A BLOG FOR HOSPITALITY PEOPLE
To Our Hospitality Blog
Pre-shift was the highlight of my day for the entirety of my restaurant operations career.
Whether I was leading it or attending it, those minutes before service when we all came together to name a shared vision for the evening, talk about what it looks like to get 1% better than the day before, celebrate the meaningful moments we’d co-created with our guests and each other, and anticipate where things might get sticky or weird over the night to come felt cathartic and deeply connecting.
If trust is the heart of a high-performing team, pre-shift was my main artery.
As a leadership coach for hospitality people, I no longer host this sacred gathering in the middle of a dining room or around the bar top. Now, my partner Kimberly and I host it here. This blog and our newsletter (sign up below) is a space we’ve carved out for values-based hospitality leaders to gather round to receive heartfelt connection, mutual support, and expert guidance as we all reach for growth we can see and feel.
Leadership can be a profoundly lonely place, and we hope that by welcoming us into your inbox and joining this virtual huddle, you feel like you’ve got a pair of wise big sisters (who happen to be restaurant whisperers!) and a community of like-minded hospitality people walking with you.
Welcome to Pre-shift, a blog for hospitality people. We’re so grateful you’re here.
Love,
 |
& |  |
Actionable insights
for hospitality people,
from hospitality people,
you can read in 5 minutes flat.
Add our newsletter to your inbox.
We won’t send spam. We promise.
Photo of Kimberly Belle and Alison Arth, courtesy of Julia Ngo of Eloquent Co.
If you’re thinking about opening a restaurant, I bet you’ve already heard someone say the 4 most common words you’ll hear in your fundraising process….
"Send me your deck."
Whether...
Photo courtesy of Spoon and Stable
The majority of my media diet consists of leadership podcasts and personal development books. (And the rest of it consists of binging Love Is Blind).
I learn so much from reading the work of thought leaders like Brené Brown, Gabor Mate, and...
Team,
2023 was a hard year. Hospitality industry challenges were abundant.
To compile this post, we read through hundreds of client agendas and call notes, reviewed text exchanges with our friends, reflected on our own personal experiences, and collected end of year reflections from our...
I got boundaries wrong for years, and fully expect to be honing this essential leadership practice for the rest of my days.
What helped me most in the beginning was to remember what a boundary IS NOT, and I wonder if it might help you too:
- A boundary is not a demand of someone...
Have you thought or said anything that sounds like this recently?
- “I’ve wanted to fire this manager for 3 months, but I haven’t had a single conversation with her about her performance, so I keep kicking the can down the road.”
- “Showing up 15 minutes late suddenly...
HOW THE PANDEMIC KEPT US STUCK AND WHY WE NEED A NEW NORMAL IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Our profession was one of the hardest hit by Covid. During the pandemic, restaurants did whatever they needed to do to survive, and that was exactly right. It was exhausting, frustrating, scary, and...
We've been called wise big sisters and restaurant whisperers.
Want a regular dose of our actionable industry insights to overcome overwhelm,
gain confidence, and build a life and livelihood you’re in love with?
Add our newsletter to your inbox.
We won’t send spam. We promise.
 |
 |
