Meet the SideTour Team: Joanna
Joanna is in charge of making sure people know about the most awesome events in NYC. She fell hard for SideTour while interning this spring and still can’t get over how great it is to “work” on the weekends attending clambakes.
Where’d you grow up?
While I was born in New York City and spent a short stint in Westchester, the majority of my growing up took place in a small town in Dutchess County, where a large part of my extended family resides. Everyone always wants to know the name of the town, and no one ever recognizes it, so I like to say it’s near Pawling. If that draws a blank next comes Millbrook, and if that doesn’t work I resort to Poughkeepsie, and cringe at the inevitable question “Isn’t that where Snooki is from?” The answer is yes, but it definitely doesn’t represent Poughkeepsie very well.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
When I was a junior in college, I helped a couple of friends open a takeout and delivery only restaurant, where besides our one hired chef, we did all the work (while taking a full load of classes). This meant that three nights a week I was in the kitchen after school setting up, acting as sous-chef, and cleaning endless dishes and the space we had spent the past 6 hours trashing in a scramble to fill orders on time. I ended up working more time in the kitchen than attending class, and was more exhausted and overwhelmed than any time before or since. On the one hand it was really exciting to be a part of something as it was just beginning, but I count this as my worst job because, well, I did all of it without being paid.
Describe your perfect NYC day:
Two of my favorite things are meeting new people and eating amazing food. Luckily, New York has both of these things in abundance. So, my perfect NYC day would involve some combination of walking through a new neighborhood with friends, stumbling upon an amazing food truck/restaurant/market for lunch or dinner, and then meeting new people and hearing about all the things they love to do in NYC. Since I just moved here, I am looking forward to many of these days in the near future.
What’s your favorite part of working at SideTour?
The people I work with, hands-down. Before starting here, my parents looked at SideTour’s blog and read a little about my co-workers. Their conclusion? “Jo, you probably aren’t cool enough to work at SideTour.” While I may not be, I have loved getting to know everyone, and having the best people around makes coming to work every day pretty easy and enjoyable. Some of the most common feedback I have heard on SideTours is that guests want to hang out with the SideTour team. Speaking as someone who feels the same way, I’m not surprised.
Favorite NYC hang-out?
Again, I am still discovering a lot of NYC since I haven’t lived here in 15 years, so I definitely couldn’t begin to pick a specific spot as my favorite. However, I still love the places where I hung out as a kid, namely the Whale Room in the Museum of Natural History, Central Park on a sunny day and the benches outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Will get back to you with more grown-up choices once I find them!
