![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lucy-greenberg.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Texas Tech opened Shea Payne\u2019s eyes to the breadth and possibilities of the hospitality
\n industry; now she wants to take that home.<\/p>\n
\t\tCREATORS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Texas Tech opened Shea Payne\u2019s eyes to the breadth and possibilities of the hospitality
\n industry; now she wants to take that home.<\/p>\n
Growing up in a small town means everyone knows your name, your family, even your
\n order at the local cafe. It\u2019s a place where driving a few towns over for a fancy sit-down
\n meal is just part of the deal and where serving people isn\u2019t a job, it\u2019s the fabric
\n of life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Shea Payne, who grew up in Trent and Westbrook \u2013 tiny Texas communities where But it was worth it when she learned of the university\u2019s program in Restaurant, Hotel & Institutional Management<\/a> (RHIM) that would allow her to reopen a local restaurant that closed after the pandemic. Ingredients\u00a0<\/p>\n Shea\u2019s family made their home in Trent before relocating to Westbrook, where Shea Trent and Westbrook are similar in many ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone knows you and there is a rich sense of community,\u201d Shea says. \u201cI love that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n There weren\u2019t many restaurants to eat at growing up. Shea\u2019s family would have to drive \u201cI had them choose a kind of sandwich, chips and a drink,\u201d she recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shea, in her pink apron and matching chef\u2019s hat, would disappear into the kitchen This love of serving others with food drove Shea to be quite the successful Girl Scout Like many students, Shea and her siblings competed in a variety of sports in high \u201cTheir mesquite grilled steak was my favorite,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Shea continued to work at Sportsman\u2019s as she started classes at a local junior college. Eventually, Shea was trusted to open and close the restaurant on her own, a responsibility By 2023, though, Shea realized she had learned what she could where she was. She\u2019d She dreamed of opening her own place one day or being equipped to take a restaurant A cousin was preparing to attend Texas Tech. At first, Shea wondered if she\u2019d like Shea\u2019s cousin reasoned that if they roomed together, it wouldn\u2019t feel so overwhelming. \u201cLubbock is a nice sized college town,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not too small but it\u2019s not But the major selling factor came when Shea discovered that the university offered \u201cI knew I wanted to work in restaurants, but there are so many different ways to do Prep Work<\/p>\n One of Shea\u2019s courses was professional practices with Assistant Professor of Practice \u201cIt\u2019s important to me that we help students build connections,\u201d Kleypas says.\u00a0<\/p>\n As someone who worked in restaurant management for 20 years before teaching at Texas \u201cData shows that those in restaurant management who earn a degree go on to earn higher Kleypas has no doubt Shea will be one of those cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShea is reserved in her demeanor, but when you get to know her, it\u2019s clear how driven From her time in class with Kleypas, Shea recalls hearing stories from boutique hotel \u201cThat was definitely a niche career,\u201d Shea says.<\/p>\n Throughout other courses, Shea has visited McPherson Cellars Winery to help sommeliers \u201cTexas Tech has certainly helped me see how many pathways there are for a hospitality One of her favorite experiences has been RHIM 4315, which she\u2019s enrolled in this fall. Shea led the team toward her vision of a \u201cmodern bistro\u201d night in October. Her menu \u201cShea has been nothing less than an exceptional student and has a work ethic that The Simmer<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t the RHIM program alone that\u2019s helped Texas Tech feel like home to Shea. Shea put together a co-ed softball and flag football team, often recruiting other \u201cI love being part of a team, on the field and in the kitchen,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shea has also gotten involved with campus ministries, taken a job at Lubbock\u2019s Adventure Overall, she\u2019s been surprised by how tight-knit her Texas Tech experience has felt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n the population barely breaks 300 \u2013 enrolling at Texas Tech University<\/a> with its 42,000 students was a big change of pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n More than anything, Shea wants to serve the people in her community and drive more
\n visitors to rural Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n attended high school. Her parents were determined that their children should mature
\n within the embrace of community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n to a larger town to eat, so it was reserved for special occasions. When Shea was a
\n young child, she elevated home dining to a true delicacy. The 6-year-old would play
\n restaurant, seating her parents at the kitchen table and offering them a menu.<\/p>\n
\n and reemerge 10 minutes later with, what, in her eyes, was a feast.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Shea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Young-Shea-taking-orders.jpg\")
![\"Shae](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Young-Shea-cooking.jpg\")
Shae taking orders and cooking as a child. <\/p>\n
\n cookie marketer and apply for a job at a nearby steakhouse when she got to high school.
\n Sportsman\u2019s Restaurant sat on Lake Colorado City and was the go-to gathering spot
\n for several of the nearby towns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n school. Shea played basketball and softball and always looked forward to celebrating
\n a win with her teammates at Sportsman\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n The owner of the restaurant mentored her and began teaching her everything that went
\n into back-of-house management.<\/p>\n
\n she took pride in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n earned her basic credits at junior college and wanted to learn more about running
\n a restaurant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n like Sportsman\u2019s to the next level when the owner retired. Shea considered her options.
\n She could move to a large city and work her way up at popular restaurants. Her brother
\n had relocated to Houston, so there was the potential of living near him. But every
\n time she imagined it, Shea knew the chaos of city life was just not for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n a university with so many students. Texas Tech\u2019s student population alone was 133
\n times the size of her hometown, and that\u2019s not counting the larger city population
\n of Lubbock which has climbed past 300,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n The idea felt doable. Shea knew that a city the size of Lubbock may be different,
\n but certainly not as much of a shock as a major metropolitan area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n too big yet. There are plenty of options for food and entertainment, but you don\u2019t
\n get stuck in traffic for hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n a bachelor\u2019s degree in Restaurant, Hotel & Institutional Management.<\/p>\n
\n that,\u201d Shea explains. \u201cYou have the business side and the actual cooking, the human
\n management and the marketing. This whole new world opened up when I came to Texas
\n Tech.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n Joseph Kleypas<\/a>. Each week, Kleypas would bring in a guest speaker who worked in a different element
\n of the industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n Tech, Kleypas believes the RHIM program uniquely sets students up for long-term success.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n salaries and advance more quickly in leadership,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n she is,\u201d he says. \u201cShe has a strong work ethic, she is coachable and she asks pointed
\n questions in class. I know she\u2019ll be successful in whatever she does.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n managers, winery owners and even a stylist who matched color swatches and jewelry
\n to clients\u2019 skin tones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n prepare a tasting for the public. In another instance, she learned how to forecast
\n for large events and order what\u2019s needed to make them successful. Shea even remembers
\n being taught the science of designing a menu \u2013 where the customer\u2019s eyes go first
\n \u2013 and how to guide the experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Shea's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Sheas-Drink-Menu.jpg\")
![\"Shea's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Sheas-Bistro-Menu.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n career,\u201d Shea says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n The course known as the \u201cDinner Series\u201d partners RHIM students with Skyviews Restaurant<\/a> adjacent to campus. Led by Stephen LoCascio<\/a>, students help run the restaurant\u2019s lunch hour in addition to a special dinner series
\n on Wednesday nights that allows them to create a menu and theme, seeing it through
\n to final plating.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Filet](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Filet-mignon.jpg\")
Filet Mignon<\/p>\n
\n selections included popular choices such as filet mignon, but she also incorporated
\n unlikely dishes such as a Manchego and Herb Crusted Red Snapper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n will translate to a promising career,\u201d LoCascio says. \u201cShe always asks questions but
\n also trusts the systems in place to make sure Skyviews runs at its fullest potential.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Mini](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Mini-crabcakes.jpg\")
![\"Lemon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Lemon-olive-oil-cake.jpg\")
Mini Crabcakes and Lemon Olive Oil Cake<\/p>\n
\n She\u2019s made friendships with classmates in the College of Health & Human Sciences<\/a>, but she\u2019s also gotten involved with intramural sports through University Recreation<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n Red Raiders who came from six-man (football) high schools like she did.<\/p>\n
\n Park and enjoys discovering local restaurants for inspiration.\u00a0<\/p>\n