Hospitality from Within

Ep 35 - Asking for help from others allowed me to learn different skill sets with Katherine Sprung This conversation with Katherine reveals so many full circle moments and how love stories in her career always brought her to the next part of her journey. Katherine shares how she’s asked for help each step of the way. This conversation is a great reminder to keep going, follow your intuition and re...

Ep 34 Designing your business with intention to have better balance and sustainability for the team with Patrick Shaw-Kitch Patrick is a restaurant industry veteran with over 20 years of experience working in the hospitality industry. In this conversation, he shares what he’s learnt along the way and how his mentors have impacted. Patrick’s commitment to leading through a lens of sustainability, o...

Ep 33 - How to make training easier in jobs that are really hard with Rachael Nemeth “Great leaders evolve” was Rachael’s answer to my final question of our conversation. This quote sums up Rachael’s career path and constant desire to create better tools for the hospitality industry. Rachael shares the evolution of Opus, pointers on how to create and implement great training programs that have an...

Ep 32 - One foot in front of the other, no matter if you are at the start or in the messy middle with Sam Pogue Sam Pogue is creative, a free spirit and a master community builder! In this conversation, she shares her career journey while reminding us that there is no linear path, but to always follow your heart and passion. Because it will never steer you astray! She now resides in Baja Sur and h...

  Ep 31 - Hire people who love your business and teach them your systems to succeed with Ori Zohar Ori is the Co-CEO of Burlap & Barrel. He’s been an entrepreneur since he can remember and shares some really sweet stories about each business he’s founded. Ori shares how he and his business partner, Ethan, built their company culture and how they hire to have access to the best talent to help t...

Ep 30 - Education and its impact on youth development with Kittrell Breland Kittrell has dedicated herself to education and supporting youth development. She shares with us how the Food Education Fund helps students and alumni get hands-on experience in the hospitality industry. Through connections with the community, Kittrell has helped students expand their understanding of career opportunities...

Elizabeth has a long journey in the hospitality industry starting off in kitchens. She soon started to fall in love with operations and the safety of people in and out of kitchens. Elizabeth is now focused on researching and coaching teams how we handle conflict in the workplace to improve culture. She asked herself often: how can we hold space for two things to exist at once? To find the answer,...

It’s been just over 3 months since I lost my father and I’ve learnt a lot in this time. I feel the need to share as a continuation to my first article about leading while processing grief. Loss and grief is a powerful thing. This grief is stronger than anything I’ve ever experienced yet so soft and tender at the same time. There are moments where the anxiety builds up so quickly within my throat t...

Ep 27 - If you don’t know what you want, it’s hard for those around you to help you with Lan Elliott Lan’s story is inspiring. She is a force that is deeply tapped into what she is passionate about and she continued to follow that light at each step of her career journey. She is not guiding leaders on how to follow their passion to find their path because there is not only one way to get there. Sh...

Ep 26 Be curious because you never know who’s sitting next to you with Angel Holmes Angel shares her career journey as an entrepreneur in Charleston, SC. The one thing that has always been weaved into each step was building community and showing up for her people. Angel is an incredible conversationalist, is deeply curious about anyone that is sitting next to her and shines her light so brightly o...

Ep 25 - How to create the structure to solve for this hurdle with Nick Salinger Nick leads with his heart and his passion for creating memorable experiences for his team and guests alike is very clear to anyone that crosses his path. Nick shares his journey on how he fell in love with the hospitality industry and connected his dots backwards while honoring each step of his career.  About Nick: Nic...

Ep 24 - Visibility is so important in your career path with Rachel Humphrey Rachel retired from a long career in law and in this space, she founded the Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance to bring together women in the industry and be of service to lifting us all up. She is the ultimate community builder and a bridge to many connections and conversations that are crucial to the growth of wome...

Interviewing can be intimidating or sometimes become boring. No matter is you are new to it or a seasoned pro, spicing it up is always important!  In this episode, Kim shares tips on how to interview through a conversation, while sharing some personal tidbits with the interviewee and understanding their language. Setting the space for both parties to be comfortable is key to interviewing success....

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Ep 22 - The bridge between the bartender and the brand through storytelling and mentorship with Josh Gandee Josh shared his career journey starting as a “factory worker” at The Cheesecake Factory to founding his production company with his friend / business partner. Josh’s drive is fueled by his curiosity to learn. He has placed himself in big opportunities for growth throughout his career because...

Ep 21 - There are certain moments in your career that define your purpose with Brianna Borin Brianna has dedicated her heart and mind to creating community around her - both in her personal and professional worlds. Through this, she builds a safe and inclusive culture based on honesty, curiosity and growth. Brianna has continued to pave the way for herself to keep up with the growing business all...

Ep 20 The ability to build again with Liz Mendez Liz shares honestly about creativity, how she continues to tap into, and reminds us to have no shame as an entrepreneur that it’s ok to join a corporate position for stability.  Nothing comes out of the world fully baked and we can take a page out of this book to give ourselves some grace while creating and building.  Liz announces about her newest...

Ep 19 - Building partnerships through the art of communicating clearly with Lauren Darnell Lauren’s work is to advocate for better work environments and connect partners to provide more equity resources to operators and owners to improve the work spaces for the hospitality industry in Nola and beyond. The work is relational and you have to bring your whole human self to do it so Lauren invites any...

Ep 18 - What I've learnt about leading while processing grief As someone who is constantly called to share experiences with others in hopes that it will help guide someone back to themselves. This episode may be helpful for someone who is grieving or how to support someone in your community or team that is processing grief.  For more resources on leadership and eliminating the sticky energy from t...

  Ep 17 - Leadership is making the best positive impact to the people around you that you can with guest Kate Edwards. Kate Edwards is an executive coach and consultant in the hospitality industry. Her calling and mission is to support any and all leaders to find their vision and voice. She’s an inspiration and keeps the conversation honest. Kate shares with us how to set ourselves up for success...

Ep 16 - Leading through the tough stuff: an introduction to leadership through a trauma-informed lens   Cole Kortlever, a trauma-informed specialist and leadership coach will be educating on where trauma lives in the body and how to tune in when it comes up. Being we are in a highly stimulated industry, it's easier at times to numb that feeling of overwhelm or stress and keep putting ourselves las...

This collaborative conversation with Daniel shines a big light on how to tune into your intuition and follow what lights you up and trust your hope. He has an inspiring journey and doesn’t shy away from giving us the honest truth of his path and what he continues to learn today. A few key takeaways from this conversation: You may have some harder moments but 95% of the time it’ll go your way if yo...

Ep 14 - Navigating career and life transitions with Amanda Garcia-Harris Amanda’s journey did not start in hospitality. Her passion lies in theater and performance and because she wanted to move to NYC, she took a role in a restaurant to save money for this next chapter and her journey continued from there.  Amanda constantly was looking to grow but didn’t know how to grow. She continued to take o...

There are two archetypes of leaders- The Creator and The Executor. Understanding the difference between them and how they both support each other is key! This is how you build strong and cohesive teams where your colleagues thrive and reduce turnover.  Each single one of us has different strengths and areas of interest. This makes us each unique and allows for immense reward and growth through col...

Ep 12 - “Leadership is providing psychological safety and having the support around you to make the right decision.” with guest Erin Boyle   Erin reminds us that when you leave the restaurant industry, there is a lot of ego attached. Erin’s career journey was not linear but what she continued to come back to was understanding her skill sets support her in taking on roles outside of the hospitality...