going to go your way in life, but it’s up to you to make the most of the hand you’re dealt (or the role you’re cast).
Big day for 9-year-old Danyele to say the least.