I started my career in quick service. No tips. No guesswork. Just a flat hourly wage and a clear understanding of what I’d earn for my time. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was honest. You worked a shift. You got paid. Simple. It wasn’t until I moved into full service that I began to understand how broken the system really was.
Suddenly, a team member’s income wasn’t based on effort. It was based on the mood, memory and math skills of the people sitting at their table. The paycheck didn’t come from the company. It came from anonymous guests, one transaction at a time. That shift in structure creates a massive shift in energy and burden on mental health.
Tipping was supposed to be a thank you. Somewhere along the way, it turned into a gamble. And for the people doing the work, it’s not just financial. It’s emotional. Imagine giving everything you’ve got to care for people and having your entire night’s pay depend on whether or not they “believe in tipping.” Try doing that a few hundred times. See what it does to your confidence. Your spirit. Your desire to serve people.
Leaders are becoming therapists. Consoling great employees who delivered great experiences and still walked out feeling dejected. Not because they failed but because someone else made them feel like they didn’t matter.
It’s a broken system. And it’s time to build something better. Wages shouldn’t be determined by a young couple on a date night. I believe the employer is responsible for shaping this system.
When we formed AMP Up1 Hospitality in 2020 and began building “Your 3rd Spot” in 2021, we had one clear objective: to create a new category of hospitality. Something community driven. Human-centered. Not transactional. Not gimmicky. Something built to spark genuine social connection.
And the foundation of that idea wasn’t technology or menus, celebrity endorsement or marketing. It was people. People taking care of people.
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We knew we couldn’t preach connection while fueling a system that divided our team. So, we did something few operators are willing to do. We became completely cashless, eliminated tipping, and replaced it with a 20 percent service charge in all food and beverage transactions. One hundred percent of that charge is shared among every hourly team member, from the connectors (servers) to the dishwashers, the barbacks, the technicians, and everyone in between.
It’s made clear on every menu in-house and the website. No additional gratuity is expected unless you choose to leave one.
This model ensures we pay every team member well above the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour, a number that has not changed since 1991. Back then, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the U.S. was around $490 a month. In Atlanta today, that same apartment averages over $1,700. Rent has tripled. The wage has not moved in thirty-four years. The math isn’t mathing.
And here’s the difference that matters: a tip is paid by the guest and passed through to the employee. A service charge is considered revenue to the business. That means we pay payroll taxes on it. We carry the burden. We give up tax credits. We absorb the fees. It is more expensive. It is more complicated. But it is also more responsible.
We didn’t make this decision because it was profitable. We made it because it was principled.
This model changed everything. It allowed our team to show up without fear. To focus on connection instead of performance. To deliver hospitality that felt authentic, not transactional or forced.
Because when someone’s livelihood is based on tips, they aren’t really showing up to serve. They’re showing up to audition. And the pressure of “dancing for dollars” kills authenticity. It strips away confidence and turns service into survival. That’s not hospitality. That’s harmful.
Our approach creates consistency. Psychological safety. A shared sense of pride and ownership. Every team member understands that every guest interaction contributes to their success. Everyone’s work matters. Everyone is seen. And everyone is compensated in a way that reflects their effort, not just their visibility. Every role matters to make this movie happen day after day.
Guests feel it, too. They aren’t doing math at the end of their experience. They aren’t stuck in awkward decisions about what’s appropriate or what they can afford. They don’t wonder if they over-tipped or under-tipped. It’s simple. Clear. Transparent. One line. One price. One house.
Over the last two years, we’ve been fortunate to receive recognition from across the industry. Best bar. Best special occasion venue. Best first date spot. National awards for our culinary program. But the ones that mean the most? Being named a top employer and one of the best places to work by Newsweek and the Best Practice Institute. Winning best hospitality training program in the country as selected by an esteemed panel of judges from Johnson & Wales. Building a compensation model that helps us retain talent and empower them to grow.
That matters. Because at the end of the day, we’re not just creating great guest experiences. We’re creating an employer brand that people believe in. A place people want to be part of. A place where they don’t just punch in, they plug in.
We’ve also achieved something rare in this business. We’re now in the top one percent of restaurant sales in America. And we did it while putting people first. That’s not a coincidence. That’s the result of doing things the right way.
This isn’t a one-location experiment. It’s a blueprint. We’re expanding. We’re growing the Social Experience Club model and scaling it to new markets. We’re doing it with intention. With heart. And with the belief that there is a better way to do hospitality.
At Your 3rd Spot, we’re guided by one mission: to build authentic connections through unforgettable experiences. And the final line of that mission says everything you need to know about how we lead:
We share in our prosperity with our team and our community.
That means rethinking what benefits look like. Designing compensation with care. Investing in our people before expecting returns from them. Because food doesn’t run restaurants. People do.
When you take care of your people, they take care of the business. And when they believe in what they’re building, they’ll run through walls for it.
We rolled the dice on this model. We were told not to. We were warned about the risks. But we’d make the same decision again, every time. And we’d never look back.
Josh Rossmeisl is the founder and chief recruiting officer of Your 3rd Spot and chief vision officer of AMP Up1 Hospitality. With more than 25 years in the restaurant and entertainment industry, he is committed to building people-first cultures that challenge convention and redefine what hospitality leadership looks like in the modern world.
