This content was created by Donald Burns. This content was uploaded by Donald Burns. This is a YouTube video titled "The dream job I never chased #DreamsVsReality #RestaurantLife #LifeJourney" created on January 16, 2026. It features a conversation among multiple speakers, including Mark, discussing their childhood dreams and how they transitioned into their current careers, particularly in the restaurant industry.
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So when you were little kids now, before, like, you got into the restaurant business, before you were 15, you started working in a restaurant, Mark, when you were a little kid, what'd you want to be when you grew up?
I actually remember this. I actually had a picture of a fighter jet on my wall because I was going to be a pilot. And then I realized that I was never going to be smart enough. So I was like. And I just love. Like at school, you know, we're doing home economics and I'm like, yeah, I like this covering stuff. This is good. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Licking the bowl and that sort of stuff, because that's what you did when you're, you know, 13 and 12. You know what I mean? Yeah. So. And I've just always just loved it. And I always wanted to be a photographer. Did you really?
My dad had a beautiful Leica camera and I was allowed to use it and we'd process, you know, our own photography photos in the dark room and. But then I realized that Mum and Dad could not afford to send me to uni, so that's when I started doing an apprenticeship as a compositor.
Did you know, in high school. And I probably. You probably don't know this, but in high school, I was actually. I was in a small town. I was actually the local sports photographer for the newspaper. I was. When I was in high school, I was like the local. The heist, the newspaper, this, the town newspaper hired me to be the photographer and I would go and take pictures of the. All the football, all the sports at a high school game, stuff like that. And then they had a dark room. I would develop all the pictures. I loved it. I actually, at one point, I thought about going into that a little bit and not. Not to beat my father up too bad, but, you know, he's long gone, but I guess I can now. He told me, like, you know, this is how. This is how parents have a big influence on their children. He told me, you never. You never. You're not talented enough, you never make.
Money enough, and you never be good at it. You might as well just give it up.
So I gave it up. Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And then he just. He just dragged me around the kitchen. When I was a little bit a kid, I wanted to be a zoologist. I wanted to, like, run. I wanted to run a zoo. Yeah.
