"It's my second day here at Brianna's," Ronda said to open the next segment of the show. She was standing in the yard behind the restaurant and kitchen, with Daniel beside her. The hotel's owner looked less than thrilled to be there. "I've brought Daniel out back for a bit of... let's call it management training. Daniel, you know why it's you that's out here."
"Yeah, you said I'm the biggest problem in my own hotel," Daniel said, his tone accusatory. "I don't think that's fair at all."
"I'm not here to be fair, at least not by your definition, which seems to be me kissing your ass," Ronda said bluntly. "You called me in to help you fix your hotel. We're in the shit for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and from I can see, the biggest problem around here is the management, or lack of it. When it's all said and done, you are supposed to be the manager, aren't you?"
"I am the manager," Daniel said defiantly.
"You could have fooled me so far," Ronda said, not holding back as usual. "That's the closest you've come to proving you've got some balls since I got here. It seems to me that whenever there's work to be done or we're in the shit, you're sitting in your office playing fucking solitaire on the computer."
"I'm not playing solitaire, I'm working out how we're going to pay the bills," Daniel said sullenly.
Ronda didn't let him off the hook. "I know how you're not going to pay the bills; by burying your head in the sand and refusing to confront and deal with the problems you have. Honestly, I think I've done more management of this hotel in the last twenty four hours than you have since you opened it."
"You've done more shouting, I'll give you that much," Daniel said. "I'm just not that kind of person, and neither is Brie. We don't want to have to scream at people to get them to work."
Looking at the camera for a second, Ronda sighed. She was clearly finding dealing with the owners of Brianna's to be hard work. "Let me ask you a question, Daniel," she said. "Do you think if I walk into one of my hotels, I have to start shouting, screaming and swearing at the staff? Or do you think the place runs like clockwork whether I'm there or not?"
"I think it runs like clockwork," Daniel admitted.
Ronda nodded. "Right. Because in my hotels, the staff are used to the standards that are expected of them. Here, you've set no standards. People just go around doing whatever the fuck they want, and they get paid for it regardless. That's on you and Brie, and the quicker you start accepting that, the quicker we can start running your hotel and restaurant like a business instead of a shit show."
"But I'm just not the kind of person who can shout like you," Daniel said weakly.
This time Ronda smiled. "That's why we're out here, just the two of us. By the time we go back inside, you'll know how to shout properly. What I want you do is imagine I'm one of your employees and you've just caught me fucking around when I should have been working, or I've delivered some food to the wrong table at dinner. Pick anything you like, just give me a roasting for my incompetence."
Embarrassed by the idea, Daniel laughed, but as he did so he noticed that Ronda wasn't finding anything amusing about it. She was serious about what she had told him to do. "You really want me to shout at you?" he asked nervously.
"Like I said, pretend I'm one of your staff who just fucked something up," Ronda said patiently. "Come on, give it to me."
"What were you thinking when you cleaned that room?" Daniel shouted, still sounding about as weak as ever. "The state you left it in is ridiculous!"
"No, Daniel," Ronda said, shaking her head. "That was pathetic. I'd struggle to even pay attention to that. It should be more like this." She roared in his face, "What the fuck do you think you're doing leaving a room like that? The place is a shit hole! Get back in there now and do it over, top to fucking bottom! Now!" she screamed at him, making him pull away from her. "You see the difference?" she asked, back in her normal tone.
"Just a bit," Daniel said, injecting a bit of humour of his own into the situation as he glanced at the camera.
"You don't have to swear as much as I do," Ronda explained. "That's just a personal habit I can't get out of. What you need to do is get the message across to your staff that you won't be fucked around. They are here to do a job, and if they're not going to do it, they can hit the fucking road, yes?"
"Yeah, I know you're right," Daniel said. "It's just getting myself in that mindset, you know?"
"Let's try again," Ronda suggested. "Pretend I'm Nikki, sitting there at your reception desk flashing my tits around the place and fucking around on my phone. I want to see the manager of Brianna's now."
"Alright," Daniel said after clearing his throat in preparation. "Nikki!" he yelled as sternly as he could manage. "How many times have I told you about turning that fucking phone off? If I see it again, I'm going to drop it in a bucket of water! And while we're at it, you can start coming in here dressed appropriately! We're a hotel, not a strip club!"
Ronda laughed, out of appreciation this time as she put an arm around Daniel's shoulders and turned him to face the camera. "Fan-fucking-tastic. Now I think we're getting somewhere. The next time you see someone doing something they shouldn't, or slacking off, that's the kind of treatment you give them, got it?"
"Got it," Daniel confirmed.
"Good. You'll be surprised how soon you find that you don't need to do it anymore. No one likes getting yelled at, so they either do their jobs properly, or they fuck off. Either way, you benefit. You don't need staff who aren't willing to bust their asses for you."
With that, Ronda started walking towards the door that lead into the kitchen. Daniel and the camerawoman followed close behind. "Right, come with me," Ronda was saying to Daniel. "I've got all of your staff in early this morning so that we can do some restructuring."
"Restructuring?" Daniel inquired.
"Yes," Ronda said as she lead the way through the empty kitchen. On the way through, she picked up a clipboard which she had left there earlier. It had a sheet of paper attached to it, on which was a list of names. She pulled a pen out of her pocket as she said, "I don't know where your head was at when you appointed people to roles in this place, but you made a piss poor job of it. I stayed up last night in my room and reassigned everyone that I think needs to be assigned new roles. If they don't want to change, then we're going to have to let them go."
"Right," Daniel said, quickly returning to sounding nervous. They walked out into the dining room to find all of Brianna's staff, even Brie herself, standing there waiting for them. There were a couple of people there who Ronda had not met as yet, and one face that was new to Daniel.
"Good morning," Ronda greeted the group. Only a few of them gave responses worthy of the description. "Let's try again, shall we?" she asked irritably. "Let's see some life out of you. I said good morning." This time the response was more enthusiastic all round.
"That's better," Daniel said, surprising Ronda by actually taking the initiative. "Let's act like we want to be here," he told them, not making it sound like a suggestion.
"Exactly," Ronda nodded. "Now, the reason we're all here today is to restructure the job roles here at Brianna's. One of the biggest problems I've noticed is the there are people working in positions that are not suited to their actual abilities. We're going to correct that today, according to a list that I drew up last night. I've talked it over with Daniel, and he has agreed that anyone who isn't happy with the job they're given is free to leave this morning and seek employment elsewhere. All clear so far?"
The verbal reactions were positive, but several people looked warily around at those near to them, wondering if they were the ones to be assigned to a new role, possibly one that they would not like.
Ronda gestured to a Hispanic looking woman with short bleached blonde hair who looked to be around forty. On Ronda's cue, she stepped forward. "Let me introduce Melina Perez. She's been a Head Waitress in one of my hotels for four years. She's going to be working here for a month at my expense while Daniel and Brie find themselves a new Head Waitress." The sour expression on Stephanie's face came as no surprise, since she had effectively just been told that she had lost her job.
"Before I get to the reassignments, there are a few people here I haven't met yet," Ronda went on. "As I'm sure you're aware by now, my name is Ronda Rousey. I'm here to try and turn our fortunes around and get Brianna's running at a profit. Everyone I've not met yet will remain in their current roles until I've had a chance to see them in action. If you're one of those people, I'd like you to step forward and introduce yourself and tell me what your job role is, please. I'll add your names to my list."
A blonde woman was first to step forward. "Hi, I'm Carmella. I'm a waitress." Ronda added the name to her list.
Next to step forward was a noticeably short woman with long dark hair. "I'm Thea. I work in housekeeping."
"Okay," Ronda said pleasantly, making a note of the name. "And lastly, you?" she asked of a black woman with striking purple hair.
"Sasha Banks. I've just been hired as a chef."
"Ah, Bayley's friend," Ronda recalled from a conversation the previous day as she wrote the name down on her list. "You hired her, Brie?"
"I did," the owner confirmed.
"Good. Quick, decisive action. I like that," Ronda said, coming close to being impressed for what felt like the first time since she had set foot in Brianna's. "Now, the restructuring I mentioned earlier. I think what I'll do is call out a job role and have the people I've assigned to it step forward. Since we've just found out who our new chef is, let's start there. There are no surprises here anyway. Hunter, Head Chef. Sous-chefs are Bayley and Sasha."
The three chefs stepped forward, Hunter looking smug about the fact that he was still Head Chef, not that it had been in doubt.
Ronda gestured over towards the kitchen door. "Stand over there out of the way, please. Next, waitresses. Melina, Head Waitress, as we've just discussed. Becky and Emma, I had no problem with your work yesterday, and Carmella, I'm yet to see you work." The four women stepped forward and Ronda gestured off to the side again. "Join the chefs, please."
"What about me?" Stephanie demanded impatiently. "I'm supposed to be Head Waitress here. This is crap."
Ronda gave her a withering look. "It's precisely that attitude that has made me reassign you," she said. "Well, that and laziness. I've been told that you previously worked as a PA to a lawyer or something, so I've assigned you to a job where your talents might be better utilised."
"Oh?" Stephanie asked, immediately sounding a little more upbeat.
"You're moving to the reception desk," Ronda announced. "Unless you've got a problem with that as well?" She made the question sound like a challenge.
"No, I think I might like that," Stephanie said thoughtfully. "It is kind of similar to jobs I've done in the past."
"Excellent," Ronda said. "Go and join everyone else who already has their assignments, please."
"So what am I supposed to do?" Nikki whined. "You already fired me from housekeeping; now Stephanie's taken my job on reception."
"Quite frankly, I don't have your name down on my list, Nikki," Ronda said, watching Brie close her eyes as she said it. "I know Brie isn't keen to fire you since you're her sister, so I'll let her decide what to do with you. Brie, are you going to let her go, or are you going to give her another chance somewhere?"
"Brie, you can't fire me," Nikki begged.
"I'm not going to fire you," Brie assured her, surprising no one. "We've seen that housekeeping isn't really your thing. How do you feel about trying waitressing?"
"I've got no patience for people who are liabilities," Melina said firmly. "This is your hotel, but for the next month, these are my waitresses. If you give her to me, she'd better work just as hard as the rest of us."
Brie could tell right away why Ronda had chosen Melina to be the one who came to help them out. The two women obviously had a similar no-nonsense way of working. Brie had to admit that was what the hotel needed to get back on track. She was glad when Nikki chose to answer on her own behalf.
"I won't be a liability," Nikki promised. "I know I've not tried my hardest in the past, and I feel bad about that. I think Ronda has given us all a kick up the ass since she showed up. I do want to work here, so I'll try my best as a waitress."
"That's all we're asking," Ronda said kindly, deciding to give her a break. "Go and stand with the rest of the waitresses."
Nikki did as instructed. To their credit, the other waitresses greeted her with smiles rather than sideways glances or angry glares.
"Housekeeping next," Ronda said. "For that I have Charlotte, Alexa and Thea."
The three women stepped forward and were instructed to go and stand with the others, leaving only Daniel and Brie waiting to be called forward.
"Last but not least, management," Ronda said. "Brie, you are going to manage the hotel side of the business. I want to focus particularly on standards. You have nice rooms for a three star hotel. Make sure they are presented properly to guests by supervising your housekeeping team. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty to help them out if you have to. And make sure your guests are given a friendly and professional welcome by Stephanie. You only get one first impression."
Brie nodded seriously. "Got it. I can do that." She looked over at the staff that would be under her leadership. "We can do it, right?"
Positive responses came from all of them.
"Daniel, you're managing the restaurant of the business," Ronda said, swiftly moving on. "Hunter runs the kitchen as Head Chef, but any problems he has with his staff, his equipment, his supplies, he comes to you and you deal with it. The same with Melina and your new Head Waitress when you hire one. Any staff problems or serious customer complaints, you deal with them. Okay?"
"Absolutely," Daniel said with determination.
Pleasantly surprised, Ronda found herself thinking that she maybe even believed him. Before she dismissed everyone, she had another surprise for them. "Okay then, I'm out of here," she announced.
"You're leaving?" Brie asked incredulously. "Ronda, we need you. You can't leave already."
Ronda smiled and gestured for everyone to stand together once more. When they had done so, she said, "Let me tell you what's going to happen. I'm going to check out now and give you all the rest of the day to work like you've never worked before in your new roles. Then, tomorrow, I'm going to show up like a guest who has never been here before, and we're going to start the entire process over. I want to find Brianna's operating to the standard I expect of a three star hotel and restaurant."
Daniel had to admit that sounded like a clever idea to test everyone, not least him. "Let's do it," he said.
"I'll leave you to it," Ronda said, wasting no time in heading for the restaurant's exit. She seriously contemplated using the Terminator's 'I'll be back,' but decided that it was too much of a lame thing to do, even for a show like The Hotel Inspector.