Confessions Beyond the Food
Confessions Beyond the Food is a podcast about working in the Food Industry. People who work in the Food Industry have grit and lots of stories to tell. W3 Sales, a sales & marketing company, will host this podcast with their confessions on how they have a new, fresh approach and invite guests to confess their secrets to their sauce.
Confessions Beyond the Food
Passion and Perseverance: Jennifer Rolander’s Culinary Journey
Jennifer Rolander's journey through the food service industry reveals the importance of passion, connection, and mentorship in achieving success. Her experiences highlight the value of lifelong learning and the profound impact of fostering relationships, especially among aspiring culinary professionals.
• Jennifer’s early experiences in her family's pottery business
• Transitioning from restaurant ownership to corporate roles
• Pursuing an MBA later in life for personal and professional growth
• The significance of relationships in the hospitality industry
• Overcoming challenges and learning from failures
• Engaging and mentoring students at the Culinary Institute of America
• The role of giving back through scholarships and initiatives
• Treating brands like family and cultivating authentic connections
• Lifelong learning as a crucial element for success in food service
• Embracing empathy and servant leadership in the culinary world
Welcome to Confessions Beyond the Food. I'm your host, nancy Redland. Let's dig in and get inspired. Hi, welcome back to Confessions Beyond the Food. I'm so excited to have my friend, jennifer Rollender in the studio. Hey, jennifer, hello, hello.
Speaker 2:How are you this morning? I am great. Thank you so much for having me on. This is really exciting because you know we're buds and so this is fun to do for you.
Speaker 1:I know I feel like this is a selfish podcast a little bit because I just like hanging out with Jennifer, so, but Jennifer is actually has a lot to bring to the table today. She is the Corporate Relations Ambassador for the Culinary Institute of America. Yeah, that's amazing. I can't wait to talk about that. But Jennifer also has experience in the past. She previously owned a business and she has a really cool extensive sales background in leadership and in business development. So, but what we're going to talk about today and I don't know in the few words that Jennifer has said, she's so bubbly and she's so you just want to hug her and you have so much passion for this industry and it's just infectious. And so can you tell us a little bit about, like, your enthusiasm or passion?
Speaker 2:tell us a little bit about, like your enthusiasm or passion. Yeah, I think it started at a very young age because I was thrown into food service very early. My grandfather started Bird in China. I know it's very vintage, some will know it, some won't, but you know I started at eight in summers and I was loading and unloading kilns and as I got older I was decorating mugs and my dad took it over and I worked with my mom and dad into my twenties and I did everything from forming and finishing and glazing and production management and outside sales. I did admin.
Speaker 2:So I really learned about business growing up in a very intense way, so I had a love of it right from the start. I always say that I have clay running through my veins because it didn't stop there. That's when I did some other things in between. I actually owned a restaurant in Lake Arrowhead with several other people and that was a great experience. You either love it or hate it. It's a little bit of both. Then I did some work in banquet. I was a banquet manager for a while. I've been a hostess, I've been a cocktail waitress just about everything and I did go into the wine industry. So I went back to get my psychology degree at 33 years old so I always say it's never too late to do anything and I was going to be a clinical psychologist realized that might not have been my passion and wasn't a good fit. So I jumped into the wine industry and I was direct to consumer and events and wine club and again interacting with people, which obviously is what I love to do, and did that for about eight years and then had a trip with my dad, who you probably all know, mr Bill Burden. Uh, he's gonna kill me, but I call him the legend. Uh, he is a legend, he's awesome. And uh, he said, hey, tuxton's got an opening in marketing and I went I want to work with my dad again. So that was a very long stand.
Speaker 2:I worked for Tuxton for 12 years and that's really where my passion grew for the food service industry and where I met. I have met so many amazing people and it's not just a network, it's a family, and I think that's why it's so important for me to stay in food service, because I just have so many close friends and made so many great relationships. And so Tuxton was a big one. That was 12 years and I made a switch and went to high end and went to rack and I was there for a year. And I was there for a year and I decided I needed to do something new, completely new. And I had a friend who worked at American Range and I jumped into equipment and everybody went what are you doing, girl? I'm trying something new, why not? So I did that and did that for almost a year and it wasn't quite the right fit. Equipment's very, very different from tabletop, obviously.
Speaker 2:And here I am, I'm at the CIA and it's great because when I was at Tuxton I worked with them very closely. Tuxton provided scholarships and gift in kind and I got that whole relationship built. So I've been working with the CIA for a decade and they all know me and I know the school and I know how it works, and so it seemed like a really good fit. And they needed someone who was really into the small wars and equipment side of food service. They didn't really have anyone who could tap into that. And so here I am and I'm tapping into that. And I should mention I completely forgot in the middle of all that while I was working full-time and traveling all over the country, I did get my MBA and I did, I graduated with my MBA at 48. So again, it's never too late to change careers or do something different, or go back and get go to school. Whatever floats your boat. Just do it for you, not for anyone else.
Speaker 1:I'm curious like how did the MBA help you in what you're doing now?
Speaker 2:So when I got the MBA at the time, it was really for Tuxton, because I was looking at moving up in the company and for me I needed certain pieces to really be able to get to that place, like financials, for instance. That's always been a tough one for me. I'm not a math person, I'm more of a creative gal, as most people know, and so I felt like I needed some of those skills. Plus, I wanted all the leadership information. I mean I read so many books and I got to read all about how leadership works and the difference between managers and leaders and how you interact with your teams and how to create a good team, put the right seats with the right butts in the right seats basically so how to do that and all that has helped immensely because it helps you interact with people, connect with people If you have a team, how to work with them. If someone's having a problem, how to help them with it and bring them up and motivate them. It's all about bringing everybody up right, because it starts from the top and trickles down, so you want to make sure everybody's excited and motivated and working towards the same goals.
Speaker 2:So the MBA really helped with those kinds of things, it's just more. It was more knowledge and I just wanted to do it for me because I knew I could do it. And I'm like you're going to do this. You know you couldn't do it when you were 20. But I tell you it was better doing it at an older age because I had all the experience behind me so I could speak to the papers they wanted us to write and that sort of thing. So I think it was very beneficial. But again, it's not for everybody. It's like the CFSP. You know everybody has that. I'm actually working on that right now, so I'm hoping to get it, because I wanted to do it when I was in American range and it's a tough test. So we'll see. We'll see how that goes.
Speaker 1:But I haven't taken that yet. I'm kind of scared.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's. It's not an easy one, but it's good knowledge.
Speaker 1:So is your passion maybe just learning, or is it just the industry itself, or a combination? I?
Speaker 2:think it's a combination, because clearly I like to keep learning and seeing what's out there. But food service it's such an amazing place to be. It's such an amazing industry because I feel like everyone in it, it's about work hard but play hard. You know everybody works their butts off. You know they're traveling, they're having to go in and out of airports and it's a lot and you don't realize how much it is until you get into it and you're trying to connect with people and close the deal and create the deal. And you know sometimes these things take two years to to happen and you have to have patience and all those things. But it's just an amazing group of people.
Speaker 2:And then it's the fun part, where you've worked all day, you've been on the trade show floor for six hours and it's let's go get a cocktail or let's go have dinner, and it's always at some a new restaurant or there's a new trend or, um, a new mocktail bar or a cocktail bar or or something. And so you get to have all these amazing experiences with people who get it and understand and you can pull from that. That's the biggest thing I've really learned over the years is you don't have to know everything you don't. Tap into your group, tap into your people. You know, if you don't know, know something, go find out and come back. You don't have to have that pressure on you. But I think that comes with time. That comes with time in the industry and and age and those kinds of things. I mean I say age but you know I feel like I'm 25, so you look, look at.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you honey.
Speaker 1:I mean, you are a unicorn, jennifer. I mean the fact that you have the manufacturing background that you do and to such a not just knowing about it but actually doing it and being in the being, in those seats and feeling what those people feel on a day-to-day basis. And then having the wine, access to the wine world and psychology. I mean understanding people and then the development of the leadership opportunities that you had and then perfecting it by going and getting your MBA. That's incredible. You don't meet many people that have done all of that.
Speaker 2:I feel good about my career. I'm in a whole different place than I thought I'd be, but I'm going to embrace it and enjoy it and give it 150%. And you know you do different things to get where you are. And you know it's like we were talking earlier Sometimes. That's the way it's meant to be. You do all these things to get where you are and it's meant to be that way and you're meant to go through. And don't get me wrong, challenges, lots and lots of challenges along the way.
Speaker 2:But I'm a firm believer in all right, you pick yourself up, you dust yourself off. All right, how am I going to do this? And you push through and you make it happen. And you know, and if something isn't working out, then you know what Change it. Don't just go along, because then your passion subsides and you want that passion all the time, like we're talking about. You know it's important to keep that and to keep it in other ways. I think you know I do a lot of things outside of work and that helps me manage the work. You know it helps you de-stress and do something different, do something different with your brain. Most people don't know I'm a painter, I love painting and I do abstract art and there's one behind me, but that's what calms me down and that's what gives me the other outlet to do what I do, so it's not so stressful.
Speaker 1:That's a great point. I think it's so important to have that extra thing outside the industry because as much as you can do within it and all the friendships, network groups, other hobbies and things like that that you enjoy doing, because it can be really, really stressful. And so who or what inspires you the most with your passion?
Speaker 2:This is an easy one for me. My father, my dad 100 percent. He's the one that gave it to me and he's the one that continues to do that for me. I mean I. I mean I talk to him almost every day. I talk to my parents all the time. I mean I'm an only child. We're so close and working with them as long as I did. You really get closer that way. Sometimes you don't, but in our case it just really we got really close and I think it's always him because he was in the business so long and he accomplished so much with Tuxton and even with Bird and China back in the day.
Speaker 2:You know we couldn't make that jump out and we had to close it in 2001,. But what he did for Tuxton to grow that company from a million to 30 million, you know that to me is is incredible and it and it's due. This is the thing about him. He's very, very humble and it's not about what he does, it's about what everyone does together and you don't find that all the time. So to find someone who gets that and is very humble about what he's done and what he's accomplished and he continues to do today, I mean he's still consulting with tuxin a little bit, and so he's still in the business and so it's great to be able to tap into him and go hey, I'm having this challenge, can you help me with this?
Speaker 2:And he does, and he's right there with an answer. Or you know how about looking at it this way, with an answer, or you know how about looking at it this way. So for me, he's my biggest, biggest inspiration, my mentor, my friends, my dad. Uh, he's the one that that really keeps it alive when I'm going. All right, I'm frustrated with this. Help me. Because the last two years have been tough for me, because I've kind of been jumping and he goes you're going to find it, it's going to happen. You're going to get to the place where they just embrace you and love you and they are never going to let you go. So that's what I get from him. So he's definitely the one.
Speaker 1:He had a major impact on my company and I can. I would be surprised, I was going to be really surprised if you answered any differently. No judgment or anything, but he is an incredible man and just full of character and values and the leader that I hope to be one day, and so that's. That's amazing.
Speaker 2:So you're, you're there, my dear you're doing an amazing job with your team. I watch you. I stalk you on LinkedIn. I love seeing what you're doing. But yeah, he's, he's, uh, he's an incredible man. I love him dearly, so it's nice to see that it's not just me. He helps.
Speaker 1:he helps others in the industry too nice to see that it's not just me. He helps. He helps others in the industry too. Oh, he does, and he's the best. I've called him so many times for advice myself, um, on how to handle certain situations, and he was. He was able to kind of step out of his seat and really give me some really good advice and, um, so I'm very I I owe your dad a lot and I've loved working with you and seeing you develop the brand. So what's one thing that you learned from following your passion that you didn't expect?
Speaker 2:I think the biggest thing I learned and I did mention it earlier, but it was a big learning experience that you don't have to know everything. That was a big one for me. And also, don't be afraid to ask for help. It's really hard for us as humans to ask for help. I think it's not just me, I think it's across the board and I didn't expect those things because I came into it feeling like, well, you have to know everything.
Speaker 2:If you work for this company, you've got to know all the ins and outs, you've got to know all the details and, yes, you have to know what you're selling. But there's going to be things you're just not going to know and it's okay. It's okay to do that, it's okay to fail. That's a hard one and I've learned how to do that. Didn't expect that I would have to learn to do that, but I did because, again, learning experience, when you fail, you figure it out. I think those are really the biggest things. I would also say don't burn bridges. That's another one you never want to do and I haven't, thank goodness. But that's a big one. I think that you don't think about it until you get into the industry and you go. Ooh, this industry is huge, but it's very, very small.
Speaker 2:So very small, very, very small. Yes, Everyone knows everybody, even though it's no-transcript.
Speaker 1:It's global. Yes, oh yeah, we'll have to really, whatever is happening, frustration or whatever, you really have to step outside of your emotions. Um, you gotta shut them down you gotta shut them down quick and because our end users are clients, which are hotels and restaurants, and there's a lot of movement within just our clients. I mean, they're always moving around, people are getting promoted, so it's very important that you, you know you don't burn bridges. Don't blow it all up.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And yeah, and I also don't think you could, I mean, if you did go too far. It's never too late to say I'm sorry and right and because, yes, it's a very forgiving industry and so and we've all messed up and we've, all you know, had those moments. But, like you said, being humble and swallowing your pride and just saying hey, I'm so sorry about that, I'm like, no, it's okay, it's never as bad, like the reaction to being humble and I didn't know, or this, or that is much better than trying to defend yourself, which is something I know I want to do. I want to defend myself and justify and, and so that's really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's okay not to you know, and it's okay to say I'm sorry, and you always build it up to be a bigger thing than it is, always being fine.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, and it's okay. It's okay to be like I I need a minute, I need a minute, I need a mental health day, that's what we call them Absolutely so. So what impact do you hope to make in this industry with your passion, jennifer, I always say leave someone in a better way than when you first saw them.
Speaker 2:And anyone who knows me, I'm such a people person and I always just want to make people feel comfortable and good in their own skin and important and build them up and know that they're valued. And that's what I would like to leave is just knowing that I helped others, I listened to others, I helped build them up. I helped them get to a better place. I made them feel good that day. They were having a horrible day and we had a chat and now they're back to it. You know I always say smile, that's the easiest thing, even when you're on the phone. You know, if you smile on the phone, it changes someone's attitude. It's it's so easy, it's so easy to do and you can tell when someone's having a tough time. And to be able to change that is such a blessing.
Speaker 2:And you know, unreasonable Hospitality is one of my favorite books and he talks a lot about that. It takes the tiniest thing to make it great. So that's my thing is to do the tiniest thing to make it great. So that's my thing is to do the tiniest thing to make something blossom to. To make a person, uh, blossom, to make a company blossom. I mean, I'm I'm such a brand advocate, whatever company I'm working for, man, it's it's go time, and I'm so passionate about that and want to make it the best I can in so many different ways. And it's not just sales, it's social media or talking about it, or liking something, or you know there's. You have to encompass the whole thing. It's not just about one piece. So that's what I would like to you know, that's that's my contribution to the industry is just to make connections and get to know people and make them feel valued and important in what they're doing.
Speaker 1:I mean, is there anything more important than that? I don't think so. I don't think so, I don't think so. I agree with you.
Speaker 2:I mean, we've got to rely on each other. The world is a crazy place, so let's just help each other out and lift each other up and make the industry a better place.
Speaker 1:Yes, for sure, and what a great position that you're in with the CIA and these upcoming, you know, future celebrity chefs, maybe one day or reaching their dreams, you know whether, whatever position that may be down the road and I love working with the students and I always have, and one of the wonderful things about Tuxton is that they gave back and I will always love that about them.
Speaker 2:And we did scholarships every year. We had four for Hyde Park, two for Napa and I think one for San Antonio. And I made a point of when we got the scholarship winners and we got to read. My dad and I got to read their essays and we helped, you know, vote on those, um, and once I found out who the winners were, I went to every single campus and met every single winner. I scheduled the time and I sat down with each student for 30 minutes and just got to know them and let them get to know me.
Speaker 2:And that makes such a huge difference because, yes, they get the scholarship, but if you don't interact, it's just money, it's just a check. A scholarship, but if you don't interact, it's just money, it's just a check. And this way those students really get to know people in the industry before they're outside of school. And it also I mean, of course, they know your brand and they get to use your brand and when they go out in the world, you hope that they say, well, I want Tuxton or I want crack or I want this. You know I want to work with the american range, but that to me is again the interaction.
Speaker 2:You know it's fine to give, but interact, engage, and so to be at the cia now and working on student initiatives and working with the students, again it, you know, just your heart just is full that way and so, and they're amazing kids, you know what they're doing and they work so hard and there's so many ways they can engage in the industry. They don't have to be a chef. You know a lot of them end up being F&B managers. Some of them end up going being corporate chefs. You know, it's just all kinds of fun things you can do with it, but they all want to know about your industry and that's what makes it fun.
Speaker 1:That's incredible. I'm so glad that there's someone like you in that type of position that gets to help inspire them and get them set off on the right foot of. What our industry is all about, which you've talked about and you're passionate about, is people, and I love that. You said engagement and just engaging, and because it's really easy to send emails, it's really easy to send a text, it's really easy, you know. But making a phone call, seeing people, you know people in person.
Speaker 2:The relationship is so important and I think you just get more done that way. You know, when you pick up the phone or you do the face to face, I worry that that's a lost art and we shouldn't, because that's really, in my opinion, that's how you get the job done, that's how you close the deal. People want to interact with you. Everybody gets a hundred, you know 500 emails a day, right, but to actually get that one-on-one and or the or the phone call, I mean, that's why I think NRA everybody gets so excited about NRA because no one's excited about standing in a booth all day.
Speaker 2:Trust me, we're setting up, we're breaking down and all that. You know good stuff, it has to be done, but it's not fun. But it's the oh my gosh. You get to run into you know 500 people that you haven't seen for six months and you get to catch up and then you get to talk business and oh hey, you know so and so well, I know this person. Let's get together, let's collaborate. That's the excitement, that's the exciting part. So I think that's why people do, you know they love to go, because it's the one-on-one, it's the in-person right and just embracing the positive that's going to come out of it.
Speaker 1:And sometimes you just have to choose, you know, to be excited and some days you have those days. But I love to, how you said, embrace the brand. You know, just embrace the brand, become, you know, believe in it. You know, believe in your brand and I think from that, everybody will want to come talk to you. And so that's why I feel, wherever you are, Jennifer, I want to know what you're doing, Because you just put 100 and a billion percent into everything. It makes a difference.
Speaker 2:Because it makes a difference within too, because if you're excited about it inside, you're embracing the whole thing. Well, that just increases your sales. It makes you work harder, makes you happy where you are. There's a lot of different things that come from that, uh, but I I I always try to treat the brand as if it was my family business and I think the reason I think that way is because of Bird and China, because it was the family business. And so when I went to Tuxton I felt the same way. I mean here I am working with my dad, I mean it was amazing for 12 years and I made it. I wanted it to be ours. You know, I made, I treated it like it was ours, even though we obviously was not. But when you treat something that way, it makes it so much easier to just embrace and promote and get excited and engage. So that was always my mindset, still my mindset.
Speaker 1:I love that. Well, Jennifer, we're about to come to a close, Okay. So before we end, I would love to get do you have anything that you want to confess? Maybe something that nobody knows about you, or fun fact Uh?
Speaker 2:yeah, I have. I have a fun fact there's there's a few chefs that know about this, but uh, when I was in my twenties, I won the blue ribbon for my apple pie at the LA County Fair, which is one of the biggest fairs in the country. I beat out like 75 pies. It was a big day for me and I got the LA County Fair cookbook and the whole thing. I called it. Jen's Double Delicious Apple Pie is what I called it.
Speaker 1:I mean, is this public information or is it like a secret recipe?
Speaker 2:Well, I, you know, I share it here and there and I keep a little few things back, but actually I shared it with a very good friend of mine recently and he made it and he loved it and so I still make it. You know I usually now it's holidays and stuff my husband begs me to make it however I can. But there's a fun fact that not everybody and the painting, I don't think anybody knew that I was doing it, so that's a lot of fun you're're amazing, Jennifer Rollander.
Speaker 1:I'm just so thankful that you agreed to do this and we got to spend some time with you today and digging into your passion and the secrets to your success. So thank you so much for joining today.
Speaker 2:Oh, my gosh, you're so welcome and thank you for inviting me. I think it was long overdue, my dear. I'm so glad we got to do it. It doesn't catch up so well.
Speaker 1:thank you, guys, so much for listening and stay tuned for more podcasts. For more inspiration, follow our social media at W3Sales. Please like, comment and subscribe. You know all the things we would love to connect with you.