Leslie Lewis

WALL STREET MEGA DEAL-MAKER

BY Bill Singleton, Jr.

Leslie Lewis

Author of "Waiter There's A Fly in My Soup"

Bill-I'm speaking with Leslie N. Lewis, she is a writer with a new book out called "Waiter, There's a Fly in My Soup," and she is publishing the old-fashioned way. She has published and is currently selling it. So Leslie please say hi to my listeners and readers.

Leslie-Hi Bill, How are you? Thank you for having me on your show.

Bill- Give us a history of who you are, and what are you doing now.

Leslie- Leslie is the daughter of Reginald Lewis. He was the chairman and founder of TLC, Beatrice International. He died five years ago. After I graduated from college I moved to Miami and waited tables. While I was there I decided to write this book, this handbook. It's a fun and campy look at the waiting table. It's informative but amusing at the same time.

Bill- Good. Tell me about the book.

Leslie-The book itself is 128 pages. It has 20 original cartoons. And it is 8.95 and is available in book stores, or by calling customer service. at 800-247-6553.

Bill- Don't worry we'll put it in the magazine and on the net. If you don't get the number on the radio you can get it from the magazine.

Leslie-Its a fun book. I start off by telling people how to get the job that they want. How to focus on what season they want to go into...

Bill-Why did you write the book?

Leslie-Why did I write the book? Because there is no handbook on waiting tables out there. And the job of waiting tables is really underrated. You know I think a lot of people balk at serving. "I don't want to do that." But everyone should do it. Everyone should do a service job. Because it teaches you about people like you wouldn't believe. People can be so rude for no reason. And by waiting tables or doing some kind of service job you learn especially waiting tables you learn to take nothing personally, nothing. And that's a very valuable thing to learn about life.

Bill-I might get slightly perturbed at some people if they got out of line with me.

Leslie-Well times I felt like it, but if you view that it's not about you then in anything you don't accept certain things from people but that you can deal with other people's attitudes in ways that make the situation better for everyone where you don't take it personally, and you still get the tip in the end.

Bill- Usually they don't even mean to direct their anger towards you as much...

Leslie-Oh it has nothing to do with you. And that's the thing, people will come up to you and start complaining about things that aren't your fault. And they are not doing it because they don't like you. They are doing it because they are not whole people in themselves. And just by being confronted with that, it makes you a better person, because you realize that you never want to be that way with someone else. You never want to be the ogre, that some people are.

Bill-You know in the book, The Prince, the author suggests that leaders go and live with the everyday working people and understand the everyday working world, the surrounding reality that most people live in. Someone said to live a year in someone else's moccasin. Because once you do the job, you have the experience to better do that job. So how long did you do that?

Leslie waited tables for a little under a year.

Bill-Well it was in Miami. It must have been nice down there.

Leslie-It was very nice. I would suggest you know if you are going to wait tables why not do it someplace where there's a beach? And Miami was great.

Bill-So what do you want to do now? More writing?

Leslie- Writing is something I want to do for the rest of my life.

Bill-I like writing as well. I write screenplays. That is what I want to do. Like doing that better than publishing.

Leslie-It's such a freedom of expression.

Bill-Do you write screenplays?

Leslie-I do. I write all kinds of things. I have written this book. I write poetry. I have novel in the works. I have written a couple of screenplays. And I am doing two short films that I did on my own. And I'm going to film school in the fall.

Bill-Where are you going to film school?

Leslie-I am going to NYU Film School

Bill- where some of the best filmmakers come from. I think that one of Nelson Mandela's relatives was going there. I met them there.

Leslie-Really? Yeah, Mandela, of course, Spike Lee, and his nephew, Malcolm Lee.

Bill-Ok. Tell me about the novel that you are in the process of writing.

Leslie-Well I got this non-fiction, I mean that it's a fiction book. It's a story about a girl who is in college

Bill-Is it autobiographical?

Leslie-It is not autobiographical,

Bill-Yea, yea, yea...

Leslie-But of course I have felt some of the things that she has felt.

Bill-Ok, Ok. Tell us about the screenplay.

Leslie-The screenplays? One of them is about a smoker trying to quit.

Bill-Oh, that sounds like someone I know.

Leslie-Are you a smoker trying to quit?

Bill-Oh, the occasional cigar, but we are going to edit that out.

Leslie- That's going to get edited out, eh?

Bill-Yes, of course. (both laugh) Cuban cigars. I love Cuban cigars.

Leslie-My father loved Cuban cigars.

Bill-Really?

Leslie-Monte Cristo

Bill- I still have the container that I smell occasionally. Tell me something else. Are you married?

Leslie- I am not married. I am 24. I live in New York.

Bill-Where? In the city.

Leslie-Yes, in the city. I live in Manhattan. New York is very exciting. Doing a book like Waiter There is Fly in My Soup might really come in handy for a lot of people who are waiting on tables there. Writing the book was a fun process. It has taught me a lot about myself. The book I hope will help people.

Bill- Give me some examples ((chapters) give me a breakdown of the book) of what is in some of the chapters. You know what I mean, don't you? Let me check the tape.

Leslie-do you want?

Bill-No, no. I mean whatever you know what...You don't mind.

Leslie-Yea I do. Some examples? Well, in some of the chapters of the book, one of them is avoiding the firing squad. How to avoid getting fired. Another one is Big tips...on making big tips. I did a lot of interviews for the book on Ugh. I did interviews with other waiters to find out the tricks that they had learned to make the job easier and to make the cash.

Bill-So give me a tip. Suppose I wanted to do some waiting in my off hours.

Leslie-Ok, well here...the big thing about waiting tables is anticipating the client's needs. And this is what I like about this book is that it applies to many different fields. If you anticipate what your people need you will win no matter what you are doing. So with waiting tables, If you look at the table and see that their drink levels are low, then you refill their drinks on your time. Before they ask. I mean you go to them and ask would like another drink, and that way you get for (out of them) them what they need on your time. Whereas if you wait until they ask you, you may have a million other things to do. You might forget to do it and then there goes your tip. Lose your tip. So anticipating your client's need is really the key to being a good waiter. And that's how to make yourself efficient. And then to really make the cash...

Bill-That's the part I want to know about.

Leslie-well first you have to be a good waiter. That's the most important thing. And then to really get the cash you have to know how to talk people up. Learn how to get people talking at your table. So you talk to people. You ask them questions like "So, where are you from?" If it's a touristy place, or "Oh that's a nice tie," or whatever. Say anything to get them talking...

Bill-So be very out-going, Be upbeat

Leslie-Of course...but where you are connecting with them on a level other than, "I'm your waiter." But there are some instances where you shouldn't do that, such as business luncheons they don't want to be bothered. They don't want to know who you are. They just want efficient service.

Bill-(laughs)

Leslie-You know. But Older people tend to be very picky about how they want their food and have to spend more time with them. It's part of the job. And when you do that, they will tip you. So the book has a lot of tips like that.

Bill-So now what is the very next thing we going to look for when we see Leslie N? As I am going to call you..

Leslie (laughs)

Leslie-Leslie N.'s next work will probably be a movie.

Bill-Oh. Ok.

Leslie-Will probably be a movie. I was a production manager for I Stop Waiting Tables to production manage this movie called Mut Mut, a love story, by Jeffrey Pressure who is a young African filmmaker whose work has already been shown a Sundance, and he's kept in full press. He has won a lot of awards, and his work will be coming out next year.

Bill- Tell me about what a production manager does. Is it different from a production assistant?

Leslie Production Manager coordinates all the budget costs.

Bill-What was the budget for the movie?

The budget was nonexistent. Low budget.

Bill-So this is made for...just to get it out there?

Leslie couple of dollars and seventeen cents.

Bill-Oh. Yeah, I know that feeling.

Leslie-(laughing)

Bill-So is it a short film?

Leslie-Its a feature, called Mutt Mutt, a love story. Maybe he will make a movie of my book-Waiter There's a Fly in My Soup.

Bill-Oh I would go see it. It would be fun (you know). Especially if it was like those old movies with Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee. I don't know if you have ever seen this movie with them in it. But I like old movies and I saw this movie called...I have it on tape..." If a Man Answer's..." Bobby Darin is a photographer. She is from a well-to-do family in Boston. She models for him and begins to fall in love with him, but he does not want to get married. Her mother gives her a book on how to train dogs. She uses this method on him, but he discovers this and turns the tables on her by making her believe that her imaginary boyfriend is real. It is a funny movie made in the 50's or 60s, I believe. You could use the book angle in a storyline that uses the same principle of waiting tables to make it in the business world.

Leslie- Not a bad suggestion...