{"id":9534,"date":"2024-03-08T17:23:44","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T17:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getcraver.com\/restaurant-industry-lessons-from-female-leaders\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T19:24:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T19:24:15","slug":"restaurant-industry-lessons-from-female-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getcraver.com\/blog\/restaurant-industry-lessons-from-female-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Important Lessons from Female Leaders in the Restaurant Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This International Women\u2019s Day (IWD), Craver is proud to highlight some incredible female leaders in the restaurant and caf\u00e9 industries \u2014 Brittani\u00e9 Cadieux, Gina Ratliff, and Kaity Gould. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve had the privilege of interviewing each of these women on our #LocalBites podcast, and we\u2019re excited to share their stories, wisdom, and lessons with you in celebration of IWD 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, without further ado, here are three stories \u2014 and lessons! \u2014 from three of the most incredible female leaders in the industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brittani\u00e9 Cadieux, Manager of Well & Good: A Delicious Dish<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Brittanie<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Brittani\u00e9\u2019s Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As Brittani\u00e9 Cadieux worked her very first job at a local Starbucks, the young barista could tell something was brewing beneath the surface (pun intended<\/em>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That \u201csomething\u201d was a deep passion for the hospitality industry, a love that would lead her to her future management position… but not without a few hurdles to overcome, first. Shortly after starting at Starbucks, Brittani\u00e9\u2019s father was diagnosed with cancer. She jumped into action immediately, ditching the green apron to support her father\u2019s catering business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coincidentally, one of the restaurants on their catering list was Well & Good: A Delicious Dish (WGDelicious), an extremely well-loved Portland community staple. But, despite its cult-favorite status, WGDelicious met an all-too-common pandemic fate, closing its doors in March 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily for the community, that closure was very<\/em> short-lived. With the support of the entire community behind them, the Cadieux family took over WGDelicious, immediately starting the process of remodeling, revamping, and launching their grand re-opening in August 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, business has been nothing but booming. <\/em>From starting event hosting and catering services to expanding the menu and participating in community events, the new-and-improved WGDelicious has become an even stronger<\/em> pillar in the Portland community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our #1 Lesson from Brittani\u00e9: Hospitality + Kindness > Everything<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we asked Brittani\u00e9 the recipe for building a coffee shop that feels community-owned, she only had two recipe ingredients to share \u2014 love and food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe secret sauce is [that]… my parents have always been those people that [are] like, let\u2019s just love people well and let\u2019s feed them,\u201d she says. Then, to take things to the next level, Brittani\u00e9 says it\u2019s all about kindness, friendship, and good ol\u2019 hospitality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[When] someone comes in, we\u2019re like what\u2019s your name? Where are you from? Why are you here?\u201d a level of genuine kindness that runs deep in Brittanie\u2019s own family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy parents always said they want [WGDelicious] to be a place where people are known,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd that is the one thing that we go out of our way to do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gina Ratliff, Managing Director of Multiple Caf\u00e9s and Restaurants <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Gina<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gina\u2019s Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When Gina Ratliff was studying graphic design in Savannah, she picked up a part-time job, as many students do. But, what she didn\u2019t <\/em>know was that her part-time bartending job would change the trajectory of her career \u2014 one mixed drink at a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After spending time behind the bar<\/em>, Gina realized she found much more fulfillment and creative freedom behind the scenes. <\/em>So, she became the Managing Director for a company that reflected her own <\/em>ambitious drive, proudly marching to the beat of its own, innovative drum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As it turns out, joining a company that constantly broke the status quo was exactly what Gina needed to thrive\u2026 and thrive she did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gina took the company\u2019s six locations under her creative wing, setting out to better connect the sister caf\u00e9s. Through updated SOPs and brand-new training programs, Gina restored the \u201cconnective tissue\u201d between each location \u2014 something she considers her greatest accomplishment as Managing Director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, of course, she didn\u2019t stop there. As a people person, Gina knew the company could do more for their employees. So, by implementing a new servant leadership style<\/span><\/a> Gina transformed how the company operates\u2026 in ways far <\/em>greater than new SOPs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our #1 Lesson from Gina: Change Starts with Transparency and Vulnerability <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We asked Gina what she found most helpful when taking on such a massive company transformation\u2026 and her answer perfectly reflected how authentically she operates.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c`F [the transformation] has been leaning into being transparent and vulnerable,\u201d she said. \u201cI even came in myself and said, hey, I think I want to do a transparent pay scale. I’ve never seen it done. I don’t know what it looks like. I have no idea how effective it will be. But if you guys also think it’s a great idea\u2026I think we could really do something here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sense of vulnerability and radical honesty has been a key facet of Gina\u2019s success with workplace mental health support, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we want people to show up and give their best\u2026 we need to give them some kind of recourse to deal with anything that they might be facing,\u201d she said. \u201c[That] also opened a lot of transparency for us with our employees and built a lot of trust for them and to come to us and say, you know what, I know I was late today. I’m actually really struggling and I haven’t been sleeping well. And I would really like your help signing up for that mental health coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kaity Gould, Co-Owner of Fort Smith Coffee Co.<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Kaity<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kaity\u2019s Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Living in Sydney, Kaity very quickly<\/em> learned that Aussies don\u2019t mess around with coffee. Kaity got to work perfecting her pulls and fine-tuning her frothing, but discovered something else in the process, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She realized that coffee couldn\u2019t exist without community. Business meetings, dates, catch-ups\u2026 life<\/em> happened over a cuppa, because coffee wasn\u2019t just<\/em> coffee in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward almost a decade, and Kaity was back in the U.S., settling down in Fort Smith with her family. And, she noticed something about her new home right away: nobody was roasting coffee, making stellar lattes, or promoting the coffee culture Kaity had grown so used to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, lucky for Fort Smith\u2019s coffee lovers, Kaity\u2019s long-time dream to open her own coffee shop was about to come true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She visited farmer\u2019s markets and showed up online, sharing her passion for third-wave coffee<\/span><\/a> and the importance of a welcoming, safe space to enjoy it. And, because of that outreach, it wasn\u2019t hard to attract folks to Kaity\u2019s first brick-and-mortar caf\u00e9: Fort Smith Coffee Co.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once inside the historic-building-turned-caf\u00e9, with a delicious, locally-roasted cup of coffee, people felt safe to revel in their<\/em> newfound passion for coffee culture\u2026 just how Kaity intended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our #1 Lesson from Kaity: Passion Speaks Louder Than Words<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we asked Kaity what she did to make Fort Smith Coffee Co. stand out, her answer wasn\u2019t something you can buy or borrow \u2014 it\u2019s a true, deep passion for coffee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople can geek out on the coffee industry really quick, and we do for sure,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we just knew that we wanted to start with the freshest coffee possible.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, for a true coffee lover like Kaity, \u201cfresh coffee\u201d was just the beginning. From creating housemade syrups to guaranteeing customer service without judgement or pretension, Kaity put her heart into making Fort Smith Coffee Co. a place for everyone. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[When] we hire\u2026 one of the first things I tell them is, don’t come off pretentious,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to serve every single customer that walks in our door. So if they’re used to gas station coffee or another bigger chain, we want to be able to say, okay, so what do you like to drink? And, okay, cool. Yeah, we can make you something very similar. Here’s what we call it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Where to Find More<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Want more from Brittani\u00e9, Gina, and Kaity? Here\u2019s where you can find (and continue to learn from!) these incredible industry leaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brittani\u00e9 Cadieux<\/h4>\n\n\n\n