women in the culinary arts we have two
incredible chefs here to share their
insights in the food industry coming up
next on the leadership voice
welcome to the leadership voice I'm your
host Jay Barbuto today's show features
leading women who are excelling in the
culinary arts the leadership voice
welcomes Jamie Gwen Celebrity Chef and
Author as well as Shachi Mehra, Chef and
Restaurateur we also have a special
leadership lesson today being delivered
by Professor Adelina Gnanlet so let's
start things off with today's quote of
the day
today's quote comes from author and
restaurateur David Chang we're hoping to
succeed were okay with failure we just
don't want to land in between our first
guest today on the leadership voice is
chef Jamie Gwen Jamie Gwen is a
celebrity chef and certified sommelier a
lifestyle expert and seven-time cookbook
author who can be seen stirring up
something delicious on television on the
radio and in print from coast to coast
she brings the best to radio with her
weekly syndicated radio show filled with
delicious conversation on all things
culinary heard every Sunday on radio
stations across the country and in her
native Southern California on talk radio
790 KABC Jamie can be seen on LA's
number one morning show on KTLA channel five on the Home Shopping Network and on
national television news shows sharing
her seasonal lifestyle approach and her
passion for food most recently Jamie
served as a judge for Fox TV's
MasterChef and her victory on the Food
Network's cutthroat kitchen
proved her culinary aptitude Jamie's
seventh cookbook co-authored by Lana
Sills and entitled entertaining in style
just released and her previous title
Good Food For Good Times 2 is now
available as an e-book Jamie has been
featured on the Food Network HGTV the
talk Emeril live and Martha Stewart and
her sizzling restaurant reviews can be
found in modern luxuries Riviera
magazine she is a graduate of the
Culinary Institute of America and her
website
chefjamie.com is a scrumptious
resource for food lovers everywhere so
now the Center for Leadership would like
to introduce our first guest chef Jamie
Gwen hi Jay Jamie so nice to have you on
the show - delighted thank you
you know a lot of folks when they heard
you were coming on the show very excited
and people and our people in this studio
were wondering what kind of great things
we're gonna learn right like what
cookies I was gonna bring along with yes
and they're all outside in the in the in
the green room right now so maybe we can
start by sharing what
what some about your inspirations sure
so Jamie what what inspired you to
pursue the culinary arts I've always had
a love for food I was raised by a single
mom who cooked like the army was coming
to dinner but they never came and I
remember sitting on the counter in the
kitchen and my mom still to this day is
very celebratory we celebrated
everything and food was very central to
everything that we did so I grew up in a
very food centric house and today I have
a very food centric home myself
I planned lunch at breakfast and dinner
at lunch doesn't everybody
and I really came to understand that
gathering around the table was where
friends and family connected and I loved
that connection so food has really been
woven through so much of who and what I
am and what I do and I've had the the
blessing to propel a career in food and
mix all of my other loves into it as
well so your love of family and love of
the family atmosphere and the love of
the family traditions yes all
intertwined and then in high school I
was very active in Speech and Debate I
had ranked nationally I loved that
public presence and live speaking and
was very very blessed to parlay my love
for for sharing my passion on that
platform with food and sort of combine
it all together to where I am today well
that's wonderful so maybe you could
share with our audience
some about your journey after culinary
school how your career sort of woven
through yes to where it is now I went to
a private girls school for high school
my mom gave everything to give me an
extraordinary education and then I went
on to trade school which was rather
unexpected I think but my mom owned a
cafe and bakery when I was a teenager
and the chefs in the area would sit at
the espresso bar and write their menus
and
I befriended them and so at 16 I was
starring as they call it or interning
unpaid in a Wolfgang Puck restaurant in
Los Angeles and it was the first time I
learned what an open kitchen was and
that you can't make mashed potatoes and
wipe your nose at the same time because
everyone can see you it was a great
learning experience and I went straight
to culinary school to the CIA after that
and worked in professional kitchens for
some years under the tutelage of great
chefs and interestingly enough from a
female perspective that was a good while
back and there weren't as many women in
the kitchen so it was challenging times
I also at some point didn't like being
behind the door behind the wall I wanted
that interaction because of the you know
the love of personality and conversation
and otherwise so I moved into the dining
room and I really learned all aspects of
the restaurants and I had a very
opportunistic experience falling into
television and I was 22 years old and it
was the start of something I'm very
grateful for well that's wonderful so
what was what would you describe as your
breakthrough moment so we had a neighbor
who was in television and this really is
a testament to the fact that networking
as we call it today and and what social
media has brought is really such a
strength that we all I believe really
need to focus on and be mindful of
because it's gotten me a long way we had
a neighbor who was in television and the
Fox Family Channel was launching a new
show that was rather new at the time
because it was the start of the sort of
reality concept and it was in a house an
actual house that had been built on the
back lot at Universal Studios but they
took out all the you know everything
from the ceiling and so on so that they
could run cameras and audio and so on
and they were gonna shoot a television
show live and it was going to be totally
interactive and very creative so there
was a gardening expert and there was a
crafting person and celebrities would
come in and
the dog trainer came and it just felt
like very real life and they were
looking for a chef a culinary expert
there were 60 of us that were given an
opportunity to try out essentially and I
got my foot in the door because of a
friend a neighbor who knew that I love
to gab in the driveway and that I love
to cook and I could try combining the
two and I would like to say it was all
skill I got very lucky I would beat the
other 59 people out of the opportunity
and I won the chance to become the
on-camera chef and two and a half years
later and almost 2,000 recipes I learned
how to execute food on television by
being thrown into it so it was it was
very serendipitous really know if it
sounds wonderful though and so so you
were so your big break was in on that
reality television show and family home
family there were very loyal followers
so those that remember it know it very
that they think of it very warmly I
should say and then what was the what
was maybe the highlight after that after
that I remained in television and I've
had a long run which I'm very grateful
for but I then found this extraordinary
multimedia platform that existed as well
where you can sit in front of a
microphone and wear your bunny slippers
and talk about what you loved on the
radio and that too was an opportunity
that through sheer persistence came to
be I would say throughout my culinary
career and my media career persistence
has gotten me most places when I worked
in an externship from culinary score
well you spend six months in the middle
of culinary school working in a
professional kitchen I wanted to come
back home and I digress but I called the
chef so many times that he finally said
to me on the phone if I let you come
here will you stop calling me and I said
okay and yeah that was my foot in the
door radio happened the
same way I was persistent I wanted it
and I worked to hone my skills and was
given an opportunity to test on the air
and I loved it I spent three hours
taking live phone calls and answering
cooking questions and sharing barbecue
sauce recipes and interviewing
up-and-coming chefs and celebrities that
was the start really of the rise of the
food network and artisans and experts
and radio became my passion and and the
channel no pun intended that I could
share what I loved so that was really my
next big break and I've been able to
propel and continue the - as the
business has ebbed and flowed and
changed and it's still it's still about
persistence to get where you want to be
yeah and it seems like you've hit every
form of media I'm trying I mean you've
got books you've got radio you've got
television and now there is this social
media platform that is so paramount and
it's figuring out what the next step is
and that you can't just blog anymore you
have to vlog in video form that you
really have to be progressive - bunny
slippers no not on social media you can
although it might be it might be
welcomed I'm not sure but everything I
do like my new favorite gadget I have a
smoking box and so you can't just show a
still picture of it but now I have you
know smoke burgeoning from it and the
kosher salt becomes hickory-smoked and
you're actually watching it in
live-action and and we all crave that
now but it's always that next step of
making sure that you're on the cutting
edge or or at least aspiring to be of
what then the next big thing in media is
so in your career and you've you've had
your career is taking some wonderful
wonderful turns and some wonderful
journeys could you tell it always been
easy well that's the part I want to talk
about is the part that maybe because
people must look at Jamie Gwen and think
oh this is what a what a what a
wonderful what a wonderful journey
sure and certainly have spent a
wonderful journey could you talk about
some of the challenges you've had to
overcome along the way certainly I think
we all have challenges no doubt in what
we do mine are unique to me and to the
business and the field that I'm in and
as I alluded to it wasn't always easy
being the only female when I graduated
culinary school a long while back right
there were years yeah just three and a
half now not sure there were thirteen
women and a hundred and forty that
graduated today I would say that it's at
close to 5050 in the food world and I
think that's absolutely wonderful we've
come a long way and we see more equality
in it but I was expected to lift the
same great big huge stockpot that
anybody else was in the kitchen and
there wasn't as much camaraderie as one
would have hoped there were you know
physical and emotional and mental
challenges all the way through and today
those challenges still exist there's a
lot more competition in what I believe
is every category of business today so
you know I'm competing with those
younger and maybe more tech-savvy than I
and especially in this industry youth
and fresh talent is very prized I
continue to find my way and really hope
that there is an appreciation for for
experience but those challenges are our
only stepping stones and I really
believe that there is a next big thing
and I plot a five-year plan I'm not
getting to it as quickly as I want but
it's still in the five-year plan right
and and I think persistence and I go
back to that is really how you rise
above those challenges each and every
day I think that's wonderful and and I
think overcoming challenges is really
what makes us yes makes us who we are
yeah so strong so imagine Jamie if you
were talking to a young chef an aspiring
young chef person that looks and says
Jamie Gwen I love what you have achieved
I love
what you've accomplished I want to make
it in the culinary industry what advice
would you give a young aspiring chef I
would say and this very much applies to
your center for leadership which I
really admire and I'm very grateful and
proud to be here I would say that you
might suggest the same thing and and
maybe no matter what field you're going
into I was very lucky to have very good
mentors and looking back there are times that I
wish I had embraced that more I had
stayed in touch
I had nurtured the relationships and the
friendships but those people who taught
me along the way who set me on my path
who gave good advice
who gave constructive criticism
which is sometimes the hardest part
there were years that I never watched
myself on tape on TV because I didn't
think I wanted to see it but there's so
much to learn from it those mentors and
those experiences of really learning
from what I could improve upon have made
me who and what I am and I would like to
say propel my career find a mentor
network look to those who have achieved
and succeeded and ask for advice and
learn from others and those mentors
don't always have to be older than you
sometimes they're coming up in the world
too but they have something to share I'm
very grateful for time spent in a
kitchen with Emeril Lagasse he's an
incredible man and he's been a very good
friend to me and I've gone to him with
you know a challenge or a problem
perplexed with something and his advice
has held true to the right path and so I
really believe if you if you can go
under someone's wing and if you can find
and persist in that area that you want
to be in that you'll you'll make it
you'll take two steps forward oh that's
wonderful
and I think a lot of people they they'll
hear that advice and they'll think well
I would love to have more mentors in my
life I think a lot of people expect
resistance from others do you find that
people are more willing to mentor than
than they might realize oh definitely so
I think the camaraderie I think you have
to put yourself out there and be
vulnerable and be forthright and ask I
mean what's the worst that can happen
but I find that a lot of the very
talented skilled successful people want
to pay it forward they want to give back
they want to motivate they want to
mentor and you don't know unless you ask
and searching those people out and and
really being very focused on what your
expectation is and asking them what
they're able and willing to give is a
really wonderful way to try to put all
the puzzle pieces together and then find
your path oh that's terrific
I want to thank you Jamie for being on
the show today you've offered some great
great thoughts and there's some great
wisdom it's great to hear your story so
thank you we'll come back on the show in
just a few minutes when we do our Q&A
and now it's time for a feature segment
of the leadership voice it's today's did
you know
today's digital comes from cnbc.com in
2016 it was reported that 60% of all new
restaurant ventures fail in its first
year and nearly 80% shut their doors for
good
before they ever celebrate their fifth
year in operation this means that the
odds are decidedly stacked against most
new restaurants which is why we have put
together today's show to help our
viewers increase their chances it's now
time for our leadership countdown where
we give our viewers a useful list of key
strategies or tips to guide your quest
for excellence
today's leadership countdown comes from
the restaurant business startup guide of
BPLance.com we bring you seven must
know tips on how to start a successful
restaurant number one have the right
intentions if you want to make it as a
restaurant owner you have to love what
you do you will invest a lot of time and
money so make sure that starting a
restaurant is your passion not just a
business venture you hope will make you
money number two have a solid business
plan in place your business plan should
include a market research a
comprehensive look at your competitors
information on your target audience an
outline of your marketing plan and a
solid financial and budgeting projection
number three choose a great location
with restaurants location is everything
you need a spot that draws crowds is
easily accessible and has the potential
for growth whether you decide to rent
space or build from scratch selecting a
location is one of the biggest decisions
you will make as an owner our fourth tip
on how to start a successful restaurant
is to test your menu approach building
your menu like an experiment you want to
get honest feedback from your potential
customers about the recipes you plan to
use at your restaurant number 5 hire
essential help some restaurant pros
advocate for bringing on a manager prior
to opening day but think through your
biggest needs you cannot do it on your
own so great restaurant tours have great
people working with them number 6
secure funding and manage your cash flow
you may consider three pools of money
the first pool is for one-time costs
like equipment the second pool is to
cover the restaurant expenses for at
least six months and the third pool is
to cover your personal bills for at
least six months
don't let your restaurant fail because
you overlooked the needed cash flow and
finally our seventh and last tip on how
to start a successful restaurant is keep
marketing you cannot solely depend on
repeat customers so you will need to
keep your marketing efforts up to keep
attracting new customers and make sure
that your revenue stream does not thin
out establish a strong social media
presence try and
in your local paper participate in the
local fair or host a small nonprofit
get-together at your restaurant to keep
marketing your business and attracting
new customers and that viewers has been
your leadership countdown follow these 7
tips and you too can create a successful
restaurant we'll be right back after
this commercial break we have another
special guest that you don't want to
miss so stay tuned
we found here at Honda Center in Anaheim Ducks that that the Center for
Leadership brings expertise in doing
research and doing training faculty that
is coming and given the training to our
employees does all the research
themselves they're not pulling us
information out of the shell they're out
there researching themselves talking
from firsthand experience and it brings
such a level of competency that we don't
find from from other trainers that are
on the market well simply put it as what
really different age and distinguishes
Fullerton and the center of our
leadership really is your expertise you
guys are able to create customized
our business based on true research the
faculty from Cal State Fullerton
obviously they're their professors of
their field they have deep knowledge and
research but also aside from the theory
they really bring in some practical
examples and they bring in a lot of
interactive activities the bringing
learning to work initiative is our way
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clients ask the center for leadership to
come to bring learning to work the
clients know that they're getting
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getting world-class training welcome
back to the leadership voice our next
guest today on the leadership voice is
Shachi Mehra chef Mehra has a passion for creating innovative and thoughtful menus
that tastefully balance a variety of
flavors and make cuisines appealing to a
range of tastes an ardent supporter of
local farmers and sustainable practices
she takes great care in sourcing her
ingredients born in India her early
family experiences helped to develop and
shape her love of food and appreciation
for balance and flavor and in life
Chef Shachi blends Western and Indian
cultures to create artful dishes that
successfully marry tradition with
modernity her professional journey began
after meeting Chef Bruce Johnson held by
the New York Times as a premier chef he
extended an invitation for her to spend
a day prepping in his kitchen at Trap
Rock Brewery in New Jersey it was her
first encounter with a professional
kitchen and after only a few hours she
knew she had found her life's passion
she was offered a job on the spot and
she went on to work in pastry and garde
Marche for the next year
chef Shachi has become known for bringing a unique global perspective to her work
which can be attributed to an
eight-month culinary journey through
India Japan and Australia upon her
return she went on to sharpen her skills
in some of the most demanding kitchens
in the country and was named one of the
five rising stars by Gentry magazine
prior
opening ADYA chef Shachi received
great press in acclaim as the opening
chef at Tamarind of London in Newport
Coast please welcome chef Shachi
Mehra hi Jay hi Shachi thank you so
much for being on the show so thanks for
having me I'm really excited to be here
so tell us about your restaurant ADYA so
ADYA is our restaurant we have two
locations one is in Anaheim in the
Packinghouse that one's about three
years old and the other one's in Irvine
at University Town Center our focus is
on Indian Street food so we do a lot of
dishes that are familiar to people that
are familiar with Indian Street food and
we're also introducing Indian food to
people that aren't familiar with it and
one of the reasons we did fast-casual
for both locations is that we are able
to offer something new to people that
normally wouldn't necessarily want to
have Indian food so we have a lot of
customers especially at the Packinghouse
that are coming in and have never had
Indian food before so we're able to
create an atmosphere and create a space
where people feel comfortable ordering
Indian food where they can see what's
going on we have open kitchens in both
restaurants that's really important to
me and we're able all of our staff is
trained to talk about the menu and get
people to feel comfortable ordering
something versus walking into an Indian
restaurant where you don't recognize any
of the language you don't recognize any
of the food and then you're sort of
fearful and whatever what am I going to
order what am I going to end up with so
we also are price conscious so there's
there is something available for
somebody who wants to spend $10 on lunch today or eight dollars you can get a
quinoa for example which has been the
top ten sandwiches in Orange County for
a couple years since we opened so we
have been working on really just
creating a space and a place for people
to feel comfortable with Indian food and
people that are familiar with Indian
food for them to have a place where they
can connect to food that they remember
so that it's important to me as a chef
that ADYA is a space for people that
recognize the food to go there and enjoy
it and have this memory associated with
it and people that don't know it have a
space to experience something new
wonderful now as a chef you've actually
had an opportunity to work in a variety
of different restaurants preparing a
variety of different types of cuisine
could you talk about where your identity
as a chef comes from sure it is a
combination of life experiences and
work experiences definitely all the
kitchens that I have worked in have sort
of filled in where I get my sort what I
would call my chef's identity there's I
worked for a guy that screamed a lot I
got in trouble a lot there there's there
was and is a culture that exists in
culinary where it's about screaming and
demeaning your your cooks and making
them do what you need them to do by
doing it that way and then there's
another way of doing things and I worked
in another kitchen where we weren't even
allowed to talk loudly so screaming was
completely out of the question
and there's so there's worlds of
difference in different chef's kitchens
and the way that they run their
operations I mean it's all very
organized or it should be in my opinion
but there's you know there's music in
some kitchens there isn't music in other
kitchens and there's screaming and
whether or not you're smiling I got in
trouble for smiling too much in one of
my kitchens that I worked at so all of
these things sort of come together and I
pick and choose right you pick and
choose what you think works so for me
and in my kitchen balance has been
always really important so work in life
balance or like flavor balance um it's
really important to me because of the
way that I grew up in kitchens taking
pride in what you do and creating a
culture where everyone that is there
takes pride in their work they're proud
of what they're producing they're proud
to be working here they're happy to be
working so if somebody
shows up to work and they look miserable
I'm concerned I need to know why you're
unhappy to be here today what's going on
because I do believe that if you're
unhappy that affects the food you're
making if you're customer-facing which
most people are in my kitchen because
it's open kitchen it affects their
experience if you're not happy to talk
about what you're talking about if
you're not happy to be here it affects
everything around you it affects the
people you're working with
so smiling is really important in my
kitchen music is something that we have
before service but not during service
but there's a lot of things that but
just experiences that you kind of put
together and piece together your own
sort of identity of what things are
really important to you and and the
culture in my kitchen is very important
to me that's great so so your identity
is a chef in terms of how you like to
run a kitchen has come from being able
to work in a variety of different
kitchens what about your identity as as
as a preparer of menus and and different
recipes how do where does where does
that what is that part of of your so all
of what we do it ADYA is Indian Street
food based right so a lot of it is stuff
that I grew up eating either at home or
on visits to India some of it is things
that I've read about and researched but
I like to take those things that are
very true to their origins and I want to
present them in a way that everyone can
enjoy these things so as a kid I ate
peanut butter and jelly for lunch but I
ate Indian food for dinner so I've been
a part of both cultures and it's
something that I pride myself on is to
be able to try and look at each recipe
in each dish from these two very
different perspectives one of an Indian
those born in India oh and or grew up in
India and is very familiar with these
flavors and these tastes and the visuals
and versus somebody who literally has
never seen any of this before and all of
the language seems different and it's
it's a lot of words they don't know or
ingredients they don't know and to be
able to have both sides of that spectrum
sort of appreciate
what I'm doing with food is really
important to me that's great so if you
think about your experiences and the
experiences that you needed to acquire
to be able to become a successful
restaurant entrepreneur tell me what how
did you acquire the experiences working
a lot and finding people that were doing
what I wanted to do and exploring a lot
of different options and once I
identified somebody that I could look up
to or that was doing something that I
wanted to do I would seek them out ask
questions asked lots of questions I've
been fortunate enough to open
restaurants for other people so there's
lots of learning to be done when opening
a restaurant all of a sudden you need to
know about plumbing and electricity and
construction and what kind of finishes
you're and you're a designer and you're
an electrician sometimes and you need to
know why this machine isn't working
today and where things are going you
learn a lot about everything when you
open a restaurant and I was lucky enough
to have done it three times for other
people before I did my own so all the
skill sets that you need you know being
a leader to a group of people being an
electrician if needed being a chef
creating food that is important to you
and being flexible enough to understand
your market and be able to create what
they want and understand what they want
so all of these things I gathered as I
looked toward and move toward my goal of
opening a restaurant so everywhere I
went you learned I'm con I'm still
constantly learning and that's important
to constantly learn from everyone around
you I learned things from my cooks
because they do stuff at home that I
don't I learned things from my aunts and
uncles or family in India or a street
vendor is doing something like oh that's
interesting and how can I translate that
into something that I can use there's
always things do we learn on a daily
basis and as long as you're constant
I think you can gather all those skills
that you need to open a restaurant yeah
you know the the notion of lifelong
learning and never never thinking we
have it all figured out you know we see
that in a lot of themes in a lot of
other industries and it seems like it
it's absolutely true in yours as well
absolutely I mean if you spend a minute
thinking you're done and you got it all
I'm sure it's something will show up
that you've never approached before they
say that's the moment you think you have
it all figured out that's when the
declined definitely I mean something
will happen there's definitely always something and
especially in restaurants always so our
last question is actually my favorite
question so imagine if you were talking
to a young aspiring entrepreneur that
wants to start a restaurant they say I
want to start a restaurant I want it to
be successful I wanted to you know shine
and being this this great successful
business what advice would you give a
young entrepreneur that wants to start a
restaurant that's I mean there's several
things one is work hard you got a work
hard for what you want be humble
believe in your product know your
customer communication is so important
just internal customers and an external
customers communication is key and be
flexible be flexible is something I
learned as we open restaurants for
example when ADYA first opened and this
was a huge learning thing for me
the be flexible thing became apparent
right away I didn't have chicken tikka
masala on the menu because I thought I'm
gonna open people's minds up to all
these different chicken curries and
immediately within the first two weeks I
realized that that's what my customer
wants and we put it on the menu so these
these are things you have to be able to
be flexible when you learn your market
and you know your customer you need to
be able to provide them what they want
as what you want them to have so
somebody that comes in and has chicken
tikka masala five times or seven times
because it's the best chicken tikka
masala they ever had maybe the tenth
time the
something else but maybe they won't at
least they still got the best chicken
tikka masala they ever had no that's not
important to me I love that you just
described my platinum role see the
golden rule is you treat others the way
you would want to be treated the
Platinum rule is to treat others the way
they want to be treated perfect and
that's your that's your and so that's
one of your advice for a new
restaurant is to think about your
customers and and treat them the way
they want to be true to give them what
they want yes to a certain extent yes
you have to do that no that's your
business
well Shachi I want to thank you for
being on the show today it's been
wonderful spending the time with you
getting to know you and sharing your
wonderful story you're in you're an
inspiration to future entrepreneurs that
are interested in the culinary industry
so I thank you for being on the show
today it was wonderful to be here today
and you're gonna come back and join us
for our Q&A here in just a few minutes
okay it's now time for the leadership
voices leadership example
this leadership example comes from CBS
Los Angeles today we present you Orange
County's hottest new restaurants
throughout 2017 new restaurants have
been popping up offering an array of
cuisine so here at the leadership voice
we bring you the 12 hottest new
restaurants in Orange County according
to cbslocal.com
here that you know what that means it's
time for today's leadership lesson are
you ready to learn Albert Einstein once
said if you can't explain it simply then
you don't understand it well enough
every show we bring you our viewers an
opportunity to learn from a faculty
expert with a simple but useful
three-minute leadership lesson joining
us today on the leadership voice is
Professor Adelina Gnanlet associate
professor at Cal State Fullerton to talk
to us about the three keys for service operations
I'm dr. Adelina Gnanlet and here is
today's leadership lesson I would like
to talk to you about three tips for
leaders to successfully manage service
form like restaurants hotels and retail
the three tips are focused on customer
retention exceed customer expectations
and value your employees tip number one
focus on customer retention finding ways
to retain customers and making them
loyal to the service firm is a critical
component in deriving higher revenues
for the organization research shows that
five percent increase in customer
loyalty leads to 25 to 85 percent
increase in profits this is far more
profitable than engaging in extensive
advertising and marketing to attract new
customers tip number two exceed
customers expectations service firms
should consistently strive to meet or
exceed expectations of the customers
through the service that has been
offered to them customer expectations
change over time they change because of
past experiences and they change because
of reviews from friends and family firms
that constantly engage in meeting or
exceeding such changes customer
expectations are considered world-class
Ritz-Carlton hotels provide world-class
customer service by training their
employees wherein managers serve their
employees in a way that the managers
want their employees to serve their
customers with the motto of ladies and
gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen
tip number three value your employees
employees are the face of the company in
a service firm and therefore need to be
valued as an employee and as a team
member for example not strong uses an
inverted pyramid where the frontline
employees are provided with greater
autonomy and discretion for
decision-making with appropriate
time and money resources while managers
take on a supportive role as opposed to
a typical supervisory role during the
weekly meetings managers cheer on their
employees and convey the culture of
proud to be a naughty
in summary leaders managing service
firms should strive for customer
retention and loyalty engage in
activities that meet and exceed customer
expectation value their employees to
become a world-class service firm as you
can see leaders and service firm should
prioritize their customers and employees
above themselves and I'm Adelina Gnanlet
and this has been today's leadership
lesson Thank You professor Gnanlet for
sharing your insights on service
operations it's now time for the
leadership voices Q & A
do you need some advice well you've come
to the right place every show we take
questions from you our viewers and we
answer them right here on the show today
we have four questions and our two
guests have agreed to stay on and help
us answer these questions so thank you
Jamie and thank you Shachi for helping
us with these questions our first
question comes from Duan in Fullerton
California and it's Shachi where do you
get your inspiration from your dishes
everywhere it could be a dream I had
about something it could be a color I
see on my way to work one day it could
be what somebody next to me ate for
lunch I mean there's there's a lot of
different places and a lot of things
memories can trigger certain things that
I would like to make it could be talking
to somebody on the phone and talking to
them about what they're eating or what
they're going to eat or a place that
they went to and then taking that and
turning it into something new so it's
really a combination of everything
that's happening around me
and turning that into a dish or multiple
dishes or it could be a craving I could
just want to eat something and want to
create something out of that I'm
inspired similarly to shot you buy
things around me and things I see and my
own culinary experience is outside of my
personal kitchen so often times you know
I think that that flattery in you know
seeing one of Shachi dishes not
that i'm mastering indian food any time
soon but dining out might spark a memory
or an idea or a method by which i want
to cook chicken or try a new way and so
it's those experience the experiences
rather that i think bring new dishes
alive i spend a lot of time researching
and on the internet as well and i think
there's something to learn from everyone
and so my dishes tend to be a hodgepodge
of you know a bit of my childhood strewn
throughout something more modernized
with a flavor that i remember from that
last trip to New York and that you know
restaurant I went to for that one
chicken dish that I just had to have and
it all culminates together that's
wonderful so our second question is for Jamie Gwen
and it comes from EJ in Cypress
California EJ asks how did the rise of
social media affect your career
well EJ it's been no doubt a challenge I
think social media and technology today
is brilliant but I believe it's a
double-edged sword you know for me
interestingly enough there is more
competition than ever and for many of us
as well but social media has given you
know novices and connoisseurs alike a
platform to compete in the same space
and so I think it challenges all of us
to try to stay ahead and rise above but
he's also personally challenges me to
try to elevate what I share and how I
share my passion to a broad range of
people and for that I think social media
is brilliant I think trying to stay
ahead is the greatest challenge of
social media for all of us I will
absolutely agree with that and I will say I
do think as a restaurant owner social
media allows us access to more people we
have access to thousands more people
than we would if we didn't have social
media absolutely just in in positive and
negative ways but we're out there people
can talk about us in different countries
in different states people can look us
up before they visit where we are with
reviewer apps yes yeah locals can see
what the special is today without having
to come in and find out it does separate
us though from the dialogue that this you
know engagement gives us which I love my
mom will tell you she knows all of the
hairs right here on the top of my head
and where they are because we spend so
much time doing this right and it's true
but it's the means the means to the next
step that means to an end and it's it's
necessary and it's essential yes
and it's brilliant in lots of ways and
then it also has its drawbacks as we all
know obviously so our third question is
for Shachi and it comes from Genesis in
Los Angeles California
Genesis asks they say 80% of restaurants
fail within the first five years what do
you think defines or separates
successful restaurants from the failures
definitely everything that we talked
about previously in the show I will say
that it's important to know your market
it's important to believe in your
product you have to know what you're
getting into I would definitely
recommend like having done it before in
some small way go and experience what
working in a restaurant is before you
open a restaurant there's I think that
there's a lot of things that will keep
separate successful restaurants from
others another one that I've noticed
more recently is this going back to
being flexible and appreciating who your
customer is and who your client is your
internal and external customers are
really important communication with them
is really important and as a business
owner you've got to be able to be
flexible enough to make the changes that
your business needs from you to remain
successful and to stay successful and to
be successful you've got to be able to
be flexible and make changes as needed
what have you seen Jamie I think that's
the life lesson in and of itself I mean
being flexible today I'm more flexible
than ever I think is is necessary and
apparent I think that Shachi is a
beautiful example of and we've been
friends a long time and I'm very proud
to call her my friend Shachi is a
beautiful example of success from
passion and there are plenty of
passionate people that that for
unfortunate circumstances or reasons or
otherwise might not have made it as far
as they've wanted to as of yet but I
think that passion that that commitment
that tremendous dedication not just in
ours but in heart and soul like that you
could taste the love in the food
those are the restaurants that I see
propel themselves succeed build a
following I think that applies here as
well I mean hopefully you see the
passion in what each of us does
independently and it makes its way into
your home onto your plate into your
mouth how you know however it gets there
I I think passion at the root is
everlasting yeah you know earlier we
talked about some tips for for
restaurants for having successful
restaurants and I think the first thing
on the list was to have to do it for the
right reasons and to have that passion
so for sure that's great now our fourth
and final question is actually for Jamie
and it comes from Rebecca in Irvine
California
Rebecca asks how do you respond to
criticism in your industry hmm a loaded
question I could tease and say I just block you
but that doesn't really work nor should
it I think that there is a level of
constructive criticism that is very
helpful I think as Shachi rather I
think as Shachi alluded to there's
there's a lesson in it there's a
learning curve in it that's really
important and I think we have to be
humble enough to take it in and read it
and experience it and sometimes there's
some brutal honesty in it that might be
hard to palette but I think if you can
see the forest through the trees in it
if if you can find the good in it and
maybe there's some spin in there I mean
that's part of media today then you you
can pallet it for sure you know I think that the criticism out
there exists more than ever
and I try to take it with a grain of
salt and and I hear plenty of it and
sometimes there's a day don't want to
hear it and then sometimes I'll embrace
it you know I think I think taking it on
and and trying to learn from it as you
spoke
about is really the most powerful action
that we can that we can take so it
sounds like there's a lot of it has to
do with your mindset oh definitely so
yes of how prepared you are to even
receive the information and how you
perceived whatever action it is that's
being criticized you know if if you
thought the dish was brilliant and then
someone said it was bland and you're
dumbfounded by the fact that it was
bland because you know what went into it
literally and figuratively it's hard to
believe right but if you can step aside
or respect other people's opinions
enough that you might not agree but
you're willing to listen then there's
power in it I think that's really
important the ability to agree to
disagree I think take somebody's
criticism for something like you know
this just didn't have enough salt for me
because food is so personal so there's
there's a lot of very specific
criticisms to be able to if it's a
criticism that you can understand and
you can learn from it then that's what
you should do if it's a criticism that
you may not agree with then it's I still
think it's important to listen to it and
just not agree with it and that's okay
no terrific well that wraps up our
questions for today I want to thank you
both for helping us with today's Q&A of
course if you have a question or need
advice having leadership challenges at
work and need some expertise and
insights send us your questions here to
the leadership voice by email leadershipvoice@fullerton.edu or contact us
by Twitter at CSUF_leadership
well I think that's all the time we have
for today's show today we've explored
leading in the culinary industry thank
you to chef Jamie Gwen and Shachi Mehra
thank you also to our special faculty
guest professor Adelina Gnanlet for
delivering today's leadership lesson
join us each episode of the leadership
voice as we will have two more executive
guests another special leadership lesson
and lots lots more worth tuning in to
see i'm Jay Barbuto and on behalf of the
Center for Leadership in mihaylo College
of Business and Economics
we'll see you next time right here on
the leadership voice
