Daily Inspiration: Meet Derek Ketelhohn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Ketelhohn.

Hi Derek , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
While in college in Wisconsin, I picked up my very first restaurant job as a busser at The Fox and Hounds Restaurant and Tavern, a local supper club style restaurant. During my time there, I went from busser, to food runner, to server, and found a passion for the hospitality industry. After aimlessly wandering through college, I dropped out and worked two full-time jobs to occupy my time. In 2016, I moved to Denver and was looking for a job in hospitality as it is where I had the most experience. I landed a job as a server at TAG Restaurant on Larimer Square, a Troy Guard restaurant. This particular serving job was out of my comfort zone as it was a Chef driven restaurant with a seasonally rotating food and beverage menu. Through my experience of training and studying for my serving position at TAG, my perspective changed from this just being a job to “this could be my career”. During my time with TAG, I pursued management and quickly rose to the position of Assistant General Manager. From there, I received the opportunity to transfer as General Manager to another one of Troy Guard’s concepts being Mister Tuna. TAG Restaurant Group immersed me in chef driven, technical cuisine, beverage programs that were unique and intricate, and hospitality that was was unwavering. In 2018, I was approached about a new hotel opening in Cherry Creek that was in need of experienced hospitality leadership in the food and beverage realm. This would be my first experience in hotels and venturing out into another realm outside of my comfort zone. I was the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager for The Jacquard Hotel and Rooftop with food outlets such as Narrative Restaurant and Kisbee on the Roof, their rooftop poolside concept. Unfortunately, after a couple of years in this role, COVID-19 presented hospitality with never before seen challenges. I was laid off and didn’t know what my life looked like without hospitality as it was the first time I had been unemployed since I was 15 years old. I was offered my position back after lockdown ended, but was unfortunately laid off a second time when another lockdown came about right before Thanksgiving. Knowing I couldn’t sit around for an unforeseeable amount of time again, I was presented with a Bar Manager opportunity in Steamboat Springs, CO that would put me back into work, so I packed up my belongings and headed to the mountains. I loved my time in the mountains, but the city and a newly formed relationship was calling me back to the city. In June of 2021, I took a step back and started serving at Ocean Prime in the Denver Tech Center. I was approached multiple times from the General Manager and Regional Manager to get into management due to my resume, but respectfully declined in order to spend more time with my now wife and enjoy the first non-salary job I had in almost 5 years. in May of 2022, being presented again with a chance at a management position decided it was time for me to get back to it. After my management training concluded, I transferred to the Ocean Prime on Larimer Square as a Dining Room Manager. Over the span of two years I went from Dining Room Manager, to Assistant General Manager, to eventually being promoted to General Manager in August of 2024. I have been fortunate throughout my hospitality career to be surrounded by mentors and peers that have helped shape me into the hospitality worker that I am today.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been plenty of ups and downs as there are in any career path. The hospitality industry is infamous for its long and grueling hours. I have lost relationships and missed holidays with my family. The most difficult time I faced in hospitality was everything surrounding COVID-19. Being laid off was something unfamiliar to me in my career, especially with the uncontrollable nature in which it came. After being hired back to my position, restaurants just felt different. Tensions were high and operating is a difficult enough task, but also having to police patrons and guests on COVID-19 protocol to ensure we were compliant and continue operating was the most difficult and unwanted task of all.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Being in a leadership position within restaurants, your responsibilities are multi-faceted. Not only are you hyper-focused on operations when the restaurant is open to ensure all of the guests are receiving an unforgettable and genuinely hospitable experience, you plug yourself into whatever wheel is the squeakiest. This could mean running food, bussing a table, greeting guests at the front door, helping out on expo, running drinks, and never forgetting to perform table touches and making sincere connections with the guests. Outside of operations, you are tasked with administrative duties, accounting tasks, repair and maintenance for the building and everything that resides within it, and also human resources duties such as anything pertaining to staff relations and well-being. I think the thing I am most proud of and known for is leading by example and leading with empathy. No job is too big or too small if it needs to get done and in an industry as demanding as hospitality, always approaching everyone on your team from a place of understanding and empathy leads to more cohesive team.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
Denver drew me in all those years ago because of its proximity to the mountains. Denver’s atmosphere is one of being outside, being active, and minimally being sedentary. Coming from the Midwest with its brutal winters and humid summers, the weather in Denver felt like a breath of fresh air. When I first arrived, the culinary scene was starting to emerge with a handful of Chef driven and owned restaurant groups that were starting to put Denver on the map. It had its intrigue for a minimally experience guy in the world of hospitality.

Denver through the years has seen its fair share of trials and tribulations. When I first moved, I lived in the Capital Hill neighborhood but was quickly pushed out due to unchecked issues stemming from homelessness and safety concerns. The issues only grew and quickly downtown Denver started to become a ghost town as no one wanted to have to deal with the ever growing issues just to come down for dinner, a show, or recreation. It seems as though downtown Denver is starting to turn the corner and the crowds are starting to come back, but it still is an uphill battle.

Contact Info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-ketelhohn