Working at Disney has been a lifelong dream for Madeleine R. Comeaux. UL Lafayette helped her achieve that dream.
“After about a year at UL Lafayette, I knew that hospitality management and my Disney dream were a perfect match,” she said. “As a 13-year-old, I never imagined that I would be living my dream and making a career out of it, but here I am living my dream and absolutely loving it.”
Making Magic
Madeleine started her career through the Disney College Program in Fall 2016. After graduation, she returned for the Spring 2019 program as a front desk concierge, an experience that allowed her to become a guest relations hostess at the Magic Kingdom at The Walt Disney World Resort. She started as a professional intern in Fall 2019 and stayed on as a full-time temporary assignment cast member.
“During my time as a guest relations hostess, I was suited in a fun plaid vest working in either City Hall, at Park Entry, or at the Guest Relations Window outside of the Magic Kingdom,” she said. “We do a myriad of things, from selling tickets, to itinerary planning, to service recovery.
“Working in hospitality, you have the opportunity to ‘make magic,’ as it is often coined when working for The Walt Disney Company,” she said.
“As hospitality management professionals, it is our job to create an experience for our guests and it is our responsibility to make things right when we fall short in our promise,” she explained.
Working with people and creating experiences for them is an extremely rewarding career for Madeleine. Sometimes there are challenges, but she sees these as opportunities for growth.
“There are moments I will never forget, like a mother bowing her head to cry tears of gratitude,” she said.
“Then after being sent on her way to enjoy her renewed day, being so excited to point to me from across the way to her daughter to say, ‘That is the lady who helped us!’ as she continues to mouth the words ‘thank you’ from across the room,” she said.
“I receive a fair mix of it all,” she said. “Guests will often say, ‘I don’t know how you deal with people like us all day,’ but honestly this is my passion. I like to help people enjoy their day.”
Learning the Importance of Teamwork
Madeleine’s experiences at UL Lafayette prepared her to work in guest services.
“The number one thing that I learned through our hospitality program at UL Lafayette is the importance of each and every member on a team and how everyone’s job, no matter how big or small, makes a difference in running a successful operation,” she said.
“Running an operation is about more than just being nice to the guest and knowing how to recover their experience,” she said. “It is about ensuring that your fellow cast/team members are taken care of, it is about ensuring that your facility is in operative condition.
“It is knowing who to call when an air conditioning unit is no longer working or appreciating your dishwashers in the kitchen who are just as vital to your operation as the servers who are interacting with the guests,” she said.
“Hospitality management is not only about how you treat your guests but about how you treat the people that you work with,” she said.
Through her courses, Madeleine got a lot of hands-on experience. One of the capstone courses in the Department of Management required her to run a restaurant with her classmates at Lunch Club.
“Through courses leading up to this one, we spend time crafting our menu, finding recipes, and portioning out food costs,” she said. “After all is said and done, we have a course devoted to bringing those plans to life and running a real restaurant.
“We rotate through the different restaurant positions,” she said. “We each take a turn at being the managers, the cooks, the servers, and the dishwashers. It was humbling in many ways to be able to experience all roles within a kitchen and experience how each role brings value and importance to an operation.”
While her passion lies outside of food service, this experience still taught her valuable lessons about hospitality.
“We will be challenged in our careers to do things that we may not think we are capable of doing, but that should never be the reason that we shy away from challenging ourselves to grow,” she said.
“I currently work for a company that is rich in opportunity, but sometimes heading those opportunities means stepping outside your comfort zone,” she said.
Flexibility in Changing Circumstances
Due to COVID-19, Madeleine is now temporarily working in merchandising at World of Disney at Disney Springs. While her passion lies in guest services, she knows how significant her flexibility is under changing circumstances.
“The plans I had for today are not what they were a few months ago,” she said. “That is something that everyone can agree on, given the current times.
“Right now I am embracing every moment that I have at World of Disney as a merchandise hostess,” she said. “It is not where I expected to be when I created my short-term goals back in January, but it is where I am needed for this season of life that I am in and I have no doubt it will only help me in achieving my long term goals.”
With goals of getting back to guest relations – and working her way to a leadership position – Madeleine finds the opportunity to grow in every situation thrown at her.
“Right now I have my eyes set on one day becoming a guest experience manager, but the sky is the limit in terms of where I am willing to grow once I reach my potential within leadership,” she said.
“Through being flexible under the circumstances of the times, through building relationships with others in my career network, and through being the best cast member that I know how to be, one day I will achieve my long-term goals within leadership,” she said.
“Every opportunity encountered along the way is merely an opportunity to grow and shape me for the leader I will someday become,” she said.
