Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Smith-TerHaar.
Hi Tyler, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey with The Mill Hospitality started before I was even living in Northern Michigan. Via a mutual connection, my twin brother, Corey Smith, was asked to interview for the role of General Manager at The Mill when the renovation of the property was barely under way. He was offered a two night stay at Fernhaus, Kelsey Duda’s beautiful Elk Rapids home / air b n b, and so my partner, mom and myself decided to tag along for the adventure. This was truly my introduction to Traverse City, Glen Arbor, and the magic of The Mill. Fast forward a couple of months, and my brother was settled in to his new home, on site at The Mill in Glen Arbbor, my husband, Dustin Smith-TerHaar and I, made monthy trips to visit, and continuously began to be charmed by the beauty of Northern Michigan. While visiting, some connections were made, and Dustin ended up landing a job teaching The Children’s House Montessori School. Naturally, I had my sights set on working my way into a position within The Mill Hospitality Group. My role started as a contract E-Commerce expert, building a Shopify website to launch ahead of the 2024 holiday gifting season. Not long thereafter, the company was in need of a replacement General Manager at their Traverse City location, Outpost. I very quickly jumped at the opportunity, and have now built Outpost to the successful All Day Cafe it is today, two years later.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The beginning of my experience at Outpost was fun and light-hearted. I enjoyed learning new skills such as the precise coffee program we execute daily, as well as other administration things like ordering and payroll. The amount of autonomy over the business I was entrusted with was also a learning curve! A month or two in to my roll, as I was finding my groove, things changed a little bit. I suddenly absorbed the roll of a Kitchen Lead that didn’t work out for our business, and I was now juggling not only front of house operations, but back of house as well. This was particularly challenging because, one, I had never run a kitchen before, but also, two, we were developing a new menu for Outpost that was four times the size of the one that was in place when I started. Developing recipes was fun for me, as I love to be in the kitchen (at home), but I found myself working an extreme amount of hours to get the entirety of the job done. All in all, we made it through the new menu launch, and switching to a made to order model, and Outpost is currently wrapping up it most successful and record-breaking Summer yet!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I have a varied professional background, and have been in and out of Hospitality since I was 14 years old. I have worked in both mom-and-pop style restaurants, as well as corporate-based establishments. I have formal mixology training and have opened a speak-easy style bar in Holland, MI, too. For a chunk of time, outside of Hospitality, I was working in luxury fashion, both styling and e-commerce. During that period, I became a Shopify wiz, and discovered I really enjoy e-commerce based work. As I have gotten older, I have realized that I am pretty good at starting low-level in a business, and quickly grasping the knowledge and understanding of its operations, and then not only scaling my way up the ranks, but also growing the business to new successful heights. From launching a website for a luxury retailer in Grand Rapids, to increasing overall business by 30% at a locally-owned boutique in Holland, MI, to now, making Outpost Traverse City more successful than we projected.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
When I think about taking risks, I can either be a little shy and hesitant, or the exact opposite – bold and confident. For me, I think it takes me a certain amount of time to gather the full picture and understanding of a business. I am very detail-oriented, and like to know how to do everything. Once I have that, I can easily take risks, in a more calculated way, which usually results in a positive outcome.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://outposttc.com
- Instagram: outposttc
